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Teacher Background Notes on Physical Regions of Africa The Atlas Mountains, located in the far northwest, are the longest mountain range in Africa. They create a rain shadow, where the inland side of the Atlas Mountains experience much less rain than the ocean side. The Sahara Desert is the largest desert in the world. It covers 3,500,000 square miles of northern Africa. The Sahara Desert is made up of different types of land surfaces: ergs, (windblown sand dunes); wadis (dry streambeds); gravel plains; hammadas (rocky plateaus); and mountains. South of the Sahara is the Sahel which is a steppe area with small trees and grasses. The Sahel is a fragile land, resting between true desert and savanna. The Sahel has been gradually turning into desert due to years of drought, overgrazing and poor land management . The savannas of Africa are tropical grasslands with scattered trees. Savannas have definite wet and dry seasons. Many of Africa’s animals live in this region. Savanna land preserves have been set up to help protect the animals from poachers. The savanna belts of Africa are located both north and south of the tropical rainforest region of central Africa. The tropical rainforests are located near the equator. Treetops of the rain forest form a canopy, or an umbrella-like cover of vegetation. The canopy lets very little sun light filter to the ground. Because of the lack of sunlight, the forest floor has very little plant life. Over 750 different types of trees live in the rainforest. The rainforest is being cut down for its precious wood. The Congo River (once known as the Zaire River) flows 2,900 miles through central Africa, and much of its course flows through the dense tropical rainforest. The Great Rift Valley (also called the East African Rift) is located in Eastern Africa. The Rift Valley is more than 3,000 miles long. Movement of the earth’s crustal plates is slowly splitting Africa into two parts, at the rate of millimeters per year.