This is perhaps the most mysterious continent, a land of great contrasts, which science and geography study with interest. Africa is the hottest continent of the planet and the highest. Many tribes and nationalities live on its territory, each of which speaks its own language.
This article will focus on Africa, its nature and population.
Africa: coordinates of extreme points
It is the second largest continent on our planet. It covers an area of 30 million square kilometers. Africa is connected with Eurasia by a narrow Suez Isthmus.
8 thousand kilometers - it was at such a distance that continent Africa stretched from north to south. The coordinates of the extreme points of the continent are as follows:
- North - Cape Ras Engel (37.21 degrees north latitude).
- South - Cape Igolny (34.51 degrees south latitude).
7.5 thousand kilometers - the distance between the western and eastern outskirts of such a continent as Africa. The coordinates of the extreme points of the continent are as follows:
- Western - Cape Almadi (17.33 degrees west longitude).
- East - Cape Ras Gafun (51.16 degrees east longitude).
The length of the coastline of the mainland is 26 thousand kilometers. This is very small for a continent of this size. The reason is that the coastline of Africa is very weakly divided.
It should also be noted that the extreme points of Africa have other names. So, Cape Igolny is sometimes called Cape Agulias. And Cape Ras Engel is sometimes called Cape Blanco. Therefore, in the scientific literature you can find these toponyms.
The geographical position of Africa is unique. The fact is that the equator crosses this continent almost in the middle. This fact leads to two important consequences:
- Firstly, the continent receives a large amount of solar radiation, since it is located between two tropics.
- Secondly, in terms of natural features, South Africa is symmetrically (mirror-like) similar to North Africa.
Geography: Africa - the highest continent of the planet
Africa is often called the high mainland, as high landforms dominate here. Such geomorphologists include plateaus, highlands and plateaus, as well as remnant mountains. Interestingly, these landforms seem to border the mainland, while the plains are located in its central part. In other words, Africa can be imagined as a not-so-deep saucer.
The highest point of the continent is Kilimanjaro volcano (5895 meters). It is located in Tanzania, and an irresistible desire to conquer this peak arises among many tourists. But the lowest point is located in the small country of Djibouti. This is Lake Assal with an absolute height of 157 meters (but with a minus sign).
Mineral Resources of Africa
In Africa, deposits have been explored for almost all the mineral resources known to man. South Africa is especially rich in various minerals (these are diamonds, coal, nickel and copper ores). As a rule, foreign companies are engaged in field development.
The bowels of Africa are rich in iron ores. Many steel mills in Europe and North America work on ore mined here.
North Africa is known for its many oil and natural gas fields. The countries in which they are located are very lucky - they live quite well. First of all, we note Tunisia and Algeria.
Climate and inland waters
The longest river in the world flows through the territory of Africa - the Nile. Other major rivers of the mainland are Congo, Niger, Zambezi, Limpopo and Orange. In the tectonic faults of East Africa, deep lakes formed - Nyasa, Tanganyika and others. In a state called Chad is the continent's largest salt lake of the same name.
Africa, as mentioned above, is the hottest continent on planet Earth. Due to its location, the surface of the continent receives a lot of solar energy and is very hot.
In Central Africa, as well as on the coast of the Gulf of Guinea, a large amount of rainfall occurs. In the territories to the south and north, the climatic seasons are already clearly visible - dry winter and rainy season in summer. Even further north and south there is very little rainfall, which leads to the formation of deserts. Africa has the largest desert on the planet - the Sahara.
The population of the "black" continent
In Africa, a black population really prevails. Moreover, the conditional border that separates the Negroid and Caucasoid races is the Sahara desert.
Today, nearly one billion people live in Africa. At the same time, the population of the continent is growing rapidly. According to scientists, by 2050, about 2 billion people will live here.
If you carefully consider the political map of Africa, you will notice one interesting detail. The fact is that the borders between many states are drawn along straight lines. This is a peculiar inheritance of the colonial past of Africa. Such careless bordering (without taking into account the ethnic characteristics of the regions) today leads to many conflicts between tribes and nationalities.
The average population density in Africa is 30 people per square kilometer. The level of urbanization is also low and amounts to only 30%. However, there are enough large million-plus cities. The largest of these are Cairo and Lagos.
Africa speaks a thousand languages! Indigenous (purely African) are Swahili, Fula and Congo. In many countries of the continent, the following languages have official status: English, Portuguese and French. If we talk about the religious preferences of the African population, then most of the inhabitants of the mainland profess Islam and Catholicism. Many Protestant churches are also common here.
Finally...
Africa is the hottest continent on the planet. The reason for this is in the special geographical position of the continent.
The geographical coordinates of Africa are as follows: the mainland is located between the 37th degree of north latitude and the 34th degree of south latitude. Thus, the equator divides Africa almost in half, due to which its surface receives a huge amount of solar radiation.
Now you know the main natural features of mainland Africa, the coordinates of the extreme points of its territory.