Maps of Africa

Relief

Most of North Africa are covered by large expanses of the Sahara, the 2nd most arid region of the planet. The Sahara portion includes smaller deserts such as the Libyan and Nubian deserts in the east, and the Great Eastern Erg, the Great Western Erg and the Erg Iguidi in the west. In the middle of the desert are two important plateaus: Tibesti and Hoggar, in the central part of the Sahara. The relief of the region is also marked by depressions, with emphasis on the Assal Lake basin, 156 meters below sea level.

In the northwest portion, between Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia is the Atlas Range, a mountainous complex that is approximately 2,500 km long, with altitudes of more than 4,000 meters. Its location between the Atlantic, Mediterranean and Sahara waters contributes to the formation of dry areas.

Along the south bank of the Sahara are three large sedimentary basins: the Djouf basin, through which the Niger River flows; Chad basin, containing Lake Chad and the Sudan basin, where a stretch of the Nile River is located. The Congo River basin in Central Africa is almost entirely surrounded by plateaus, with the East African Plateau having the highest altitudes. The basin contains most of the Congo River valley, which ends up narrowing in the Cristal Mountains, near the Atlantic coast.

In the eastern and southern portions of Sudan and the Congo basin are located the highest plateaus on the continent. There are considerable expanses of plateaus inland, especially in Tanzania, Zambia and South Africa. In the eastern part of the plateau region, from northern Ethiopia to southern Mozambique, runs the Great Rift Valley, a series of unevenness caused by a huge tectonic fault. In some areas of the steep slopes of the Rift Valleyappear the Ruwenzori mountains in Central Africa and numerous volcanoes, including the two largest peaks in Africa, Kilimanjaro, in Tanzania (5,895 m), and Mount Kenya, in Kenya (5,199 m). Along the edges of the eastern plateau and southeast coast, a series of escarpments is found. The highest, reaching 3,350 meters, is Drakensberg, in South Africa. 

Hydrography

Africa has some important and large rivers, but its hydrography cannot be considered balanced. Its rivers are poorly distributed due to the presence of several areas of desert climate, which aggravates the situation of drought and water scarcity in several locations on the continent. In the Sahara region there are many temporary rivers, also known as intermittent, as the flow of these rivers decreases in the driest period until it stops completely. Only the Nile River, the second largest in the world in extension, with about 6,700 km, does not lose its flow in the route from the desert to the sea. The Nile is born in the equatorial region near the Nyungwe forest in Rwanda. As it emptied into the Mediterranean Sea, forming a huge delta, it was historically used for irrigation and agriculture.

The equatorial regions have a well-developed drainage, mainly due to the presence of the Congo River, which has the second largest flow on the planet, with approximately 41,000 m ³ / second. The main river in West Africa is the Niger (4,800 km), while in the southern portion there are Orange (2,200 km), Zambezi (2,574 km) and Limpopo (1,600 km). Many of the rivers and waterfalls reduce the potential for navigation, but provide great hydroelectric potential. The most important are the Victoria Falls, on the Zambezi River, and Boyomsa (formerly Stanley Falls), a series of falls on the Congo River.

The main lake region is in the Great Rift Valley, where Lakes Victoria, Albert, Tanganyika and Niassa (or Malawi) are located. Because they are related to the relief modified by the movements of the tectonic plates, these lakes are called tectonic lakes. Lake Victoria, on the plateau between the branches of the Rift Valley , is the largest lake in Africa, with a total area comparable to the territory of Ireland and full of springs that head towards the River Nile. The only large natural lake located outside East Africa is Lake Chad, in the southern tip of the Sahara. Its size varies, depending on seasonal rainfall, but its area has been intensely reduced in recent decades due to agricultural practices that disregarded its conservation.

• The ABBREVIATIONFINDER provides most commonly used abbreviations and initials containing the continent name of Africa.

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