Brief History About Africa.

    Most of our knowledge about the earth is indirectly obtained from the study 0f earthquake waves. For this reason there are varieties of possible explanations, but generally all of them consider the earth to have three main component : 

    a)  A Crust : This is relatively very thin .
    b) A Mantle:
    c) A Core. 
    
     The Crust is known from the direct observation and consists of a thin oceanic shell on which the continents rest. The continental crust is therefore, limited to continents and near by areas. The oceanic crust on which it rests ,is broken up into a number of plates and these plates are moved by convection currents in the , and in turn carry the continents with them. This action is called "Plate Tectonics".
    
The Mantle forms the largest part of the earth. It's upper part is somewhat complex, but divided quite sharply from the crust by the "Mohorovici" meaning discontinuity (Moho) a boundary zone between rocks of different density emerged. Although it is not liquid, the mantle is subject to plastic flow, as heat rises towards the crust , and these slow currents are the driving force for the movement of the crustal plates
. At the Moho, the mantle rocks melt, if pressure is reduced by fracturing and magma is ejected into and onto the crust in the form of lava flow and volcanic eruptions.
     The Core is the least known zone, but earthquake waves pass through it, quite differently from mantle, indicating that it is solid at the center and molten on the outside.
      Temperature increase towards the center of the earth ,reaching 1,200c at moho, 3,500c at the Gutenberg ,Discontinuity. and 5,500c at the center of the earth.
      From the above, let us examine the Evolution of the continents, bearing AFRICA in mind. 180 million years ago, The original single landmass of pangae split into two continental blocks :Laururasia, which drifted northwards and Gondwana land, which began to break up, India moved away from Antarctica- Austriallia, Reaching another 135 million years ago, Gondwanaland Laurasia continue to drift North wards and Tethy's sea between Africa and Eurasia started to close up in the East. North Atlantic oceans opened up further as the south Atlantic began to form, india continued to move north towards asia.
     Madagascar broke from Africa while Australlia remained connected to Antaractica. South America separated from Africa and moved  North and South. The South Atlantic ocean opened up behind it. This is how we come about Africa, the continuously braking up and discontinuations of landmass, starting from Pangae a split into two continental blocks.
     Africa is a stable continental landmass composed of metamorphic pre - cambrain rocks partly covered by younger sedimentary rocks, Africa pre-cambrain rocks include some of the oldest  rocks known, and were folded in a series of mountain building events. Since the pre- cambrain period, Africa has been mostly emergent, therefore, sediments created by erosion are usually continental. These include the thin covering of  quarternary river and dune sands of the Sahara and Kalahari deserts, and the sediments of lake chad and East African Lakes.Sedimentary basins formed during this process include the Triassic basins of East Africa, basins along the continental margins and the East African rift valleys. Extensive lavas are associated with the movement of Arabic away from  Africa and the formation of Red sea.
                                          Africans Natural Vegetation
a)Rain Forest.
b)Mediterranean Forest.
c)Wood Land. 
d)Grass Land.
e)Rain forest with grass land.
     Africa has giant sand dune at sossusvle, Nambi Desert. she also has mixed grassland vegetation at the foot of Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, and several other parts of the continent. Africa is the home of all sorts of wild Animals, mostly kept in the zoo. these include: Elephants, Lions, Leopards, Gorilla, Chimpanzee, Zebra.
     Africa has water Resources and Irrigation.
the major Irrigations scheme include:
a)The Aswan high Dam, which was competed in 1970,controls the flow of the Nile to allow both Irrigation generation of hydro-electric power. The dam also provides protection from flooding.
b)The Gezira Irrigation scheme covers 800,000 hectares and is fed by water from the Sennar Dam. The main cash crops grown on the scheme is cotton, with over 25 percent of the area planted with this crop, and providing 75 percent of Sudan's total production. Also planted are groundnuts, maize and dura (sorghum).
 c) The Kenana sugar scheme started in 1975, covers 150,000 hectares and produced 230,000 tons of sugar each year. Water is supplied from the White Nile.
    
     Major Lands Under Irrigation are as follows;

a) Egypt
b) Sudan
c) South Africa
d) Morocco
e) Madagascar
f) Algeria
g) Libya
h) Tunisia
    
     AGRICULTURE

     Agricultural lifestyle of Africa are:-

• Shifting cultivation
• Subsistence -mixed crops and livestock
• Intensive -rice dominant
• Commercial -mixed crops and livestock
• Specialized -plantation and market gardening
• Extensive -livestock rearing
• Nomadic -herding
• Forestry

    Minerals in Africa are:

1. Antimony -100% in South Africa
2. Bauxite - 92.2% in Guinea, Ghana 2.8%
3. Chromium -90.8% in South Africa,8.2% in Zimbabwe
4. Cobalt
5. Gold -South Africa, Ghana, Mali, Guinea, and Zimbabwe
6. Manganese -South Africa, Gabon, and Ghana
7. Diamonds -Botswana, Congo Dr., South Africa, Angola, and Namibia
8. Iron ore -South Africa, Egypt, and Algeria
9. Lead -Namibia, Tunisia, Morocco, South Africa
10. Copper -Zambia, South Africa, Congo Dr., Botswana, Namibia and host of other minerals you will see, when you visit any part of Africa.

      Energy and Power:

Hydroelectric power in Africa:
Harnessing the power of rivers for the generation of electricity is an environmentally friendly method of production as it does not release harmful carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere. At the moment, African countries use only a fraction of their hydro potential, but even so over 17% of electricity generation in Africa comes from hydro production.

     African Politics:

Africa Union (AU):- This is the organization of African unity formed in 1963 by 32 independent African state. In 2001, it was replaced by the Africa Union, which has it headquarters in Addis Ababa. Every African country is a member, with the exemption of Morocco, which resigned in 1984. The aim of the AU is to provide unity and solidarity between its members, to eliminate colonization in Africa, and to promote international co-operation. The head states assemble annually to coordinate policies on political, economic, cultural, health, scientific and dense issues.

     African Regional Economic Groupings include:

1) Economic Community of Central African State (ECCAS):- Their aim is to create a common market with free movement of people, goods, services and capital.
2) Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS):- The community was formed in 1975 to promote trade, co-operation and self reliance in West Africa.
3) Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA):- It was formed in 1993 to replace the Preferential Trade Area. COMESA's aim is to create a common market as the first stage in the establishment of economic community.
4) East African Community (EAC):- Its plan is to set up a common market to promote economic growth and development.
5) Southern African Development Community (SADC):- It was established in 1980, SADC's aim is to attain economic independence and self sufficiency within the region through co-operation.
6) Mono River Union:- It was formed in 1973, to establish a custom and economic union between member states.

     African Population:
 
     Africa is densely populated with about 80-100% of the population living in Urban Areas.

    African Transport and Communications:

     Transportation:- African transport system covers that of road transport routes within neighboring states and across the globe. Railway transport systems across the countries for easy convey of goods to sister states. Water transport system that runs the major sea routes for easy trade. Africa also has air transport that fly both human beings, goods and services to every part of the world.
     Communications:- African communication system is very effective and most efficient in use as we have varieties of network companies across Africa e.g. MTN, GLO, AIRTEL etc.