6th Standard Social Geography Chapter 24
CONTINENT OF AFRICA
Exercises
I. Fill in the blanks with appropriate word:
1 Africa is called Dark Continent.
Answer: Dark
2 The longest river of Africa is Nile .
Answer: Nile
3 The highest peak of Africa is Mt. Toubkal.
Answer: Mt. Toubkal
4 The largest bird of Africa is Ostrich.
Answer: Ostrich
5 The Savanna type of climate is also called Sudan model climate.
Answer: Sudan model climate
II. Answer the following questions:
- Africa is known as the Central Continent. Why?
Answer: Africa is known as the Central Continent because the special fact is that both the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn pass through this continent. The equator almost passes through the centre of the continent. That is why it is called as the ‘Central Continent’.
- What is Isthmus? What is the African Isthmus?
Answer: A narrow strip of land that joins two vast land masses and separates different bodies of water is ‘Isthumus’. The Isthumus of Suez is a narrow strip of land between the Mediterranean Sea and Red seas. It joins the continent of Africa and Asia. It belongs to one of the nations of African continent and lies to the North east of Africa. It was dug to build the Suez canal.
- Name the basins of Africa.
Answer: There are five important basins in Africa. They are as follows:
1 The Sudan basin is filled by the White Nile and Blue Nile rivers. This is world’s most extensive marshland known as ‘Sudd’.
2 The Chad basin is occupied by Lake Chad. This basin is a swampy area and the Sahara desert encroaches upon it.
3 The Djouf basin consists of Western Sahara Desert and is found along Mauritania-Mali boundary. It is filled by River Niger.
4 The Congo (Zaire) basin is a great structural basin and occupied by a plateau. River Congo and its tributaries flows across it. It is a forest area.
5 The Kalahari basin is mostly a desert and Steppe grassland and area. It is surrounded by plateau rims.
- Mention the types of natural vegetation of Africa.
Answer: Mountain vegetation, plateau and desert vegetation, and a special type of vegetation called ‘Sudd’ (means barrier) is found in the river valleys of the Nile.
- What are the major food crops of Africa?
Answer; Maize is the only cereal which is important here. Rice and sugarcane are grown in small areas. Cash crops like coffee, palm tree, groundnut are grown in Central, Eastern and other parts of Africa. Coffee has been cultivated in Ethiopia for thousands of years. Africa has large varieties of fruit crops. In the tropical and Mediterranean regions citrus fruits like olives, lemon, orange, grapes are common. In East Africa cashew trees are grown. Zanzibar islands and Tanzania are famous for growing cloves.
- Which African countries are rich in diamond reserves?
Answer: Nearly 80% of the world’s total diamond reserves are found in Africa alone. Botswana, Zaire and South Africa are the highest producing countires of Diamonds. Angola, Namibia and Ghana are the other producers.
Activities:
- Identify the important rivers and mountains of Africa.
Answer:
Rivers of Africa: The continent of Africa has four major rivers. They are the Nile, the Congo (Zaire), the Niger, and the Zambezi. The Senegal, the Orange and the Limpopo are the other important rivers of Africa.
Mountains of Africa: The continent of Africa has many mountains. However some small hill ranges break the monotony of the flat plains of Africa. Among them the major mountains are Atlas Range, Drakensberg and Kilimanjaro range. Besides these the Ahaggar, the Tibesti, the Ruwenzori, the Cape range and the east African mountains are other mountain ranges in Africa.
Some more Questions:
- Mention the different climatic regions of Africa.
Answer: On the basis of climatic condition, Africa can be divided into eight climatic zones as follows
1 The Wet Equatorial Climatic Region.
2 The Savanna Type of Climatic Region
3 The Tropical Desert Climatic Region.
4 The Mediterranean Climatic Region.
5 The Temperate Grassland Type
6 The Highland Climatic Region.
7 Humid Sub-tropical Climatic Region.
8 Dry winter Subtropical Region.
- Explain the physical setting of Africa.
Answer: Most of the land mass of Africa is surrounded by seas or oceans. Africa is bounded on the west by the Atlantic Ocean, on the north by the Mediterranean Sea, on the east by the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. In the northeast, Africa is joined to Asia by Sinai Peninsula, though it is now separated by the Suez Canal. Africa is separated from Europe by the Strait of Gibraltar and the Arabian Peninsula by the Red sea. The coast line of Africa is 30,500 Km. long.
- Mention the important rivers of Africa.
Answer: The continent of Africa has four major rivers. They are the Nile, the Congo (Zaire), the Niger, and the Zambezi. The Senegal, the Orange and the Limpopo are the other important rivers of Africa.
- Name the important mountains of Africa.
Answer; The continent of Africa has many mountains. However some small hill ranges break the monotony of the flat plains of Africa. Among them the major mountains are Atlas Range, Drakensberg and Kilimanjaro range. Besides these the Ahaggar, the Tibesti, the Ruwenzori, the Cape range and the east African mountains are other mountain ranges in Africa.
- Which are the animals found in Africa?
Answer: Africa is best known for the enormous diversity and richness of its wild life. The rain forest is the home of many animals. Chimpanzee, a variety of monkeys, Gorillas, Bison, Leopard and other hoofed animals are found here. Crocodiles and Hippopotamus are found in rivers and swamps. The zebras, wild cats, giraffes, rhinoceros, elephants, impala, cheetahs, and African lions, donkeys, horses, adders and camels are also found here.
- Name the birds are found in African continent.
Answer: Bright colourful birds like kingfishers, ostrich, shoebill, eagles, etc. are commonly found here in African continent.
- Which countries of Africa are suffering from draughts and starvation?
Answer: The countries of (Sahel) Funder Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad, Northern Sudan, Ethiopia, and Somalia frequently suffer from droughts and people suffer due to starvation.
- What are the Reasons for the backwardness of agriculture in Africa?
Answer: Old methods of farming, which is purely subsistence in nature, outdated implements, illiteracy, tribalism, lack of capital and foreign investment are the main reasons for the backwardness of agriculture in Africa.
- Which African countries are rich in Gold mining?
Answer: South Africa alone has about half of the world’s gold reserve. The main distribution states are Witwatersrand (Transvaal) and in Orange Free State. More than 50% of the continents total gold production comes from South Africa, Zimbabwe and the Democratic republic of Congo (Zaire).
- Mention the four groups of people in Africa.
Answer: The People of Africa belong to four groups. They are,
(1) Pygmies, Bushmen and Masai who live to the South of Sahara desert.
(2) The Arabs who live in North Africa.
(3) The Indians who live in South Africa and East Africa.
(4) The Europeans live in South Africa and other fertile land of other river basins.
