The article contains background information about the Central African region. Gives an idea of ​​the level of economic development. Forms a picture of the prospects that are possible in Central Africa.

Central Africa

Central Africa is located in the western part of the continent and lies in the equatorial and subequatorial climatic zones.

In the West, equatorial Africa adjoins the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Guinea. In the northern part is the Azande plateau. In the west, the highlands of southern Guinea can be observed. In the southern region lies the Lunda Plateau and the Angolan Plateau, which continues it. From the east, the region is bordered by a branch of the Western Rift of the East African system.

Rice. 1. Region on the map of the mainland.

The area of ​​the central African region is 7.3 million square meters. km. The population is approaching 100 million people.

The region is the "heart" of the mainland. It is also a major mineral resource "storage" of the world.

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In this area, the well-known "copper belt" is located. It passes through the southeast of Zaire and the Zambian region. In addition to copper, there are also cobalt, lead, zinc ore deposits.

In the expanses of the Equatorial part of the black continent, iron ore reserves, deposits of tin, uranium and diamonds are concentrated.

Recently, recently discovered oil fields in the territory of the Congo have been actively developed.

In this region, as almost everywhere else on the mainland, the economy is in a state of decline. Only Zaire and Zambia had non-ferrous metallurgy.

Rice. 2. Modern industry.

Economic reforms are hampered by the unstable political situation in the region. Armed civil conflicts are not uncommon here.

During the years of sovereignty of the region, the entire cycle of production was created, from ore mining to the subsequent smelting of high quality metals. Significant importance is given to the harvesting of tropical timber for export.

Rice. 3. Civil conflicts

The agricultural sector is focused mainly on the production of coffee and cocoa, tea and tobacco, as well as rubber and cotton.

Central African countries

Among the states of this macro-region, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is a large and densely populated one.

List of states in the region:

• Cameroon;
• Gabon;
• Congo;
• Zaire;
• Angola;
• Central African Republic;
• Equatorial Guinea;
• Sao Tome;
• Principe.

What have we learned?

We learned which countries belong to equatorial Africa. The causes of weak and unstable economic development have been established. We got acquainted with historical facts that had an impact on the standard of living in the region. We found out when the countries of the central region gained independence.

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Central Africa. Nature

The countries of Central Africa occupy a vast part of the African continent approximately between the Tropic of the North and 13°S. sh. Excluding the deserts and semi-deserts in the Republic of Chad in the north and the southern semi-desert regions of Angola, this territory roughly coincides with the natural region of Central, or Equatorial, Africa. Within the economic region of Central Africa, one can trace all the zonal differences of African nature - from the tropical deserts of the northern hemisphere to the semi-deserts of southern Africa.

Although the entire territory under consideration belongs to the ancient African platform, its geological structure and relief are rather heterogeneous. Sedimentary deposits of different ages predominate on the Precambrian base or outcrops of this crystalline basement to the surface. However, in many places, especially in the north, west and east of the region, the Paleozoic and younger deposits of the platform have been intruded by igneous rocks many times over the long geological history of Africa. Meso-Cenozoic tectonic movements and deep faults, which manifested themselves most clearly in East Africa, affected some parts of the platform in Central Africa as well. On its outskirts, for example, large outpourings of basalts occurred. Until now, several volcanoes have been active: Tuside (3265 m) in the north of the Republic of Chad in the highlands of Tibesti, Cameroon (4070 m) off the coast of the Gulf of Guinea, in the United Republic of Cameroon, volcanoes in the extreme east of Zaire, i.e. on the border of the Great African fault (rift), where even today there are significant eruptions and even the formation of new volcanic cones.

The tectonic structure of this part of Africa basically predetermines the main features of the relief. In the north of the region there is a depression (syneclise) of Chad, in the south - a depression of the Congo. They are separated by a powerful ledge of the crystalline basement - the Central African Shield, stretching from the Gulf of Guinea to the rift zone in the east. Huge ancient depressions are surrounded by uplands - mountains, plateaus and plateaus. In the north of the Chad basin, this is the already mentioned Tibesti highlands, in the east, a plateau with average heights of 600-1000 m (the highest point is 1310 m on the Ennedi plateau). The lowest part of this synecle is the Bodele depression (155 m), slightly higher (281 m) lies the depression of the lake. Chad.

More sublime is the multi-stage framing of the Congo Basin. The central part of this syneclise is a flat, heavily swampy plain 300–500 m above sea level. seas. The entire northern edge of the depression is the main watershed between the river basin. Congo and river basins. Nile and lake Chad. The average heights of the watershed are 800-1000 m. The same average heights are at the western edge of the Congo Basin, which separates it from the narrow coastal lowland of the Atlantic coast. Only the Adamawa Mountains in Cameroon rise to 2710 m, and near them rises the Cameroon volcanic massif. In the south of the Congo basin, the marginal plateaus are higher (average heights are 1500-1700 m). They form a watershed between the Congo and Zambezi river basins. The eastern border of the Congo Basin and the entire region coincides with the western branch of the Great African Rift - the Central African graben, in which lakes Tanganyika, Kivu, and others are located. Chains of volcanic mountains and individual volcanoes are located along this fault.

