Africa on the World Map

Can you identify Africa on the World Map? Which one is it?

You will notice that the continents on this map are divided up into smaller areas to show the different countries within them. For example, in North America, Canada is dark green, while the United States is light green and Mexico is yellow. You will notice that Mexico (which lies below the USA) is not labeled. This map does not label all of the countries because it would be too busy. Only certain countries are labeled.

Take a look at the map below and see if you can find the answers to the following questions.

Class Questions

Q1: Which 3 countries in Africa are labeled on the map below?

Q2: Which continent is the largest and which is the smallest?

Q3: Based on what you see, where does South Africa rank in terms of its size among the 7 continents?

This picture comes from your textbook. See the link to find it: http://itsi.ksbedu.co.za/educator/console/books/book-521e9feb-f4fd-4fc2-8cef-872dba920bbe/xhtml/fileP70004861020000000000000000000CB.xhtml 

Answers to the above questions:

A1. Ivory Coast, South Africa and Madagascar are labeled.

A2. Asia is the largest and Europe is the smallest continent.

A3. South Africa is the second largest continent on Earth. 

Political Map of Africa

Below is a Political Map of Africa. Political Map represents countries, provinces, and towns. Often, they are painted in different colors so we can see them better. 

This map shows country names and the boundaries or borders between countries. 

Boundaries are lines on a map that show where one country ends and another one begins. On most maps, the boundary lines are drawn in RED. On this map they are drawn in white. 

South Africa shares borders with SIX neighbouring countries: Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland and Zimbabwe. 

Some countries have a coastline. This means that one of their boundaries is the sea. All the countries that lie on the other edge of Africa have a coastline. Look around the edge of the map. How many countries have a coastline?

Other countries whose boundary does not meet the ocean are locked in by other countries on all sides. We call this LANDLOCKED. An example of a landlocked country, that is also one of South Africa's neighbours, is Botswana. See if you can find it. It is lime green.

Q: Look for the countries that are coloured in purple. Which ones are landlocked? 

EXTENSION ACTIVITY 

If you have completed all the above, then you can complete this Educandy Activity to help you learn the new definitions.