Welcome dear students! Today we are going to learn about Continent of Africa from Class 6 Social_Science. In this lesson you will learn about the location, extent and physical setting of Africa, the physiography of the continent, its river system, climate, natural vegetation and animal life, agriculture and industries, precious minerals, and the growth, distribution and density of population. Our competencies include understanding the location, area, physical setting and natural features of Africa, understanding the major river system, climate and climatic regions, natural vegetation and animal life of Africa, knowing about the agriculture, industries and precious minerals, and knowing the population of Africa, its growth, distribution and density of population.
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Let us begin with the location. Africa is the 2nd largest continent after Asia. It is also 2nd in respect to population. Until recent years, the African continent was known as the dark continent. This is not because the continent is predominantly of black people, rather its plateaus extended to the coast and the Sahara desert in the north which remained unexplored by the outside world for a very long time. Africa continent has 54 countries. Africa lies between 37° North and 35° South latitude and 17° West and 50° East longitude. In the Western part of Africa, the prime longitude runs North to South. The special fact is that both the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn pass through this continent. The equator almost passes through the centre of the continent. Hence it is called the Central Continent.
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Now let us look at the extent. The total area of Africa is 30.4 million km2. The continent measures about 8000 km from north to south and about 7400 km from east to west. Its northern extremity is Al-Ghiram point in Tunisia while its southern-most point is Cape Agulhas in South Africa. Moving to the physical setting, most of the land mass of Africa is surrounded by seas or oceans. Africa is bounded on the west by the Atlantic Ocean, on the north by the Mediterranean Sea, on the east by the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. In the northeast, Africa is joined to Asia by Sinai Peninsula, though it is now separated by the Suez Canal. Africa is separated from Europe by the Strait of Gibraltar and the Arabian Peninsula by the Red sea. The coast line of Africa is 30,500 km long.
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Next, we will explore the physical features. The physical features of Africa is largely a reflection of its internal structure. The whole continent can be considered as a vast plateau. It is made of ancient crystalline rocks. It rises steeply from narrow coastal fringe to form a highland. Hence it is difficult to enter the interior of the continent. The plateau is higher in the southeast and slopes gently towards northeast. When compared to its size Africa has fewer high mountains and fewer lowlands than any other continents. The coast line of Africa is almost straight. It has a few large basins, estuaries and natural harbours. There are no bays and inlets. Also the interior of the beach is deeply indented.
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Let us learn about the Great Rift Valley. A flat-bottomed valley formed by the sinking of the land between two normal faults or deep slopes is called Rift Valley. The rift valley of Africa is long, measuring 6900 km, and therefore, known as the Great Rift Valley. It is in Y-shaped and is one of the most striking and distinct topographical features of Africa. It stretches from Mozambique in the south, through Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya and Ethiopia into the Red Sea, Gulf of Aquaba, the Dead Sea, the Sea of Galilee and ends in the Valley of Jordan in Syria.
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Now we will study the basins of Africa. There are 5 important basins in Africa. The Sudan basin is filled by the White Nile and Blue Nile rivers. This is world’s most extensive marshland known as Sudd. The Chad basin is occupied by Lake Chad. This basin is a swampy area and the Sahara desert encroaches upon it. The Djouf basin consists of Western Sahara Desert and is found along Mauritania-Mali boundary. It is filled by River Niger. The Congo basin, also known as the Zaire basin, is a great structural basin and occupied by a plateau. River Congo and its tributaries flows across it. It is a forest area. The Kalahari basin is mostly a desert and steppe grassland area. It is surrounded by plateau rims.
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Africa has numerous lakes of great economic potential. There are 8 large lakes. The largest and deepest lakes are found in East Africa. These lakes are generally associated with the Great Rift Valley. Lakes Albert, Edward, Kivu, Tanganyika and Nyasa lie to the west of the rift valley. And lakes Rudolf, also known as Turkana, Natron and Eyasi are to the east of the rift valley. Lake Tanganyika is the 2nd deepest lake in the world. It is about 1,436 m deep. Lake Victoria, which lies between the two limbs of the Great Rift Valley, is the largest lake of Africa. It is about 69,481 km2 wide. The river Nile originates from here.
