9781422283509

M ore than 1.1 billion million people live in Africa, in about 800 ethnic groups, each with their own language and culture. Africa is covered by desert, grassland and forest. The largest desert in the world, the Sahara, covers almost all of northern Africa. One of the world ’ s longest rivers, the Nile, flows for almost 4,000 miles (6,400 km) through northeastern Africa. Temperatures in Africa vary from region to region. The highest temperature in the world of 136°F (58°C) was recorded in Libya in 1922. Rainfall also varies around the continent. Some areas, like the Sahara and Namib deserts, receive no rain for six or seven years. Along the west coast however, rain tends to fall all year round. Parts of Africa also have a dry season (when very little rain

falls) and a rainy season (when lots of rain falls). Zaire in Central Africa has a rainy season from October to May, but in the Gambia the rainy season is from July to October. Africa has thousands of species of mammals, reptiles, birds, plants Central Africa contain hundreds of trees, from oil palms and mahogany trees to mangroves that line the coasts. and fish. The rain forests of West and A map showing the geography of Africa and some of the kingdoms and empires of Africa up until 1800.

T he dotted lines represent the boundaries of the modern-day states of Africa. Look at page 43 of this book for more detail.

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