Question

Name the major physical divisions of Africa. Describe anyone.

Answer 1

Africa can be divided into the following physical divisions: the Atlas Mountains, the low central plateau, the high plateau of the south, the Great Rift Valley, the Nile, and Congo-Zaire Basins, and the coastal plains.

1. The Atlas Mountains lie in north-western Africa. They are young fold mountains.
2. There are three parallel ranges – the Tell Atlas in the north, the High Atlas in the middle, and the Sahara Atlas in the south. The highest peak in the Atlas Mountains is Mt Toubkal, which remains snow-capped most of the year.
3. The low central plateau extends from the Atlantic Coast in the west to the Nile Valley in the east. The Sahara Desert forms a part of this plateau. This desert extends from the Atlantic in the west to the Red Sea in the east and covers an area of 8.6 million sq.km.
4. The Great Rift Valley of Africa is a special physical feature of the southern plateau. It is a long narrow valley formed as a
   result of vertical cracks that developed because of the movements within the earth. It extends for a total distance of 5,000 km from Lake Malawi to the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba to the Dead Sea in Jordan.