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The continent of Africa has many mountains. However some small hill ranges break the monotony of the flat plains of Africa. Among them the major mountains are Atlas Range, Drakensberg and Kilimanjaro range. Atlas range consists of fold mountains like the Himalayas and are a continuation of the mountains of southern Europe. Its highest peak is Mount Toubkal. They stretch across parts of Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. Drakensberg mountain is spread along the southeastern coast of Africa. They are not true mountain, but the tilted edge of the plateau. Kilimanjaro range is in East Africa. It has the highest peak of Africa. Its height is 5,895 m. Although situated close to the Equator its peak is always snow covered. This is because of its great height. Besides these, the Ahaggar, the Tibesti, the Ruwenzori, the Cape range and the east African mountains are other mountain ranges in Africa. The highest point of Africa is Mount Kilimanjaro and lowest point is Lake Assal in Djibouti.
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Let us understand the Isthmus of Suez. A narrow strip of land that joins two vast land masses and separates different bodies of water is an Isthmus. The Isthmus of Suez is very famous. It is a narrow strip of land between the Mediterranean Sea and Red seas. It joins the continent of Africa and Asia. It belongs to one of the nations of African continent and lies to the North east of Africa. It was dug to build the Suez canal. It is an extraordinary human made canal that connects Mediterranean and Red Sea. The world’s busiest shipping lanes connecting Europe and Asia at a short distance. The Suez Canal was constructed in 1869. It is at sea level altitude. Its length is 162 metres, depth is 10 metres, and width is 60-65 metres. The travelling time between Port Said and Suez is 12 hours.
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Now let us explore the water resources and rivers of Africa. The river systems of Africa have their own peculiarities. Most of the rivers have cut deep gorges in their upper courses. They have water falls and rapids. Many rivers are non-perennial due to seasonal variations in rainfall. It is not appropriate for navigation. Few rivers are perennial. Inland rivers are many. The continent of Africa has 4 major rivers. They are the Nile, the Congo also known as Zaire, the Niger, and the Zambezi. The Senegal, the Orange and the Limpopo are the other important rivers of Africa. The Nile is the longest river in the world. It flows for 6,650 km long. It originates in Lake Victoria as Nile river and flows northwards through the Sahara Desert to join the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile plain is very fertile. It provides life for millions of people, they use its water for irrigation and lead their lives. Its major left bank tributary is the Al-Ghazal and the largest right bank tributaries are the Sobat, Blue Nile and Atbara. The Blue Nile originates in Lake Tana in Ethiopia and joins the White Nile at Khartoum. The Nile forms the world’s famous delta. Among the dams constructed across river Nile, the Aswan dam is the longest dam.
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The Congo or Zaire is the 2nd longest river of Africa. The people of Africa call it by different names. The river is called Luapula at its origin and it is known as Lualaba in other places. The Congo river rises near the equator and flows first north, then south west for 4,640 km to join the Atlantic Ocean. It flows through the equatorial forests of Central Africa. It builds the famous Livingstone falls. But the river has no delta. The Niger is the 3rd longest river in Africa. The source of this river is in the highlands on the West Coast. It also empties into Atlantic Ocean. It is non-perennial river. It is about 4000 km long. The Zambezi is the 4th longest river in Africa and one of the major rivers in the southern part of Africa. It rises in central Africa and flows southeastwards. It empties into the Indian Ocean. It has numerous rapids and waterfalls along its course. The most spectacular of which is the Victoria Falls. The river flows through many deep gorges. The Kariba Gorge is the most famous one. This river is about 3500 km long. The Senegal river originates in the Fouta Djallon plateau of Guinea. Then it flows towards northwest for about 1640 km and joins the Atlantic Ocean. It flows as a border between Mauritania and Senegal regions.
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Let us move on to climate, natural vegetation and animal wealth. Africa is the longest and widest continent which extends both in the Northern and the Southern hemisphere. Hence Africa is called Central Continent. The equator passes through the middle of the continent and the sun rays falls perpendicular. Because of this, the climate of Africa is predominantly tropical. Along with these a number of factors influence the climatic condition of Africa, for example the absence of high mountains, ocean currents, the extent in east-west and location. The cold ocean currents that flow along the western Sahara, known as Canaries current, and on the western coast of the Kalahari, known as Benguela currents, will lower the temperature of the adjoining coastal lowlands. As these are two cold currents they do not bring up much moisture. But the southeast coast which flows by the warm Mozambique current, would carry more moisture and causes rainfall. The absence of high mountains and lack of other climatic dividers allow the free circulation of tropical air. Hence change in climate is very slow. Rainfall also plays a dominant role in Africa’s climate. Rainfall is heaviest along the Equator. The annual average rainfall in this region exceeds 200 cm and decreases with distance from the Equator. The rainfall is only 15 cm in the Sahara, the Kalahari and the Namibia deserts. However Cameroon is the wettest place of Africa, with an average annual rainfall of 1016 cm of rainfall.
