What are the five most beautiful countries in Africa?

The African continent is about 30 million square kilometers (excluding nearby islands). It accounts for about 20.2% of the world's total land area, and is the second largest continent in the world after Asia.

Physical geography: The coastline of the mainland is as long as 30,500 kilometers. The coast is relatively flat and lacks bays and peninsulas. Among the continents in the world, Africa has the least number of islands. Most of them are small islands except Madagascar (the fourth largest island in the world). The total area of the island is about 620,000 square kilometers, accounting for less than 3% of the total area of the whole continent. The African continent is wide in the north and narrow in the south, showing an equilateral triangle. The longest from north to south is about 8,000 kilometers, and the widest from east to west is about 7,500 kilometers. Africa is a plateau continent with relatively flat terrain, and the obvious mountains are limited to the north and south ends. The average elevation of the whole continent is 750 meters. The plateau with an altitude of 500 1000 meters accounts for more than 60% of the whole continent. Mountains and plateaus above 2000 meters above sea level account for about 5% of the whole continent. The plains below 200 meters above sea level are mostly distributed in coastal areas. The terrain is roughly bounded by the line from the mouth of Congo River in Democratic Republic of Congo to the northern edge of Ethiopian Plateau, which is higher in the southeast half and lower in the northwest half. The southeast half is called High Africa, with an altitude of 1000m or above, including the Ethiopian Plateau (above 2,000m, known as the "roof of Africa"), the East African Plateau and the South African Plateau, and the Kalahadi Basin on the South African Plateau. The northwest half is called low Africa, and the altitude is mostly below 500 meters. Most of them are low plateaus and basins, including the upper Nile basin, Congo basin and Chad basin. The higher mountains in Africa stand in the coastal areas of the plateau, with Atlas Mountain in the northwest coast. There are Draken Mountains along the southeast coast; There are Mount Kenya and Mount Kilimanjaro in the east. Kilimanjaro is an active volcano with an altitude of 5895 meters, which is the highest peak in Africa. East Africa has the largest rift zone in the world. The eastern branch of the rift zone starts from the Schiller estuary in the south, passes through Lake Malawi, passes through the Central East African Plateau and the Central Ethiopia Plateau in the north, and passes through the Red Sea to the north of the Dead Sea, with a length of about 6,400 kilometers. The west branch of the rift zone starts from the northwest end of Lake Malawi in the south, passes through Lake Tanganyika, Lake Kivu, Lake Edward and Lake Albert, and reaches the Nile Valley in Albert. It is about 1.700 km long and tens to 300 km wide, forming a series of long, narrow and deep valleys and lakes, among which the water level of Assal Lake is lower than the sea level 1.56 m, which is the lowest point in Africa. The desert area in Africa accounts for about 1/3 of the whole continent, which is the largest desert area in the continent. Sahara Desert is the largest desert in the world, covering an area of 7.77 million square kilometers. There are also namib desert and Kalahadi Desert in the southwest. There are a series of extinct and active volcanoes in and around the Great Rift Valley in East Africa, among which the tall volcano is more than 5000 meters above sea level. There are also many tall volcanoes in central and western Africa. The Rift Valley in East Africa is also the region with the most frequent and intense earthquakes in Africa. The outflow area of Africa accounts for about 68.2% of the whole continent. The outflow systems of the Atlantic Ocean are mostly rivers with a long history, including Nile, Congo, Niger, senegal river, volta river and Orange. With a total length of 66,765,438+0 km, the Nile is the longest river in the world. The basin area and flow of Congo River are second only to Amazon River, ranking second in the world. The outflow system of Indian Ocean includes Zambezi River, limpopo river River, Juba River, short rivers on the east coast of Africa and rivers on Madagascar Island. Africa's internal water system and no-flow zone covers an area of 9.58 million square kilometers, accounting for about 3 1.8% of the total area of the whole continent. Among them, only Lake Chad basin has a perfect water system. Okavango River basin and Sahara desert are very dry, and there are many intermittent rivers and many dry valleys in the desert. The inflow area also includes the lake area of the Great Rift Valley in East Africa, and rivers flow into the lake from the surrounding highlands. The lake area has abundant rainfall and dense river network, which is different from other arid inflow areas. African lakes are concentrated in the East African Plateau, and a few are scattered in inland basins. Plateau lakes are mostly fault lakes with long and narrow water depth, which are arranged in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa in a beaded shape, among which Lake Victoria is the largest lake in Africa and the second largest freshwater lake in the world. Lake Tanganyika is the second deepest lake in the world. Lake Tana, located in the Ethiopian Plateau, is the highest lake in Africa, with an altitude of1830m. Lake Chad is the largest lake in the inland basin, and its area often changes. Africa is called "tropical continent", and its climate is characterized by high temperature, little rain and dryness, and the distribution of climate zones is symmetrical from north to south. The equator passes through the center, and with the increase of latitude, the climate generally decreases from the equator. The areas with an annual average temperature above 20℃ account for about 95% of the whole continent, of which more than half are hot all year round, and nearly half have warm and cool seasons. The annual average temperature in Daluoer in the northeast of Ethiopia is 34.5℃, which is one of the highest temperatures in the world. In Azizia, south of Tripoli, the capital of Libya, the temperature in September 1922 was as high as 57.8℃, the highest temperature in Africa. Kilimanjaro is located near the equator. Due to its high altitude, Kilimanjaro is covered with snow all year round. The precipitation in Africa decreases from the equator to the north and south sides, and the distribution of precipitation is extremely uneven. In some areas, there is almost no rain all year round, and in some places, the annual precipitation is as high as 10000 mm or more. The average annual precipitation in the whole continent13 is less than 200mm. There is more precipitation on the windward slope in the southeast, along the coast of the Gulf of Guinea and in mountainous areas.

