Phosphate deposits of tropical sub-Saharan Africa

摘要: Africa is the second largest of world’s continents; it has an area about 30 million km2, approximately three times size Europe, and a population approaching 500 million. From north to south in straight line, maximum distance 8,000 km, from east west 7,200 km. Although equator cuts almost exactly midway across continent, with two-thirds total lying between Tropics Cancer Capricorn, more than half continent lies northern hemisphere because extensive ‘bulge’ occupied by North West Sahara Desert. Virtually entire sub-Saharan region considered present report within intertropical (Figure 1). As such, embraces some independent states notable exception South-West (Namibia). A significant number countries referred are also landlocked; striking examples Burkina Faso, Mali, Chad, Niger, and, southern Africa, Burundi, Uganda, Malawi, Rwanda, Zambia, Zimbabwe. There remarkably smooth coastline, uniformly narrow continental shelf, feature that reduces chances discovering major oil fields; on smaller scale, there marked absence natural harbors.