Location, Size, Position And Political Division Of Africa SS2 Geography Lesson Note

LOCATION: Africa is located between latitudes 37°N and 35°S of the equator and 17°W and 51°E of the Greenwich Meridian.

POSITION: Africa is the second largest continent in the world after Asia. It is bounded in the north by the Mediterranean Sea which separates Africa from Europe, in the south by the Atlantic Ocean, in the East by the Indian Ocean and in the northeast by the Suez Canal, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden which separates Africa from Asia.

SIZE: Africa is the second largest continent in terms of land area after Asia. It occupies 1/4 of the total land area of the world. The total land area of Africa is approximately 30 million sq km stretching for about 8000 km from north to south and 7,500km from east to west.

POLITICAL DIVISIONS OF AFRICA: Africa consists of about 48 mainland countries and several islands. Some islands in the Indian Ocean include Madagascar (the largest island), Zanzibar, Comoro, Mauritius, etc. Some islands in the Atlantic Ocean include Sao Tome, Cape Verde, Principe, Canary and Equatorial Guinea.

LANDLOCKED COUNTRIES

These are countries that do not share boundaries with the coast or oceans. 

The landlocked countries in Africa include Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Chad, Central Africa Republic, Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Sudan.     

Problems Of Landlocked Countries

(1) They experience high freight costs.

(2) They depend economically on other countries.

(3) They depend politically on other countries.

(4) There is always insecurity of goods.

(5) There is also political instability.

 ASSIGNMENT

Draw a map of Africa showing all the African countries.