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On the basis of climatic condition, Africa can be divided into 8 climatic zones as follows. One, the Wet Equatorial Climatic Region. Two, the Savanna Type of Climatic Region. Three, the Tropical Desert Climatic Region. Four, the Mediterranean Climatic Region. Five, the Temperate Grassland Type. Six, the Highland Climatic Region. Seven, Humid Sub-tropical Climatic Region. Eight, Dry winter Subtropical Region. The Wet Equatorial Climatic Region is found in the low lands, on either side of the Equator and extends from the Congo basin to Guinea. The climate of this region is hot and wet throughout the year. There is heavy downpour of rain every afternoon. Rain is of convectional type. Hot and humid conditions result in unpleasant climate. The Savanna Climatic Region covers parts of Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, Chad and Niger. It is largely found in Sudan region. Hence it is also known as Sudan model climate. It has high temperature. Temperature is lower in the eastern highlands than in the lowlands, rainfall is high in summer. The Tropical Desert region exists in both Northern and Southern parts of African continent. In this region, summers are very hot and winters are cold. There is great difference of temperature between day and night than in summer and winter seasons. Rainfall is scanty. There are rarely any formation of clouds in the sky.
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The Mediterranean Climatic Region is found in Northern coastal and southern tip of Africa. It includes Morocco, Northern Algeria and Cape Province. The main feature of this climate is extreme hot and dry in summer and humid and gets rainfall in winter. This is the only climatic region which gets rain during winter. The Temperate Grassland Region is also known as High Veldts. In Dutch, Veldts means field. It is found in the interior of South Africa. It is far from the sea coast, so it experiences great difference of temperature between the summer and the winter. Summers are hot and winters are cold. Rainfall is low in both the seasons. The Highland Region includes the Ethiopian highland and parts of East Africa. This region is high above sea level so the climate is cooler in this region. The distribution of rainfall is sparse and falls only in summer. The Humid Sub-tropical Region extends along the Drakensberg mountains and extends up to the east coast, including Madagascar. During summer the weather is too hot and it rains and during the winter it is cold and dry. The Dry Winter Sub-tropical Region covers the South eastern part of Africa. The main features of this climate is Summers are hot and wet whereas winters are mild and dry. The distribution of rainfall is similar to that of the Wet Equatorial Climate. But because of altitude and dense fog there is a change in distribution of temperature.
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Africa’s natural vegetation is diverse. Because of the complementary influence of climate, soil, topography and interference of human beings is directly found on flora and fauna. In many parts of the continent natural vegetation has been modified by human interference. Most of the forests and grasslands have been cleared and burned for many purposes. So, at present, in Africa natural vegetation is not all natural. The hot and wet climatic conditions of the Equatorial region has allowed dense forest to grow. Trees grow to great heights. The salient characteristics of Equatorial evergreen forests is that they have broad leaves and epiphytes. Trees with special characteristics are very rare. However valuable tropical hardwood grows here such as rubber, rose wood, ebony, cinchona, teak, palm and blackwood. Mangrove plants also grow in the swampy areas of the seabeds. To the north and south of the Equatorial evergreen forests are the Savannas with their Acacia trees and Baobabs. In areas with less rainfall, the Savannas give way to thorn bushes and grasslands. Thorns and pines, juniper, cork, cedar, fig and olive trees are found in areas with Mediterranean climate. Mountain vegetation is found in the higher parts of the plateau and desert vegetation is mainly found in the Sahara and the Kalahari deserts. The Karoo area of South Africa is famous for shrub land. A special type of vegetation called Sudd, which means barrier, is found in the river valleys of the Nile.
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Africa is best known for the enormous diversity and richness of its wild life. This is due to the great variation in climatic conditions, soils, relief features, forests and land connections with Asia and Europe. The rain forest is the home of many animals. Chimpanzee, a variety of monkeys, Gorillas, Bison, Leopard and other hoofed animals are found here. Crocodiles and Hippopotamus are found in rivers and swamps. Bright colourful birds, for example kingfishers, ostrich, shoebill, eagles, are commonly found here. The zebras, wild cats, giraffes, rhinoceros, elephants, impala, cheetahs, and African lions are found in the tropical grassland and savannah areas. In desert areas scorpions, lizards, desert fox, various kinds of insects are found. Along with these animals belonging to the deer species such as donkeys, horses and adders are also found. The camel is the most important and the best known desert animal. It is often called the ship of the desert. The Ostrich is the native species of South Africa found in the southern plains and the Kalahari desert, and is the largest living bird. It lays the largest egg in the world. It cannot fly. But, it is the fastest running bird. It is the only bird in the world that has only 2 toes on each foot.
