Northern Africa



Morocco

Hymn

Population: 31.605.616 inhabitants
Area: 446.550 Km2
Coin: Dirham
PIB: 4.555 $ per capita
Language: Arabic
Name official: Al Mamlaka al-Maghrebiya. Capital: Rabat 1.759.000 inhabitants (2003).
Other cities: Casablanca (Dar-el-Beida) 3.292.100 inhabitants; Fez 900.900; Marrakech 736.500 (2000).
Government: Monarchy
Religion: the majority of Moroccan are Muslims, mostly Sumnis (98,7%); Christians (1,1%); Jews (0,2%).
   Geography. Morocco is opened to oceanic influences due to its wide coast of 800 km. Berbers nomads lived in East Morocco, a mountainous (mountain ranges of Atlas and Rif) poor steppe. At the foot of the mountains there are plains where citrics, pulse and grain grow. In the West areas, at the rugged regions of Atlas Upper-Atlas and Anti-Atlas mountains, are extensive livestock farming and is rich in phosphates, zinc and lead mines. In the coastal plains vineyard and citrics are cultivated. Fish stocks are very important, and they are frequently exploited by foreign fleets. Soil erosion is due to certain factors, including farming expansion over poor areas, exploitation of fields by overgrazing, destruction of woody vegetation for firewood and conversion of forested areas in plantations. Some efforts have been taken to revert these problems, mainly by reforestation.

Algeria

Hymn

Population: 34.373.272 inhabitants

Area: 2.381.740 Km2

Coin: Dinar

PIB: 7.062 $ per capita

Language: Arabic

Name official: Al-Jumjuriyah al-Jazairiyah ad-Dimuqratiyah ash-Shaabiyah (People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria)

Capital: Alger 3.060.000 inhabitants (2003).

Otras cities: Oran 712.300 inhabitants; Constantine 501.900; Annaba 350.000.

Government: Presidential

Religión: Islam (98%), Christianism (1%), Judaism (0,1%).

   Geography: Algeria has fertile lands in the Mediterranean coast, which bordered in the South with the mountain ranges of the Tell and Saharan Atlas, with an area of arid lands between both. In the South we can find the Sahara desert, with a soil rich in petroleum, natural gas and mining resources of iron. Variety on altitudes and climates in the North allows a great variety of crops, like the Mediterranean ones (vine, citrics, olive, etc.)

Egypt

Hymn

Population: 76.840.047 inhabitants

Area: 1.001.450 Km2

Coin: Egyptian pound

PIB: 4.337 $ per capita

Language: Arabic

Official name: Jumhuriyah Misr al-'Arabiyah

Capital: Cairo (Al-Qahirah) 10.834.000 inhabitants (2003).

Otras cities: Alexandria (Al-Iskandariyah) 3.723.000 inhabitants; El Giza (Al-Jizah) 2.485.400; Subra al-Haymah 974.000 (2000).

Government: Presidential Republic

Religión: Islamic, mostly Sunni. Coptic Orthodox (10%) and other Christian churches.

   Geography. The 99% of the population concentrates in the Nile valley (Nahr-an-Nil), which represents 30% of its total area. The rest of the country is desertic, with isolated oasis. The rises of the Nile give shape to the country’s economy since centuries. Although controversial and cause of large scale population desplacements, the building of dams (the most popular is Assuan, at the South of the country) has benefited agriculture, specially wheat, rice and corn. In addition to traditional crops, there are also crops of cotton and sugar cane. The use of hydroelectric energy, together with the Northeast oil (from the Sinai peninsula), favoured the industrial development.

