Africa Physical Map

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The Africa physical map provides detailed information on the various physical features of the continent. Africa claims to be the world's second largest continent. As an   Africa political map   has it, total area of the continent is approximately 30,301,596 sq km.

The physical map of Africa shows that African continent is located between the Atlantic Ocean on the west and the Indian Ocean in the east. It also shares its northeast border with the Red Sea. Scanning the physical features map of Africa, one can see that the equator bisects the continent into two equal halves. That is why these two parts of Africa enjoy similar kind of climatic features. For example, the Sahara Desert in the north and Kalahari Desert in the south are characterized with similar kind of weather conditions. The climate of Cape in south is also similar to that of the Mediterranean north.

As the   Africa physical map   has it, the great latitudinal extent also results in varied climatic conditions in different parts of Africa. Therefore a huge variety of flora and fauna can be found in the continent. Lush green equatorial forest, savanna grasslands, high mountains and highlands are the habitats of rare species of plants and animals. It is believed that Homo sapiens originated here and later migrated to other parts of the   world .

In all physical   maps  of Africa, the southern and the eastern section of the continent are referred to as High Africa as the mean elevation is comparatively higher. On the other hand, the northern and western regions are characterized with relatively lower elevation in  Africa map   and known as Low Africa.

Africa geographic regions

The major physical regions one can locate in the Africa Physical Features Map given in the page are:

1. The Highlands:
The two major Mountain ranges in Africa are Kilimanjaro and Kenya. These ranges rise to a height of 5895 meters and 5200 meters respectively. Other prominent ranges are the Ethiopian Highlands, Atlas Mountains, Jos Plateau, Cameroon, Ahaggar, Fouta Djalon Highland and Tibesti Massifs and so on.

2. The Rift Valley System:
The Y-shaped Rift Valley is one of the striking physical features of the African continent. The valley starts from Syria in the Middle East and extends towards the south into the Red Sea. Then it spreads through the Ethiopian Highlands to the Lake Victoria Region. Here the valley divides into two major branches, the Eastern Rift Valley and the Western Rift Valley. It extends further southward to Mozambique. The total length of this valley is 9600 meter.