GEOGRAPHY

GEOGRAPHY

of the parts of the world

CONTENTS

• Preface
• EUROPE
• Countries of Europe
• ASIA
• Countries of Asia
• AFRICA
• Brief Survey of the Countries of    Africa
• AMERICA
• Brief Survey of the Countries of    America
• AUSTRALIA AND OCEANIA
• ANTARCTICA
 

BRIEF SURVEY OF THE COUNTRIES OF AFRICA.

1. The Countries of North Africa

     

Map   Questions.

  1. Point out on the political map the countries of Africa lying
    north of the Tropic of Cancer.
  2. What seas are these countries washed by?
  3. Name the mountains you know on their territory.
  4. Study the map in your Atlas and name the peoples living in
    these countries. Where is the population especially dense? Where
    is it thin?

In the Middle Ages North Africa was conquered by the Arabs, who brought their language, culture and religion (Mohammedanism) there. North Africa is separated from the rest of the continent by the vast Sahara Desert.
Almost one-fifth of Africa's territory and over one-fifth of its population falls on North Africa.
In North Africa lies the United Arab Republic, Africa's most populated country, numbering 25,000,000. It consists almost entirely of deserts and occasional oases. These are crossed by the Lower Nile Valley, which broadens northward into a great marshy delta. In the Nile Valley and Delta is concentrated the great­er part of the population of the country. The main occupation is the cultivation of high-quality, fine-fibred cotton. Cotton is the chief export. A great dam, hydroelectric power-station and reservoir are being built at Aswan with the help of the Soviet Union, which will help to regulate the floods and improve irrigation.

 

Cairo, the largest city in Africa.
The UAR is crossed by the Suez Canal, which is an important source of income for the government, a fee being charged for passing

Fig. 146. Cairo, the largest city in Africa.
through it. The capital of the United Arab Republic is Cairo, Africa's largest city. It stands on the Nile and has a population of 3,500,000. The older part of the city contains narrow crooked streets and one or two-storeyed houses. There are many monuments of Arabian architecture in it. In New Cairo the streets are broad, and straight, the houses latter-day and multistoryed. In close neigh­bourhood stand the Pyramids, ancient monuments of Egypt.
West of the UAR are two young states: Libya, former co1ony of Italy, and Tunisia, former colony of France. Further west lies Algeria. After a stubborn struggle against French rule, the people of Algeria, with the support of the Soviet Union, finally won its independence. There appeared a new-born state, the Peop1e's Democratic Republic of Algeria, whose citizens are awakening to a new life along the socialist road of development. Facing the Atlantic lies Morocco, a former possession of France.
In these countries the chief cities and most of the people are concentrated in the coastal belt, where the climate is subtropical and where fruit-trees, vines, olive and cork-trees thrive (from the bark of the latter cork is got). The rest of the space south of the Atlas Mountains consists of semideserts and barren deserts. The few inha­bitants roam from place to place with their herds of sheep and camels. In the oases the date is grown, In recent years rich deposits, of oil and natural gas have been found in the deserts of Africa, at­tracting the attention of European and American capitalists.
Questions and Assignments.

    • Mark and name on the outline map the countries of North
      Africa and the city of Cairo.
    • Study the map on page 181 and name the minerals found in
      North   Africa.

 


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