1. AFRICA – A Diverse Continent 30 million square kilometres of land – what is it like?? As you travel east to west or north to south, would you see and experience the same things all the time??

2. Key: Lowland Mountains Relief – the height and shape of the land How would you describe the relief of the land in Africa? This map and other similar maps derived from public domain images at NOAA website: www.ngdc.noaa.gov

3. Relief – the height and shape of the land Key: Lowland Mountains What percentage of Africa (approximately) is mountainous?

4. Africa has many high mountain ranges with sharp peaks but also has many plateaus which are very high but generally flat at the top. a) Would it be better to live on a mountain range or on a plateau ? Africa is a continent that is spread either side of the equator – it is mostly tropical . b) How would the mountains affect the climate of some of the tropical countries within Africa? Photo credits: Mountain range – Flickr ( phxpma ), Plateau – Flickr ( nchenga )

5. c) If the climate is affected, would you expect to see snow anywhere in Africa? This Wikipedia and Wikimedia Creative Commons image is from the user Chris 73 http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Furtwangler_Glacier_Mt._Kilimanjaro.JPG This is a photo of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, east Africa. It is just 3 degrees south of the equator. Mount Kilimanjaro is 5895 metres (17,685 feet) high. It has permanent snow and ice at the top – global warming , however, is causing the ice to shrink each year and some people believe it may be all gone in a few years time. So, if you want to throw snowballs in Africa, you had better hurry up and save your money…..before it’s too late!

7. Total rainfall = 29 mm Average Temperature = 28 °C Total rainfall = 1120 mm Average Temperature = 35 °C Total rainfall = 509 mm Average Temperature = 21 °C Total rainfall = 831 mm Average Temperature = 25 °C

8. Total rainfall = 1120 mm Average Temperature = 35 °C 33 0 Dec 34 15 Nov 34 43 Oct 32 206 Sept 31 348 Aug 32 279 July 34 137 June 39 74 May 39 15 April 39 3 March 36 0 Feb 33 0 Jan Temperature Rainfall Months

9. Total rainfall = 29 mm Average Temperature = 28 °C 20 5 Dec 26 3 Nov 30 0 Oct 32 0 Sept 35 0 Aug 36 0 July 35 0 June 33 3 May 28 3 April 24 5 March 21 5 Feb 18 5 Jan Temperature Rainfall Months

10. Total rainfall = 509 mm Average Temperature = 21 °C 24 10 Dec 23 18 Nov 21 31 Oct 18 43 Sept 18 66 Aug 17 89 July 18 84 June 19 79 May 22 48 April 25 18 March 26 8 Feb 26 15 Jan Temperature Rainfall Months

11. Total rainfall = 831 mm Average Temperature = 25 °C 26 163 Dec 27 97 Nov 28 28 Oct 26 5 Sept 23 3 Aug 21 0 July 21 3 June 23 13 May 26 28 April 26 117 March 26 178 Feb 26 196 Jan Temperature Rainfall Months

13. Carlosjwj - Flickr Stefan Gara - Flickr Martin Haigan – Flickr Erwint - Flickr Africa - vegetation DESERT SEMI-DESERT GRASSLAND SAVANNA RAINFOREST WOODLAND/SCRUB

15. Africa - population Source: Wikpedia Creative Commons Image Population density map (number of people per km²) How do the countries of Africa compare to the countries of Europe ?

16. Population density by country Note: UK population density = 246 people per square kilometre 9 Republic of the Congo 29 Zimbabwe 54 Senegal 93 Togo 9 Mali 30 Liberia 60 Tunisia 101 Cape Verde 2 Namibia 12 Somalia 32 Guinea 60 Ethiopia 105 Uganda 3 Botswana 13 Zambia 34 Cameroon 60 Benin 129 Gambia 3 Mauritania 14 Algeria 36 South Africa 65 Swaziland 141 Nigeria 3 Libya 15 Sudan 37 Eritrea 70 Morocco 170 São Tomé and Príncipe 5 Gabon 18 Equatorial Guinea 37 Guinea-Bissau 71 Egypt 176 Seychelles 6 Central African Republic 21 Djibouti 39 Tanzania 73 Lesotho 229 Burundi 7 Chad 24 Democratic Republic of the Congo 46 Burkina Faso 78 Sierra Leone 281 Rwanda 8 Niger 24 Mozambique 52 Côte d'Ivoire 85 Ghana 283 Comoros 9 Angola 28 Madagascar 53 Kenya 90 Malawi 588 Mauritius

17. Africa – 50 largest countries by population total (in millions) Note: UK population total is about 60 million people 18 Madagascar 20 Cote d'Ivoire 20 Mozambique 23 Ghana 28 Uganda 31 Morocco 34 Algeria 36 Kenya 38 Sudan 38 Tanzania 47 South Africa 62 Congo, Dem. Rep. of 73 Egypt 77 Ethiopia 144 Nigeria 9 Benin 9 Somalia 9 Rwanda 10 Guinea 10 Tunisia 10 Chad 11 Zambia 12 Mali 12 Senegal 13 Malawi 13 Zimbabwe 14 Niger 14 Burkina Faso 16 Angola 18 Cameroon

18. Africa – culture, religion and language Images source: Flickr Creative Commons

20. Some suggestions for work: Students could do a piece of research work which involves looking at the distinctiveness of one of the ethnic groups in Africa. Some of the groups are well known and there is a wealth of material available in books and on the internet. In order to emphasise the diversity of people within the continent, students could report back or produce a display which will allow others to appreciate some of the detail about these various ethnic groups. Suggested ethnic groups for research: Masai Hausa Berber Fulani Tuareg Zulu Dinka Bantu