A huge continent, which is the second largest on the globe, is an amazing and mysterious Africa. It is famous for its hot climate, countless islands that seem to be scattered across the ocean around the continent, and the diversity of pristine nature.
Africa's area exceeds 30.3 million square meters. km. This is 6% of the planet's surface. Along the perimeter, the mainland is washed by two oceans (Indian and Atlantic) and two seas (Red and Mediterranean).
Africa has over a billion people spread across 55 countries. Mostly they are Arabs. The average life expectancy is about 45 years. The most widely spoken language is Arabic. The main religions are Christianity and Islam. Buddhism and Hinduism are widespread in the eastern regions of the continent.
Vegetation
The nature of Africa is an amazing and unique world full of beauty and secrets. The extraordinary vegetation of the continent is striking in its diversity: coniferous forests and dry steppes stretch closer to the north and south, tropical forests at the equator, and dense thickets of shrubs along the coast.
Btropical forests grow more than 25,000 species of various plants. Mountain forests are located in northern Africa. These are mainly deciduous plantations: different types of oaks, Aleppo pines, Spanish firs, satin cedars.
Wildlife of Africa is vividly represented by the savannah. This is a steppe zone, where, in addition to grassy, there is shrub and woody vegetation. Of the cereals, elephant grass is the most common. She received this name due to the fact that elephants love to feast on her.
During the rainy season, everything blooms here, the vegetation becomes dense and green. And during the dry period, which often lasts up to six months, the savannah looks like a yellow burnt steppe.
The baobab is recognized as a calling card, a symbol of the continent. This African giant is not afraid of drought. The fact is that during the rainy season, he saturates his trunk with water. The uniqueness of this tree lies in its amazing longevity (5000 years). In addition, this giant blooms only once in its long life.
Nature of North Africa
This region stretches in a narrow strip in the north of the continent. Most of it is occupied by the Sahara Desert - the hottest place on Earth.
Features of the nature of Africa in the north are that few plants survive here. Most of the flora of these places is a variety of palm trees. Oaks, laurels, olive trees and eucalyptus trees are much less common.
The most common animal in North Africa is the camel. This part of the mainlandis dominated by a subtropical (in some places tropical) climate. The officially recorded maximum temperature in the shade was +58 degrees. In winter, there are even frosts at night.
Climatic conditions
Great variety of African nature! In the northern regions, spring is the time of sandstorms. They are brought from the Sahara by the Hasmin wind. Storms can last from one day to a week.
In the countries of North Africa (Egypt, Libya, Mauritania), the weather in spring is surprisingly constant - if the heat comes in early spring, then it will last until May. The same can be said about cool and windy weather. The final temperature is set in early May. At this time, the thermometers are already confidently taking place at the thirty-degree mark.
Summer here is very hot. For example, in Egypt in the middle of summer the temperature in the shade reaches fifty degrees. At night it is much cooler than during the day. Daily fluctuations are large enough.
The nature of Africa has a milder climate in Western Sahara. Here, the temperature allows more plants to grow (vegetables, cereals, fruit trees).
Summer temperatures are very high in Libya (+58). This period accounts for most of the public holidays in North Africa: June 18 - Liberation Day from the British, July 23 - Revolution Day, June 11 - Day of Liberation from American Bases.
Autumn in North Africa is the end of the sweltering heat. In September, the temperature does not rise above 40 degrees. Water warms up to 25degrees. Until October, the temperature continues to drop, and by mid-autumn it fluctuates in different countries from +20 to +30.
At the same time, the saving rainy season begins. African nature comes to life. The rapid growth of bushes and grass begins. The trees have dense green crowns. Animals, which in the summertime suffer greatly from unbearable heat, are active. Different representatives of the fauna appear on the surface, which in summer could only be seen at night or at dusk. Small, pygmy hippos, medium-sized predators, various monkeys, and rodents live in the savannas. In the deserts you can see snakes, lizards and invertebrates.
Winter in North Africa can be different. For example, in the mountains of Algeria at this time of the year there are frosts. On the coast, the weather is warmer, the air warms up to 12 degrees. Winters in Egypt are very mild. The temperature does not drop below 25 degrees with little rainfall.
Nature of South Africa
The south of the continent is more welcoming and comfortable for plant and animal life. Today, over 24,000 flowering species have been recorded in this area. Almost half of these plants are concentrated on the coastal strip, which is about 200 kilometers wide. This zone is located in the southwest of South Africa. Botanists attribute it to the Cape floristic kingdom. In total, six such associations are distinguished on Earth, and the Cape kingdom is unique primarily in that it occupies only 0.4 percent of the territory of the Black Continent, while others occupy entireparts of the world - America, Australia or Antarctica. However, the Cape floristic kingdom is the richest in the world. The vegetation of these places is even more diverse than the flora of tropical forests.
Animal world
The wildlife of Africa is very diverse. About 500 species of birds live here, more than a hundred species of various reptiles, numerous species of insects. But tourists from different continents who come here every year are most attracted by the "big five" - rhinoceros (black and white), elephant, buffalo, leopard, lion. These representatives of the African fauna are of great interest to safari lovers. A hunter who has taken at least one animal from the "five" is the owner of the "grand slam", as the locals say.
Hunting these animals is an expensive occupation that involves organizational difficulties. Not every safari company can offer such a hunt. To do this, a special permit document issued at the government level must be issued.
