Short essay on World Geography

Africa

David Livingstone was one of the first Europeans to explore Africa. It is the second largest continent in the world. Africa is bounded by the Mediterranean sea in the north-west, Red sea in the nom Indian ocean in the south, Arabian sea in the east and Atlantic ocean in the west.

Mountains and Plateaus–

The whole of the continent is full the mountains and the plateaus. Some important mountains are Mount Kiliminjaro, Mount Kenya and Mount Elgon. Mount Kiliminjaro has the highest mountain peak of Africa.

Rift valleys–

The chain of rift valleys in east Africa is called the great rift valley. The rift valleys have a number of deep lakes. The lake Rukwa, Tanganyika and Kivu are the famous lakes of Africa.

Deserts-The Sahara, the Kalahari and the Namib are tj₁₍ famous deserts of Africa. The Sahara is the largest desert in the world.

Rivers- The great rivers of Africa are the Nile, the Zaire, the Niger and the Zambezi. The Nile is the longest river in the world. There are many waterfalls in Africa.. But the most famous and largest among them is Victoria waterfalls on Zambezi river between Zambia anc¹ Zimbabwe.

Climate-The greater part of Africa lies in the Torrid zone (near equator) so the temperature of this region is very high.

Minerals-Africa is rich in many precious minerals such a; diamond, gold and platinum. Other than this copper, iron ore, coal petroleum are also found in quantity.

Forests– About one fifth ^f Africa is covered with forests

Wild life-Due to presence of dense forests many types c animals are found. Some of the famous animals are chimpanzee.’ gorillas, antelope, giraffes, zebras are ostrich.

Population-The total population of Africa is about 750 million

Languages-Many languages are spoken in Africa. Arabic s spoken by a majority of the people. The other languages Spoken Africa are Bantu, Swahili and Zulu.

Religions-Islam and Christianity are the chief religions of the people of Africa. North African are generally Muslims.

Peoples-Peoples are Arabs, blacks and Europeans.

Agricultural food crops-Main cereals are rice, wheat, maize millets. Root crops are yam and cassava.

Industries-Industrially Africa is not very developed. Industry are developed mainly in South Africa, Egypt, Algeria and Zimbabwe’

Zaire

Zaire is the third largest country of Africa and is located at the central part of the continent.

Kinshasa is the capital of Zaire. French and Swahili are the main languages of Zaire. Zaire (Congo) is the longest river of this country. Major population of this country is of Bantu tribes. Matadi situated near mouth of the Zaire river is the only port city of Zaire.

Nigeria

Nigeria is the largest populated country of Africa. The new capital (Nigeria is Abuja, the old capital was Lagos. Islam and Christianity the major religions of Nigeria. Niger is the main river of the country. Petroleum, natural gas, coal and tin are the main mineral sources of the country. Lagos, Ibadan and Port Harcourt are the _chief cities of Nigeria. Jos plateau and Benue valleys are in Nigeria. Chad lake is also in Nigeria.

Egypt

Egypt is the second most populous country of Africa. The capital of Egypt is Cairo. The main language of the country is Arabic. Islam and Christianity are the two major religions of Egypt. Cairo, Alexandria and Giza are the chief cities of this country. Nile is the major river which flows in Egypt is the world’s longest river. Sinai Desert and Catherine, the highest peak are in Egypt. The Suez canal, which links the Mediterranean sea and the Red sea is the most important oceanic trade routes of the world. Most of the people of Egypt are Hamites and Semites. Agriculture is the main occupation of the people of Egypt.

South Africa

South Africa lies at the southernmost part of the African continent. Pretoria is the capital of South Africa. Orange is the main river of the country. Christianity, Islam and Hinduism are the main religions of South Africa. Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, Pretoria are the chief cities of the country. Gold, diamond, coal and iron are the major minerals of South Africa.