Final answer:
Africa's diverse physical geography, including well-watered savannas, vast deserts like Sahara, impressive features like the Nile River and Atlas Mountains, influences the way of life of its inhabitants, shaping everything from settlement patterns and agriculture to nomadic pastoralism and trade routes.
Step-by-step explanation:
Africa's physical features significantly influence the lifestyles of its people. Well-watered regions such as the savannas and parts of the continent with moderate climates encourage settled communities, where agriculture and urban civilization can thrive. People in these regions often engage in farming, producing surplus food, which supports structured societies and even allows for monument building, as observed with the Nile River Civilization. In contrast, the arid regions like the Sahara and the Sahel promote nomadic lifestyles and pastoralism, where communities herd animals and live off their products due to the unsuitability of the land for farming.
Physical features such as the Great Rift Valleys, Atlas Mountains, and major rivers like the Nile, Congo, and Niger also shape human activities by dictating accessible routes for migration and trade, influencing cultural exchange, and fostering diverse economic activities based on regional natural resources. The scarcity of resources like water in deserts such as the Namib and Kalahari restrict the growth of civilizations and continue to define the density and way of life of human settlements in those areas. The varying geography of Africa has played a pivotal role in the history, culture, and economy of the continent's societies.