WBBSE Chapter 10 Continent Of Africa Introduction
A narrow stretch of waterbody joining two large and sprawling waterbodies, such as two seas or two oceans, is called a strait.
The continent of Africa has not been able to see the light of modern-day civilization for a long time due to its natural inaccessibility, uncomfortable weather, dense forest, fear of wild animals, etc. Thus this continent was once known as the ‘Dark Continent’. The temperate grasslands of South Africa are called Veldt or Veld. Alfalfa grasses can be seen in the Kalahari Desert and along the coastal plains of the Indian Ocean.
The world-famous waterfall on the Zambezi River in Africa is called the Victoria Falls. The combined flow of the White Nile and the Blue Nile is known as the Nile River. The source of the White Nile is the Burundi Highland and Lake Victoria in Tanzania and the source of the Blue Nile is the Lake Tana in the highlands of Ethiopia.
Khartoum, the capital city of Sudan, is the confluence point of these two streams. This combined stream then flows as the Nile River. The upper course of the Nile Basin extends from Lake Victoria to the city of Malakal in Sudan.
The region between the city of Malakal and Khartoum in Sudan is an undulating stretch of the Savanna Grasslands. This region is the middle course of the Nile Basin. The part from Khartoum to Cairo is the lower basin or lower course of the Nile River. The river descends in six steps over a hard rock layer from Khartoum to Aswan. The fertile alluvium-rich agricultural land extends from Cairo to the Mediterranean Sea is called the Nile Delta region. Long fibrous cotton is cultivated in abundance in the fertile alluvial soils of the Nile Delta region. It is known as Egyptian cotton all over the world.
Read And Learn Also WBBSE Class 7 Geography Notes
When a dam is built on a river with many objectives, it is called a multipurpose river valley project. Many such projects have been developed on the Nile. An Aerg is a large accumulation of sand deposited by the wind in the form of a small hill in the Sahara Desert. Hamada is the rocky part of the desert with no sand.
Most of the rivers in the Sahara Desert originate from the Atlas Mountains and the Central Highlands. But these rivers are dry and non-perennial. Such dried-up river channels are known as Wadis. The regions of the desert where sand and rock fragment are found together are called Reg. Khamsin is a hot and dry wind that blows from the Sahara Desert in the summer season. Khamsin in the Guinea Coast is known as the Harmattan. During the daytime in summer, sometimes huge sandstorms are seen in the Sahara Desert. It is called Simoom in the local language.
Those who cultivate by the sides of an oasis in a desert and roam about in the desert with herds especially camels, from one place to another in search of water and food, are known as nomads. When herds of camels move together in a desert, it is known as a caravan.