The bowels of Central Africa are rich in valuable and diverse minerals. However, the study of the region's interior is uneven: the least studied are its northern and western parts, the most well-studied is the southern (Zaire, Gabon, Cameroon), although there are still great opportunities for discovering new reserves. The countries of the region occupy a leading place in the capitalist world in the extraction of cobalt, industrial diamonds, copper, tin, and manganese. There are large deposits of rare earth and precious metals (gold, platinum, palladium), uranium ores, etc. The reserves of aluminum and iron ores are practically unlimited. Coastal and shelf oil fields are beginning to be developed, and prospective searches for oil are being carried out in continental regions.

The natural contrasts of the region are most clearly manifested in the climate. The northern part of the region belongs to the deserts and pre-deserts of the tropical zone (the climatic features of which basically correspond to the characteristics given in the review of the nature of West Africa). Climatically the most peculiar is the central part of the region, which lies to the north and south of the equator to about a latitude of 5°. This is the equatorial climate zone. Throughout the year, humid and hot equatorial air prevails here. In the central part of the Congo Basin, south of the equator, the average temperatures of the hottest month (March or April) are 25-28°, the coolest (August) 23-25°. Rain falls fairly evenly throughout the year, and throughout the equatorial zone the average annual precipitation is about 2000 mm or more. The wettest area, however, is located north of the equator and is on the ocean-facing slopes of the Cameroon massif, which receives up to 10,000 mm of precipitation per year.

To the north and south of the equatorial zone are zones of subequatorial climate or equatorial monsoons. All of them are already characterized by two seasons - rainy and dry, which is caused by a periodic change in the air masses penetrating here. The rainy season ("summer") is associated with the intrusion of moist air from the equatorial monsoon. The dry season ("winter") begins as the monsoon air is gradually replaced by the hot and dry air of the southeast trade wind. The farther from the equator, the stronger and longer the influence of the trade wind manifests itself, and the dry season increases from 2-3 to 5-7 months a year. Average annual precipitation in the same direction decreases from 1500 to 600 mm, respectively.

In subequatorial zones, annual temperature contrasts are also more noticeable, especially in elevated areas; during the dry season, the average monthly temperatures reach 25 ° (March), and in the rainy season - only 15-17 ° (July or August). In lowland areas and in the subequatorial zone, there are almost no temperature contrasts during the year.

The equatorial part of Central Africa abounding in precipitation, and especially the Congo Basin, the "heart of Africa", has a very dense network of full-flowing rivers. The largest river that carries water to the Atlantic Ocean, the Congo (Zaire), has a length of 4320 km, and the area of ​​​​its drainage basin is over 3.7 million square meters. km. The river drains much of Central Africa. The largest tributaries on the right are the Ubangi, on the left are the Kasai, and in total there are thousands of large and small rivers in the Congo basin alone. Vast areas are occupied by swamps.

In sharp contrast to this part of the region is the north of Central Africa. Closed internal pool of the lake. Chad receives water from permanent rivers only from the west and south (the Shari River from Logone). The northernmost regions are devoid of rivers with a permanent flow, so rivers such as Shari and Ubangi are extremely important as a transport route for the landlocked states of the region. The importance of the region's rivers as potential sources of electricity, the use of which has just begun, is also great.

The nature of the soil and vegetation cover in Central Africa is especially closely related to the conditions of moisture. In the equatorial climate zone, evergreen tropical rainforests are widespread, stretching from the coast of the Gulf of Guinea in Cameroon and Gabon to the borders with the East African Plateau. These are multilayer forests with an exceptionally large species diversity of trees, tree ferns and other plants. The exploitation of forests for harvesting the most valuable ornamental timber (ebony or ebony, species called mahogany, okume, sandalwood, etc.) everywhere leads to deep and often irreversible processes of degradation of the natural vegetation cover. Although even today the equatorial forests amaze the stranger with their splendor, most often they are secondary; only in certain areas, for example, Gabon and especially Zaire, virgin moist forests with giant trees of the upper tier, intertwined with vines, and palm trees in the lower tiers, have been preserved. Every year, the question of preserving at least limited areas of such forests for future generations becomes more and more acute.

In the subequatorial zones, tropical rainforests are preserved only in certain areas of river valleys - these are gallery forests. On the watershed spaces, on the interfluve plateaus, savannas of various types are common, most often of secondary origin, that is, developed as a result of degradation, sometimes simply deforestation. Typical savannahs are widely developed - thickets of tall cereals, reaching 1.5 m or more, with individual deciduous or evergreen trees - baobabs, tree-like milkweeds, acacias, various palm trees, etc. The savannas of Central Africa are diverse in appearance. In some areas, it is more of a savanna forest with clumps of trees that lose their leaves in the dry season, but resemble real forests in the wet season. They are especially characteristic of the Congo-Zambezi watershed and some sections of the uplands of the northern framing of the Congo Basin.

In the drier parts of the region to the north and south of the zone of typical savannahs, the vegetation cover gradually thins out, the number of individual trees decreases, the composition of grasses in the herbage changes, and thickets of thorny xerophytic shrubs appear. In the south, dry savannahs pass predominantly into semi-deserts, and in the north, as noted, the region extends to the zone of tropical deserts of the Sahara.

