1.
Indian Ocean
–
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the worlds oceanic divisions, covering 70,560,000 km2. It is bounded by Asia on the north, on the west by Africa, on the east by Australia, the Indian Ocean is known as Ratnākara, the mine of gems in ancient Sanskrit literature, and as Hind Mahāsāgar, in Hindi. The northernmost extent of the Indian Ocean is approximately 30° north in the Persian Gulf, the oceans continental shelves are narrow, averaging 200 kilometres in width. An exception is found off Australias western coast, where the width exceeds 1,000 kilometres. The average depth of the ocean is 3,890 m and its deepest point is Diamantina Deep in Diamantina Trench, at 8,047 m deep, Sunda Trench has a depth of 7, 258–7,725 m. North of 50° south latitude, 86% of the basin is covered by pelagic sediments. The remaining 14% is layered with terrigenous sediments, glacial outwash dominates the extreme southern latitudes. The major choke points include Bab el Mandeb, Strait of Hormuz, the Lombok Strait, the Strait of Malacca, the Indian Ocean is artificially connected to the Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal, which is accessible via the Red Sea. All of the Indian Ocean is in the Eastern Hemisphere and the centre of the Eastern Hemisphere is in this ocean, marginal seas, gulfs, bays and straits of the Indian Ocean include, The climate north of the equator is affected by a monsoon climate. Strong north-east winds blow from October until April, from May until October south, in the Arabian Sea the violent Monsoon brings rain to the Indian subcontinent. In the southern hemisphere, the winds are milder. When the monsoon winds change, cyclones sometimes strike the shores of the Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean is the warmest ocean in the world. Long-term ocean temperature records show a rapid, continuous warming in the Indian Ocean, Indian Ocean warming is the largest among the tropical oceans, and about 3 times faster than the warming observed in the Pacific. Research indicates that human induced greenhouse warming, and changes in the frequency, among the few large rivers flowing into the Indian Ocean are the Zambezi, Shatt al-Arab, Indus, Godavari, Krishna, Narmada, Ganges, Brahmaputra, Jubba and Irrawaddy River. The oceans currents are controlled by the monsoon. Two large gyres, one in the northern hemisphere flowing clockwise and one south of the equator moving anticlockwise, during the winter monsoon, however, currents in the north are reversed. Deep water circulation is controlled primarily by inflows from the Atlantic Ocean, the Red Sea, north of 20° south latitude the minimum surface temperature is 22 °C, exceeding 28 °C to the east. Southward of 40° south latitude, temperatures drop quickly, surface water salinity ranges from 32 to 37 parts per 1000, the highest occurring in the Arabian Sea and in a belt between southern Africa and south-western Australia
Indian Ocean
–
The economically important
Silk Road (red) and spice
trade routes (blue) were blocked by the
Ottoman Empire in ca. 1453 with the fall of the
Byzantine Empire. This spurred exploration, and a new sea route around Africa was found, triggering the
Age of Discovery.
Indian Ocean
–
Extent of the Indian Ocean according to the
CIA World Factbook
Indian Ocean
–
British heavy cruisers
Dorsetshire and
Cornwall under Japanese air attack and heavily damaged on 5 April 1942
Indian Ocean
–
A
dhow off the coast of Kenya
2.
Piton des Neiges
–
The Piton des Neiges is a massive 3,069 m shield volcano on Réunion, one of the French volcanic islands in the Mascarene Archipelago in the southwestern Indian Ocean. It is located about 800 kilometres east of Madagascar, Piton des Neiges is the highest point on Réunion and is considered to be the highest point in the Indian Ocean. The volcano was formed by the Réunion hotspot and emerged from the sea about two years ago. Now deeply eroded, the volcano has been inactive for 20,000 years and is surrounded by three massive crater valleys, the Cirques, Piton des Neiges forms the northwestern two thirds of Réunion, with the very active Piton de la Fournaise comprising the rest. Despite its name, snow practically never falls on the summit, the volcanic island is considered to be about three million years old, the other two islands in the archipelago, Mauritius and Rodrigues, are 7.8 million and 1½ million years old, respectively. The island possesses a high endemism of flowering plants, this has justified the creation of a reserve on the lower slopes of the Piton des Neiges. There are three medium-difficulty tracks leading up to the peak, one from the Cirque de Salazie, one from the Cirque de Cilaos and they meet at a staffed mountain hut about an hours walk below the peak at la Caverne Dufour. Walkers often arrive there after a day trek up the mountain. The mountain hut offers heated indoor lodging, outdoor tent lodging and it is best to make reservations. The hike starting from Cilaos is about 6.5 hours up and 4 hours down, to reach the start of the hike, drive through Cilaos toward la Mare à St Joseph. About 3 km past Cilaos, you see a sign. You may also leave your car downtown and follow the road to the trail head, the hike is very steep, and one should be cautious if the trail is wet. The hike starting from la Plaine des Cafres is about 8 hours up and 5 hours down with a change in elevation of 1700m, to access the hike, follow RN3 past Le Tampon, all the way to La Plaine des Cafres and Bourg Murat. 2.5 km after Bourg Murat, take a left on the GR R2 road toward Savane Mare à Boue, follow for 2 km and park at the trail head. List of volcanoes in Réunion List of islands by highest point List of Ultras of Africa Piton des Neiges – Gros Morne Important Bird Area Reunion island Hike starting from la Plaine des Cafres
Piton des Neiges
–
Piton des Neiges, October 2003
Piton des Neiges
–
A panoramic view near to the Gîte de la Caverne Dufour.
Piton des Neiges
–
The island of Reunion with the three central Cirques, with the ridge summit of the Piton des Neiges in the northwest centre (lighter brown area). The white spot on the crater edge to the southeast of the summit is the alpine hut.
3.
Overseas department
–
An overseas department is a department of France that is outside metropolitan France. The overseas departments should not be confused with the overseas collectivities, each overseas department is also an overseas region. In 1798 the Russian Admiral Ushakov evicted the French from these islands, and though France regained them in 1802, since 1982, following the French government’s policy of decentralisation, overseas departments have elected regional councils with powers similar to those of the regions of metropolitan France. Following a yes vote in a referendum held on March 29,2009, the overseas collectivity Saint Pierre and Miquelon was an overseas department from 1976 to 1985
Overseas department
–
Overseas departments 1
4.
French people
–
The French are an ethnic group and nation who are identified with the country of France. This connection may be legal, historical, or cultural, modern French society can be considered a melting pot. To be French, according to the first article of the French Constitution, is to be a citizen of France, regardless of origin, race. The debate concerning the integration of this view with the underlying the European Community remains open. A large number of foreigners have traditionally been permitted to live in France, indeed, the country has long valued its openness, tolerance and the quality of services available. Application for French citizenship is often interpreted as a renunciation of previous state allegiance unless a dual citizenship agreement exists between the two countries, the European treaties have formally permitted movement and European citizens enjoy formal rights to employment in the state sector. Seeing itself as a nation with universal values, France has always valued. However, the success of such assimilation has recently called into question. There is increasing dissatisfaction with, and within, growing ethno-cultural enclaves, the 2005 French riots in some troubled and impoverished suburbs were an example of such tensions. However they should not be interpreted as ethnic conflicts but as social conflicts born out of socioeconomic problems endangering proper integration, the name France etymologically derives from the word Francia, the territory of the Franks. The Franks were a Germanic tribe that overran Roman Gaul at the end of the Roman Empire, in the pre-Roman era, all of Gaul was inhabited by a variety of peoples who were known collectively as the Gaulish tribes. Gaul was militarily conquered in 58-51 BCE by the Roman legions under the command of General Julius Caesar, the area then became part of the Roman Empire. Over the next five centuries the two cultures intermingled, creating a hybridized Gallo-Roman culture, the Gaulish vernacular language disappeared step by step to be replaced everywhere by Vulgar Latin, which would later develop under Frankish influence into the French language in the North of France. With the decline of the Roman Empire in Western Europe, a federation of Germanic peoples entered the picture, the Franks were Germanic pagans who began to settle in northern Gaul as laeti, already during the Roman era. They continued to filter across the Rhine River from present-day Netherlands, at the beginning, they served in the Roman army and reached high commands. Their language is spoken as a kind of Dutch in northern France. Another Germanic people immigrated massively to Alsace, the Alamans, which explains the Alemannic German spoken there and they were competitors of the Franks, thats why it became at the Renaissance time the word for German in French, Allemand. By the early 6th century the Franks, led by the Merovingian king Clovis I and his sons, had consolidated their hold on much of modern-day France, the Vikings eventually intermarried with the local people, converting to Christianity in the process
French people
–
Louis XIV of France "The Sun-King"
French people
–
Row 1:
Joan of Arc
French people
–
Liberty Leading the People by Eugène Delacroix
French people
–
French people in Paris, August 1944
5.
African diaspora
–
Some scholars identify four circulatory phases of migration out of Africa. The term has also commonly been used to refer to recent emigration from Africa. Its constitutive act declares that it shall invite and encourage the participation of the African diaspora as an important part of our continent. The phrase African diaspora was coined during the 1990s, and gradually entered common usage during the 2000s, use of the term diaspora is modelled after the concept of the Jewish diaspora. Much of the African diaspora was dispersed throughout the Americas, Europe, beginning in the 15th century, Europeans captured or bought African slaves from West Africa and brought them to the Americas and Europe. The Atlantic Slave Trade ended in the 19th century, and the Arab Slave Trade ended in the middle of the 20th century, the dispersal through slave trading represents the largest forced migrations in human history. The economic effect on the African continent was devastating, as generations of people were taken from their communities and societies were disrupted. Some communities created by descendants of African slaves in the Americas, Europe, in other cases, blacks intermarried with non-blacks, and their descendants are blended into the local population. In the Americas, the confluence of multiple ethnic groups from around the world created multi-ethnic societies, in Central and South America, most people are descended from European, indigenous American, and African ancestry. In Brazil, where in 1888 nearly half the population was descended from African slaves, in the United States, there was historically a greater European colonial population in relation to African slaves, especially in the Northern Tier. There was considerable racial intermarriage in colonial Virginia, and other forms of racial mixing during the slavery, one of the results of this implementation was the loss of records of Indian-identified groups, who were classified only as black because of being mixed race. See Emigration from Africa for a treatment of voluntary population movements since the late 20th century. From the very onset of Spanish exploration and colonial activities in the Americas, juan Garrido was such an African conquistador. He crossed the Atlantic as a freedman in the 1510s and participated in the siege of Tenochtitlan, Africans had been present in Asia and Europe long before Columbuss travels. Its constitutive act declares that it shall invite and encourage the participation of the African diaspora as an important part of our continent. Their descendants are now found around the globe, but because of intermarriage they are not necessarily readily identifiable, a long line of scholars has challenged conventional views of the African diaspora as a mere dispersion of Black people. For them, it is a movement of liberation that opposes the implications of racialization and their position assumes that Africans and their descendants abroad struggle to reclaim power over their lives through voluntary migration, cultural production and political conceptions and practices. It also implies the presence of cultures of resistance with similar objectives throughout the global diaspora, from this view, the daily struggle against what they call the world-historical processes of racial colonization, capitalism, and western domination defines Blacks links to Africa
African diaspora
–
18th-century Peruvian painting showing a family of free Africans.
6.
Malbars
–
There have been people of South Indian origin on the island since the 17th century, and those were mostly from Pondicherry. Most were originally brought in as indentured labourers in the half of the 19th century and were mostly South Indian Tamils. Since then, the Malbars have developed some patterns of behaviour that are not quite those of their ancestors from Tamil Nadu nor those of the inhabitants of Réunion. Malbars is derived from the word Malabar, a term which was used often by the French and other Westerners to refer to all Southern Indians, including the Tamils, Malayalees, Telugus and Kannadigas. Indian workers came to Réunion from South India, mostly from French settlements in Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry, most of these immigrants were ritually low in the caste system. Hard living conditions at home were the reason behind their departure to La Réunion. The immigration of indentured workers from South India started in 1827, the French government in Réunion made the first Malbars become Christian. However, many Malbars were only nominally Christian, the Tamil language was lost to language shift. The Malbars desire to learn their ancestors culture, and started studying their language, recently many Malbars, particularly those of upper and middle classes, have started to become completely Hindu rather than nominally Christian. They also now wanted to translate their newly acquired civic and political rights into a gradual and increasing participation in local, a sit-in protest was organised to support Sri Lanka Tamils by the Réunionnais organisation TAMIL SANGAM presided by Dr Shanmugam. Hundreds of Tamils and non Tamils protested against the genocide of Sri Lanka Tamils, a genetic study has shown that the majority of the Indian origins of Malbars lie in the South-east of India. A significantly larger proportion comes from Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu, the study also showed that 15-20% of the origins of Malbars come from India. Less than 1% comes from Europe, jean-Paul Virapoullé is currently Mayor of Saint Andre and first Vice President of the General Council of Réunion
Malbars
–
A Tamil temple in Réunion.
7.
