Geographic Regions of Africa broken down for 7th grade.

1. Review and Study Guide for the

2. A region that
shares
characteristics of
two or more areas
that surround it,
such as the Sahel
in Africa

3. Sahel – a transition zone
between the desert and the
savanna, it shares features
of both regions
Savanna – a huge plateau that
stretches across Africa,
mostly grasslands
Rainforest – south of the
savanna is one of the world’s
largest rainforests with the
Congo river as a major
feature along with tropical
plants and animals

4.  Grassland with some
trees
 Baobab trees are
important because both
its leaves and its fruit are
edible
 Has both wet and dry
seasons
 During the wet season,
farmers grow a variety of
crops

5. • Located in east and
southern Africa
• A region where the crust
was stretched
due to forces inside the
Earth
• Land sank and Magma
filled in the
cracks resulting in a rift,
or long valley

6. • Dutch word for field
• much like the savanna region
of west Africa, the veld has a
more varied climate because it
is spread across a much wider
range of elevations
• Western part of the veld
receives less rain than the
eastern part of the veld
• Drier plains region is used for
raising cattle and the eastern
region is used for farming

7.  Sahel – most people earn their
living by herding livestock, but
farmers in the south are able to
grow dry-climate crops such as
peanuts and dates
 Savanna – the major activity is
farming crops such as palm oil,
coffee, rubber, and cacao
 Rainforest – while 80% of the
people are farmers, only 2% of
the land is farmed and insects
destroy crops and cause
sickness among the people and
livestock

8.  Most of the lakes are very
deep
 Some lakes are known as
soda lakes because they
are neither fresh water or
salt water, but alkaline
because of the minerals
that seep into the water
from volcanic rock
 Red algae grows on top of
these lakes and millions
of flamingos feed on the
algae, turning their
feathers pink

9.  Gold – one of Africa’s
best-known minerals found
in South Africa, which
has about ½ of the world’s
deposits of gold and is the
world’s leading producer of
gold
 Diamonds – another of
Africa’s best-known
minerals found in South
Africa and mined for both
jewelry and industrial uses

10.  Sahara – found in most
of northern Africa, it is the
largest desert in the
world; about the size of
the continental United
States
 Deserts of southern
Africa – the Kalahari and
the Namib deserts are
found in southern Africa
in the countries of
Botswana and Namibia,
respectfully

11.  Escarpments – a steep
slope or cliff rising
hundreds of feet from a
lower land level
 The Great Escarpment in
eastern and southern
Africa created a barrier,
helping to protect
Africans from the early
European explorers