The summary of the shape of Africa cannot be explained without first identifying with Africa as a very large geographical space of the earth. Africa, as the world’s second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia, is a hugely noticeable continent and thus, it is not undervalued in all of the continents of the world. The African population is the youngest amongst all the continents.
In the broader global context, the continent’s recent economic expansion and the large and young population make Africa an important economic market.
Apart from the fact that she straddles the equator and the prime meridian, Africa is the only continent to stretch from the northern temperate to the southern temperate zones.
The history of Africa is long, complex, and has often been under-appreciated by the global historical community. Africa, particularly Eastern Africa, is widely accepted as the place of origin of humans and the Hominidae clade, also known as the great apes.
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The Summary of the Shape of Africa
It is not common truth that Africa resembles a bulging sandwich. The sole continent to span both the north and south temperate zones, it has a thick tropical core lying between one thin temperate zone in the north and another in the south. Having come to cognizance of how much potential of greatness Africa carries as one of world’s largest continent, let us delve into short discourse about the summary of the shape of Africa:
African Outline Informs the Shape
Africa’s total land area is approximately 11,724,000 square miles (30,365,000 square km), and the continent measures about 5,000 miles (8,000 km) from north to south and about 4,600 miles (7,400 km) from east to west.
The shape of Africa is relatively simple with a remarkably smooth outline. The rivers plunge off the edges of the plateau into the sea in a series of falls and rapids. The coast is fringed with coral reefs, sand bars, mangrove swamps and lagoons that block passage to the continents interior.
Africa’s coastline is generally straight and relatively short compared with that of other continents thereby resulting in more artificial harbors than natural ones. The coastline of Africa is remarkably straight, free from the indentations that make for good natural harbors.
The narrow continental shelf is related to the steep face that the continent generally presents to the sea and the faulting that has produced its general shape.