The fauna of the coastal waters of South Africa is diverse. Here you can see the huge, largest inhabitant of the Earth - the blue whale. Its body length exceeds 30 meters. In total, eight species of whales are found in these waters.
Amazing variety of fish. One sixth of all species known to science today are found in coastal South Africa.
Typical representatives of the fauna of the Sahara are antelopes (addax, oryx), gazelles (dorcas, lady), mountain goat.
Man and Nature
The fauna of southern Africa is represented by exotic, rare animals. However, there are also problems. Chief among them is the influence of man on the nature of Africa. It destroys, exterminates the unique representatives of nature, prevents them from developing. Illegal shooting, poaching, reckless management - all this entails sad consequences.
To be fair, it must be said that human influence on the nature of Africa comes down not only to its destruction. In recent years, African governments have been doing a great job of protecting the ecology, flora and fauna of their continent. Scientists from around the world are involved in this work, supported by enthusiasts from African countries.
Even in the 19th century, the Black Continent was considered a continent of virgin nature. But even in those days, the nature of Africa had already been changed by man. The area of forests has significantly decreased, they have given way to arable land and pastures.
However, the greatest damage to the nature of Africa has received from the European colonialists. Hunting for profit, and often for sporting interest in general, has led to a significant extermination of animals. Many species were completely destroyed. This can be said about some varieties of antelopes, zebras. The number of other animals has significantly decreased: rhinos, elephants, gorillas.
Europeans savagely destroyed African forests and exported valuable timber to Europe. Therefore, in some states of the continent (Nigeria, etc.) there is a real danger of deforestation!
Squaresoccupied for planting oil palms, plantations of cocoa, peanuts, etc. In the place where the richest equatorial and variable-humid forests were located, savannahs formed. The nature of the primary savannahs has also been largely changed. Today there are plowed lands and pastures here.
To save the savannas from the onset of deserts, a 1,500 km long forest belt is being created in the Sahara. It will shield agricultural land from dry hot winds. There are several original projects for watering the Sahara.
Serious changes in natural conditions became noticeable after the development of certain types of minerals, as well as the rapid development of industry on the continent. As a result of improper agriculture (grazing, burning, cutting down shrubs and trees), deserts are increasingly stepping on savannahs. Only in the last 50 years, the Sahara has stepped significantly south and increased its territory by 650 thousand square meters. km.
In turn, the loss of agricultural land leads to the death of crops and livestock, to starvation of people.
National parks and reserves
Today, people have realized the need to protect all life on Earth. To this end, nature reserves (special territories that preserve natural complexes in their natural state) and national parks are being created on all continents.
Only those people who conduct research work are allowed to stay in the reserves. In contrast, national parks are open to tourists.
Today the nature of Africa is underprotection in many countries located on the Black Continent. Protected areas on the mainland occupy vast areas. Most of them are located in East and South Africa. A number of such institutions enjoy worldwide popularity. These are the national parks of the Kruger, Serengeti. Thanks to the great work of scientists, researchers and ordinary nature lovers, the number of some species of animals has been completely restored.
Every year, more than a million tourists come to the Kruger Park, which is located in the north-east of South Africa, who are interested in the wildlife of Africa. This park can rightly be called the birthplace of the Big Five. The five main species of African animals feel very comfortable. Rhinos and lions, giraffes and hyenas, zebras and numerous antelopes feel no less at ease in these territories.
The diversity of African nature is also widely represented in other national parks of South Africa. Not all countries in the world have such a number of such institutions as South Africa. Now in South Africa there are up to two dozen national parks and hundreds of nature reserves, which are located in different regions of the country.
Predators
Of great interest to researchers and ordinary tourists is the wildlife of Africa. The predators of this continent are not only mammals, but also reptiles, which are no less dangerous. In addition, there are birds of prey and fish here.
Lions
African savannas are distinguished by a large number of these predators. The king of beasts feels very comfortable on the Black Continent.
Wildthe nature of Africa is unthinkable without lion prides - groups of animals that unite males, females and their growing offspring. Responsibilities are very clearly distributed in the family - young lionesses take care of the food for the pride, and strong and large males guard the territory.
The main food of lions are zebras, antelopes. In their absence, predators will not abandon smaller animals, and in case of severe hunger they will not disdain carrion.
I would like to dwell on the relationship between lions and the spotted hyena. For a long time it was believed that she was content with the remains after the "royal" meals, that the animal is extremely cowardly, inactive and not capable of independent hunting.
However, recent observations of scientists have shown that this is far from the case. As it turned out, hyenas hunt at night (perhaps that is why little was known about hunting), predators easily kill fairly large prey, such as a zebra or antelope. But the most amazing thing is that scientists have proven that it is not hyenas who are afraid of lions, but vice versa! Hearing the voices of the hyenas that have taken possession of the prey, the lions immediately rush there to drive them away and take the trophy. But it happens that the hyenas enter into a desperate battle, and then the lions are forced to leave.
Leopards, cheetahs
Features of the nature of Africa, many tourists associate with the presence of a large number of predators from the cat species. First of all, these are cheetahs and leopards. These beautiful strong cats are a bit similar, but they lead a completely different lifestyle. Now their population has decreased significantly.
Maincheetahs prey are gazelles, the leopard is not such a fastidious hunter, except for small antelopes, he successfully hunts wild pigs - warthogs and baboons. When almost all leopards were destroyed in Africa, warthogs and baboons, having multiplied, became a real disaster for agricultural crops. I had to take the leopards under protection.
