What is the geography of West Africa?
West Africa includes varied vegetation zones of desert, semidesert, savanna, and forest. The Sahara spreads across approximately 3.5 million square miles in North Africa and the northern part of West Africa. Sand dunes cover one-quarter of the Sahara, but this desert also has bare, rocky plains, and even mountains.
What are 3 physical features in West Africa?
Most of West Africa’s mountain massifs and highlands, such as the Aïr Mountains, the Tibesti Mountains, the Adrar des Ifoghas, and the Fouta Djallon, originated as Precambrian folds (Church, 1966).
What is the landscape like in West Africa?
West Africa’s landscape is mainly flat with coastal plains in the west and south, especially in Senegal, the southern Ivory Coast, the Niger Delta and the lower valleys of the Volta and Niger rivers. The interior consists of a hilly low plateau with elevations below 500 m.
What is the geographical features of Africa?
Africa is the most tropical of all continents. Climate and vegetation range from equatorial rainforests, tropical deserts and savanna grassland to Mediterranean. The Sahara Desert, the largest of its kind anywhere in the world, is over 10.4 million km2 n North to south is approx. 1800 kms and east-west is 5600km.
What is geology of West Africa?
West Africa consists essentially of a Precambrian granitized craton (radiometric ages of 2700 to 1600 m.y.) covered by a thin sedimentary blanket, the oldest sedimentary rocks being as much as 1000 m.y. old. The Precambrian basement has been warped into three major uplifts trending approximately east-northeast (Fig.
What is climate in West Africa?
The lowland climates of West Africa are characterized by uniformly high sunshine and high temperatures throughout the year; mean annual temperatures are usually above 18°C. Areas within 10° of the equator have a mean annual temperature of about 26°C with a range of 1.7 – 2.8°C; the diurnal range is 5.6 – 8.3°C.
What are the 5 distinct geographic regions of Africa?
The five UN subregions:
- Northern Africa.
- Sub-Saharan Africa. Eastern Africa. Middle Africa. Southern Africa. Western Africa.
What are the geological features of Africa?
Check out some of the most-impressive physical features found in Africa.
- Victoria Falls. Victoria Falls.
- The Namib. Namib desert.
- East African Rift System. Kenya: Great Rift Valley.
- Congo River. Congo River: hydroelectric dam at Inga Falls.
- The Sahara. sand dunes.
- Lake Victoria.
- Ituri Forest.
- Nile River.
How many seasons are there in West Africa?
The region typically experiences two wet seasons. The main wet season lasts from April to early June, and there is a more sporadic wet season from October to December. Generally speaking, the dry season is best for game-viewing, while the wet season is often better for birding and baby animals.
What are three geographical features in Africa?
Africa has eight major physical regions: the Sahara, the Sahel, the Ethiopian Highlands, the savanna, the Swahili Coast, the rain forest, the African Great Lakes, and Southern Africa.
What is the western part of Africa called?
western Africa, region of the western African continent comprising the countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cabo Verde, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo.
What are the three main uses of geography?
Geography can help us understand the planet’s movement, changes, and systems. Topics that are relevant to today such as climate change, water availability, natural resources, and more are much easier understood by those who know geography well.
What are the four main geographic regions of West Africa?
North Africa lies north of the Sahara and runs along the Mediterranean coast.
What countries are in West Africa?
western Africa, region of the western African continent comprising the countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cabo Verde, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo.
What is the physical geography of West Africa like?
What is the physical Geography of West Africa like? 1- coastal plains 2- plateau 3- cliffs Zonal organized by zone Savanna an area of tall grass and scattered trees (rains regularly) Desertification the spread of desert like conditions Sahel a strip of land that divides the desert from wetter areas (little rain) Effects of desertification on people
How were West Africans affected by their geography?
Most communities grew or made everything they needed, and traded with other to get what they needed and hadn’t grown. Geography and Trade Geography was a major factor in the development of West African societies. Settled communities grew south of the Sahara, where the land permitted farm- ing. Geography also influenced trading patterns.