Africa’s physical-geographic regions
By its nature Africa is divided into four large physical-geographic regions: North, Central, East and South Africa. North Africa stretches from the Mediterranean to the zone of seasonally humid forests; it has three kinds of complex: hard-leaved evergreen forests and shrubs (the Atlas), the sandy and stony Sahara, and savanna Sudan (the Sahel). Central Africa takes in the Gulf of Guinea coast and the Congo Basin: humid equatorial and seasonally humid forests grow here, with valuable trees, oil palm and rubber trees; pygmies, gorillas, okapi and pygmy hippos live only here. East Africa is the high, mountainous part of the continent (the “roof of Africa”): the Ethiopian Highlands, the East African Plateau, the Great Rift, tectonic lakes and Kilimanjaro; altitudinal belts are clearly expressed; reserves such as Serengeti and Ngorongoro are here. South Africa is the area south of the Congo–Zambezi watershed; because nature changes quickly with latitude and distance from the sea in a small area, it is also called “little Africa”. Madagascar is a continental island: the Mozambique Channel separates it from Africa, the ocean strongly influences its nature, it has much tropical forest and savanna, and unique animals (lemurs) live there.
“Four regions”: the class forms four groups; each shows one region’s boundary on the map and names 3 features, 2 animals and 1 natural object.