The Ethiopian Highlands and the Somali Plateau. The Ethiopian Highlands where is located?

East Africa is a huge territory located in the east of the mainland. It includes the Ethiopian Highlands, the Afar hollow, the plateau and the lowlands of Somalia. And also includes the East African plateau.

Geographical position

In the southeast of the African continent is located the Ethiopian Highlands (where the highest point is Ras-Dashen and other volcanoes). In the western part the area comes into contact with the basin of the White Nile. In the north and south-east it descends to the coast of the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. In the south, the region borders on Lake Rudolph and the Indian Ocean.

Relief of Ethiopia

Mountains of Ethiopia (Ethiopian Highlands) - this is a sharply limited array, an array of bastion. It breaks off hard-to-reach, steep slopes. Erosion-tectonic, very deep valleys dissect it in many directions. They sing out mountain ranges with volcanoes. Some of the volcanoes showed themselves in the historical period of time. The highest massif - Ras-Dashen (4.6 km) - is located in the northern part. In one of the depressions is located Tana Lake.

The southeastern part of the highlands is bounded by a fault valley, which separates the Harar plateau from it. Harar descends to the peninsula of Somalia. The plateau of Somalia slopes gently towards the Indian Ocean. The lowest region is the depression of Afar, adjacent to the Red Sea.

Geological structure

In this part of the mainland there is the East African Rift. It is a meridionally oriented system of faults in the earth's crust. The rift was formed during the last two eras - in the Cenozoic and Mesozoic. Ethiopian rift branch passes through this territory. The Ethiopian Highlands and the Afar Basin just cross this eastern branch. Then it goes to the south and passes through the East African plateau.

Climate

The climatic conditions of the area are peculiar and contrast. The Ethiopian plateau and the Somali Plateau are subject to precipitation and moisture from the Indian monsoon, but most of them are intercepted by the slopes of the highlands. Here the annual rainfall norm exceeds 1000 mm. In the valleys and on the peninsula of Somalia, the norm of precipitation is four times lower - 250 mm / year.

The least amount of precipitation falls in such areas of the area as the Afar Basin, the area between the upland and the Harar Plateau, and also on the coasts of the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea. So, for example, about 125 mm of precipitation falls on the coasts per year, which practically creates conditions for a real desert.

In general, the Ethiopian Plateau and the Somali Plateau are characterized by high temperatures. The average monthly temperatures for the district are at least 20 ^° C, while the maximum temperatures in the summer reach 50 ^° C.

At the same time, with increasing altitude, the temperature conditions change. Above a mile and a half, the average monthly temperatures are 15-20 ⁰ C, and in winter, the temperature sometimes drops to -5 ⁰ C. Above 2.5 km, it's even cooler. The average monthly temperatures here no longer exceed 16 ^° C, and in winter there are long and rather severe frosts.

Rivers

The Ethiopian highlands give birth to numerous turbulent, high-water rivers with deep river valleys. For example, in the northern part it is the Blue Nile, in the south it is Omo.

The Blue Nile, also called Abbay, is the right tributary of the Nile. Its length is 1,6 thousand km. The source of the river begins in Lake Tana at an altitude of 1.83 km. A hydroelectric power station is located not far from the mouth. In Ethiopia, it is believed that the Blue Nile is a sacred river originating in paradise, so the local population brings her gifts.

The Omo River flows from the center of the Ethiopian Highlands, flowing mainly to the south. In the mountains the channel is narrow, in the lower reaches its width increases. The river bed is located under a slope, with numerous rapids. The maximum level of the river is in the summer, in the period of downpours. The Ethiopian government plans to build a hydroelectric power station on the pond that will provide electricity to Addis Ababa.

Also interesting is the Juba River, flowing from the Harar plateau. It flows throughout the Somali Peninsula, flowing into the Indian Ocean. The length of 1,6 thousand km. Despite the fact that the river flows through arid areas, its food in the sources is so abundant that it maintains a high water content throughout.

Vegetation

The Ethiopian Highlands have a pronounced altitudinal zonality. The lower part of the slopes here is occupied by tropical forests with such typical representatives as wild bananas, palm trees, rubber creepers, and others. In dry areas - gallery forests, and on the watersheds - call (shrubs, xerophytic forests).

Above 1.7 km the forest is covered with the Ethiopian Highlands. Where is the locality, we have already found out. The local population calls it "war-degas". Previously grown here cedar trees are mostly cut down. Better preserved treelike spurge, juniper, umbellate acacia. In some places, forests are replaced by savannahs. This belt of highlands is home to the coffee tree. Most of the population of the region lives here.

Above 2.4 km, the vegetation of the uplands is represented mainly by grasses, here pastures and barley crops are located.

The interior of the peninsula is covered with savannas, and the Afar hollow and the coast are represented by deserts and semi-deserts.

Animal world

The Ethiopian Highlands have a very diverse fauna. In the lower belt of the highlands live elephants (one of the few African habitats outside the reserves and national parks), rhinoceroses and hippos, warthogs. African two-horned rhinos are represented by two species - white and black. White African rhino reaches a four-meter length, this is the largest species of rhinoceroses, it exists only in protected areas.

Behemoths and wild pigs are actively exterminated because of meat and skin. Destroy because of ivory and African elephant. Despite the fact that hunting for them is prohibited, this does not stop numerous poachers.

The Ethiopian highlands are inhabited, among other things, by large cats, here live lions and (in a much larger number) leopards. In the region there are many ungulates: antelopes, buffaloes, gazelles, oryxes. Among antelopes, of which there are more than forty species, one can distinguish wildebeest, kudu, dwarf antelope.

In the temperate forests there live many monkeys - gelad, goverec, hamadryla, etc. The Ethiopian plateau has a diverse species composition of birds. There are a lot of parrots, turako, storks, cranes, falcons, eagles. In savannas, semi-deserts and deserts, ostriches, zebras, giraffes live.