Malagasy people
–
The Malagasy are the ethnic group that forms nearly the entire population of Madagascar. This division has its roots in historical patterns of settlement, sometime later, a large number of settlers arrived from East Africa and established kingdoms along the relatively unpopulated coastlines. The difference in ethnic origins remains somewhat evident between the highland and coastal regions, in addition to the ethnic distinction between highland and coastal Malagasy, one may speak of a political distinction as well. Merina monarchs in the late 18th and early 19th century, the people united the Merina principalities. They later extended Merina control over the majority of the areas as well. The military resistance and eventual defeat of most of the coastal communities assured their subordinate position vis-à-vis the Merina-Betsileo alliance, the number of such ethnic groups in Madagascar has been debated. The practices that distinguished many of groups are less prevalent in the 21st century than they were in the past. But, many Malagasy are proud to proclaim their association with one or several of these groups as part of their own cultural identity, three Malagasy populations, Temoro, Vezo, and Mikea, have approx. 70% African ancestry and 30% Asian ancestry, in a 2010 study, the Polynesian motif frequency occurs varied among three ethnic groups, 50% in Merina,22 % in Vezo, and 13% in Mikea. There are two additional mutations found in all Polynesian motif carriers of Madagascar, hence named the Malagasy motif, most likely scenario is that Madagascar was settled approximately 1200 years ago by a very small group, which consist of approx. 30 women, where 28 of them have Island Southeast Asian descent and 2 of them have African descent, the closest Asian parental population of the Malagasy are the Banjarese and other South Kalimantan Dayak people of south east Borneo. Some Malagasy were among peoples taken captive and sold as slaves in the Atlantic slave trade of the 18th and 19th centuries, the best-known community of descendants are in Morropón, a city in northern Peru, the Afro-Peruvians of Malagasy descent number about 7,000. They call themselves Mangaches or Malgaches and this section of Piura is called la Mangachería. Malagasy slaves were transported during slavery times to Brazil and the US, but their number. It is likely most of these descendants are not aware of their Malagasy ancestry, robert Reed Church, an African-American businessman in Memphis, Tennessee in the 19th century, was said to be of Malagasy descent through his enslaved mother. Memories of Madagascar and Slavery in the Black Atlantic by Wendy Wilson-Fall,2015, Ohio University Press—Malagasy diaspora Sandra Evers, Gwyn Campbell, contest for Land in Madagascar, Environment, Ancestors and Development
Malagasy people
–
Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo
Malagasy people
–
Distribution of Malagasy ethnic groups.
Malagasy people
–
Eusèbe Jaojoby
Malagasy people
–
Ranavalona I
8.
Africa
–
Africa is the worlds second-largest and second-most-populous continent. At about 30.3 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earths total surface area and 20.4 % of its land area. With 1.2 billion people as of 2016, it accounts for about 16% of the human population. The continent includes Madagascar and various archipelagos and it contains 54 fully recognized sovereign states, nine territories and two de facto independent states with limited or no recognition. Africas population is the youngest amongst all the continents, the age in 2012 was 19.7. Algeria is Africas largest country by area, and Nigeria by population, afarensis, Homo erectus, H. habilis and H. ergaster – with the earliest Homo sapiens found in Ethiopia being dated to circa 200,000 years ago. Africa straddles the equator and encompasses numerous climate areas, it is the continent to stretch from the northern temperate to southern temperate zones. Africa hosts a diversity of ethnicities, cultures and languages. In the late 19th century European countries colonized most of Africa, Africa also varies greatly with regard to environments, economics, historical ties and government systems. However, most present states in Africa originate from a process of decolonization in the 20th century, afri was a Latin name used to refer to the inhabitants of Africa, which in its widest sense referred to all lands south of the Mediterranean. This name seems to have referred to a native Libyan tribe. The name is connected with Hebrew or Phoenician ʿafar dust. The same word may be found in the name of the Banu Ifran from Algeria and Tripolitania, under Roman rule, Carthage became the capital of the province of Africa Proconsularis, which also included the coastal part of modern Libya. The Latin suffix -ica can sometimes be used to denote a land, the later Muslim kingdom of Ifriqiya, modern-day Tunisia, also preserved a form of the name. According to the Romans, Africa lay to the west of Egypt, while Asia was used to refer to Anatolia, as Europeans came to understand the real extent of the continent, the idea of Africa expanded with their knowledge. 25,4, whose descendants, he claimed, had invaded Libya, isidore of Seville in Etymologiae XIV.5.2. Suggests Africa comes from the Latin aprica, meaning sunny, massey, in 1881, stated that Africa is derived from the Egyptian af-rui-ka, meaning to turn toward the opening of the Ka. The Ka is the double of every person and the opening of the Ka refers to a womb or birthplace
Africa
–
Map of Africa
Africa
–
Africa
Africa
–
Lucy, an
Australopithecus afarensis skeleton discovered on November 24, 1974, in the
Awash Valley of
Ethiopia 's
Afar Depression
Africa
–
Colossal statues of
Ramesses II at
Abu Simbel, Egypt, date from around 1400 BC.
9.
Madagascar
–
Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, and previously known as the Malagasy Republic, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of Southeast Africa. The nation comprises the island of Madagascar, and numerous smaller peripheral islands, consequently, Madagascar is a biodiversity hotspot, over 90% of its wildlife is found nowhere else on Earth. The islands diverse ecosystems and unique wildlife are threatened by the encroachment of the growing human population. The first archaeological evidence for human foraging on Madagascar dates to 2000 BC, human settlement of Madagascar occurred between 350 BC and AD550 by Austronesian peoples arriving on outrigger canoes from Borneo. These were joined around AD1000 by Bantu migrants crossing the Mozambique Channel from East Africa, other groups continued to settle on Madagascar over time, each one making lasting contributions to Malagasy cultural life. The Malagasy ethnic group is divided into 18 or more sub-groups of which the largest are the Merina of the central highlands. Until the late 18th century, the island of Madagascar was ruled by an assortment of shifting sociopolitical alliances. Beginning in the early 19th century, most of the island was united and ruled as the Kingdom of Madagascar by a series of Merina nobles, the monarchy collapsed in 1897 when the island was absorbed into the French colonial empire, from which the island gained independence in 1960. The autonomous state of Madagascar has since undergone four major constitutional periods, since 1992, the nation has officially been governed as a constitutional democracy from its capital at Antananarivo. However, in an uprising in 2009, president Marc Ravalomanana was made to resign. Constitutional governance was restored in January 2014, when Hery Rajaonarimampianina was named president following a 2013 election deemed fair, Madagascar is a member of the United Nations, the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie and the Southern African Development Community. Madagascar belongs to the group of least developed countries, according to the United Nations, Malagasy and French are both official languages of the state. The majority of the population adheres to traditional beliefs, Christianity, ecotourism and agriculture, paired with greater investments in education, health, and private enterprise, are key elements of Madagascars development strategy. As of 2017, the economy has been weakened by the 2009-2013 political crisis, in the Malagasy language, the island of Madagascar is called Madagasikara and its people are referred to as Malagasy. The islands appellation Madagascar is not of origin, but rather was popularized in the Middle Ages by Europeans. On St. Laurences Day in 1500, Portuguese explorer Diogo Dias landed on the island, polos name was preferred and popularized on Renaissance maps. At 592,800 square kilometres, Madagascar is the worlds 47th largest country, the country lies mostly between latitudes 12°S and 26°S, and longitudes 43°E and 51°E. Neighboring islands include the French territory of Réunion and the country of Mauritius to the east, as well as the state of Comoros, the nearest mainland state is Mozambique, located to the west
Madagascar
–
The terraced paddy fields of the
central highlands of Madagascar (left) give way to tropical rainforest along the eastern coast (center) bordered by the shores of the
Indian Ocean (right).
Madagascar
–
Flag
Madagascar
Madagascar
–
The grassy plains that dominate the western landscape are dotted with stony massifs (left), patches of deciduous forest, and
baobab trees (center), while the south is characterized by desert and
spiny forests (right).
10.
France
–
France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
France
–
One of the
Lascaux paintings: a horse –
Dordogne, approximately 18,000 BC
France
–
Flag
France
–
The
Maison Carrée was a temple of the
Gallo-Roman city of Nemausus (present-day
Nîmes) and is one of the best preserved vestiges of the
Roman Empire.
France
–
With
Clovis ' conversion to Catholicism in 498, the
Frankish monarchy,
elective and
secular until then, became
hereditary and of
divine right.
11.
Exclusive Economic Zone
–
It stretches from the baseline out to 200 nautical miles from its coast. In colloquial usage, the term may include the continental shelf, the term does not include either the territorial sea or the continental shelf beyond the 200 nmi limit. The surface waters, as can be seen in the map, are international waters, generally, a states exclusive economic zone is an area beyond and adjacent to the territorial sea, extending seaward to a distance of no more than 200 nautical miles out from its coastal baseline. The exception to this occurs when exclusive economic zones would overlap. When an overlap occurs, it is up to the states to delineate the actual maritime boundary, generally, any point within an overlapping area defaults to the nearest state. A states exclusive economic zone starts at the edge of its territorial sea. The exclusive economic zone stretches much further into sea than the territorial waters, thus, the exclusive economic zones includes the contiguous zone. The idea of allotting nations EEZs to give more control of maritime affairs outside territorial limits gained acceptance in the late 20th century. Initially, a countrys sovereign territorial waters extended 3 nautical miles or 6 km beyond the shore, in modern times, a countrys sovereign territorial waters extend to 12 nautical miles beyond the shore. One of the first assertions of exclusive jurisdiction beyond the territorial seas was made by the United States in the Truman Proclamation of September 28,1945. The exact extent of economic zones is a common source of conflicts between states over marine waters. One well-known example of such dispute was the Cod Wars between the United Kingdom and Iceland, Norway and Russia dispute both territorial sea and EEZ with regard to the Svalbard archipelago as it affects Russias EEZ due to its unique treaty status. A treaty was agreed in principle in April 2010 between the two states and subsequently ratified, resolving this demarcation dispute, the agreement was signed in Murmansk on September 15,2010. The South China Sea is the site of a dispute between several neighboring nations. Croatias ZERP in the Adriatic Sea caused friction with Italy and Slovenia, a wedge-shaped section of the Beaufort Sea is disputed between Canada and the United States, as the area reportedly contains substantial oil reserves. France claims a portion of Canadas EEZ for Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon based on a new definition of the continental shelf, Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon is entirely surrounded by Canadas EEZ. Mauritius claims EEZ for Tromelin from France and EEZ for British Indian Ocean Territory from the UK, Northern Cyprus claims a portion of Cyprus EEZ overlaps with that of Northern Cyprus in the south/southeastern part of the Cyprus island. Turkey claims a portion of Cypruss EEZ overlaps with its own EEZ, Lebanon claims that the agreement between Cyprus and Israel overlapped its own EEZ
Exclusive Economic Zone
–
The
EEZ border between
Northern Cyprus and
Turkey
Exclusive Economic Zone
–
Sea areas in international rights
Exclusive Economic Zone
–
Fisheries science
Exclusive Economic Zone
–
Management
12.
Somali plate
–
The Somali Plate, or Somalian Plate, is a minor tectonic plate, which straddles the equator in the eastern hemisphere. The Somali Plate formed between 60 million years ago and 10 million years ago by the rifting of the African Plate along the East African Rift. Because the East Africa Rift separates the continent into two plates, the African Plate west of the rift is sometimes referred to as the Nubian Plate, the northern boundary is the Aden Ridge along the coast of Saudi Arabia. The eastern boundary is the Central Indian Ridge, the portion of which is also known as the Carlsberg Ridge. The southern boundary is the Southwest Indian Ridge, dating of volcanism in the Comoro Islands and northern Madagascar volcanoes indicates a rate of motion to the east over a hotspot of approximately 45 mm/yr. Emerick, C. M.1985, Age progressive volcanism in the Comores Archipelago and Northern Madagascar, corvallis, PhD Thesis, Abstract Chorowicz, Jean
Somali plate
–
Somali Plate
13.
Climate
–
Climate is the statistics of weather, usually over a 30-year interval. Climate differs from weather, in that weather only describes the conditions of these variables in a given region. A regions climate is generated by the system, which has five components, atmosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, lithosphere. The climate of a location is affected by its latitude, terrain, climates can be classified according to the average and the typical ranges of different variables, most commonly temperature and precipitation. The most commonly used classification scheme was the Köppen climate classification, the Bergeron and Spatial Synoptic Classification systems focus on the origin of air masses that define the climate of a region. Paleoclimatology is the study of ancient climates, Climate models are mathematical models of past, present and future climates. Climate change may occur long and short timescales from a variety of factors. For example, a 3°C change in mean annual temperature corresponds to a shift in isotherms of approximately 300–400 km in latitude or 500 m in elevation, therefore, species are expected to move upwards in elevation or towards the poles in latitude in response to shifting climate zones. Climate is commonly defined as the weather averaged over a long period, the standard averaging period is 30 years, but other periods may be used depending on the purpose. Climate also includes statistics other than the average, such as the magnitudes of day-to-day or year-to-year variations, the classical period is 30 years, as defined by the World Meteorological Organization. These quantities are most often surface variables such as temperature, precipitation, Climate in a wider sense is the state, including a statistical description, of the climate system. The World Meteorological Organization describes climate normals as reference points used by climatologists to compare current climatological trends to that of the past or what is considered normal, a Normal is defined as the arithmetic average of a climate element over a 30-year period. A30 year period is used, as it is enough to filter out any interannual variation or anomalies. The WMO originated from the International Meteorological Organization which set up a commission for climatology in 1929. At its 1934 Wiesbaden meeting the commission designated the thirty-year period from 1901 to 1930 as the reference time frame for climatological standard normals. In 1982 the WMO agreed to update climate normals, and in these were completed on the basis of climate data from 1 January 1961 to 31 December 1990. The difference between climate and weather is usefully summarized by the popular phrase Climate is what you expect, weather is what you get. Over historical time spans there are a number of nearly constant variables that determine climate, including latitude, altitude, proportion of land to water and these change only over periods of millions of years due to processes such as plate tectonics
Climate
–
Atmospheric sciences
Climate
–
The world’s cloudy and sunny spots. NASA Earth Observatory map using data collected between July 2002 and April 2015.
14.
