- Posted by: Carla dos Santos
- December 20, 2007, 8:30 am
The Horn of Africa is the peninsula of East Africa that juts for hundreds of kilometers into the Arabian Sea, and is the easternmost projection of the African continent.
Countries in the Horn of Africa include:
- Djibouti
- Ethiopia
- Eritrea
- Somalia
The Horn of Africa consists chiefly of mountains uplifted through the formation of the Great Rift Valley, a fissure in the Earth’s crust extending from Turkey to Mozambique and marking the separation of the African and Arabian tectonic plates. Most of the region is mountainous due to faults resulting from the Great Rift Valley, with the highest peaks in the Simien Mountains of northwestern Ethiopia.
The lowlands of the Horn in East Africa are generally arid in spite of their proximity to the equator. This is because the winds of the tropical monsoons that give seasonal rains to the Sahel and the Sudan blow from the west. Consequently, they lose their moisture upon reaching Djibouti and Somalia, with the result that most of the Horn of Africa receives little rainfall during the monsoon season.
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Photo’s (top left clockwise): Hamar Tribe, Somalia; Travertine Chimneys, Djibout; Local transport, Eritrea & Tisisat Falls, Ethiopia. |
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About the Author
Carla dos Santos is the Product Manager of Drive South Africa Travel. She has worked in the Africa Travel Industry since 1998. Born in Cape Town, with a huge travel bug in her pretty much from birth, Carla started travelling close to home, and fell in love with South Africa.
