AFRICA

5 THEMES OF GEOGRAPHY

PLACE• A theme of geography that conjures up a

mental picture of a place with people going about their everyday lives in their familiar environment.

• PLACE is the personality of geography.

2 things to consider about a place:

• Physical characteristics – things determined by nature, such as climate, land forms, indigenous plants and animals, and types of soil.

• Human characteristics – can be defined by the culture of a place, for example, the language, clothing, architectural styles, and government ideologies.

What features make Africa unique?

• Wildlife• Physical characteristics• People– Where they live– Language they speak

Huge contrasts

• Large cities – small villages• Modern – old tribal customs• Living locations:– Coastal regions– Savanna regions– Grasslands and certain types of agriculture

Coastal Cities/Ports

• Northern – Europe• Eastern – Asia• Western – North America and Western Europe• Suez Canal – shortcut from Mediterranean Sea

to the Indian Ocean

Physical Characteristics

• Huge rainforests – equator• Plains in the East• Tell mountains• Deep valleys• Huge deserts – Sahara covering the north

REGION• A region is an area that is defined by certain

similar characteristics. Those unifying or similar characteristics can be physical, natural, human, or cultural.

• A region is described by the features that make it unique, either small or large.

• Regions can change over time due to changes in climate, economic conditions, accessibility of trade routes, and many other factors.

Well known regions:

• Nile Valley Region – long history– Longest river in the world– Has affected the lives of people, wildlife, and

vegetation for thousands of years– Banks of river are rich, green, fertile strips of land.– People raise crops, relying on water from river– many town and cities are found along the river

Well known regions:

• Serengeti Plains – Flat, grassy area filled with a variety of wildlife

• Masai Mara National Reserve– Game reserve for endangered animals

HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTION

• Human-environment interaction looks at the relationships between people and their environment; how people adapt to the environment and how they change it.

• How do people depend on the environment? (Example: In ancient times, the annual flooding of the Nile River produced good soil for growing crops.)

• How to people adapt to the environment? (Example: The ancient Egyptians rebuilt their homes each year, after the annual flooding. As time went on, they built their homes above the flood plain.)

• How do people modify the environment? (Example: The ancient Egyptians built irrigation ditches to help water the crops. In modern times, Egypt built a dam to control the flood waters of the Nile River.)

• Nile river has flooded for thousands of years• Aswan High Dam – blocked the flow of the

river and created lake Nassar– Abu Simbel – ancient Egyptian Temple• Taken apart and reassembled in a location away from

the lake.

LOCATION

• Where is it? • Absolute: A location can be absolute (specific)

as in coordinates of a map using longitude and latitude

• Relative: A location can be relative - examples: next door, nearby, a short drive, down the road a ways. Or, it can be in the same general location as another location - example: next to the post office.

• Both the equator and Prime Meridian pass through Africa

• Large size of Africa makes giving is absolute location very difficult

• Huge size and location gives Africa many different climates.

• Surrounded by bodies of water-– Atlantic Ocean to the west, Mediterranean Sea to the

north, Indian Ocean to the East– Sinai Peninsula links Africa with Asia

MOVEMENT

• Movement refers to the way people, products, information and ideas move from one place to another.

African Movement

• Travel for work, school, or recreational.• Many forms of travel-– Rural or remote locations may still use traditional

forms of transportation (oxen pulling a cart)• Camels now used mainly to attract tourists.

– Small airplanes and helicopters are used to fly tourists.

– Urban – trains, bikes, cars, scooters, buses, trucks– Coastal – to travel to other locations