Africa is the only place on the planet where the sun is hot and mercilessly all the time. After Eurasia, this continent is next in terms of land size and population density. Africa is washed by the Atlantic and Indian oceans. Also the borders of Africa are washed by the waters of the Mediterranean and Red Seas. This continent is the only one on the planet that is crossed by the equator, and therefore in the very center of the continent a large amount of precipitation falls all year round due to low pressure. There is never a bad and cold weather. The coolest temperature on the mainland is + 18 ° C.
Africa consists of 54 independent states, each of which is unique in its own way and has its own culture and traditions. The population of Africa is more than one billion people, among whom there are about three thousand tribes and more than one hundred nationalities. Mostly on the African mainland are dominated by Arabs and Algerians.
The history of Africa from the 7th to the 12th century tells us about the slave trade. Later, Africa repeatedly became a colony of great powers, and only in the 20th century did the continent achieve independence through wars and revolutions.
On the territory of African land is dominated by a lot of sandy deserts, tropical forests, vast pastures and savannas. On the continent there are many lakes, rivers, volcanoes and mountains.
The Sahara is the largest desert on the planet, where rainfall is rare. Groundwater sources form oases in the desert. Mount Kilimanjaro is Africa’s highest volcano. The Nile River is the second on the planet in its length.
Africa is rich in wildlife, especially large mammals, such as giraffes, rhinos, antelopes, buffaloes.
Перевод
Африка — единственное место на планете, где все время жарко и нещадно палит солнце. После Евразии этот материк является следующим по размерам суши и по плотности населения. Африка омывается Атлантическим и Индийским океанами. Также границы Африки омывают воды Средиземного и Красного морей. Этот континент — единственный на планете, который пересекается экватором, и поэтому в самом центре материка круглый год выпадает большое количество осадков из-за низкого давления. Там никогда не бывает плохой и холодной погоды. Самая прохладная температура на материке считается +18°C.
В состав Африки входят 54 независимых государства, каждое из которых по своему уникально, и имеет свою культуру и традиции. Численность населения Африки составляет более чем один миллиард людей, среди которых насчитывается около трёх тысяч племён и более ста национальностей. В основном на африканском материке преобладают арабы и алжирцы.
История Африки с 7 по 12 столетие рассказывает нам о торговле рабами. Позже, Африка неоднократно становилась колонией великих держав, и только в 20 — ом столетии континент через войны и революции добился независимости.
На территории африканской земли преобладает множество песчаных пустынь, тропических лесов, огромных пастбищ и саванн. На континенте имеется множество озер, рек, вулканов и гор.
Сахара — самая крупная пустыня на планете, где редко выпадают осадки. Подземные источники воды образуют в пустыне оазисы. Гора Килиманджаро — самый высокий вулкан Африки. Река Нил — вторая на планете по своей длине.
Африка богата представителями дикой природы, особенно крупными млекопитающими, такими как, жирафы, носороги, антилопы, буйволы.
Топик: «Африка (Africa)» — 4.7 out of
5
based on
20 votes
Story about South Africa
I am going to tell you about South Africa, one of the English speaking countries.
Southerly Africa, officially Republic of South Africa, is situated at the southern tip of the continent of Africa. South Africa borders on Namibia to the north-west, Botswana and Zimbabwe to the north, and Mozambique and Swaziland to the north-east and east. Lesotho, an independent constitutional monarchy is located inside the Republic of South Africa.
After the British seized the Cape of Good Hope area in 1806, many of the Dutch settlers trekked north. The discovery of diamonds in 1867 and gold in 1886 spurred wealth and immigration and intensified the subjugation of the native inhabitants. The Boers resisted British encroachments, but were defeated in the Boer War (1899-1902). As a result, Union of South Africa operated under a policy of apartheid — the separate development of the races. The 1990s brought an end to apartheid politically and ushered in black majority rule.
Total territory of South Africa is 1,220,000 square kilometres. The climate is mostly semiarid, subtropical along east coast; it has sunny days, cool nights. The natural resources of South Africa are gold, chromium, coal, iron ore, nickel, phosphates, tin, uranium, gem diamonds, platinum, copper, vanadium, salt, natural gas.
The population of the country is about 44 million people.
As to the ethnic groups there are 76 % black people, 14 % white people. There are eleven official languages, including Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Pedi, Sotho, Swazi, etc.