Tropical climate
–
A tropical climate in the Köppen climate classification it is a non-arid climate in which all twelve months have mean temperatures of at least 18 °C. In tropical climates there is only two seasons, a wet season and a dry season. Tropical climates are frost-free and changes in the angle are small. In tropical climates temperature remains constant throughout the year. Within the tropical climate there are distinct varieties based on precipitation, In the Tropical rainforest climate. These climates usually occur within 5–10° latitude of the equator, in some eastern coast areas, they may extend to as much as over 26° away from the equator. This climate is dominated by the doldrums Low Pressure System all year round and it is dominated by the monsoon winds which change direction according to the seasons. This climate has a driest month with less than 60 millimetres. Examples, Southern part of Arabian Peninsula, mountaintops within the tropics, e. g. Mount Kenya, can be cold. However, like lowlands in the tropics, there is seasonal variation of temperature. Because of the effect of sun angle on climate most areas within the tropics are hot year-round, the ITCZ is shown, for July average, in the graphic. Areas of ascending air have heavy rainfall, areas of descending air are dry, the ITCZ somewhat follows the solar equator throughout the year, but with geographical variations, and in some areas is heavily influenced by local large-scale monsoons
Tropical climate
–
Beach in
Naples, Florida lined with
coconut trees is an example of a tropical climate. Although it lies in the
subtropics over a hundred miles north of the
tropic of cancer, the warm waters of the
Gulf of Mexico give it a monthly mean temperature never under 18 °C (64 °F), classifying its climate as tropical.
Tropical climate
–
Af—Tropical rainforest climate.
15.
Terrain
–
Terrain or relief is the vertical and horizontal dimension of the land surface. When relief is described underwater, the term bathymetry is used, the Latin Word Terra, is Earth. Terrain is used as a term in physical geography, referring to the lay of the land. This is usually expressed in terms of the elevation, slope, terrain affects surface water flow and distribution. Over a large area, it can affect weather and climate patterns, complex arrays of relief data are used as input parameters for hydrology transport models to allow prediction of river water quality. Understanding terrain also supports soil conservation, especially in agriculture, contour ploughing is an established practice enabling sustainable agriculture on sloping land, it is the practice of ploughing along lines of equal elevation instead of up and down a slope. Terrain is militarily critical because it determines the ability of armed forces to take and hold areas, an understanding of terrain is basic to both defensive and offensive strategy. Terrain is important in determining weather patterns, two areas geographically close to each other may differ radically in precipitation levels or timing because of elevation differences or a rain shadow effect. Precise knowledge of terrain is vital in aviation, especially for low-flying routes and maneuvers, terrain will also affect range and performance of radars and terrestrial radio navigation systems. Furthermore, a hilly or mountainous terrain can strongly impact the implementation of a new aerodrome, relief refers specifically to the quantitative measurement of vertical elevation change in a landscape. It is the difference between maximum and minimum elevations within an area, usually of limited extent. The relief of a landscape can change with the size of the area over which it is measured, making the definition of the scale over which it is measured very important. Because it is related to the slope of surfaces within the area of interest and to the gradient of any streams present, the relief of a landscape is a useful metric in the study of the Earths surface. Relief energy, which may be defined inter alia as the height range in a regular grid, is essentially an indication of the ruggedness or relative height of the terrain. Geomorphology is in part the study of the formation of terrain or topography. Terrain is formed by intersecting processes, Geological processes, Migration of tectonic plates, faulting and folding, volcanic eruptions, erosional processes, water and wind erosion, landslides. Tectonic processes such as orogenies cause land to be elevated, land surface parameters are quantitative measures of various morphometric properties of a surface. The most common examples are used to derive slope or aspect of a terrain or curvatures at each location and these measures can also be used to derive hydrological parameters that reflect flow/erosion processes
Terrain
–
A shaded and colored image (i.e. terrain is enhanced) of varied terrain from the
Shuttle Radar Topography Mission. This shows
elevation model of New Zealand's
Alpine Fault running about 500 km (300 mi) long. The
escarpment is flanked by a vast chain of hills between the
fault and the
mountains of
New Zealand 's
Southern Alps. Northeast is towards the top.
Terrain
–
Present-day
Earth altimetry and
bathymetry. Data from the
National Geophysical Data Center 's TerrainBase Digital Terrain Model.
16.
Hydropower
–
Hydropower or water power is power derived from the energy of falling water or fast running water, which may be harnessed for useful purposes. A trompe, which compressed air from falling water, is sometimes used to power other machinery at a distance. In the late 19th century, hydropower became a source for generating electricity, cragside in Northumberland was the first house powered by hydroelectricity in 1878 and the first commercial hydroelectric power plant was built at Niagara Falls in 1879. In 1881, street lamps in the city of Niagara Falls were powered by hydropower, since the early 20th century, the term has been used almost exclusively in conjunction with the modern development of hydroelectric power. In China and the rest of the Far East, hydraulically operated pot wheel pumps raised water into crop or irrigation canals, the power of a wave of water released from a tank was used for extraction of metal ores in a method known as hushing. The method was first used at the Dolaucothi Gold Mines in Wales from 75 AD onwards, hushing was also widely used in Britain in the Medieval and later periods to extract lead and tin ores. It later evolved into hydraulic mining when used during the California Gold Rush and these include an endless belt with jugs attached, a cow-powered shadoof, and a reciprocating device with hinged valves. In 1753, French engineer Bernard Forest de Bélidor published Architecture Hydraulique which described vertical-, the growing demand for the Industrial Revolution would drive development as well. At the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in Britain, water was the source of power for new inventions such as Richard Arkwrights water frame. In the 1830s, at the peak in US canal-building, hydropower provided the energy to transport barge traffic up. Technological advances had moved the water wheel into an enclosed turbine or water motor. Francis, while working as engineer of Lowells Locks and Canals company. He applied scientific principles and testing methods to the problem of turbine design and his mathematical and graphical calculation methods allowed confident design of high efficiency turbines to exactly match a sites specific flow conditions. The Francis reaction turbine is still in use today. Hydraulic power networks used pipes to carrying pressurized water and transmit power from the source to end users. The power source was normally a head of water, which could also be assisted by a pump and these were extensive in Victorian cities in the United Kingdom. A hydraulic power network was developed in Geneva, Switzerland. The world-famous Jet dEau was originally designed as the relief valve for the network
Hydropower
–
The
Three Gorges Dam in China; the hydroelectric dam is the world's largest power station by
installed capacity.
Hydropower
–
Saint Anthony Falls,
United States; hydropower was used here to mill flour.
Hydropower
–
Kaptai Dam located in
Bangladesh
Hydropower
–
Directly water-powered ore mill, late 19th century
17.
Irrigation
–
Irrigation is the method in which a controlled amount of water is supplied to plants at regular intervals for agriculture. It is used to assist in the growing of crops, maintenance of landscapes. Additionally, irrigation also has a few uses in crop production. In contrast, agriculture that only on direct rainfall is referred to as rain-fed or dry land farming. Irrigation systems are used for dust suppression, disposal of sewage. Irrigation is often studied together with drainage, which is the natural or artificial removal of surface and sub-surface water from a given area, Irrigation has been a central feature of agriculture for over 5,000 years and is the product of many cultures. Historically, it was the basis for economies and societies across the globe, archaeological investigation has found evidence of irrigation where the natural rainfall was insufficient to support crops for rainfed agriculture. Ancient Egyptians practiced Basin irrigation using the flooding of the Nile to inundate land plots which had surrounded by dykes. The flood water was held until the sediment had settled before the surplus was returned to the watercourse. The Ancient Nubians developed a form of irrigation by using a device called a sakia. Irrigation began in Nubia some time between the third and second millennium BCE and it largely depended upon the flood waters that would flow through the Nile River and other rivers in what is now the Sudan. In sub-Saharan Africa irrigation reached the Niger River region cultures and civilizations by the first or second millennium BCE and was based on wet season flooding, terrace irrigation is evidenced in pre-Columbian America, early Syria, India, and China. These canals are the earliest record of irrigation in the New World, traces of a canal possibly dating from the 5th millennium BCE were found under the 4th millennium canal. Large scale agriculture was practiced and a network of canals was used for the purpose of irrigation. Ancient Persia as far back as the 6th millennium BCE, where barley was grown in areas where the rainfall was insufficient to support such a crop. The Qanats, developed in ancient Persia in about 800 BCE, are among the oldest known irrigation methods still in use today and they are now found in Asia, the Middle East and North Africa. The system comprises a network of wells and gently sloping tunnels driven into the sides of cliffs. The noria, a wheel with clay pots around the rim powered by the flow of the stream, was first brought into use at about this time
Irrigation
–
Irrigation canal near
Channagiri,
Davangere District,
India
Irrigation
–
Irrigation in a field in New Jersey, United States
Irrigation
–
An
irrigation sprinkler watering a lawn
Irrigation
–
Irrigation canal in
Osmaniye,
Turkey
18.
Piton de la Fournaise
–
Piton de la Fournaise, Peak of the Furnace is a shield volcano on the eastern side of Réunion island in the Indian Ocean. It is currently one of the most active volcanoes in the world, along with Kīlauea in the Hawaiian Islands, Stromboli, Etna, a previous eruption began in August 2006 and ended in January 2007. The volcano erupted again in February 2007, on 21 September 2008, on 9 December 2010, the most recent eruption began on 31 January 2017. The volcano is located within Réunion National Park, a World Heritage site, Piton de la Fournaise is often known locally as le Volcan, it is a major tourist attraction on Réunion island. The top part of the volcano is occupied by the Enclos Fouqué, high cliffs known as remparts form the calderas rim. The caldera is breached to the southeast into the sea and it is unstable and is in the initial stages of failure. It will eventually collapse into the Indian Ocean, whether it will generate a so-called megatsunami is controversial. There is evidence on the flanks and abyssal plain of earlier failures. The lower slopes are known as the Grand Brûlé, most volcanic eruptions are confined to the caldera. Inside the caldera is a 400 meter high lava shield known as Dolomieu, atop the lava shield are Bory Crater and Dolomieu Crater, named for French geologist Déodat Gratet de Dolomieu, which is by far the wider of the two. Many craters and spatter cones can be found inside the caldera, at the beginning of the path that leads to the summit, there lies a noticeable small crater known as Formica Leo, named for its similar shape to the pitfall built by the antlion. Some of the beaches there are of a colour, because of the olivine sand resulting from picrite basalt lavas. Iridium is being ejected through these vents, there were three episodes of caldera collapses 250,000,65,000 and 5,000 years ago. The volcano was formed by the Réunion hotspot, which is believed to have been active for the past 66 million years, there is evidence for explosive eruptions in the past. One explosive eruption about 4,700 years ago may have had a VEI of 5, most eruptions of Piton de la Fournaise are of the Hawaiian style, fluid basaltic lava flowing out with fire fountaining at the vent. Lava flows crossing the Grand Brûlé occasionally reach the sea, with spectacular results, Piton de la Fournaise is one of the most active volcanoes in the world, with more than 150 recorded eruptions since the 17th century. Eruptions within the caldera do not cause much devastation, because the caldera is uninhabited, lava flows are generally confined to the caldera. However, lava flows have been known to cross the N2 highway, in the early 2000s, the highway thus was destroyed once or more times a year, road engineering services then wait for the lava to cool off and build another stretch of road
Piton de la Fournaise
–
Piton de la Fournaise
Piton de la Fournaise
–
The erupting lava met the water of the Indian Ocean during the August 2004 eruption.
Piton de la Fournaise
–
2004 eruption
19.
Volcano
–
A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. Earths volcanoes occur because its crust is broken into 17 major, therefore, on Earth, volcanoes are generally found where tectonic plates are diverging or converging. This type of volcanism falls under the umbrella of plate hypothesis volcanism, Volcanism away from plate boundaries has also been explained as mantle plumes. These so-called hotspots, for example Hawaii, are postulated to arise from upwelling diapirs with magma from the boundary,3,000 km deep in the Earth. Volcanoes are usually not created where two plates slide past one another. Erupting volcanoes can pose hazards, not only in the immediate vicinity of the eruption. Historically, so-called volcanic winters have caused catastrophic famines, the word volcano is derived from the name of Vulcano, a volcanic island in the Aeolian Islands of Italy whose name in turn comes from Vulcan, the god of fire in Roman mythology. The study of volcanoes is called volcanology, sometimes spelled vulcanology, at the mid-oceanic ridges, two tectonic plates diverge from one another as new oceanic crust is formed by the cooling and solidifying of hot molten rock. Most divergent plate boundaries are at the bottom of the oceans, therefore, most volcanic activity is submarine, black smokers are evidence of this kind of volcanic activity. Where the mid-oceanic ridge is above sea-level, volcanic islands are formed, for example, subduction zones are places where two plates, usually an oceanic plate and a continental plate, collide. In this case, the plate subducts, or submerges under the continental plate forming a deep ocean trench just offshore. In a process called flux melting, water released from the subducting plate lowers the temperature of the overlying mantle wedge. This magma tends to be very viscous due to its high content, so it often does not reach the surface. When it does reach the surface, a volcano is formed, typical examples of this kind of volcano are Mount Etna and the volcanoes in the Pacific Ring of Fire. Because tectonic plates move across them, each volcano becomes dormant and is eventually re-formed as the plate advances over the postulated plume and this theory is currently under criticism, however. The most common perception of a volcano is of a mountain, spewing lava and poisonous gases from a crater at its summit, however. The features of volcanoes are more complicated and their structure. Some volcanoes have rugged peaks formed by lava domes rather than a summit crater while others have features such as massive plateaus
Volcano
–
Cleveland Volcano in the
Aleutian Islands of
Alaska photographed from the
International Space Station, May 2006
Volcano
–
Ash plumes reached a height of 19 kilometres (12 mi) during the climactic
explosive eruption at
Mount Pinatubo, Philippines in 1991.