Mangroves are developed along the low, tide-flooded shores of the Atlantic Ocean in the equatorial and subequatorial zones. Coastal areas in the southern part of Angola are occupied by semi-desert and desert landscapes.

The soil cover is equally diverse within the region. In the north, south of the desert zone, red-brown and reddish-brown soils of desert and dry savannas are typical. To the south, in the main more humid part of the region, various types of red-colored lateritic soils are developed. In the basin of the lake Chad and in the lowland wetlands of the Congo Basin are different variants of dark-colored tropical marsh soils.

The diverse fauna of the region can be briefly characterized by habitat types. The richest in large animals, especially mammals, savannas. This is the habitat of various ungulates - antelopes, gazelles, zebras, giraffes, etc. Elephants and rhinos, large predators, mainly live here. In Central Africa, as in West Africa, most of the large exotic African animals were subjected to very severe extermination, and their protection was, and still is, very weak. The fauna of the semi-desert regions is close to the fauna of the savannas, but poorer in terms of species and quantity, and therefore suffered more from hunting, poaching, and other, even indirect, influences of human activity.

The fauna of the forests is poorer in land animals, but it is distinguished by the diversity of animals that have adapted to life on trees. Therefore, deforestation greatly affects the composition of the animal world. In the forests of Central Africa, ungulates such as okapi are still numerous, but there are especially many wild pigs (boars, warthogs related to them, etc.). The number of monkeys is exceptionally large - from small long-tailed monkeys to rare chimpanzees and especially small gorillas.

Rivers in the zones of forests and savannas are the habitat of hippos (hippos) and crocodiles. In all natural areas that Central Africa covers, there are many reptiles. Among them are many poisonous snakes, pythons in the forests, etc. There are an extremely large number of birds, especially on lakes and rivers (flamingos, marabou, herons, storks, etc.). Quite rare now are ostriches in the savannas, large birds (such as parrots, hornbills, etc.) in the forests; many small birds in all habitats with plant food. As in other tropical regions of Africa, the world of insects is extremely diverse and numerous. Almost the entire territory of Central Africa is included in the zone of distribution of the tsetse fly and the widespread development of tropical malaria. There are many specific types of insects - agricultural pests, and the problem of combating insects dangerous to humans and animals is typical for almost all countries of Central Africa.

The inland waters of the region are very promising for the development of fisheries; coastal countries of Central Africa, primarily Angola and Cameroon, have opportunities for sea fishing.

The natural conditions and natural resources of the region as a whole are characterized by considerable difficulties for the integrated development of the economies of the countries located here. In the dry parts of the region, there are great barriers to agricultural intensification. In areas of excessive moisture, large-scale reclamation measures are necessary for these purposes. In addition, everywhere in the humid tropics there is a serious threat of rapid degradation of natural landscapes under the influence of economic activity that is not balanced with the natural possibilities of self-protection of the environment. Therefore, for example, issues of environmental protection, in particular from industrial pollution, in the conditions of the humid tropics of Central Africa are of particular importance in comparison with the conditions of most other spatial types of the natural environment.

There are many countries in West and Central Africa, each of which has its own characteristics, traditions and history.

General characteristics of the region

West Africa is a part of the African continent, located south of the Sahara, and washed by the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Central Africa is the western part of the African continent, which is located on the equatorial and subequatorial strip.

The natural boundary between Central and West Africa is the Cameroon Mountains. The states of West and Central Africa are among the poorest countries in the world.

In many states, the economy is completely absent. The inhabitants of these countries survive on self-sufficiency. Agriculture and industrial production is at a low level.

Only some states are involved in foreign trade, in particular Nigeria, Chad, Guinea.

West African countries

The countries of West Africa include the following states: Benin, Ghana, Guinea, Gambia, Liberia, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo, Nigeria.

In West Africa, infectious diseases such as AIDS and malaria are very common. In Europe, this region is called the "grave for whites" - as many infections are fatal for visiting people.

The states of West Africa were Portuguese colonies for a long time, it was from this territory that the slave trade began in ancient times. After the wars of independence in the 60s of the 20th century, many West African states gained freedom.

However, until today they are completely dependent on the former colonies in matters of social and economic security of the population.

The infrastructure of the region is very poorly developed: roads and railways have not been built here since the days of colonial dependence. The average life expectancy of people does not reach 50 years. Most of the population is illiterate.

Central African countries

The following states are included in Central Africa: Gabon, Angola, Congo, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Sao Tome, Equatorial Guinea and Chad. Unlike the states of West Africa, the countries of Central Africa have a good range of natural resources.

This allows them not only to develop industry, but also to be a subject of foreign trade. So, for example, the Congo has the largest reserves of gold, silver, diamonds and copper in the world.

Chad's economy is based on agriculture. This state exports wool, cotton and textiles to European countries. However, even the most developed states of Central Africa do not fully use their potential.

The main problem is that after the colonial period, new plants and factories do not open here. In these states there are no qualified personnel - more than half of the population cannot read and write.