Level 82
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Regional Geography of the Continents

Geography of Sub-Saharan Africa

A regional survey of the landforms, peoples, and development geography of Africa south of the Sahara, from the volcanic highlands of the Great Rift Valley to the free-trade blocs reshaping the continent's economic map.

60-Second Review

Express review

A condensed, point-by-point summary of the module, for reviewing right before a test or exam.

  1. The Great Rift Valley and East African Highlands. A 6,000 km tectonic rift is splitting East Africa and lifting its volcanic highlands.
  2. The Congo Basin and Central African Rainforest. The Congo Basin holds Earth's second-largest rainforest and a vast hidden peatland carbon store.
  3. The Sahel and Its Environmental Pressures. The Sahel's recurring droughts and shrinking Lake Chad drive a fragile, contested ecology.
  4. West Africa's Coastal and Inland Regions. From the oil-rich Niger Delta to Mali's inland delta, West Africa spans coast to savanna.
  5. Southern Africa and the Highveld. Southern Africa's escarpment-rimmed plateau holds the Highveld, the Kalahari, and vast mineral wealth.
  6. Ethnic Diversity and Colonial Border Legacies. Colonial-era borders, fixed at Berlin in 1885, cut across thousands of pre-existing ethnic nations.
  7. Urbanization and Development Challenges. Sub-Saharan Africa is urbanizing fastest of any world region, often outpacing formal infrastructure.
  8. Africa's Growing Economic Regions. From AfCFTA to Congolese cobalt, Sub-Saharan Africa's economic map is shifting fast.

This module continues after "Geography of Europe" in the syllabus. If you haven't reviewed it yet, it may help set the context.

Key points

Visual module map

1The Great Rift Valley and East African Highlands
2The Sahel and Its Environmental Pressures
3Southern Africa and the Highveld
4Ethnic Diversity and Colonial Border Legacies
5Africa's Growing Economic Regions

Alternative visual view: a simplified sequence of some of the module's key points, in their order within the syllabus.

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Final test

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Optional mini-games

Extra practice, with no penalty, to reinforce the module's content.

Review Flashcards

Review each key point with cards that flip to reveal the summary.

Memory

Match each concept with its definition in as few attempts as possible.

Time Attack

Answer true or false statements before time runs out.

Chronological Order

Put the module's key points back in their original order.

Further reading

Bibliography and cited sources used to create this module.

  • Chorowicz, J. (2005). "The East African Rift System." Journal of African Earth Sciences, 43(1-3), 379-410.
  • Dargie, G.C., Lewis, S.L., Lawson, I.T., Mitchard, E.T.A., Page, S.E., Bocko, Y.E., and Ifo, S.A. (2017). "Age, extent and carbon storage of the central Congo Basin peatland complex." Nature, 542, 86-90.
  • Tucker, C.J. and Nicholson, S.E. (1999). "Variations in the size of the Sahara Desert from 1980 to 1997." Ambio, 28(7), 587-591.
  • Michalopoulos, S. and Papaioannou, E. (2016). "The Long-Run Effects of the Scramble for Africa." American Economic Review, 106(7), 1802-1848.
  • Suri, T. and Jack, W. (2016). "The long-run poverty and gender impacts of mobile money." Science, 354(6317), 1288-1292.
  • United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2018). World Urbanization Prospects: The 2018 Revision.