March 29, 2024

Regional Geography

Regional geography is usually defined as the study of the ways in which the combinations of environmental and human factors produce territories or regions with distinctive landscapes and cultural attributes. What this means is that the general appearance of a region or territory is the product of the combination and interaction of physical phenomena (e.g. climate, relief, drainage, soil, vegetation, etc.) on the one hand, and human phenomena (e.g. population, diets, technology, market forces, etc.), on the other. Therefore, when we travel through regions, the diversity we observe onthe landscape is a product of both physical environmental factors and human factors. Neither physical factors nor human factors alone are responsible for the diversity of landscapes on the earth’s surface.

The regions of Africa and the landscapes therein are products of the interaction of Africa’s climate, relief, drainage, soils, vegetation, etc ., on the one hand, and population, diets, technology, market forces, etc ., on the other. Therefore, to properly understand Africa and the regions of Africa, it is important to understand the physical or environmental setting as well as the patterns of human occupance, including such things as population, agriculture and other economic activities.

 

Location and Size

Africa is a very large continent. With an areal size of 30,310,000 square kilometres, it is the second largest continent in the world, and it makes up about 20.3% of the total land area of the earth.

The continent is about 8,000 kilometres from north to south and the same distance from east to west. Africa is almost equally divided into two halves by the equator, extending to latitude 37°N and to 35°S. Cape Blanc is the most northerly point (37°N), while Cape Agulhas is the most southerly point (35°S).On the other hand, the most westerly point is Cape Verde (about 24°W), while the most easterly point is Cape Ras Caseyr in the Horn of Africa (about 52°E). Much of the continent lies between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. Therefore, Africa is essentially a tropical continent. Africa is largely geographically contiguous, but it does have a few islands, the largest of which is Madagascar.

The sovereign states that make up Africa constitute its major political subdivisions.

The continent contains 56 countries. These countries vary in both population size and in geographical size. In terms of geographical size, Sudan is the largest country. It covers an area of 2,500,000 square kilometres and is four and a half times the size of France, for example. Some African countries are among the largest in the world. At the opposite end of the scale are the so called mini-states, countries that are very small in geographical size. Examples include St. Helena, Seychelles, Sao Tome and Principe, Lesotho, Swaziland and Djibouti, among others. In terms of population size, Nigeria is the largest country with its population of about 168,800,000 people (2012 estimate). At the other end are the island states of St. Helena (6,000), Seychelles (77,000) and Sao Tome and Principe (146,000). The political map of Africa therefore consists of a patchwork of states, some big, some small; the majority of the states are on the mainland, while a few are islands.

 

Some of the countries are landlocked i.e. they have no coastline and therefore no direct access to the ocean (e.g. Uganda, Niger, Botswana, etc.).

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