The African continent is morphologically divided into High Africa in the elevated east and south, with average altitudes of 800 to 1,000 m, and Low Africa in the lower-lying north and west, with averages altitudes between 400 and 600 m. The relief is characterized by a lack of extensive lowlands and alpine mountains, instead featuring large basins surrounded by elevated ridges, such as the Great Escarpment in Southern Africa. The Sahara Desert is the world's largest desert, characterized by low relief, central mountain areas like the Tibesti and Hoggar, and extensive plateaus and sand seas. West Africa, and thus the Sahel, Sudan zone, and Guinea coast are part of Low Africa, which his characteristic wide and several hundred meters elevated ridge areas. Due to its high altitude and the distinctive Rift Valley, the East African part of High Africa exhibits a more pronounced and finely differentiated physiogeographic structure. The mountains of the Cape Province of South Africa form the front of the Great Escarpment. This region features wide valleys and successive fold mountains reaching heights of up to 2,078 m. These mountains, part of the Cape Fold Belt, are older and smaller than the Mediterranean Atlas ranges. The Cape Coast is characterized as a cliff coast composed of Precambrian and Paleozoic rocks, as well as extensive deposits of the Karoo Supergroup.