Mount Kilmanjaro is an active volcano in Tanzania, Africa. It is about 19000 feet tall and has a very diverse climate. Mount Everest is about 10,000 feet taller than KIlmanjaro. It shows every different climate, all twelve. This is due to the the change in altitude as you climb the mountain. In addition, the vegetation and wildlife varies at each climate. Such as at the bottom there is grasses and trees with animal grazing around. The last eruption the mount had was between 150,000 and 200,000 years ago. These are just some of the many interesting facts that the mount has to offer. Mount Kilmanjaro affects the people around it too. It does because many people want to climb it and reach the peak of Uhuru. This creates Jobs for people to carry up tourist stuff and help guide them along their way. In addition, as your climbing the mountain you must stop along the way otherwise your lungs wont adjust to the air. The guides will help you cook special meals too. On a side note to the economy it produces, there is also river that provide water for the villages that lie below. As you can see Kilmanjaro is important.
Great Rift Valley
This is an area of 2.5 million kilometers and it covers the entire Kalahari desert. It's consisted of trees, grasses and wetlands during spring. These wetlands are where flamingos migrate to. A rift valley is caused by two continental plates pulling apart. The eastern part of Africa is pulling into the Indian Ocean. There are also many faults and mountains around it making it active for volcanoes and earthquakes. A rift valley has three part, plateau, tectonic scarp, and a valley. What makes the Great Rift Valley so great? Well it's important because it creates wet and dry periods that human's have learned to take advantage of. So do the animals as they flock here during the wet periods for the water and lush plants. The fact that theirs mountains and valleys, this divides the different people and even their culture. Thus limiting the spread the culture. As you can see the the Great Rift Valley is important.
Waterways The Congo River
The Congo is 2900 miles long and is the biggest network of rivers and is the second biggest river . It´s comparable to the Mississippi in size. There are three main tributaries, the Ubangi, Shanghai and Kasai. It very impassible with 32 waterfalls and many dams. The Congo reaches depth of over 750 feet deep and is the deepest river in the world. Fun fact is that the Congo River formed around 2 million years ago and theiers been 700 fish species discovered in it. These are some of the neat facts about the Congo. The River is so important because of it size. It is the main way to travel in Central Africa. There is over 9,000 miles of networking rivers and stream that hook up to it that you are able to boat through. Also there are many items that are transported by boat on the river. Whether for trade or just for home use. In addition the Congo flushes 41,000 cubic meters of fresh water into the Atlantic Ocean every second. Finally the river practically produces all of Africa´s energy, by using 40 different hydroelectric dams.
Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria sits at the basin between the rift valleys. It is a whopping 272 feet deep at it's deepest point and an average depth of 130 feet deep. 26,564 square miles is the area it cover, which is crazy and the lake is known as one of Africa's great lakes. It's the worlds second largest fresh water lake, first is Lake Superior! . The lake borders three countries Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania. Some fish found in there are the Nile Perch and Tilapia. These are just a few of the amazing facts that lake Victoria holds. The importance of this lake is mostly on economy. The Nalubaale Dam produces hydroelectric power for Uganda and so does the Kiira Dam. This is the most densely populated area in Africa. Due to over fishing by so many people many fish have been endangered in the last century. This hurts the people there by being able to provide food for family. In addition, the lake can be used for trade as there are several rivers and canals that hook up to it.
Minerals Gold
Gold mining in Africa is huge I tell you. Over 500,000 people work in the mines and 20% of their gross domestic is from this. In, 2005 they exported over $3.8 billion worth of gold. Some mines in Africa are so deep that are bodies can't handle the heat and so they wear special clothing. An ounce of gold is worth about 1250 dollars today. Why is gold so important here? For starters it creates a tremendous amount of jobs. Witwatersrand Basin produces the most gold in the world. South Africa was fourth in 2009 for producing the most amount of gold. Gold mines paid larger amounts of taxes these taxes help to build some infrastructure. As you can see gold mining is important in Africa.
Platinum
Africa holds over 80% of the worlds Platinum in their reserves. 130 tons are produced by both Russia and Africa combined. Platinum was discovered in Africa before the Europeans came over there. Platinum come from the Spanish root platina which means little silver. These are just a few random facts about Platinum. Platinum's importance in Africa is that it produces a ton of money for them. Also it creates many jobs, from mining it, cleaning it, and shipping it. Also it's used in jewelry, creating even more jobs, such as forming the metal and selling the jewels. Finally Platinum is used in a car's catalytic converter. This help create less emission which are harmful to the environment. As you can see Platinum is very important.