Government type is republic. The capital is Pretoria. Cape Town is the legislative centre and Bloemfontein the judicial centre. Administrative divisions are nine provinces.
South Africa became self-governing on May, 31, 1910. Before that, it was one of the numerous English colonies.
Legal system is based on the Roman-Dutch law and the English common law. The chief of state is President and Executive Deputy President. The president is both the chief of state and head of government.
Перевод
Рассказ о Южной Африке
Я собираюсь рассказать вам о Южной Африке, одной из англоязычных стран.
Южная Африка, официально Южно-Африканская Республика, расположена на южной оконечности континента Африка. Южная Африка граничит с Намибией на северо-западе, с Ботсваной и Зимбабве на севере и Мозамбиком и Свазилендом на северо-востоке и востоке. Лесото, независимая конституционная монархия, расположена внутри Южно-Африканской Республики.
После того как британцы захватили область мыса Доброй Надежды в 1806 году, многие из голландских поселенцев переселились на север. Открытие алмазов в 1867 году и золота в 1886 способствовало обогащению, иммиграции и усилению порабощения коренных жителей. Буры сопротивлялись британскому вторжению, но были побеждены в бурской войне (1899-1902). В результате, союз Южной Африки использовал политику апартеида — отдельное развитие рас. 1990-е годы положили конец политике апартеида и привели к правлению черного большинства.
Общая территория Южной Африки составляет 1220 000 кв. км. Климат главным образом полузасушливый, субтропический на восточном побережье. Днем солнечно, а ночью прохладно. Природные ресурсы Южной Африки представлены золотом, хромом, углем, железной рудой, никелем, фосфатами, оловом, ураном, ювелирными алмазами, платиной, медью, ванадием, солью, природным газом.
Население страны составляет приблизительно 44 миллиона человек.
Что касается этнических групп, то здесь присутствует 76 % чернокожих, 14 % белых. Имеются одиннадцать официальных языков, включая африкаанс, английский язык, ндебеле, педи, сото, свази и т, д.
Правительственным типом является республика. Столица — Претория. Кейптаун — законодательный центр и Блоэмфонтейн — судебный центр. Административное деление — 9 областей.
Южная Африка получила самоуправление 31 мая 1910 года. Перед этим она была одной из многочисленных английских колоний.
Юридическая система основана на римско-голландском и английском общем праве. Глава государства — президент и исполнительный представитель президента. Президент является как главой государства, так и главой правительства.
Государственное
автономное профессиональное образовательное учреждение
«Черепановский
педагогический колледж»
Africa.
Выполнила:
Главатских Елена,
31
группа
2020г.
Africa is the hottest continent on Earth. It
is almost symmetrically located relative to the equator. This continent is the
second largest territory. The oldest human remains have been found here. Africa
is located between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. There are fifty-five
countries in the mainland.
There are a lot of minerals in Africa.
However, they are still poorly understood.
Africa accounts for twenty-five percent of the
mining industry worldwide. Almost all the extracted raw materials and fuel are
sent to developed countries.
There is a large amount of land resources on
the mainland. But the extensive type of farming and a significant increase in
population have caused catastrophic soil erosion, which reduces the yield
level.
The woods
The main wealth of African nature is the
equatorial forests. The trees reach from sixty to eighty meters in height and
have green foliage all year round. Branches intertwine with each other,
creating a roof. The trees are wrapped in vines. There are a large number of
parasitic plants on the trees.
Rivers
The longest river in Africa is the Nile. Its
length is 6,650 kilometers. The Nile is filled with the waters of summer rains
in the tropics. In winter, during the cessation of rains, the water level in
the river decreases.
The Nile is the main source of water in the
state, which is surrounded by deserts. For harvesting, the valley and the delta
of the river are equipped with a continuous network of irrigation channels.
Near the city of Aswan, upstream of the river, two dams have been created to
preserve water from the Nile in the reservoir.
Cities
Aswan is currently the largest in the southern
part of Egypt. In the old days, it was a trading center with Ethiopia and
Sudan. Near the city there was a museum of priceless art monuments of ancient
Egypt.
There is a city of Luxor in Africa. It is a
museum city. It contains ancient temples and palaces of the pharaohs.
In Egypt, cotton, corn, sugar cane, wheat,
legumes, dates, olives, bananas, grapes, citrus fruits, peanuts and rice are
grown.
Lakes
The largest lake in Africa is Lake Victoria.