The most beautiful scar on the earth's surface —— Revealing the Rift Valley in East Africa

Huacheng Publishing House published on June 5438+ 10, 2008, with more than 50,000 words and hundreds of wonderful pictures, in full-color page format 16, priced in 49 yuan.

If you want to buy this book, please contact the book hotline of Huacheng Publishing House: 020-37604658 020-37602819.

Or visit the website of Huacheng Publishing House:

brief Introduction of the content

The author of this book followed the China Scientific Investigation Association to experience the Rift Valley in East Africa, and created this book by introducing the local history, culture, natural environment and human landscape in East Africa (mainly Ethiopia). The book describes the earliest and most complete ancient human remains, nicknamed "Lucy"; Interesting customs and habits in East Africa and various unique endangered and precious animals; The eight scenic spots that have been included in the world cultural heritage are very informative and interesting. The pictures in the book are all the latest first-hand materials, all of which were taken by the author himself. This book is also prefaced by Mr. Huang Wanbo, a famous paleoanthropologist of Chinese Academy of Sciences, which adds a certain academic nature on the basis of readability.

Editor's recommendation

This book brings together exploration, tourism and archaeology in East Africa. It is not only a rare guide to cultural tourism, but also an interesting textbook of ancient human beings, wildlife and African history in Xian Yi. Opening this book is like visiting the Rift Valley in East Africa.

Africa is the birthplace of mankind, where the earliest and most complete ancient human remains-"Lucy" have been excavated.

There are rare and endangered wild animals, strange and interesting customs and habits, and eight scenic spots listed in the world cultural and natural heritage. You can walk into Ethiopia, the second oldest Christian country in the world, and visit the legendary Ark of God. You can enjoy 13 months of sunshine in Huacheng without a house number.

Brief introduction of the author

Deng Bo: Born in 1972. Leizhou people.

Yangcheng Evening News reporter. Famous documentary photographer. Photographs pay equal attention to humanities and images, and are full of emotion and impact.

One Woman and 600 Children won the second prize of the 10th China Prize for Journalism.

Gan Tang Village Endless Poisonous Water Rolling won the second prize of the 11th China News Award.

12 won the China Prize for Journalism; Re-evaluation of the Gold, Silver and Bronze Awards in China Annual Photojournalism Competition.

15 won the first, second and third prizes of Guangdong News Award.

The Asian regional photography competition won the highest award-the best photographer award.

The first and third sessions won the silver prize of China International Photojournalism Competition (referred to as "Huasai").

The Communist Party of China (CPC) Propaganda Department won the highest prize for hosting a large-scale environmental protection photo exhibition.

Second prize of the third annual United Nations International Folk Photography "Human Contribution Award".

More than a dozen works won the China Evening News News Award, and also won many awards in various photography competitions and news selection held by the state, provinces and cities.

Directory:

foreword

Huang Wanbo, the cradle of the rise of mankind

"Comparing vertically and horizontally, there is only one center of human origin on the vast land, and that is Africa."

The African continent on the map looks like the fossil skull of an Australopithecus. The Great Rift Valley spans almost all countries in East Africa, with the longest in Ethiopia. Afa basin records too many honors and dreams of paleoanthropology.

chapter one

Long live 3.2 million mothers

-Pursuing our common ancestor.

Discover the legendary experience of "Lucy". The oldest human skeleton fossil named after The Beatles's famous music confirms the revelry of the discoverer in the 1970s-

"In a sense, I think we found our mother."

chapter two

Visit the Rift Valley in East Africa

The African Rift Valley is not an abyss. Its widest part is more than 200 kilometers, with plains and mountains. All kinds of wonders are at the bottom, with the footprints of "Lucy", which is a paradise for bats, monkeys, lions, baboons, warthogs and flamingos. There are also critically endangered species: wolves, African wild donkeys and black rhinoceros. ...

chapter three

History and heritage

Ethiopia is the second oldest Christian country in the world. It is said that the ark of the Ten Commandments of God is hidden in a mysterious church here. The eight world cultural and natural heritages attest to the brilliant and unimaginable changes of fate experienced by this country. The eighth wonder of the world, the stone-chiseled Libera Cathedral, has been buried for 700 years, but it is still amazing.

chapter four

Beautiful black

"Ethiopia" means "suntanned face". They are beautiful. In this male land, tenderness and wildness are rare. "they still live there ... this is both worrying and a miracle." The writer Paul Telu described the current situation in Africa like this.

chapter five

Wilderness and land

The land in the rift valley breeds ten different ecosystems, such as cactus, shrub, grassland and woodland ... It has a mild climate and rich products, such as tea, fruit and coffee. About one third of the people in the world drink coffee, but few people know that coffee originated in Ethiopia, and the coffee tree is their national tree.

Chapter vi

The capital Addis Ababa

When you come here, you can enjoy 13 months of sunshine a year, including only 5 days in one month. The tallest city in Africa means "flowers". The only capital in the world without a house number is the post office, and there is no postman. Will you get lost in it?