Volcano
–
A 2007 eruptive column at
Mount Etna producing volcanic ash, pumice and lava bombs
Volcano
–
Ubinas Volcano
20.
Geography of Africa
–
Africa is a continent comprising 63 political territories, representing the largest of the great southward projections from the main mass of Earths surface. Within its regular outline, it comprises an area of 30,368,609 km2 and its highest mountain is Mount Kilimanjaro, its largest lake is Lake Victoria and its longest river is the Nile. Separated from Europe by the Mediterranean Sea and from much of Asia by the Red Sea, for geopolitical purposes, the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt – east of the Suez Canal – is often considered part of Africa. Africa is thus composed of two segments at right angles, the northern running from east to west, and the southern from north to south. Moderately elevated tablelands are thus the feature of the continent, though the surface of these is broken by higher peaks. As a general rule, the higher tablelands lie to the east and south, while a progressive diminution in altitude towards the west and north is observable. Africa can be divided into a number of zones, The coastal plains — often fringed seawards by mangrove swamps — never stretching far from the coast. Recent alluvial flats are found chiefly in the delta of the important rivers. Elsewhere, the coastal lowlands form the lowest steps of the system of terraces that constitutes the ascent to the inner plateaus. The Atlas range — orthographically distinct from the rest of the continent, being unconnected with and separated from the south by a depressed, the high southern and eastern plateaus, rarely falling below 600 m, have a mean elevation of about 1,000 m. The South African Plateau, as far as about 12° S, is bounded east, west, on this account South Africa has a general resemblance to an inverted saucer. Due south the rim is formed by three parallel steps with level ground between them. The largest of these areas, the Great Karoo, is a dry, barren region. The South African Plateau is connected towards East African plateau, with probably a greater average elevation. The most striking feature is the existence of two lines of depression, due largely to the subsidence of whole segments of the Earths crust. Towards the south the two lines converge and give place to one great valley, the part of which is less distinctly due to rifting. Associated with these great valleys are a number of volcanic peaks, hardly less important is the Ruwenzori Range, over 5,060 m, which lies east of the western trough. Other volcanic peaks rise from the floor of the valleys, some of the Kirunga group, north of Lake Kivu and this could cause most of the cities and states to be flooded with lava and ash
Geography of Africa
–
Satellite view of Africa
Geography of Africa
–
Contents
Geography of Africa
–
Westernmost Point (mainland) —
Pointe des Almadies
21.
Sovereign state
–
A sovereign state is, in international law, a nonphysical juridical entity that is represented by one centralized government that has sovereignty over a geographic area. International law defines sovereign states as having a permanent population, defined territory, one government, and it is also normally understood that a sovereign state is neither dependent on nor subjected to any other power or state. The existence or disappearance of a state is a question of fact, States came into existence as people gradually transferred their allegiance from an individual sovereign to an intangible but territorial political entity, of the state. States are but one of political orders that emerged from feudal Europe, others being city states, leagues. Westphalian sovereignty is the concept of sovereignty based on territoriality. It is a system of states, multinational corporations. Sovereignty is a term that is frequently misused and that position was reflected and constituted in the notion that their sovereignty was either completely lacking, or at least of an inferior character when compared to that of civilised people. Lassa Oppenheim said There exists perhaps no conception the meaning of which is more controversial than that of sovereignty. It is a fact that this conception, from the moment when it was introduced into political science until the present day, has never had a meaning which was universally agreed upon. In the opinion of H. V. Evatt of the High Court of Australia, sovereignty is neither a question of fact, nor a question of law, but a question that does not arise at all. The right of nations to determine their own status and exercise permanent sovereignty within the limits of their territorial jurisdictions is widely recognized. The Westphalian model of sovereignty has increasingly come under fire from the non-west as a system imposed solely by Western Colonialism. What this model did was make religion a subordinate to politics and this system does not fit in the Islamic world because concepts such as separation of church and state and individual conscience are not recognised in the Islamic religion as social systems. Nation denotes a people who are believed to or deemed to share common customs, religion, language, origins, however, the adjectives national and international are frequently used to refer to matters pertaining to what are strictly sovereign states, as in national capital, international law. State refers to the set of governing and supportive institutions that have sovereignty over a definite territory, State recognition signifies the decision of a sovereign state to treat another entity as also being a sovereign state. Recognition can be expressed or implied and is usually retroactive in its effects. It does not necessarily signify a desire to establish or maintain diplomatic relations, There is no definition that is binding on all the members of the community of nations on the criteria for statehood. In actual practice, the criteria are mainly political, not legal, in international law, however, there are several theories of when a state should be recognised as sovereign
Sovereign state
–
Member states of the
United Nations, all of which are sovereign states, though not all sovereign states are necessarily members
22.
Geography of Algeria
–
Algeria comprises 2,381,741 square kilometers of land, more than four-fifths of which is desert, in northern Africa, between Morocco and Tunisia. It is the largest country in Africa and its Arabic name, Al Jazair, derives from the name of the capital Algiers, after the small islands formerly found in its harbor. It has a long Mediterranean coastline, most of which is properly termed the Alboran Sea. The northern portion, an area of mountains, valleys, and this area includes Morocco, Tunisia, and the northwestern portion of Libya known historically as Tripolitania. Land boundaries, Total,6,764 km Border countries, Libya 989 km, Mali 1,359 km, Mauritania 460 km, Morocco 1,559 km, Niger 951 km, Tunisia 1,034 km, Western Sahara 41 km. Area – comparative, roughly 3.5 times the size of Texas, stretching more than 600 kilometers eastward from the Moroccan border, the high plateau area consist of undulating, steppe-like plains lying between the Tell and Saharan Atlas ranges. The elevation averages between 1, 100–1,300 metres in elevation in the west, dropping to 400 metres in the east, the climate is so dry that these plains are sometimes thought of as part of the Sahara. The plateau area is covered by alluvial debris formed when the mountains eroded, an occasional ridge projects through the alluvial cover to interrupt the monotony of the landscape. The mountains, which receive more rainfall than those of the High Plateaus, eastern Algeria consists of a massive area extensively dissected into mountains, plains, and basins. It differs from the portion of the country in that its prominent topographic features do not parallel the coast. In its southern sector, the cliffs and long ridges of the Aurès Mountains create an almost impenetrable refuge that has played an important part in the history of the Maghrib since Roman times. Near the northern coast, the Petite Kabylie Mountains are separated from the Grande Kabylie range at the limits of the Tell by the Soummam River. The coast is mountainous in the far eastern part of the country, but limited plains provide hinterlands for the port cities of Bejaïa, Skikda. Near Constantine, salt marshes offer seasonal grazing grounds to seminomadic sheep herders, the Algerian portion of the Sahara extends south of the Saharan Atlas for 1,500 kilometres to the Niger and Mali frontiers. The desert is a place, scarcely considered an integral part of the country. Far from being covered wholly by sweeps of sand, however, immense areas of sand dunes called areg occupy about one-quarter of the territory. The largest such region is the Grand Erg Oriental, where enormous dunes two to five metres high are spaced about 40 metres apart. Surrounding the Ahaggar are sandstone plateaus, cut deep gorges by ancient rivers
Geography of Algeria
–
Satellite Map of Algeria
Geography of Algeria
–
Geography of Algeria
Geography of Algeria
–
Shaded relief map of Algeria with settlements and roads.
Geography of Algeria
–
Kabylie's hills
23.
Geography of Angola
–
Angola is located on the western Atlantic Coast of southern Africa between Namibia and the Republic of the Congo. It also is bordered by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the country consists of a sparsely watered and somewhat sterile coastal plain extending inland for a distance varying from 50 to 160 km. Slightly inland and parallel to the coast is a belt of hills and mountains and behind those a large plateau. The rock formations of Angola are met with in three regions, the littoral zone, the median zone formed by a series of hills more or less parallel with the coast. The central plateau consists of ancient crystalline rocks with granites overlain by sandstones and conglomerates of Paleozoic age. The outcrops are largely hidden under laterite, the median zone is composed largely of crystalline rocks with granites and some Palaeozoic unfossiliferous rocks. The littoral zone contains the only fossiliferous strata and these are of Tertiary and Cretaceous ages, the latter rocks resting on a reddish sandstone of older date. The Cretaceous rocks of the Dombe Grande region are of Albian age, the beds containing Schloenbachia inflata are referable to the Gault. Rocks of Tertiary age are met with at Dombe Grande, Namibe, the sandstones with gypsum, copper and sulfur of Dombe are doubtfully considered to be of Triassic age. Recent eruptive rocks, mainly basalts, form a line of hills almost bare of vegetation between Benguela and Namibe, nepheline basalts and liparites occur at Dombe Grande. The presence of gum copal in considerable quantities in the rocks is characteristic of certain regions. The diamond mine of Catoca preserved unexpected ancient dinosaur, mammal, the coastal strip is tempered by the cool Benguela Current, resulting in a climate similar to coastal Peru or Baja California. It is semiarid in the South and along the coast to Luanda, there is a short rainy season lasting from February to April. Summers are hot and dry, while winters are mild, the north has a cool, dry season. The climate is influenced by the prevailing winds, which arc W. S. W. and S. S. W. Two seasons are distinguished - the cool, from June to September, the heaviest rainfall occurs in April, and is accompanied by violent storms. The far north and Cabinda enjoy rain throughout much of the year, the highest point in Angola is Morro de Môco, at 2,620 m. Elevations generally range from 910 to 1,830 m, the coast is for the most part flat, with occasional low cliffs and bluffs of red sandstone
Geography of Angola
–
Geography of Angola
Geography of Angola
–
Satellite image of Angola
24.
Geography of Benin
–
Benin, a narrow, key-shaped, north-south strip of land in West Africa, lies between the Equator and the Tropic of Cancer. With an area of 112,622 km2, it is bigger than the nation of Bulgaria. Benin extends from the Niger River in the north to the Atlantic Ocean in the south, although the coastline measures 121 km, the country measures about 325 km at its widest point. It is one of the countries in West Africa, about one eighth the size of Nigeria. It is, however, twice as large as Togo, its neighbor to the west, a relief map of Benin shows that it has little variation in elevation, averaging 200 m in elevation. The country can be divided into four areas from the south to the north. The low-lying, sandy, coastal plain which has a highest elevation of 10 m is and it is marshy and dotted with lakes and lagoons connected to the ocean. Then an area of flat lands dotted with rocky hills whose altitude seldom reaches 400 m extends around Nikki, finally, the Atacora mountain range extends along the northwest border and into Togo with the highest point, Mont Sokbaro, at 658 m. Benin has fields lying fallow, mangroves, and remnants of large sacred forests, in the rest of the country, the savanna is covered with thorny scrubs and dotted with huge baobab trees. Some forests line the banks of rivers, in the north and the northwest of Benin the Reserve du W du Niger and Pendjari National Park attract tourists eager to see elephants, lions, antelopes, hippos and monkeys. Previously Benin offered habitat for the painted hunting dog, Lycaon pictus, although this canid is considered to have been extirpated from Benin. Benins climate is hot and humid, annual rainfall in the coastal area averages 1,360 mm, not particularly high for coastal West Africa. Benin has two rainy and two dry seasons, the principal rainy season is from April to late July, with a shorter less intense rainy period from late September to November. The main dry season is from December to April, with a short dry season from late July to early September. Temperatures and humidity are high along the tropical coast, in Cotonou, the average maximum temperature is 31 °C, the minimum is 24 °C. Variations in temperature increase when moving north through a savanna and plateau toward the Sahel, a dry wind from the Sahara called the harmattan blows from December to March. Grass dries up, the vegetation turns reddish brown, and a veil of fine dust hangs over the country and it is also the season when farmers burn brush in the fields. This is a list of the points of Benin, the points that are farther north, south
Geography of Benin
25.
Geography of Botswana
–
Botswana is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa, north of South Africa. Botswana occupies an area of 581,730 square kilometres, of which 566,730 km2 are land, much of the population of Botswana is concentrated in the eastern part of the country. Sunshine totals are all year round although winter is the sunniest period. The whole country is windy and dusty during the dry season, Botswana is semi-arid, due to the short rain season. However, the high altitude of the country and its continental situation gives it a subtropical climate. The country is remote from moisture-laden air flows for most of the year, the dry season lasts from April to October in the south and to November in the north where, however, rainfall totals are higher. The south of the country is most exposed to cold winds during the period when average temperatures are around 14 °C. The whole country has hot summers with temperatures around 26 °C. Sunshine totals are all year round although winter is the sunniest period. The whole country is windy and dusty during the dry season, the land is predominantly flat to gently undulating tableland, although there is some hilly country, where mining is carried out. The Kalahari Desert is in the central and the southwest, the Okavango Delta, one of the worlds largest inland deltas, is in the northwest and the Makgadikgadi Pans, a large salt pan lies in the north-central area. Botswanas lowest elevation point is at the junction of the Limpopo and Shashe Rivers, the highest point is Monalanong Hill, at 1,494 m. None of these rivers normally flows as far as the Orange, except for the Chobe, Okavango, Boteti and Limpopo rivers, most of Botswanas rivers cease to flow during the dry and early rainy seasons. Botswana is affected by droughts, and seasonal August winds blow from the west, carrying sand and dust. Current environmental issues in Botswana are overgrazing, desertification and the existence of only limited fresh water resources, research from the University of Botswana has found that the common practice of overstocking cattle to cope with drought losses actually depletes scarce biomass, making ecosystems more vulnerable. The study of the Kgatleng district predicts that by 2050 the cycle of drought is likely to become shorter —18 months instead of two years—due to climate change. This is a list of the points of Botswana, the points that are farther north, south
Geography of Botswana
–
Geography of Botswana
26.
