African plate

The African plate is a very big piece of Earth's outer shell. It holds most of the land called Africa. This plate is also called the Nubian plate by some scientists.

This plate touches many other plates. On the west, it is near the North American plate and South American plate. On the east, it is close to the Arabian plate and the Somali plate. To the north, it meets the Eurasian plate. To the south, it borders the Antarctic plate.

Long ago, the Somali plate started to move away from the African plate. This created a place called the East African Rift. Today, the African plate is moving very slowly. It moves about two centimeters every year. This slow movement changes the shape of the land over millions of years.

The African plate is made of very old, strong land parts called cratons. These include the Kalahari Craton, Congo Craton, Tanzania Craton, and West African Craton. These pieces joined together long ago to form the land we see today.