African Climate Zones and Sahel Desertification

GeographyRegions & CountriesAges 12–13

A hand-drawn map of Africa shows climate zones lying almost symmetrically across the Equator: humid equatorial in the middle, sub-equatorial savanna on either side, then dry tropical zones with the Sahara and Kalahari deserts, and Mediterranean subtropical at the outer edges. Drag the latitude arrow on the map to read off the climate zone and landscape at that latitude. Click Run to simulate the Sahel: changing rainfall and grazing pressure shows vegetation cover and the desert boundary shifting south (desertification) or retreating as the land recovers.