   1. Answer with the right country: Morocco, Algeria or Egypt.

Berbers nomads lived here

It has petroleum and natural gas

99% of them lived in the Nile valley

The capital is Alger

The largest country

The capital is Rabat

The most populated

Its capital is Cairo

With phosphates and zinc mines

It has the Tell Atlas

It has the Assuan Dam

The highest PIB



Lybia

Hymn

Population: 6.283.283 inhabitants
Area: 1.759.540 Km2
Coin: Lybian dinar.
PIB:5.530 $ per capita
Language: Arabic
Official name: Jamahiriya Al-Arabiya Al-Libiya Al-Shabiya Al-Ishtirakiya Al-Uzma (Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya). Capital: Trípoli (Tarabulus) 2.006.000 inhabitants (2003). In January 1987 Khaddafi designed Hun, a village placed at 650 km South-east of Tripoli, as administrative capital.
Other cities: Benghazi 1.041.000 inhabitants; Mizratah 179.100; Az-Zawiyah 175.100 (2000). Government: Government: Presidential
Religion: Islamic (official), Sunni. There is also a small Christian group.

   Geography: The Sahara desert occupies most of the area. Few fertile lands can be find in the coast Mediterranean line, which has moderate temperatures and is habited by the majority of the population. There are not permanent watercourse rivers and rain is uncommon. The country has major oil deposits. Water is scarce and the most of it is pumped out of underground reservoirs. One of the world’s biggest hydraulic projects has solved that problem. There are air pollution, produced by the gases of petroleum refining. Desertification and erosion are constantly spreading.

Sudan

Hymn

Population: 39.445.014 inhabitants

Area: 2.505.810 Km2

Coin: Sudanese pound

PIB: 2.083 $ per capita

Language: Arabic

Official name: Jumhuriyat as-Sudan.

Capital: Jartum (Al-Khartum), executive and ministerial, 1.200.000 inhabitants (2002 est.); Omdurman (Umm-Durman), legislative, 1,599,300 inhabitants(2000).

Otras cities: Port Sudan (Bur Sudan) 384.100 inhabitants; Kassala 295.100 (2000).

Government: Presidential.
Religión: Islam (official)

Geography. Sudan is the biggest country of Africa and it is divided into three natural areas: the deserts of Lybia, Sahara and Nubia in the North; the plains in the center and the tropical jungles from the South. In the banks of the Nile (Nahr an-Nil) lived most of the population and cotton is cultivated. Port Sudan (Bur Sudan), at the Red Sea, concentrates all the comercial movement to the outside. Over 60% of the area suffers from desertification. Industrial spills have polluted the coast and some rivers.

Tunisia

Hymn

Population: 10.440.169 inhabitants

Superficie terrestre: 163.610 Km2

Coin: Tunisian dinar

PIB: 8.371 $ per capita

Language: Arabic

Official name: Al-Jumhouriya at-Tunisiya.

Capital: Tunisia (Tunis) 699.700 inhabitants (2003).

Other cities: Sfax 262.000 inhabitants; Sousse 149.200; Aryanah 203.500 (2000).

Government: Presidential.

Religion: 99,4% of the population practise Sunni Islam. There are also small groups of Christians (0,3%) and Jews (0,1%).

   Geography. Placed between Algeria and Lybia, it is the most northern country of Africa. The plains from the West coasts, very fertile and cultivated (olive trees, citrus and vineyards), contrasted with the mountainous inland (Tell and Aures), inhabited by nomads and ram’s shepherds. At the South, the Sahara desert produced dates in the oasis and has phosphate and iron deposits.

   2. Answer with the right country: Lybia, Sudan or Tunisia.

The largest country

The most populated country

The one with the highest PIB

Its capital is Jartum

With oil deposits

It has olive trees and citrus

Its capital is Tunisia

They have hydro-electric projects

It has iron deposits

The capital is Tripoli

Cotton is cultivated

60% of its area is desert

   3. Write the capital of the following countries:

Algeria

Sudan

Egypt

Lybia

Morocco

Tunisia




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®Arturo Ramo García.-Record of intellectual property of Teruel (Spain) No 141, of 29-IX-1999 Plaza Playa de Aro, 3, 1º DO 44002-TERUEL







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