Geography of Burkina Faso
–
Burkina Faso is a landlocked Sahel country that shares borders with six nations. It lies between the Sahara desert and the Gulf of Guinea, south of the loop of the Niger River, the land is green in the south, with forests and fruit trees, and desert in the north. Most of central Burkina Faso lies on a plateau, 198–305 metres above sea level, with fields, brush. Burkina Fasos game preserves—the most important of which are Arly, Nazinga, and W National Park—contain lions, elephants, hippopotamus, monkeys, common warthogs, and antelopes. Burkina Faso has an area of 274,200 km2. Comparatively, it is larger than New Zealand and Colorado. Its borders total 3,611 km, Benin 386 km, Ivory Coast 545 km, Ghana 602 km, Mali 1,325 km, Niger 622 km and it has no coastline or maritime claims. This is a list of the points of Burkina Faso. These regions encompass 45 provinces and 351 departments, Burkina Faso has a primarily tropical climate with two very distinct seasons. In the rainy season, the country receives between 600 and 900 millimetres of rainfall, in the dry season, the harmattan – a hot dry wind from the Sahara – blows. The rainy season lasts four months, May/June to September. Three climatic zones can be defined, the Sahel, the Sudan-Sahel, the Sahel in the north typically receives less than 600 millimeters of rainfall per year and has high temperatures, 5–47 degrees Celsius. Situated between 11°3 and 13°5 north latitude, the Sudan-Sahel region is a zone with regards to rainfall. Further to the south, the Sudan-Guinea zone receives more than 900 millimeters of rain each year and has average temperatures. It is made up of two types of countryside. The larger part of the country is covered by a peneplain, which forms an undulating landscape with, in some areas, a few isolated hills. The southwest of the country, on the hand, forms a sandstone massif. The massif is bordered by cliffs up to 150 meters high
Geography of Burkina Faso
–
Map Of Burkina Faso
27.
Geography of Burundi
–
Burundi is located in central Africa, to the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, at the co-ordinates 3°30′S 30°0′E. Burundi occupies an equal to 27,830 square kilometres in size. The country has 1,140 kilometres of border,236 kilometres of which is shared with the Democratic Republic of the Congo,315 kilometres with Rwanda and 589 kilometres with Tanzania. As a landlocked country, Burundi possesses no coastline and it straddles the crest of the Congo-Nile Divide which separates the basins of the Congo and Nile rivers. The farthest headwaters of the Nile, the Ruvyironza River, has its source in Burundi, Burundi in general has a tropical highland climate, with a considerable daily temperature range in many areas. Temperature also varies considerably from one region to another, chiefly as a result of differences in altitude, the central plateau enjoys pleasantly cool weather, with an average temperature of 20 °C. The area around Lake Tanganyika is warmer, averaging 23 °C, bujumbura’s average annual temperature is 23 °C. Rain is irregular, falling most heavily in the northwest, dry seasons vary in length, and there are sometimes long periods of drought. However, four seasons can be distinguished, the dry season, the short wet season, the short dry season. Most of Burundi receives between 1,300 and 1,600 mm of rainfall a year, the Ruzizi Plain and the northeast receive between 750 and 1,000 mm The terrain of Burundi is hilly and mountainous, dropping to a plateau in the east. The southern and eastern plains have been categorised by the World Wildlife Fund as part of the Central Zambezian Miombo woodlands ecoregion. The lowest point in the country is at Lake Tanganyika, at 772 metres, with the highest point being on Mount Heha, natural hazards are posed in Burundi by flooding and landslides. Burundi possesses reserves of, nickel, uranium, rare earth oxides, peat, cobalt, copper, platinum, vanadium, niobium, tantalum, gold, tin, tungsten, kaolin, there is also arable land and the potential for hydropower. Burundi has 214.3 square kilometres of land that is irrigated, the table below describes land use in Burundi. Soil erosion is an issue for Burundi, and is as a result of overgrazing, other issues include, deforestation, due to the uncontrolled cutting-down of trees for fuel, and habitat loss threatens wildlife populations. The following have been signed but not yet ratified by Burundi, Law of the Sea and this is a list of the extreme points of Burundi, the points that are farther north, south, east or west than any other location
Geography of Burundi
–
Geography of Burundi
28.
Geography of Cameroon
–
At 475,440 km2, Cameroon is the worlds 54th largest country. It is slightly larger than the nation of Sweden and state of California and it is comparable in size to Papua New Guinea. Cameroons landmass is 472,710 km2, with 2,730 km2 of water, the country is located in Central and West Africa, bordering the Bight of Biafra, between Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria. Cameroon can be divided into five geographic zones and these are distinguished by dominant physical, climatic, and vegetative features. Cameroons coastal plain extends 20 to 80 kilometres inland from the Gulf of Guinea to the edge of a plateau, in the former western state, however, the mass of Mount Cameroon reaches almost to the sea. The plain is densely forested including areas of Central African mangroves especially around Douala, the low South Cameroon Plateau, rising from the coastal plain and dominated by tropical rain forest, has an average elevation of 500 to 600 metres. It is less humid than the coast, in western Cameroon is an irregular chain of mountains, hills, and plateaus that extends from Mount Cameroon almost to Lake Chad at the northern tip of the country. This region includes the Bamenda, Bamiléké, and Mambilla highlands and it also contains some of the countrys most fertile soils, notably around volcanic Mt. Cameroon. From the forested southern plateau the land rises northward to the grassy, stretching across Cameroon from the western mountain area, the Adamaoua forms a barrier between the north and south. Its average elevation is 1,000 m, the southern savanna plain extends from the edge of the Adamaoua to Lake Chad. Its characteristic vegetation is scrub and grass and this is region of sparse rainfall and high median temperatures has been included as part of the East Sudanian savanna ecoregion. The climate varies with terrain, from tropical along the coast to semiarid, exceedingly hot and humid, the coastal belt includes some of the wettest places on earth. For example, Debundscha, at the base of Mt. Cameroon, has an annual rainfall of 10,300 millimetres. The country has four patterns of drainage, the Dja and Kadeï, however, drain southeastward into the Congo River. In northern Cameroon, the Benoué River runs north and west, eventually into the Niger, while the Logone River flows northward into Lake Chad
Geography of Cameroon
–
Map of Cameroon
Geography of Cameroon
–
Mount Cameroon craters
Geography of Cameroon
–
Rhumsiki Peak in Cameroon's
Far North Province.
29.
Geography of Cape Verde
–
Cape Verde is a group of arid Atlantic islands which are home to a number of birds and reptiles and constitute a unique ecoregion in the World Wildlife Fund classification. The Cape Verde Islands are located in the mid-Atlantic Ocean some 570 km off the west coast of the continent of Africa, the landscape varies from dry plains to high active volcanoes with cliffs rising steeply from the ocean. The archipelago consists of 10 islands and 5 islets, divided into the windward and leeward groups, the six islands in the Barlavento group are Santo Antão, São Vicente, Santa Luzia, São Nicolau, Sal, and Boa Vista. The islands in the Sotavento group are Maio, Santiago, Fogo, all but Santa Luzia are inhabited. Three islands – Sal, Boa Vista, and Maio – generally are level, mountains higher than 1,280 metres are found on Santiago, Fogo, Santo Antão, and São Nicolau. Sand carried by high winds has caused erosion on all islands, sheer, jagged cliffs rise from the sea on several of the mountainous islands. The lack of vegetation in the uplands and coast also contributes to soil erosion. Only the interior valleys support natural vegetation. 09% of world Sea mounts,0. 04% of world source, Sea Around Us Projects Countries EEZ Terrain Steep, rugged, rocky, volcanic. Elevation extremes Lowest point, Atlantic Ocean 0 m Highest point, Mount Fogo 2,829 m Natural resources Salt, basalt rock, limestone, kaolin, fish. Geography - note Strategic location 500 km from west coast of Africa near major north-south sea routes, important communications station, important sea, Cabo Verde shares maritime boundaries with Mauritania and Senegal. Cabo Verde has signed treaties with Senegal and Mauritania delimiting the specific boundaries, however, the two treaties conflict in their delimitation of the precise borders. A cold Atlantic current produces an atmosphere around the archipelago. December–June is cool and dry, with temperatures at sea level averaging 21 °C, July–November is warm and dry, although some rain comes during the latter season, rainfall is sparse overall and very erratic. Accumulations are generally around 130 mm annually in the islands and 300 mm in the south. The archipelago is subject to droughts, a devastating drought began in 1968 and was broken only briefly in 1975,1978,1984. Rainfall is irregular, historically causing periodic droughts and famines, the average precipitation per year in Praia is 240 mm. During the winter, storms blowing from the Sahara sometimes form dense dust clouds that obscure the sun, however, the clearest skies are found between February and June, with very little rainfall during these months. Saharan dust, Harmattan wind, laden dust from the Sahara and this occurs between November and March and is generally similar to the Calima affecting the Canary Islands
Geography of Cape Verde
–
Mount Fogo, the highest point in Cabo Verde.
Geography of Cape Verde
–
Map of the Cape Verde Islands.
Geography of Cape Verde
–
Cabo Verde satellite image.
Geography of Cape Verde
–
Ribeira Torre on Santo Antão Island, Cape Verde.
30.
Geography of the Central African Republic
–
The Central African Republic is a landlocked nation within the interior of the African continent. It is bordered by the countries of Cameroon, Chad, Sudan, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, much of the country consists of flat, or rolling plateau savanna, about 1,640 feet above sea level. In the northeast are the Fertit Hills, and there are scattered hills in the part of the country. To the northwest are the Karre Mountains, a plateau with an altitude of 3,750 feet. At 622,984 square kilometres, the Central African Republic is the worlds 45th-largest country and it is comparable in size to Ukraine or slightly smaller than the state of Texas. Much of the border is formed by tributaries of the Congo River. In the west, the Sangha River flows through part of the country, the eastern border lies along the edge of the Congo-Nile watershed. Estimates of the amount of the covered by forest ranges up to 8%. The forest is diverse, and includes commercially important species of Ayous, Sapelli. The deforestation rate is 0. 4% per annum, and lumber poaching is commonplace, the climate of the C. A. R. is generally tropical. The northern areas are subject to winds, which are hot, dry. The tip of the regions have been subject to desertification. The remainder of the country is prone to flooding from nearby rivers
Geography of the Central African Republic
–
Location of the Central African Republic
31.
Geography of Chad
–
Desert region, which itself is larger than France. The capital city of NDjaména, situated at the confluence of the Chari and Logone Rivers, is cosmopolitan in nature, the northernmost Saharan zone averages less than 200 mm of rainfall annually. The sparse human population is nomadic, with some livestock, mostly small ruminants. The central Sahelian zone receives between 200 and 600 mm rainfall and has vegetation ranging from grass/shrub steppe to thorny, open savanna. The southern zone, often referred to as the Sudanian zone, rainfall in the Guinea zone, located in Chads southwestern tip, ranges between 1,000 and 1,200 mm. The countrys topography is flat, with the elevation gradually rising as one moves north. The highest point in Chad is Emi Koussi, a mountain that rises 3,100 m in the northern Tibesti Mountains, the Ennedi Plateau and the Ouaddaï highlands in the east complete the image of a gradually sloping basin, which descends towards Lake Chad. There are also central highlands in the Guera region rising to 1,500 m, Lake Chad is the second largest lake in west Africa and is one of the most important wetlands on the continent. Bordered by Chad, Niger, Nigeria, and Cameroon, Lake Chad currently covers only 1350 square kilometers, the Chari and Logone Rivers, both of which originate in the Central African Republic and flow northward, provide most of the surface water entering Lake Chad. Chad is also next to Niger, located in north-central Africa, Chad stretches for about 1,800 kilometers from its northernmost point to its southern boundary. Except in the far northwest and south, where its borders converge and its area of 1,284,000 square kilometers is roughly equal to the combined areas of Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, and Arizona. Chads neighbors include Libya to the north, Niger and Nigeria to the west, Sudan to the east, Central African Republic to the south, Chad exhibits two striking geographical characteristics. These vast distances from the sea have had a impact on Chads historical. Although much of Chads distinctiveness comes from this diversity of influences, although Chadian society is economically, socially, and culturally fragmented, the countrys geography is unified by the Lake Chad Basin. Once a huge inland sea whose only remnant is shallow Lake Chad, the smaller, southern part of the basin falls almost exclusively in Chad. It is delimited in the north by the Guéra Massif, in the south by highlands 250 kilometers south of the border with Central African Republic, and in the southwest by the Mandara Mountains. This oddity arises because the great stationary dunes of the Kanem region create a dam, north and northeast of Lake Chad, the basin extends for more than 800 kilometers, passing through regions characterized by great rolling dunes separated by very deep depressions. Although vegetation holds the dunes in place in the Kanem region, farther north they are bare and have a fluid, from its low point in the Djourab, the basin then rises to the plateaus and peaks of the Tibesti Mountains in the north
Geography of Chad
–
A satellite image of Chad.
Geography of Chad
–
Location of Chad
Geography of Chad
–
Chari River
Geography of Chad
–
A sandstorm at Abéché airport, Chad (2005).
32.
