KAWA MULTIMEDIA PUBLICATIONS
Introduction
Vegetation simply refers to the plant cover that grows naturally in an area. The existence of any type of vegetation largely depends on physical factors.
The natural vegetation of Africa is closely linked with the climates we have just looked at in chapter Seven. Grasslands called Savannah occupy more than two-fifths of Africa. They form a broad curve that extends from the Atlantic coast just south of the Sahara, across eastern Africa, and back westward to the Atlantic south of the Congo basin. Tall grasses, thorny bushes and scattered trees grow in this area. Thicker woodlands cover areas with more rainfall. But closer to the deserts there are fewer trees and shorter grasses.
Forest cover less than a fifth of Africa. Many people outside the continent think that much of Africa is a jungle that must be passed through with an axe or panga. But true jungle is rare. Most of the forests are tropical rain forests. These forests with their many kinds of broad leaves ever green trees, grow in the Congo basin and in parts of western Africa and Madagascar. The floors of the forests tend to be fairly open and clear.
Pockets of dense and tangled mangrove swamps fringe some coastal areas in the west and east and in Madagascar. Other forests grow in the highlands of Eastern Africa, in the mountains of north-west, and in parts of the south.
The natural vegetation of Africa is closely linked with the climates we have just looked at in chapter Seven. Grasslands called Savannah occupy more than two-fifths of Africa. They form a broad curve that extends from the Atlantic coast just south of the Sahara, across eastern Africa, and back westward to the Atlantic south of the Congo basin. Tall grasses, thorny bushes and scattered trees grow in this area. Thicker woodlands cover areas with more rainfall. But closer to the deserts there are fewer trees and shorter grasses.
Forest cover less than a fifth of Africa. Many people outside the continent think that much of Africa is a jungle that must be passed through with an axe or panga. But true jungle is rare. Most of the forests are tropical rain forests. These forests with their many kinds of broad leaves ever green trees, grow in the Congo basin and in parts of western Africa and Madagascar. The floors of the forests tend to be fairly open and clear.
Pockets of dense and tangled mangrove swamps fringe some coastal areas in the west and east and in Madagascar. Other forests grow in the highlands of Eastern Africa, in the mountains of north-west, and in parts of the south.