Explore Africa, the second-largest continent

I enjoy mapping the natural world. This map is a follow-up to my physical map of North America published in 2021.

Natural Earth v. 6.0 was the primary source of base map data, including land cover, shaded relief, bathymetry, coastlines, rivers, lakes, and coral reefs. Natural Earth also provided river and lake names. PeakVisor and Wikipedia were the source of mountain names and elevations. Feature names, such as mountain ranges, plateaus, and deserts derive from multiple references, including recent atlases and online maps, primarily Apple Maps. Be advised that these names and their exact locations often differed between sources, especially in the deserts of North Africa. Arabic transliterations are not consistent. Labels throughout the map are an eclectic mix of Afrikaans, Arabic, Berber, English, French, and various other colonial and indigenous languages.

I hope that you learn as much about African geography as I did while making this map.

Tom Patterson

January 6, 2025

Map downloads - Pick the version best for you

Physical Map of Africa

Terms of use

The Physical Features of Africa map is in the public domain. Use it any way that you want. You are not required to cite the map.

Modifying and repurposing the map

Layered Adobe Illustrator file with MAPublisher georeferencing and terrain art, 193 MB

Terrain art without type and type halos

Georeferenced terrain with hydrography, GeoTIFF, 350 DPI, 187 MB

Contact me

I will periodically update the map. Please let me know about major features to include or any problems that you find.

Thanks!

Tom Patterson Bio

Printing and online viewing

High-quality JPEG image, 350 DPI, 48 MB

The map measures 121 x 115 centimeters (47.7 x 45.4 inches) at 1:7,500,000-scale.

Version 1.0, January 6, 2025  Change Log