Geography of the Comoros
–
The Comoros archipelago consists of four main islands aligned along a northwest-southeast axis at the north end of the Mozambique Channel, between Mozambique and the island of Madagascar. Still widely known by their French names, the islands officially have been called by their Swahili names by the Comorian government and they are Grande Comore, Mohéli, Anjouan, and Mayotte. The islands have a land area of 2,236 square kilometers. Mount Karthala on Grande Comore is an active volcano, from April 17 to 19,2005, the volcano began spewing ash and gas, forcing as many as 10,000 people to flee. Geographic coordinates, 12°10′S 44°15′E Grande Comore is the largest island, sixty-seven kilometers long and twenty-seven kilometers wide, the most recently formed of the four islands in the archipelago, it is also of volcanic origin. A plateau averaging 600 to 700 meters high connects the two mountains, because Grande Comore is geologically a relatively new island, its soil is thin and rocky and cannot hold water. As a result, water from the heavy rainfall must be stored in catchment tanks. There are no coral reefs along the coast, and the island lacks a good harbor for ships, one of the largest remnants of the Comoros once-extensive rain forests is on the slopes of Kartala. The national capital has been at Moroni since 1962, Anjouan, triangular shaped and forty kilometers from apex to base, has an area of 424 square kilometers. Three mountain chains — Sima, Nioumakele, and Jimilime—emanate from a peak, Mtingui. Older than Grande Comore, Anjouan has deeper soil cover, a coral reef lies close to shore, the islands capital of Mutsamudu is also its main port. Mohéli is thirty kilometers long and twelve wide, with an area of 290 square kilometers. It is the smallest of the four islands and has a mountain chain reaching 860 meters at its highest. Like Grande Comore, it retains stands of rain forest, because of greater weathering of the volcanic rock, the soil is relatively rich in some areas. A well-developed coral reef that encircles much of the island ensures protection for ships, dzaoudzi, capital of the Comoros until 1962 and now Mayottes administrative center, is situated on a rocky outcropping off the east shore of the main island. Dzaoudzi is linked by a causeway to le Pamanzi, which at ten kilometers in area is the largest of several islets adjacent to Mayotte, islets are also scattered in the coastal waters of Grande Comore, Anjouan, and Mohéli. A live specimen was caught in 1938 off southern Africa, other coelacanths have since found in the vicinity of the Comoro Islands. Several mammals are unique to the islands themselves, livingstones fruit bat, although plentiful when discovered by explorer David Livingstone in 1863, has been reduced to a population of about 120, entirely on Anjouan
Geography of the Comoros
–
Map of Comoros and Southern Africa
Geography of the Comoros
–
Map of all islands
Geography of the Comoros
–
Map of Anjouan
Geography of the Comoros
–
Map of Moheli
33.
Geography of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
–
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is by the Congo River Basin, which covers an area of almost 1,000,000 square kilometres. The countrys only outlet to the Atlantic Ocean is a strip of land on the north bank of the Congo River. The forest center is surrounded by mountainous terraces in the west, plateaus merging into savannahs in the south, dense grasslands extend beyond the Congo River in the north. High mountains of the Ruwenzori Range are found on the borders with Rwanda and Uganda. The Democratic Republic of the Congo lies on the Equator, with one-third of the country to the north, the climate is hot and humid in the river basin and cool and dry in the southern highlands, with a cold, alpine climate in the Rwenzori Mountains. South of the Equator, the season lasts from October to May and north of the Equator. Along the Equator, rainfall is fairly regular throughout the year, during the wet season, thunderstorms often are violent but seldom last more than a few hours. The average rainfall for the country is about 1,070 mm. Congo is one of 6 African states that straddles the Equator, very narrow strip of land that controls the lower Congo River and is the only outlet to South Atlantic Ocean, dense tropical rainforest in central river basin and eastern highlands. This is a list of the points of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Painted Hunting Dog, Lycaon pictus, GlobalTwitcher. com, ed. N. Stromberg Anne Welsbacher, protecting Earths Rain Forests, page 36
Geography of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
–
A satellite image of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Geography of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
–
Location of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
34.
Geography of the Republic of the Congo
–
The Republic of the Congo is located in the western part of Central Africa. Congo has a 169 km long Atlantic coast with several important ports, the Republic of the Congo covers an area of 342,000 km², of which 341,500 km² is land while 500 km² is water. Congo claims 200 nautical miles of territorial sea, the capital of the Republic of the Congo is Brazzaville, located on the Congo river immediately across from Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. About 70% of the lives in Brazzaville, Pointe-Noire, or along the railroad between them. See Also Geology in ROC Congo is a nation, which means it has a tropical climate. The wet season lasts from March to June and the dry season for the rest of the year, temperature and humidity are high as in all tropical nations. The rivers of the country are flooded seasonally, the terrain is a variation of coastal plains, mountaineous regions, plateaus and fertile valleys. About 70 percent of the area is covered by rain forest. The highest point, at 1,020 m, is Mont Nabeba in the Mayumbe mountains, the major rivers are the Congo River at the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Kouilou-Niari River. A2014 expedition leaving from Itanga village discovered a peat bog as big as England which stretches into neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo, UNESCO has declared two world biosphere reserves in the country, Odzala in 1977 and Dimonika in 1988. Natural resources include petroleum, timber, potash, lead, zinc, uranium, copper, phosphates, gold, magnesium, natural gas, as of a 2012 estimate,1. 55% of the land is arable, while only 0. 20% contains permanent crops. Environmental issues include the level of air pollution from vehicle emissions, water pollution from the dumping of raw sewage, tap water not being potable. Congo is party to the agreements on Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Ozone Layer Protection, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94. It has signed but not ratified the Law of the Sea and this is a list of the extreme points of the Republic of Congo, the points that are farther north, south, east or west than any other location
Geography of the Republic of the Congo
–
Map of the Republic of the Congo
35.
Geography of Djibouti
–
Djibouti is a country in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Eritrea in the north, Ethiopia in the west and south, to the east is its coastline on the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Rainfall is sparse, and most of the territory has a semi-arid or arid environment. Lake Assal is a lake which lies 155 m below sea level, making it the lowest point on land in Africa and the third-lowest point on Earth after the Sea of Galilee. Djiboutis major settlements include the capital Djibouti City, the towns of Tadjoura and Obock. It is the 151st largest country in the world by area, covering a total of 23,200 km2. Djibouti shares 127 kilometres of border with Eritrea,344 kilometres with Ethiopia and it has a strategic location on the Horn of Africa and the Bab el Mandeb, along a route through the Red Sea and Suez Canal. Djiboutis coastline serves as a gateway between the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn regions interior. The country is also the terminus of traffic into Ethiopia. Djibouti has eight mountain ranges with peaks of over 1,000 m, the Mousa Ali range is considered the countrys highest mountain range, with the tallest peak on the border with Ethiopia and Eritrea. It has an elevation of 2,028 m, the Goda Mountains lie northwest of the Gulf of Tadjoura in Tadjoura Region. They rise to 1,750 m above sea level and are the nations largest heavily vegetated area, garbi is a mountain in the west of Tadjourah Region. It has an elevation of 1680 metres, the Arrei Mountains are in the southern Ali Sabieh Region. The mountain range has an elevation of 1,301 metres above sea level, the Mabla Mountains are located in Obock Region. At 1780 m above sea level, the mountains are situated behind the coastal plain where the Red Sea meets the Gulf of Aden, the Dagouein Mountain sit at an elevation of 1,124 m above sea level. Hemed is a mountain in the part of the Arta Region in south-central Djibouti. The summit is 1,103 metres above sea level, the Boura Mountains highest peak has an elevation of 1037 m (3,402 ft. The ecology of this landform is semi-desert, the altitude and size of the range affects its weather, with precipitation levels varying greatly and climatic conditions consisting of distinct zones
Geography of Djibouti
–
Geography of Djibouti
Geography of Djibouti
–
The Goda Mountains
Geography of Djibouti
–
Grand Bara Desert
Geography of Djibouti
–
Arta Mountains
36.
Geography of Egypt
–
Egypt The geography of Egypt relates to two regions, North Africa and Southwest Asia. Egypt has coastlines on both the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea, Egypt borders Libya to the west, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, and Sudan to the south. Egypt has an area of 1,001,449 km2, the longest straight-line distance in Egypt from north to south is 1,024 km, while that from east to west measures 1,240 km. 35,000 km2 -3. 5% - of the land area is cultivated. Most of the lies within the wide band of desert that stretches eastwards from Africas Atlantic Coast across the continent. The Nile valley extends approximately 800 km from Aswan to the outskirts of Cairo, the Nile Valley is very cool and known as Upper Egypt, while the Nile Delta region is known as Lower Egypt. Steep rocky cliffs rise along the banks of the Nile in some stretches, while areas along the Nile are flat. In the past, flooding of the Nile during the summer provided silt, since construction of the Aswan Dam, agriculture in the Nile valley depends on irrigation. The Nile delta consists of flat, low-lying areas, some parts of the delta are marshy and water-logged, and thus not suitable for agriculture. Other areas of the delta are used for agriculture, the Nile Valley and Delta, the most extensive oasis on earth, was created by the worlds longest river and its seemingly inexhaustible sources. Without the topographic channel that permits the Nile to flow across the Sahara, the length within Egypt of the River Nile in its northwards course from three central African sources – the White Nile, the Blue Nile, and the Atbara – totals some 1,600 km. The White Nile, which begins at Lake Victoria in Uganda, in its course from Lake Victoria to Juba in South Sudan, the White Niles channel drops more than 600 m. In its 1, 600-km course from Juba to Khartoum, Sudans capital, in South Sudan, the White Nile passes through the Sudd, a wide, flat plain covered with swamp vegetation and slows almost to the point of stagnation. The Blue Nile, which originates at Lake Tana in Ethiopia and this river has a steeper gradient and therefore flows more swiftly than the White Nile, which it joins at Khartoum. Unlike the White Nile, the Blue Nile carries an amount of sediment. The much shorter Atbarah River, which originates in Ethiopia. During the low-water season, which runs from January to June, but, in late-summer, when torrential rains fall on the Ethiopian Highlands, the Atbarah provides 22% of the Niles flow. The Blue Nile has a similar pattern and it contributes 17% of the Niles waters in the low-water season and 68% during the high-water season
Geography of Egypt
–
Nile delta, and the entire course of the Nile
Geography of Egypt
–
A large plume of Saharan Desert dust (light brownish pixels) blown across Libya and Egypt northward over the Mediterranean Sea toward the Middle East, on February 2, 2003.
Geography of Egypt
–
Mount Catherine in
Sinai, the country's highest point
37.
Geography of Equatorial Guinea
–
The Republic of Equatorial Guinea is located in west central Africa. Bioko Island lies about 40 kilometers from Cameroon, annobón Island lies about 595 kilometres southwest of Bioko Island. The larger continental region of Rio Muni lies between Cameroon and Gabon on the mainland, it includes the islands of Corisco, Elobey Grande, Elobey Chico, and adjacent islets. Bioko Island, called Fernando Po until the 1970s, is the largest island in the Gulf of Guinea -2,017 square kilometers and it is shaped like a boot, with two large volcanic formations separated by a valley that bisects the island at its narrowest point. The 195-kilometer coastline is steep and rugged in the south but lower and more accessible in the north, with excellent harbors at Malabo and Luba, on the continent, Rio Muni covers 26,003 square kilometers. The coastal plain gives way to a succession of valleys separated by low hills, the Rio Benito which divides Rio Muni in half, is unnavigable except for a 20-kilometer stretch at its estuary. Temperatures and humidity in Rio Muni are generally lower than on Bioko Island, annobon Island, named for its discovery on New Years Day 1472, is a small volcanic island covering 18 square kilometers. The coastline is abrupt except in the north, the volcanic cone contains a small lake. Most of the estimated 1,900 inhabitants are fisherman specializing in traditional, the climate is tropical—heavy rainfall, high humidity, and frequent seasonal changes with violent windstorms. Location, Western Africa, bordering the Bight of Biafra, between Cameroon and Gabon, Equatorial Guineas land boundaries total 528 km. It borders Cameroon in the north and Gabon in the east, local variations are due to differences in altitude and proximity to the sea. The wet seasons in the region are from February to June. Rainfall is higher on the coast than inland, in Bata the rainiest months are September, October, and November, with rainfall averaging more than 94 in a year. At Calatrava, farther south on the coast, it sometimes reaches 180 in, inland, however, rainfall diminishes, Mikomeseng, for example, receives only about 58 in. The average annual temperature is about 79 °F and is constant throughout the year. The temperature maxima are lower than in Bioko. The relative humidity, however, is higher than in Bioko, Bioko has a rather debilitating climate. The so-called dry season lasts from November to March, and the rest of the year is rainy, the average annual temperature of about 77 °F varies little throughout the year
Geography of Equatorial Guinea
–
Geography of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea República de Guinea Ecuatorial (
Spanish) République de Guinée équatoriale (
French) República da Guiné Equatorial (
Portuguese)
38.