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Agriculture is one of the most important economic activity in many African countries. Nearly 75% of people are engaged in agriculture. Other than the Equatorial region, in most of the African countries has subsistence type of agriculture. The use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides is limited. Most of the agricultural activities are done by manual labour. The yield per hectare is also low. The staple food crops occupy an important position in most of the cultivated areas. The major crops are Maize, paddy, cassava, sweet potato and yam, peanuts, peas and starch crops. Plantation agriculture is important in the regions with Equatorial climate. Coffee is grown as major export item of Burundi, Cocoa of Cote D Ivoire and Ghana and pulses such as peas in the Gambia. Other major crops grown in Africa includes sugarcane, banana, tea, oil palm, tobacco and citrus fruits. These are grown on large estates and irrigated lands. The countries of the Sahel region, namely Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad, Northern Sudan, Ethiopia, and Somalia frequently suffer from droughts and people suffer due to starvation. Africa has large varieties of fruit crops. In the tropical and Mediterranean regions citrus fruits like olives, lemon, orange, grapes are common. In East Africa cashew trees are grown. Zanzibar islands and Tanzania are famous for growing cloves. Maize is the only cereal which is important here. Rice and sugarcane are grown in small areas. Cash crops like coffee, palm tree, groundnut are grown in Central, Eastern and other parts of Africa. Coffee has been cultivated in Ethiopia for thousands of years. Egypt is famous for good quality cotton. Commercial cattle rearing is most advanced in the areas of European settlements, such as Kenya, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Africa possesses about 15% of the total cattle population.
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Reasons for the backwardness of agriculture include old methods of farming, which is purely subsistence in nature, outdated implements, illiteracy, tribalism, lack of capital and foreign investment. Reasons for slow development of industries include the fact that many African countries are rich in water, forest and mineral resources, but the distribution of these natural resources is not equal. The economy of most of the countries has an agriculture dependent character. Until the middle of the last century, the natural wealth of Africa continued to be plundered by Europeans. This has led to slow industrialisation there. Along with this the inadequacy of infrastructure facilities for industrialisation, insufficient capital, lack of technology, lack of skilled labour, low purchasing power and political turmoil has hindered the industrial development in African countries. Countries undergoing industrialisation in the last few decades includes Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Egypt, Algeria and South Africa. After independence many African countries have shown interest in light industrial development. Textile industry, pharmaceuticals and food processing and beverage industries are coming into effect. Large industries like iron and steel, rubber, cement and petrochemicals manufacturing is being centralised in South Africa. The iron and steel industries are distributed in the countries of Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt and Zimbabwe. The other important industries of Africa are electrical machinery, transport equipment, manufacturing tractors and assembly of military aircraft.
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Let us study the precious minerals, specifically diamond and gold. Africa is very rich in minerals. It is the world’s largest producer of diamond, gold and platinum. Nearly 80% of the world’s total diamond reserves are found in Africa alone. Botswana, Zaire and South Africa are the highest producing countries of Diamonds. Angola, Namibia and Ghana are the other producers. Diamonds are divided into 2 types, crystal diamonds and industrial diamonds. Industrial diamonds are mainly used for abrasive purposes and cutting tools. For gold, South Africa alone has about half of the world’s gold reserve. The main distribution states are Witwatersrand (Transvaal) and in Orange Free State. More than 50% of the continents total gold production comes from South Africa, Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo, also known as Zaire.
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Now we will learn about population growth, distribution and density. It has been considered that Africa was the place where man appeared first and learned to use the tools here. According to anthropologists and scientists, the Homo sapiens appeared for the first time near the Eastern lake in Kenya and Ethiopia in Africa. It is composed mainly of the Negroid race and its sub groups. Today Africa contains many different races and clans. This continent is a union of different people, languages and cultures. Nearly 1051 million people live in the continent of Africa. Nigeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Zaire and South Africa have the highest population density. During the last 3 decades the death rate has declined in most of the countries of Africa. This is due to increased production of food and supply of medicine and improvement in sanitation. But the birth rate is fairly high and led to high population density. The population of Africa is now increasing at an equal rate or perhaps slightly above, the average of the world. Some countries have very low life expectancy like Ethiopia, Somalia, Chad, Niger and Mali. That is only 50 years. The speciality of the population is that it is distributed unevenly. The highest population density is concentrated in the urban and mining areas of coastal areas of African Guinea, in the valley of Nile River, in the highlands of East Africa and Madagascar, along the northern coast, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Zaire. The low population density is found in the deserts, mountainous regions and in the thick equatorial forest. Libya’s Sahara and Algeria are less densely populated. The population density here is 15 people per square kilometre.
