TOPIC 2: THE PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS OF AFRICA
The prolonged cycles of erosion and uplifting in the three major phases of Africa’s evolution produced various physiographic regions which can be identified on the African continent namely; The East African region, Central African region, Madagascar, Congo basin, West African region and the Mid-Nile basin.
Reference question
- “The physiography of the African continent largely explains her level of development.”
Discuss.
- How far do you agree that the physiography of African continent explains the nature of her development?
East African Region
It is composed of the highest points of the continent where uplifted landscapes are traversed by the great African rift valley. Other important features include Highlands such as Kenya, Ethiopia and Basins like Victoria and Kyoga plus a number of associated swamps. This physiographic region has a lot of potential for development:
High mountains of East Africa are snowcapped i.e. Elgon, Rwenzori and Kenya. They form origins of rivers, have fertile soils, favor human settlement and have great tourism potential with a variety of vegetation types for lumbering and forestry.
The Kyoga and Victoria basins have potential for fishing and Agriculture. This resource has also been harnessed for HEP and irrigation or industrial development. The Lake Victoria ferries have been an important means of transport between Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya. Which have promoted international trade through major ports on the lake like: Kisumu, Mwanza, Bukoba, Entebbe, Port Bell, and Jinja.
The climate of East Africa is typical of equatorial regions due to a combination of the region’sgenerally high altitude and the rain shadow of the westerly monsoon winds created by the Rwenzori Mountains and Ethiopian Highlands, this climate permits an array of activities that are fueling economic development: Agriculture, fishing, forestry, and tourism. Some parts of East Africa have been renowned for their concentrations of wild life, such as the "big five": the elephant, buffalo, lion, black rhinoceros, and leopard, though populations have been declining under increased stress in recent times, particularly the rhino and elephants.However, the East African region is to some extent underdeveloped because of poor policies, leading to less social –economic development.
Central African Region
It is a landscape of plateaus at different levels, linked by deeply eroded rivers and drained largely by the Congo River system. E.g. the Zimbabwe Land surface which is very flat and vulnerable to flooding. Because of this, the region has suffered greatly from food insecurity and poverty where about 40% below the poverty line.
Up to 60% of bedrock beneath the Central Africa Republic dates to the Precambrian period with major rocks being granites, amphibolites (through metamophism), and gneiss which give rise to mineral resource endowments: copper, diamond, gold, graphite, iron ore, Kaolin, Limestone, manganese, quartz, rutile, salt, tin, and uranium. However, of these, only diamond and gold are majorly produced making the mining industry to contribute 7% of the GDP.
The landscapes of Central Africa are most often wide plateaus, which are smooth in the central part and carved at the periphery. The basin contains some marshlands in the region where the Congo, Ubangi, Likouala, and Sangha rivers converge and where lakes Mai- Ndombe and Tumba are found.These basins have promoted farming, fishing, herding, forestry (400,000 square miles (1,035,920 square km) which are a basis of economic development inthe region. The Congo River basin is second only to that of the Amazon in rate of flow providing an attractive network of navigable waters which are however cut off from the Atlantic by a succession of rapids in western Congo.
Madagascar region
It is composed of raised highlands with outward flowing rivers. This region is composed of volcanic features of volcanic formation with heavy precipitation. Because of this, it has a dense forest cover with a rain forest ecosystem that are a basis of tourism, and a limitation regarding its coastline. The coastline is a plateau surface which receives a lot of rainfall causing more erosion.
The region has however a potential for agriculture especially the growing of sugarcane due to the wet climate, the soils are also fertile from volcanic formations and tourism is embraced.
The region however experiences annual tropical cyclones that cause damage to infrastructure and local economies as well as loss of life. The coastline doesn’t have sheltered basins making water transport difficult, something that explains why sugarcane production does not yield much.
The region also has a rich biodiversity which is supporting variety of resource utilization activities for development e.g.; approximately 90% of all plant animal species found in Madagascar are endemic – (native and restricted to that area