It is the second largest freshwater lake in the world. Its area is 69.484
square kilometers. The waters of Lake Victoria fill a small depression between
the western and eastern sides of a Large Gorge.
The Suez Canal was opened in 1869. It runs
along the Isthmus of Suez, connecting the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. This
channel is the shortest route from Europe to Asia. Extensions have been made to
diverge ships every forty kilometers. However, even in such areas, one of the
vessels is forced to approach the shore.
Oil produced on the Arabian Peninsula and on
the banks of the canal is delivered via the Suez Canal. Also, in the same way,
the delivery of bundle fiber, salt, cotton, cigarettes, fruits, grains and
other goods takes place.
Large cities were created along the banks of
the canal – Port Said, Ismailia, Suez.
South Africa lies at the southern end of the African continent, where the Atlantic and Indian oceans come together. For a long time in the past centuries South Africa was governed by whites, although about 80% of the population are blacks. In the 1990s the election of the first black president, Nelson Mandela opened a new chapter of South African history.
Size and geography
South Africa has an area of about 1.2 million square kilometres. Its neighbours to the north are Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Swaziland. Lesotho is a small country that is completely surrounded by South Africa. On the other three sides South Africa is surrounded by oceans.
Most of the country lies on a plateau. The central part known as the Highveld lies between 1,200 and 1,800 metres above sea level. Large farms and ranches and fields dominate the countryside. The Great Escarpment separates the higher regions of the inner country from the low areas along the coast. The highest part of this mountain range is the Drakensberg which reaches a height of 3,350 metres. In western South Africa the Kalahari and Namib deserts spread over a great part of the country. The biggest river is the Orange. It begins in the Drakenberg Mountains and flows into the Atlantic Ocean.
South Africa has a moderate climate with mild temperatures. In some areas there is not enough rain for farming and droughts are common.
Population of South Africa
About 44 million people live in South Africa. Blacks make up almost 80% of the population. They belong to different ethnic groups and speak different languages. The largest tribes, the Zulu and Xhosa, have lived in South Africa for the longest time. About half of them live in cities and the other half on small farms in the countryside. Many blacks still work for white people in gold and diamond mines but many are poor and have no jobs.
South Africa has three minorities. The Whites make up about 10% of the population. Apart from the English speaking population there are also the descendants Dutch, German and French settlers, who are called Afrikaners . Almost all whites live in the big cities. Many Afrikaners control the farms in the countryside.
9% of the population are Coloreds, people of mixed race. Many work as servants and hold jobs in factories. Asians, which make up about 2% of the population, are the fourth largest group. Most of them are descendants of settlers who came from India to work on large farms and plantations in the last part of the 19th century.
95 percent of all South Africans live in the eastern half of the country and along the southern coast. The northern and western part of the country is very sparsely populated because it is too dry.
The majority of the population are Protestants or Roman Catholics, but there are also Hindus and Muslims in the country and some of the tribes in the countryside follow traditional religions.
Cities
Johannesburg is South Africa’s largest city. It was founded in 1886 as a gold mining town. Today it is the centre of the country’s industry and trade. Near it you can still see the yellow mounds of the gold mines that brought wealth and prosperity to southern Africa.
Cape Town is South Africa’s oldest and second largest city. Founded as a Dutch trading station it was the biggest town until gold was found. Cape Town is known for its famous landmarks. Durban, on the east coast, is South Africa’s main port and a major industrial centre. Most of the country’s Asian people live here.
Government
South Africa has three capitals. Laws are made in Cape Town where Parliament gets together. The government and the Prime Minster meet in Pretoria and the country’s highest court is in Bloemfontein.
Economy
South Africa is the richest country in Africa. Although it has only 4% of Africa’s area it produces about 25% of the continents goods and services. However it is mostly the white population that has built up most of the country’s wealth. They owned the major companies for a long time. Today, years after the end of apartheid, Whites still control most of the economy but Blacks are getting better jobs and earning more than some years ago.
South Africa’s economy is based on mining and industry. It is the world’s biggest gold producer. Centre of production is the Witwatersrand in the north of the country. About 40% of all the gold that has ever been mined on earth comes from this region. Diamonds, coal and copper are other valuable raw materials. Factories in South Africa produce cars, chemicals, iron and steel and machines.
Although South Africa does not have so much good farming land the country can export many products, including corn, wheat, sugar cane, citrus fruits. Great wines are produced in the southern regions which have a Mediterranean climate. Farmers raise sheep, cattle and pigs for meat and other products.