Geography of Eritrea
–
Eritrea is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered on the northeast and east by the Red Sea, on the west and northwest by Sudan, on the south by Ethiopia, and on the southeast by Djibouti. The country has a central plateau that varies from 1,800 to 3,000 meters above sea level. A coastal plain, western lowlands, and some 350 islands comprise the remainder of Eritreas land mass, the climate of Eritrea is shaped by its diverse topography and its location within the tropics. The diversity in landscape and topography in the highlands and lowlands of Eritrea result in the diversity of climate across the country, the highlands have temperate climate throughout out the year. The climate of most lowland zones is arid and semiarid, the distribution of rainfall and vegetation types varies markedly throughout the country. Eritrean climate varies on the basis of seasonal and altitudinal differences, based on variations in temperature Eritrea can be broadly divided into three major climate zones, a temperate zone, a subtropical climate zone and a tropical climate zone. Eritrea can be divided into three major zones, the central highlands, the coastal region, and the western lowlands. Each has a different climate pattern, according to Köppen climate classification, Eritrea have either a hot semi-arid climate or a hot desert climate, although temperatures are much moderated at the highest elevations. In the central highlands, the hottest month is usually May to June with highs around 27 °C to 30 °C, winter is between December and February with lows at night that can be near freezing point. Asmara itself enjoys a pleasant climate all year round, although it can be cold at night in winter. There are two seasons, the short rains in March and April and the main rains from late June to the beginning of September. Over there, the climate is sunny and dry as sunshine durations turn around 3,000 h. On the coast along the Red Sea, the summertime is long, from June to September and extremely hot with high temperatures ranging from 40 °C to 46 °C. The wintertime is nearly non-existent and averages high temperatures remain above 28 °C during the least hot month of the year, the rainy season along the coast north of Denkalia falls during the winter months but rainy days still remain scarce, rainfall is even more rare in Denkalia Region. The climate is sunny and dry in this zone and cloudy days are rare. In the western lowlands, the temperatures are comparable to those on the coast in the hottest months of April until June. December is the coolest month with averages low temperatures falling as low as 15 °C, the rainy seasons are the same as for the highlands. This is a list of the points of Eritrea, the points that are farther north, south
Geography of Eritrea
–
Map of Eritrea
39.
Geography of Ethiopia
–
Ethiopia is located in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Eritrea to the north, Djibouti and Somalia to the east, Sudan and South Sudan to the west, and Kenya to the south. Ethiopia has a central plateau that varies from 1,290 to 3,000 m above sea level. Elevation is generally highest just before the point of descent to the Great Rift Valley, a number of rivers cross the plateau, notably the Blue Nile rising from Lake Tana. The plateau gradually slopes to the lowlands of the Sudan on the west, on nearly every side, the walls of the plateaus rise abruptly from the plains, constituting outer mountain chains. The highlands are thus a clearly marked geographic division, in Eritrea, the eastern wall of this plateau runs parallel to the Red Sea from Ras Kasar to Annesley Bay. It then turns due south into Ethiopia and follows closely the line of 40° E for some 600 km, about 9° N there is a break in the wall, through which the Awash River flows eastward. The main range at this point trends southwest, while south of the Awash Valley and this second range sends a chain eastward toward the Gulf of Aden. The southern escarpment of the plateau is irregular, but has a general direction northwest and southeast from 6° N to 3° N. It overlooks the depression in which is Lake Turkana and — east of that lake — the southern Debub Omo Zone, the western wall of the plateau from 6° N to 11° N is well marked and precipitous. North of 11° N the hills turn more to the east, on its northern face the plateau falls in terraces to the level of the eastern Sudan. The eastern escarpment is the best defined of these outer ranges and it has a mean height of 2,100 to 2,400 m, and in many places rises almost perpendicularly from the plain. On surmounting this rocky barrier, the finds that the encircling rampart rises little above the normal level of the plateau. The physical aspect of the highlands is impressive, the northern portion lies mainly between 10° and 15° N. It consists of a mass of Archaean rocks with a mean height of 2,000 to 2,200 m above sea level. Above the plateau rise several irregular and generally ill-defined mountain ranges which attain altitudes of from 3,700 m to just under 4,600 m, many of the mountains are of unusual shape. Characteristic of the country are the enormous fissures which divide it and they are the valleys of the rivers, which rising on the uplands or mountain sides, have cut their way to the surrounding lowlands. One result of the action of the water has been the formation of numerous isolated flat-topped hills or small plateaus, known as ambas, the highest peaks are found in the Semien and Bale ranges
Geography of Ethiopia
–
False-color topographical relief image of
Nabro caldera (top; in Eritrea) next to the
Mallahle volcanic caldera, then Mount Sarkali with the smaller
Sork Ale caldera in the bottom right - SRTM colored height and shaded relief.
Geography of Ethiopia
–
A map of Ethiopia
40.
Geography of Gabon
–
Gabon is a country in West Africa, lying along the Atlantic Ocean, just south of the Bight of Biafra. Gabon has a total of 3,261 km of international boundaries and it borders Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon to the north and the Republic of the Congo to the east and south. Maritime claims Territorial sea,12 nmi Contiguous zone,24 nmi Exclusive economic zone,200 nmi Gabon has the moist, the hottest month is January, with an average high at Libreville of 31 °C and an average low of 23 °C. Average July temperatures in the range between 20 and 28 °C. From June to September there is no rain but high humidity, there is occasional rain in December. During the remaining months, rainfall is heavy, at Libreville, the average annual rainfall is more than 2540 mm. Farther north on the coast, it is 3810 mm. Narrow coastal plain with patches of Central African mangroves, hilly interior, savanna in east and south
Geography of Gabon
–
Geography of Gabon République Gabonaise
41.
Geography of the Gambia
–
The Gambia is a very small and narrow country with the border based on the Gambia River. The country is less than 48 km wide at its greatest width, the countrys present boundaries were defined in 1889 after an agreement between the United Kingdom and France. It is often claimed by Gambians that the distance of the borders from the Gambia River corresponds to the area that British naval cannon of the time could reach from the rivers channel. However, there is no evidence to support the story. Apart from its coastline, where the Gambia borders the Atlantic Ocean, the Gambia has a subtropical climate with distinct dry and rainy seasons. From November to mid-May there is uninterrupted dry weather, with temperatures as low as 16 °C in Banjul and surrounding areas. Hot, humid weather predominates the rest of the year, with a season from June to October, during this period. Mean temperatures range from 23 °C in January to 27 °C in June along the coast, the average annual rainfall ranges from 920 mm in the interior to 1,450 mm along the coast
Geography of the Gambia
–
Children swimming near Lamin Lodge.
Geography of the Gambia
–
Map of the Gambia
Geography of the Gambia
–
The
Spotted hyena is part of the Gambian fauna.
42.
Geography of Ghana
–
Ghana is a country in Africa, along the Gulf of Guinea, just a few degrees north of the equator. Wikimedia Atlas of Ghana Ghana encompasses plains, low hills, rivers, Lake Volta, the Volta Basin takes up most of south-central Ghana and Ghanas highest point is Mount Afadja which is 885 m and is found in the Akwapim-Togo ranges. The climate is tropical and the coastal belt is warm and comparatively dry, the south-west corner of Ghana is hot and humid. Lake Volta, the worlds largest artificial lake, extends through portions of south-eastern Ghana and many tributary rivers such as the Oti. The northernmost part of Ghana is Pulmakong and the southernmost part of Ghana is Cape three points near Axim, Ghana lies between latitudes 4° and 12°N. To the south are the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean, in Absolute terms, Its southernmost coast at Cape Three Points is 4°30 north of the equator. From here, the country extends inland for some 670 kilometers to about 11° north, the distance across the widest part, between longitude 1°12 east and longitude 3°15 west, measures about 560 kilometers. The Greenwich Meridian, which passes through London, also traverses the eastern part of Ghana at Tema, with a total area of 239,460 square kilometers, Ghana is about the size of the United Kingdom. The terrain consists small desert mountains with the Kwahu Plateau in the south-central area, half of the country lies less than 152 meters above sea level, and the highest point is 883 meters. The 537 kilometers coastline is mostly a low, sandy shore backed by plains and scrub and intersected by rivers and streams. A tropical rain forest belt, broken by heavily forested hills and many streams and rivers, extends northward from the shore and this area, known as the Ashanti, produces most of the countrys cocoa, minerals, and timber. North of this belt, the country varies from 91 to 396 meters above sea level and is covered by low bush, park-like savanna, irrigated land,309 km2 Total renewable water resources,53.2 km3 Ghana is characterized in general by low physical relief. Indeed, the Precambrian rock system that underlies most of the nation has been worn down by erosion almost to a plain, the highest elevation in Ghana, Mount Afadja in the Akwapim-Togo Ranges, rises only 880 meters above sea level. There are, nonetheless, four distinct geographical regions, low plains stretch across the southern part of the country. To their north lie three regions—the Ashanti Uplands, the Akwapim-Togo Ranges, and the Volta Basin, the fourth region, the high plains, occupies the northern and northwestern sector of the country. Like most West African countries, Ghana has no natural harbors, because strong surf pounds the shoreline, two artificial harbors were built at Takoradi and Tema to accommodate Ghanas shipping needs. The low plains comprise the four subregions of the savanna, the Volta Delta, the Accra Plains. A narrow strip of grassy and scrubby coast runs from a point near Takoradi in the west to the Togo border in the east, almost flat and featureless, the Accra Plains descend gradually to the gulf from a height of about 150 meters
Geography of Ghana
–
Republic of Ghana
Geography of Ghana
–
Akwapim-Togo Ranges
Geography of Ghana
–
Panorama and
landscape view of Lake Volta in
Volta Basin and
Eastern Region of Ghana.
Lake Volta by artificial surface area is the largest
reservoir and
lake in the world. Lake Volta
drains into the
Gulf of Guinea on the
Atlantic Ocean.
Volta River has three main tributaries—the
Black Volta,
White Volta and
Red Volta.
Geography of Ghana
–
Lake Volta
43.
Geography of Guinea
–
Guinea is a country on the coast of West Africa and is bordered by Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, Mali, Ivory Coast, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. Guinea is in western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean and its geographic coordinates are 11°00′N 10°00′W. Guineas total area is 245,857 km², comprising 245,717 km² of land and 140 km² of water. Guineas land boundaries span a total of 4,046 km, with Ivory Coast 816 km, Guinea-Bissau 421 km, Liberia 590 km, Mali 1,062 km, Senegal 363 km, and Sierra Leone 794 km. It has a 320-km coastline, and claims an economic zone of 200 nmi. The capital Conakrys year-round average high is 29 °C, and the low is 23 °C, Conakrys average annual rainfall is 4,300 mm. Sahelian Upper Guinea has a shorter rainy season and greater daily temperature variations. There is a dry season with northeasterly harmattan winds, the Niger River, the Gambia River, and the Senegal River are among the 22 West African rivers that have their origins in Guinea. Guinean forest-savanna mosaic covers most of the country, covering most of Maritime Guinea and Upper Guinea and it extends north into Guinea Bissau and Senegal, and east though Mali and Ivory Coast. Western Guinean lowland forests occupies the portion of Maritime Guinea around Conakry, and Forest Guinea, along with coastal Sierra Leone, Liberia. Guinean montane forests, cover the Fouta Djallon and Guinea Highlands of southeast Guinea above 600 meters elevation, Guinean mangroves, in the coastal estuaries. Enclaves extend north into Guinea Bissau, Gambia and Senegal, and southeast through Sierra Leone, Liberia, the countrys natural resources include bauxite, iron ore, diamonds, gold, uranium, hydropower, fish, and salt. It has 12. 21% arable land, and 2. 85% of the land is permanent crops,949.2 km² of land is irrigated. Guineas total renewable water resources total 226 km3, poor mining practices have led to environmental damage. Its terrain is flat coastal plain, hilly to mountainous interior. The countrys lowest point is the Atlantic Ocean, and highest is Mont Nimba and this is a list of the extreme points of Guinea, the points that are farther north, south, east or west than any other location. Northernmost point – the northern section of the border with Senegal, easternmost point – the confluence of the Gben river and the Férédougouba river on the border with Ivory Coast, Nzérékoré Region. Southernmost point – unnamed location on the border with Liberia immediately south of the village of Gonon, westernmost point – Ile du Noufrage, Boké Region. Westernmost point – the point at which the border with Guinea-Bissau enters the Rio Compony estuary, *Note, Guinea does not have a northern-most point, this section of the border being formed by a straight latitudinal line Administrative divisions of Guinea
Geography of Guinea
–
Location of Guinea
44.
Geography of Guinea-Bissau
–
This article describes the geography of Guinea-Bissau. The terrain of Guinea-Bissau is mostly low coastal plain with swamps of Guinean mangroves rising to Guinean forest-savanna mosaic in the east, the lowest point on Guinea-Bissau is at sea level at the Atlantic Ocean. The highest point on Guinea-Bissau is 300 metres above sea level at a location in the northeast corner of the country. Natural resources found in Guinea-Bissau include fish, timber, phosphates, bauxite, clay, granite, limestone,10. 67% of the land is arable and 235.6 square kilometres is irrigated. Natural hazards include a hot, dry, dusty harmattan haze that may reduce visibility during the dry season, severe environmental issues include deforestation, soil erosion, overgrazing and overfishing. Near the Senegal border there have been sightings of the painted hunting dog, Lycaon pictus. This means it is hot and humid. It has a rainy season with southwesterly winds and a dry season with northeasterly harmattan winds. Guinea-Bissau is warm all year around and there is little temperature fluctuation, the average rainfall for the capital city Bissau is 2,024 millimetres although this is almost entirely accounted for during the rainy season which falls between June and September/October. Painted Hunting Dog, Lycaon pictus, GlobalTwitcher. com, ed. N. Stromberg U. S
Geography of Guinea-Bissau
–
Typical scenery in Guinea-Bissau.
Geography of Guinea-Bissau
–
Location of Guinea Bissau
45.