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The People of Africa belong to 4 groups. First, the Pygmies, Bushmen and Masai who live to the South of Sahara desert. Second, the Arabs who live in North Africa. Third, the Indians who live in South Africa and East Africa. Fourth, the Europeans live in South Africa and other fertile land of other river basins. Let us review some important terms. The new words are Peninsula, bay, rift valley, lakes, life expectancy, population density, prime longitude, Isthmus, Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of Capricorn, and Savannah. Now, let us know some fascinating facts. Though the Nile river flows mostly in the Sahara Desert, the water never dries up in its course because of plenty of rain in its catchment areas. The Sahara is the largest desert in the world, covering the northern part of Africa. The highest temperature recorded has been 58°C in El Azizia of Libya. Addax is a kind of antelope with long and twisted horns. It never drinks water. It gets water from the plants and the food it eats. The Baobab tree is a bottle shaped tree in Africa. The trunk of this tree is swollen to store water. It can store water from 1000-12000 litres. Travelers who need water often use water of this tree. Africa produces 24% of the world's coffee. More than 50% of world cocoa is produced by Africa alone. Pygmies are among the shortest people in the world. They live in the Congo basin. The people of Africa have the highest fertility rate but the lowest life span. There are more than 800 languages spoken in the African continent. Africa has a large rural population. It is a less urbanized continent.
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Now let us solve the exercises together. First, fill in the blanks with the appropriate word. Question one: Africa is called the Central Continent. Question two: The longest river of Africa is the Nile. Question three: The highest peak of Africa is Mount Kilimanjaro. Question four: The largest bird of Africa is the Ostrich. Question five: The Savanna type of climate is also called the Sudan model climate. Now let us answer the following questions. Question six: Why is Africa known as the Central Continent? Answer: Africa is known as the Central Continent because the equator almost passes through the centre of the continent. Question seven: What is an Isthmus? What is the African Isthmus? Answer: A narrow strip of land that joins two vast land masses and separates different bodies of water is an Isthmus. The African Isthmus is the Isthmus of Suez, which joins Africa and Asia. Question eight: Name the basins of Africa. Answer: The 5 basins of Africa are the Sudan basin, the Chad basin, the Djouf basin, the Congo or Zaire basin, and the Kalahari basin.
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Question nine: Mention the types of natural vegetation of Africa. Answer: The types of natural vegetation in Africa are Equatorial evergreen forests, Savannas with Acacia and Baobab trees, thorn bushes and grasslands, Mediterranean vegetation like thorns, pines, juniper, cork, cedar, fig and olive trees, mountain vegetation, desert vegetation in the Sahara and Kalahari, shrub land in the Karoo area, and the Sudd vegetation in the Nile river valleys. Question ten: What are the major food crops of Africa? Answer: The major food crops of Africa are Maize, paddy, cassava, sweet potato and yam, peanuts, peas and starch crops. Question eleven: Which African countries are rich in diamond reserves? Answer: Botswana, Zaire, South Africa, Angola, Namibia and Ghana are rich in diamond reserves. Let us look at the activities. Activity one: Locate on the map lakes in the Rift Valley of Africa. To do this, find the Great Rift Valley on your map and mark Lakes Albert, Edward, Kivu, Tanganyika, Nyasa to the west, and Lakes Rudolf or Turkana, Natron and Eyasi to the east. Activity two: Identify the important rivers and mountains of Africa. Trace the Nile, Congo, Niger, Zambezi, Senegal, Orange and Limpopo rivers. Mark the Atlas Range, Drakensberg, and Mount Kilimanjaro. Activity three: Collect images similar to Baobab trees, which are bottle shaped, found in Karnataka. You can look for trees with thick, water storing trunks in your local area or library. Activity four: Compare the African addax and our Indian deer and write a note. The African addax is an antelope with long twisted horns that never drinks water, getting moisture from plants. Indian deer typically live in forests and grasslands, drink water regularly, and have different antler shapes. Write a short paragraph comparing their habitats, physical features, and water needs.
Thank you for listening! Keep revising and practicing. Goodbye! [CHAPTER_COMPLETE]