History
The Portuguese navigator Bartholomeu Dias was the first European to see the Cape of Good Hope in 1488. Years later the Dutch set up a colony there as a stopping place on their way to Asia.
As time went on the Dutch started to move into the interior parts of the country. At the same time Bantu tribes came southwards from central Africa. As a result there was a lot of fighting between the African tribes and the Dutch over farming lands.
In 1815 the British took over the colony from the Dutch. As more and more British settlers went to the Cape the Dutch Boers moved to the north in what they called the Great Trek. They founded new settlements in Transvaal and the Orange Free State.
Towards the end of the 19th century two major discoveries changed South Africa. In 1867 diamonds were discovered near Kimberley and in 1886 large gold deposits were found in the Transvaal. Because of this even more British settlers came to the Cape colony. They tried to take control of the Dutch areas, where these discoveries were made. This led to a war between the British and the Dutch Boers. The Boers were defeated in 1902 and the leaders of the British and the Dutch colonies decided to form a single state which they called the Union of South Africa.
Apartheid
From the beginning, the government of the newly formed country was controlled by the Whites, even though the majority of the people who lived there were Blacks. They passed laws to keep people from different races apart. This series of laws became known as Apartheid, which means being «separate» in the Afrikaans language.
The black people started to organize themselves in their battle against the Whites. In 1912 the African National Congress was founded. Its aim was to put the Blacks in power in South Africa. Some ANC leaders were arrested and put into prison, the most famous of them being Nelson Mandela.
The apartheid system was criticized by many countries around the world. They stopped trading with South Africa and tried to isolate it. As the country was becoming economically weaker a new president Frederik de Klerk announced that apartheid was going to end. He made the ANC legal again and released its leader Nelson Mandela from prison, where he was kept for over twenty years. In the first democratic elections, in which all races could take part, the ANC won and Nelson Mandela became the country’s first black President in 1994. Mandela retired in 1999 and since then South Africa has been trying to give freedom and equality to people of all races.
South Africa’s problems
Like many other African nations, South Africa’s population has serious health problems. In the last two decades AIDS has begun to spread rapidly throughout the country. Today 5 million people are infected with HIV, more than any other country the world.
Corruption and crime are also big issues in South Africa. According to the United Nations it is among the most dangerous countries in the world. As a result rich people are putting up fences and walls and have been hiring security companies to protect them from crime.
Unemployment is very high in the country. About one third of the population do not have a job. As in many African countries educated and skilled people are leaving South Africa and moving on to Europe or the United States.
Summary
Read a brief summary of this topic
Africa, the second largest continent (after Asia), covering about one-fifth of the total land surface of Earth. The continent is bounded on the west by the Atlantic Ocean, on the north by the Mediterranean Sea, on the east by the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, and on the south by the mingling waters of the Atlantic and Indian oceans.
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. Its northern extremity is Al-Ghīrān Point, near Al-Abyaḍ Point (Cape Blanc), Tunisia; its southern extremity is Cape Agulhas, South Africa; its farthest point east is Xaafuun (Hafun) Point, near Cape Gwardafuy (Guardafui), Somalia; and its western extremity is Almadi Point (Pointe des Almadies), on Cape Verde (Cap Vert), Senegal. In the northeast, Africa was joined to Asia by the Sinai Peninsula until the construction of the Suez Canal. Paradoxically, the coastline of Africa—18,950 miles (30,500 km) in length—is shorter than that of Europe, because there are few inlets and few large bays or gulfs.
Off the coasts of Africa a number of islands are associated with the continent. Of these Madagascar, one of the largest islands in the world, is the most significant. Other, smaller islands include the Seychelles, Socotra, and other islands to the east; the Comoros, Mauritius, Réunion, and other islands to the southeast; Ascension, St. Helena, and Tristan da Cunha to the southwest; Cape Verde, the Bijagós Islands, Bioko, and São Tomé and Príncipe to the west; and the Azores and the Madeira and Canary islands to the northwest.
The continent is cut almost equally in two by the Equator, so that most of Africa lies within the tropical region, bounded on the north by the Tropic of Cancer and on the south by the Tropic of Capricorn. Because of the bulge formed by western Africa, the greater part of Africa’s territory lies north of the Equator. Africa is crossed from north to south by the prime meridian (0° longitude), which passes a short distance to the east of Accra, Ghana.
