Geography
Africa occupies an area of 29.2 million km ². The length from north to south - 8 km from west to east in the northern part - 7,5 thousand km.
Relief
For the most part - the plains, north-west are the Atlas mountains in the Sahara - Highlands Ahaggar and Tibesti. In the east - the highlands of Ethiopia to the south of it - Volcano Kilimanjaro (5895 m) - the highest point of the mainland. In the south and Cape Fold Drakensbergs. The lowest point (157 meters below sea level) is located in Djibouti, a salt lake Assal.
Minerals
Africa is known mainly for its rich diamond deposits (South Africa, Zimbabwe) and gold (South Africa, Ghana, Republic of the Congo). Oil fields are in Algiers bauxite mined in Guinea and Ghana. Resources phosphates, as well as manganese, iron and lead-zinc ores are concentrated in the zone of the northern coast of Africa.
Inland waters
Africa has the second largest river in the world - the Nile, flowing from south to north. Other major rivers - this is Niger in the west, the Congo in central Africa and the Zambezi, Limpopo and Orange in the south.
Largest Lake - Victoria. Other major lakes - Tanganyika and Nyasa, located in the lithospheric fractures. One of the largest salt lakes - Lake Chad, located on the territory of the same name of the state.
Climate
Central Africa and coastal areas of the Gulf of Guinea are the equatorial belt, where all year heavy rainfall and there is no change of seasons. To the north and south of the equatorial belt are subequatorial belt. This summer, dominated by the humid equatorial air mass (rainy season) and winter - dry air from the tropical trade winds (dry season). To the north and south subequatorial zones located north and south tropical belt. They are characterized by high temperatures with little rainfall, which leads to the formation of deserts.
To the north is the largest on earth the Sahara desert in the south - the Kalahari Desert. Northern and southern tip of the mainland part of the relevant sub-tropical zone.