African Continent

African Continent

Africa is situated between the Southern Hemisphere and the Northern Hemisphere.
It has large climatic zones, coasts and islands, which are located to the south-east and north-west.
It ‘a pretty big continent, and has many natural environments in the minority we can find lakes (which are found only in the southern part), rivers (such as the larger the Nile and is located in the north-east) and chains ranges.
The history of this continent is vast, as cultures, which differ for each type of population.
It ‘a very poor continent, and most industrialized countries in economic terms are the ones that are in the north, northeast.
The Africa being very large is crossed by the temperate climate zones from the tropics within which we find different environments.CLIMATE OF TROPICAL FOREST
The tropical forest is located between the tropics and straddles the Equator. The climate is very hot and humid and there are many variations between seasons. The climate is characterized by an average rainfall of 20 cm per month.
CLIMATE OF THE PRAIRIE
The prairie is located in a region Veldt of South Africa. The climate varies with the seasons characterized by very cold winters and very hot summers. The rain is concentrated mainly in the spring and is about 5 cm per month.CLIMATE OF THE DESERT
The African desert. The Sahara in the north-west and the Kalahari Desert to the northeast. Has an arid climate with very strong thermal changes that it is very hot during the day and at night it is very cold.

CLIMATE EQUATORIAL
The equatorial climate is always warm enough, in fact, the average temperature fluctuates between 26 and 28 ° c. In this area you find a high rainfall (about 1500 mm) annually, which differ in the seasons, which are generally reduced to two: the hot and rainy.

FLORA

The vegetation in Africa is quite rich. The characteristic plants of the continent are the date palm, large acacia trees and some types of banana trees.

Banana
The bananas are one of the largest herbaceous perennial with roots. The stem is made from leaves inserted into each other. At the top of the stem blooming flowers male or female. They produce the “helmet” of bananas. The stems are cut after the fruits, because they die. The root creates new stems which mature in less than one year.

Date palm
Date palm is the name of a family of plants that live in tropical areas. Its stem is thick and cylindrical, can be climbing, bushy and can get to fifty feet high. The date palm produces coconuts. Among the most important are: palm fiber, native to Madagascar, which provides the raffia and oil palm. Many species are grown for ornamental purposes.

FAUNA
The fauna is characterized by many different species of mammals. Characteristic of Africa: camels, gorillas, giraffes, elephants, lions, and others, are not present in environments counterparts in other continents.

The lion
The lion is a carnivorous animal and belongs to the Felidae family. It is spread throughout the African continent. Reach up to one meter in height and three meters in length. His coat is smooth and is quite dark. The male has a large mane. He lives in the savannahs and steppes, has nocturnal and feed on antelopes, zebras, pigs, buffalo and others. Almost never the female gives birth to little more than two days.

The giraffe
The giraffe is a ruminant artiodactyl and the family of Giraffidi. It is the highest of the animals it can reach 6 feet in height. Was very common in Africa. The body descends obliquely towards the tail. There are two small ears. The coat is yellowish with a few spots of dark brown. It feeds on the leaves of mimosa, acacia, and other tall trees.

The elephant
The elephant is the largest land mammal. It belongs to the family of trunks. The African elephant than three and a half meters in height, has a thick and wrinkled skin and a flexible nose called the trunk with which grabs the food and water bringing them to his mouth. It feeds on leaves and fruit. At 25 he was considered young and 50 old. As an adult can reach a weight of 6 tons.

The camel
The camel is a ruminant mammal belonging to the family and cloven-hoofed animals and is widely used as animal riding, desert regions and its African variety has a single hump and is called a dromedary. At one time the ancestors of the current camels are found in North America.

The gorilla
The gorilla is the largest monkey, belongs to the family of Pongidae. He lives in the equatorial forests can reach 2 meters in height and 3 tons weight. His skin is wrinkled and covered with thick hair blacks on the head and thin chest. The gorilla has a big mouth, flat nose and sunken eyes. His legs are very strong and long. It feeds on fruits and roots. The females and the young sleep in trees.

Guido Bissanti