In antiquity the Greeks are said to have called the continent Libya and the Romans to have called it Africa, perhaps from the Latin aprica (“sunny”) or the Greek aphrike (“without cold”). The name Africa, however, was chiefly applied to the northern coast of the continent, which was, in effect, regarded as a southern extension of Europe. The Romans, who for a time ruled the North African coast, are also said to have called the area south of their settlements Afriga, or the Land of the Afrigs—the name of a Berber community south of Carthage.
The whole of Africa can be considered as a vast plateau rising steeply from narrow coastal strips and consisting of ancient crystalline rocks. The plateau’s surface is higher in the southeast and tilts downward toward the northeast. In general the plateau may be divided into a southeastern portion and a northwestern portion. The northwestern part, which includes the Sahara (desert) and that part of North Africa known as the Maghrib, has two mountainous regions—the Atlas Mountains in northwestern Africa, which are believed to be part of a system that extends into southern Europe, and the Ahaggar (Hoggar) Mountains in the Sahara. The southeastern part of the plateau includes the Ethiopian Plateau, the East African Plateau, and—in eastern South Africa, where the plateau edge falls downward in a scarp—the Drakensberg range. One of the most remarkable features in the geologic structure of Africa is the East African Rift System, which lies between 30° and 40° E. The rift itself begins northeast of the continent’s limits and extends southward from the Eritrean Red Sea coast to the Zambezi River basin.
Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content.
Subscribe Now
Africa contains an enormous wealth of mineral resources, including some of the world’s largest reserves of fossil fuels, metallic ores, and gems and precious metals. This richness is matched by a great diversity of biological resources that includes the intensely lush equatorial rainforests of Central Africa and the world-famous populations of wildlife of the eastern and southern portions of the continent. Although agriculture (primarily subsistence) still dominates the economies of many African countries, the exploitation of these resources became the most significant economic activity in Africa in the 20th century.
Climatic and other factors have exerted considerable influence on the patterns of human settlement in Africa. While some areas appear to have been inhabited more or less continuously since the dawn of humanity, enormous regions—notably the desert areas of northern and southwestern Africa—have been largely unoccupied for prolonged periods of time. Thus, although Africa is the second largest continent, it contains only about 10 percent of the world’s population and can be said to be underpopulated. The greater part of the continent has long been inhabited by Black peoples, but in historic times there also have occurred major immigrations from both Asia and Europe. Of all foreign settlements in Africa, that of the Arabs has made the greatest impact. The Islamic religion, which the Arabs carried with them, spread from North Africa into many areas south of the Sahara, so that many western African peoples are now largely Islamized.
This article treats the physical and human geography of Africa, followed by discussion of geographic features of special interest. For discussion of individual countries of the continent, see such articles as Egypt, Madagascar, and Sudan. African regions are treated under the titles Central Africa, eastern Africa, North Africa, Southern Africa, and western Africa; these articles also contain the principal treatment of African historical and cultural development. For discussion of major cities of the continent, see such articles as Alexandria, Cairo, Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Kinshasa. Related topics are discussed in the articles literature, African; literature, South African; architecture, African; art, African; dance, African; music, African; theatre, African; art and architecture, Egyptian; Islam; arts, Islamic; and Islamic world.
Davidson S.H.W. Nicol The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
-
-
Предмет:
Английский язык
-
Автор:
esperanzawood200
-
Создано:
3 года назад
Знаешь ответ? Добавь его сюда!
-
-
Алгебра1 минута назад
Помогите с алгеброй
-
Русский язык1 минута назад
Помогите определить тип связи
-
Физика2 минуты назад
ОЧЕНЬ СРОЧНО
Определи молярную массу смеси двух разрежённых газов 1 и 2 в закрытом резервуаре, учитывая их физические характеристики: массы — m1 = 9г и m2 = 15г, молярные массы — M1 = 2г/моль и M2 = 4г/моль. (Ответ округли до сотых.)
Ответ:_______ г/моль.
-
Русский язык6 минут назад
Списать, расставив запятые. Подчеркнуть грамматические основы, начертить схемы, указать вид придаточных предложений.
-
Алгебра10 минут назад
Скажите ответ пж?
Информация
Посетители, находящиеся в группе Гости, не могут оставлять комментарии к данной публикации.
How much to ban the user?
1 hour
1 day