Africa is the second largest continent in the world after Eurasia, its territory is 29 million km2, which is approximately 20.4% of the entire land area of the Earth. Most of the features of this continent, such as flora, fauna and climate, are due to its geographical location.
Geographic location
Africa is located in the Southern Hemisphere and is crossed by the equator. This leads to the fact that the mainland receives a huge amount of sunlight and heat, and this, in turn, explains why Africa is the hottest continent.
The continent's relief is mostly flat, as it sits on a solid African plate, the collision of which with the Eurasian plate led to the formation of the Atlas Mountains. In the south and east of the continent there are several highlands, two of which - Ahaggar and Tibesti - are located in the Sahara. Africa is separated from Asia only by the artificially created Suez Canal.
The highest point of the mainland is the well-known volcano Kilimanjaro, whose height is 5895 meters, and the lowest point isthis is Lake Assal, which is 157 meters above sea level.
African climate
Any student knows that Africa is the hottest continent on the planet, but not everyone knows why the average temperature here is higher than on other continents. The reason for this is the fact that the equator runs exactly in the middle here. This results in Africa being in the four hottest climate zones.
Most of the territory is located in the subequatorial zone. Here you can clearly distinguish the rainy and dry seasons, in contrast to the equatorial, which is one of the main reasons that Africa is the hottest continent. This climatic zone originates from the Gulf of Guinea and stretches deep into the mainland, to Lake Victoria. It is impossible to distinguish seasons here, because the temperature in this belt is stable. The climate in the tropical and subtropical zones is similar, these areas are characterized by clear weather and low rainfall.
Internal and external waters
The hottest continent is washed by the Indian Ocean in the northeast and the Atlantic in the west, as well as the Mediterranean and Red Seas in the east and northeast, respectively.
The inland waters of Africa include the Nile, Congo, Niger, Zambezi and other water arteries. The Nile is the second longest river in the world after the Amazon, with a length of about 6852 km. It originates at the headwaters of the Rucarara River, and ends when it flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile Delta provides watera considerable population of coastal territories for many millennia.
The largest lake in Africa is Victoria, which is also the second largest freshwater lake in the world.
Mineral resources
In the world economy, Africa is known not as the hottest continent on the planet, but as one of the main sources of many minerals. South Africa is the richest country in natural resources, there are many deposits of various raw materials.
On the territory of South Africa there are deposits of ore, tungsten, chromite and uranium ore. The northern part of the continent is rich in zinc, molybdenum, cob alt and lead, while the western part is rich in coal and oil.
Summing up, it should be noted that the territory of this continent remains not fully developed, and many species of flora and fauna living in the tropics have not yet been studied. But the resources that are here serve as a weighty argument in order to continue to explore the hottest continent. Africa has been and will continue to be mysterious and alluring to many adventurers and wildlife lovers.
