17.1.10

Physical Geography of Africa

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Physical Geography

Africa has a very diverse landscape with a range of different mountains, rivers, lakes and deserts.

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Rivers

  • The longest river in the world is the Nile, which runs through the east of Africa.
  • The Nile is almost 7,000 km long. It starts in Egypt and flows through Sudan, South Sudan, Uganda, Ethiopia and Burundi.
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Mountains

  • The highest mountain in Africa is Mount Kilimanjaro, which is 5,895 m above sea level.
  • Kilimanjaro is found in Tanzania.
  • Other mountains in Africa include:
    • Mount Kenya at 5,200 m
    • Mount Ruwenzori at 5,120 m
    • Mount Cameroun at 4,095 m
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Deserts

  • The largest hot desert in the world is the Sahara Desert in northern Africa.
  • The Sahara is found in the north of Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad and Sudan, and in the south of Algeria, Libya and Egypt.
  • The Namib Desert is another example of an African desert- located along the west coast of Namibia.
  • The Kalahari Desert is found in parts of Namibia and Botswana.
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Lakes

  • The largest lake in Africa is Lake Victoria found in Kenya and Tanzania.
  • Lake Victoria is just east of the Rift Valley, a mountainous area also home to Lake Tanganyika and Lake Malawi.

Jump to other topics

1Geography Skills

2Geology of the UK

3Geography of the World

4Development

5Weather & Climate

6The World of Work

7Natural Resources

8Rivers

9Coasts

10Glaciers

11Tectonics

12Climate Change

13Global Population & Inequality

14Urbanisation

15Ecosystems

16Life in an Emerging Country

17Analysis of Africa

18Analysis of India

19Analysis of the Middle East

20Analysis of Bangladesh

21Analysis of Russia

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