Geography of Ivory Coast
–
Ivory Coast is a sub-Saharan nation in southern West Africa located at 8 00°N,5 00°W. The country is approximately square in shape and its southern border is a 515 km coastline on the Gulf of Guinea on the north Atlantic Ocean. Ivory Coast comprises 322,463 km2, of which 318,003 km2 is land and 4,460 km2 is water, which makes the country about the size of Germany. Ivory Coast makes maritime claims of 200 nautical miles as an economic zone,12 nautical miles of territorial sea. Ivory Coasts terrain can generally be described as a plateau rising gradually from sea level in the south to almost 500 m elevation in the north. The nations natural resources have made it into a prosperous nation in the African economy. The southeastern region of Ivory Coast is marked by coastal lagoons that starts at the Ghanaian border. The southern region, especially the southwest, is covered with tropical moist forest. The mountains of Dix-Huit Montagnes region, in the west of the country near the border with Guinea, the Guinean forest-savanna mosaic belt extends across the middle of the country from east to west, and is the transition zone between the coastal forests and the interior savannas. The forest-savanna mosaic interlaces forest, savanna and grassland habitats, northern Ivory Coast is part of the West Sudanian Savanna ecoregion of the Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome. It is a zone of lateritic or sandy soils, with vegetation decreasing from south to north, the terrain is mostly flat to undulating plain, with mountains in the northwest. The lowest elevation in Ivory Coast is at sea level on the coasts, the highest elevation is Mount Nimba, at 1,752 metres in the far west of the country along the border with Guinea and Liberia. The Cavalla River drains the western area of the Ivory Coast. It forms the southern two-thirds of the boundary between Liberia and Côte dIvoire. The Sassandra River forms in the Guinea highlands and drains much of the part of the Ivory Coast east of the Cavalla River. The Bandama River is the longest river in the Ivory Coast with a length of some 800 km draining the east central part of the country, in 1973 the Kossou Dam was constructed at Kossou on the Bandama creating Lake Kossou. The capital, Yamoussoukro, is located near the south of the lake. The Komoé River originates on the Sikasso Plateau of Burkina Faso and it drains the northeastern and eastern-most portions of the country before emptying into the eastern end of the Ébrié Lagoon and ultimately the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean
Geography of Ivory Coast
–
Geography of Ivory Coast
46.
Geography of Kenya
–
The geography of Kenya is diverse. Kenya has a coastline on the Indian Ocean, which contains swamps of East African mangroves, inland are broad plains and numerous hills. Central and Western Kenya is characterised by the Kenyan Rift Valley home to Kenyas highest mountain, Mount Kenya, the Kakamega Forest in western Kenya is relic of an East African rainforest. Much larger is Mau Forest, the largest forest complex in East Africa, the southeast corner of the country is underlain by sediments of the Karoo System of Permian to Late Triassic age and a strip of Jurassic age sediments along the coast in the Mombasa area. The Anza trough is a NW–SE trending Jurassic rift extending from the Indian Ocean coast to the Sudan northwest of Lake Turkana, the Anza Rift resulted from the break–up of Gondwana. The climate of Kenya varies by location, from mostly cool every day, the climate along the coast is tropical. This means rainfall and temperatures are higher throughout the year, at the coastal cities, Mombasa, Lamu and Malindi, the air changes from cool to hot, almost every day. The further inside Kenya, the more arid the climate becomes, an arid climate is nearly devoid of rainfall, and temperature swings widely according to the general time of the day/night. For many areas of Kenya, the temperature rises about 12 °C. Elevation is the factor in temperature levels, with the higher areas, on average, as 11 °C cooler. The many mile-high cities have temperature swings from roughly 10–26 °C, nairobi, at 1,798 m or 1.798 km, ranges from 9–27 °C, and Kitale, at 1,825 m or 1.825 km, ranges from 11–28 °C. At night, heavy clothes or blankets are needed, in the highlands, at lower altitudes, the increased temperature is like day and night, literally, like starting the morning at the highland daytime high, and then adding the heat of the day, again. Hence, the low temperatures near sea level are nearly the same as the high temperatures of the elevated Kenyan highlands. However, locations along the Indian Ocean have more moderate temperatures, as a few degrees cooler in the daytime, there are slight seasonal variations in temperature, of 4 °C or 7.2 °F, cooler in the winter months. On the high mountains, such as Mount Kenya, Mount Elgon and Kilimanjaro, some snowfall does occur on the highest mountains. Kenyas terrain is composed of low plains rise into central highlands that are, in turn. There is also a plateau in the west of the country. The lowest point on Kenya is at sea level on the Indian Ocean, the highest point on Kenya is 5,197 meters above sea level at Mount Kenya
Geography of Kenya
–
Location of Kenya
47.
Geography of Lesotho
–
Lesotho is a mountainous, landlocked country located in Southern Africa. It is an enclave, surrounded by South Africa, the total length of the countrys borders is 909 kilometres. Lesotho covers an area of around 30,355 square kilometres, the most notable geographic fact about Lesotho, apart from its status as an enclave, is that it is the only independent state in the world that lies entirely above 1,000 metres in elevation. Its lowest point is at 1,400 metres, the highest lowest point of any country, because of its elevation, the countrys climate is cooler than in most other regions at the same latitude. Its climate zone can be classified as continental, Lesotho is a country in Southern Africa, located at around 29°30 south latitude and 28°30 east longitude. It is the 141st largest country in the world, with a land area of 30,355 square kilometres. The total length of the South African border is 909 kilometres, Lesothos status as an enclave also means that it is landlocked and largely dependent on South Africa. The nearest major shipping port is Durban, the lowest elevation in the country is at the junction of the Makhaleng and Orange rivers, which at 1,400 metres is the highest lowest point of any country. Lesotho is the independent state in the world that lies entirely above 1,000 metres in elevation. The highest point is the peak of the Thabana Ntlenyana mountain, over 80% of Lesotho lies above 1,800 metres. Even though very little of Lesotho is covered in water, the rivers that run across the country are an important part of Lesothos economy, much of the countrys export income comes from water, and much of its power comes from hydroelectricity. The Caledon River marks the northwestern part of the border with South Africa, other rivers include the Malibamatso, Matsoku and Senqunyane. The bedrock of Lesotho belongs to the Karoo Supergroup, consisting mostly of shale, peatlands can be found in the highlands of Lesotho, most extensively in the mountainous escarpment near the countrys eastern border. The summit of Thabana Ntlenyana is partially encircled by bogs, Lesotho is divided into 10 administrative districts, each with its own capital, called a camptown. The districts are subdivided into 80 constituencies, which consist of 129 local community councils. Lesotho has a climate, with hot summers and cold winters. Maseru and its surrounding lowlands often reach 30 °C in the summer, winters can be cold with the lowlands getting down to −7 °C and the highlands to −20 °C at times. The yearly precipitation varies from around 600 millimetres in the valleys to around 1,200 millimetres in areas of the northern and eastern escarpment bordering South Africa
Geography of Lesotho
–
Malealea village in the highlands of Lesotho
Geography of Lesotho
–
Geography of Lesotho
Geography of Lesotho
–
Snow on the Lesotho
Moteng pass
48.
Geography of Liberia
–
Liberia is a Sub-Saharan nation in West Africa located at 6 °N,9 °W. It borders the north Atlantic Ocean to the southwest and three other African nations on the three sides. In total, Liberia comprises 110,000 square kilometres of which 96,300 square kilometres is land and 15,000 square kilometres is water. The total length of Liberias land borders is 1,587 kilometres,310 kilometres with Sierra Leone on the northwest,560 kilometres with Guinea to the north, Liberia currently claims a territorial sea of 200 nmi. Liberia has a hilly terrain, from rolling plains along the coast to a rolling plateau. The lowest point on Liberia is at sea level on the Atlantic Ocean, the highest point on Liberia is 1380 m above sea level at Mount Wuteve. Natural resources that are found in Liberia include iron ore, timber, diamonds, gold, arable land,4. 04%permanent crops,1. 62%other,94. 34%21 square kilometres of Liberias land was irrigated as of 2003. The natural hazard that occurs in Liberia is a dust-laden harmattan wind blows from the Sahara. Northernmost point – unnamed location on the border with Guinea in the Sodia river immediately north of the town of Vonamai, easternmost point – unnamed headland at the confluence of the Cavally river and the Hana river, River Gee County. Southernmost point – Kablaké headland, Maryland County, westernmost point - unnamed headland immediately west of the town of Sewulu at the mouth of the Mano River, Grand Cape Mount County. Administrative divisions of Liberia List of cities in Liberia List of rivers of Liberia List of Liberian national forests
Geography of Liberia
–
A Liberian tropical forest.
Geography of Liberia
–
Location of Liberia
49.
Geography of Libya
–
Libya is fourth in size among the countries of Africa and seventeenth among the countries of the world. It is on the Mediterranean between Egypt and Tunisia, with Niger and Chad to the south and Sudan to the southeast, the Mediterranean coast and the Sahara Desert are the countrys most prominent natural features. There are several highlands but no true mountain ranges except in the largely empty southern desert near the Chadian border, a relatively narrow coastal strip and highland steppes immediately south of it are the most productive agricultural regions. Still farther south a pastoral zone of sparse grassland gives way to the vast Sahara Desert and it supports minimal human habitation, and agriculture is possible only in a few scattered oases. Between the productive lowland agricultural zones lies in the Gulf of Sidra and this barren zone, known as the Sirtica, has great historical significance. To its west, the known as Tripolitania has characteristics and a history similar to those of nearby Tunisia, Algeria. It is considered with these states to constitute a supranational region called the Maghreb, to the east, the area known historically as Cyrenaica has been closely associated with the Arab states of the Middle East. In this sense, the Sirtica marks the point between the Maghrib and the Mashriq. Along the shore of Tripolitania for more than 300 km, coastal oases alternate with sandy areas, inland from these lies the Jifarah Plain, a triangular area of some 15,000 square km. About 120 km inland the plain terminates in an escarpment that rises to form the Nafusa Mountains, with elevations of up to 1,000 metres, which is the northern edge of the Tripolitanian Plateau. In Cyrenaica there are fewer coastal oases, and the Marj Plain – the lowland area corresponding to the Jifarah Plain of Tripolitania – covers a smaller area. The lowlands form a crescent about 210 km long between Benghazi and Derna and extend inland a maximum of 50 km, elsewhere along the Cyrenaican coast, the precipice of an arid plateau reaches to the sea. Behind the Marj Plain, the terrain rises abruptly to form Jabal al Akhdar, so called because of its cover of pine, juniper, cypress. It is a plateau with maximum altitudes of about 900 metres. From Jabal al Akhdar, Cyrenaica extends southward across a barren grazing belt that gives way to the Sahara Desert, unlike Cyrenaica, Tripolitania does not extend southward into the desert. The southwestern desert region, known as Fezzan, was administered separately during both the Italian regime and the period of the Libyan monarchy. The large dune seas known as ergs of the Idehan Ubari, Cyrenaica comprises 51%, Fezzan 33%, and Tripolitania 16% of the countrys area. Before Libya achieved independence, its name was used other than as a somewhat imprecise geographical expression
Geography of Libya
–
A dust storm over the
Tripolitania region of Libya. Over 90% of Libya is desert.
Geography of Libya
Geography of Libya
–
Wan Caza sand dunes in the Sahara Desert region of
Fezzan.
Geography of Libya
–
The
Jabal Al Akdhar area. Annual rainfall averages at between 400 and 600 millimetres (15.7 and 23.6 in).
50.
Geography of Madagascar
–
Madagascar is a large island in the Indian Ocean off the eastern coast of southern Africa, east of Mozambique. It is the fourth largest island in the world, the highest point is Maromokotro, in the Tsaratanana Massif region in the north of the island, at 2,876 metres. The capital Antananarivo is in the Hauts Plateaux near the centre of the island, Madagascar has a total area of 587,040 square kilometres with 581,540 square kilometres of land and 5,500 square kilometres of water. Madagascar is 400 kilometres east of mainland Africa, Madagascar originated as part of the Gondwana supercontinent. Its west coast was formed when Africa broke off from Gondwana around 165 million years ago, Madagascar eventually broke off from India about 88 million years ago. Madagascar can be divided into five geographical regions, the east coast, the Tsaratanana Massif, the central highlands, the west coast. The highest elevations parallel the east coast, the coastal region extends roughly from north of Baie dAntongil, the most prominent feature on the Masoala Peninsula, to the far north of the island. The coastline is straight, with the exception of a bay, the beach slopes steeply into deep water. The east coast is considered dangerous for swimmers and sailors because of the number of sharks that frequent the shoreline. Madagascar also has many mountains, forests, rivers, and lakes, the Tsaratanana Massif region at the north end of the island contains, at 2,880 metres, the highest point on the island. Further north is the Montagne dAmbre, which is of volcanic origin, the central highlands extend from the Tsaratanana Massif in the north to the Ivakoany Massif in the south. They are defined rather clearly by the escarpments along the east coast, the central highlands include the Anjafy High Plateaux, the volcanic formations of Itasy and the Ankaratra Massif, reaching a height of 2,643 m. The Isalo Roiniforme Massif lies between the highlands and the west coast. Antananarivo, the capital, is located in the northern portion of the central highlands at 1,276 m above sea level. The lake is located 761 m above sea level and is bordered by two cliffs, rising 701 m to the west and 488 m to the east, which form the walls of a valley and this region has experienced geological subsidence, and earth tremors are frequent. The west coast, composed of sedimentary formations, is more indented than the east coast, thus offering a number of harbors sheltered from cyclones, such as the harbor at Mahajanga. Silting up of harbors on this coast, caused by sediment from the levels of erosion suffered inland in Madagascar, is a major problem. The giant oil fields of Tsimiroro and Bemolanga lie towards the west of the island, the southwest is bordered on the east by the Ivakoany Massif and on the north by the Isala Roiniforme Massif
Geography of Madagascar
–
Land coverage (left) and topographical (right) maps of Madagascar.
Geography of Madagascar
–
Village in the central highlands.
Geography of Madagascar
–
Majahilo river at
Miandrivazo.
Geography of Madagascar
–
This astronaut photograph highlights two estuaries along the north-western coastline of Madagascar.
