Photos: Africa from the air, captured by NASA Cairo, Egypt – The pyramids at Giza can be seen in the center of this image taken from the International Space Station in 2012, with the modern Cairo metropolitan area to the left and the Sahara desert on the right. Hide Caption 1 of 15

Photos: Africa from the air, captured by NASA River, Sierra Leone – The Sierra Leone river, captured in 2014 by the NASA Terra spacecraft. Hide Caption 2 of 15

Photos: Africa from the air, captured by NASA Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania – A crew member on the International Space Station captured this image of Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, covered in snow and ice in 2007. Hide Caption 3 of 15

Photos: Africa from the air, captured by NASA Gres de Chinguetti Plateau, Mauritania – The Richat Structure, a geographical feature in the Sahara, is pictured in 1993 sitting in the Gres de Chinguetti Plateau in central Mauritania, northwest Africa. Hide Caption 4 of 15

Photos: Africa from the air, captured by NASA Carthage, Tunisia – The ancient city of Carthage in Tunisia is pictured here, as photographed by a crew member on the International Space Station in 2006. Hide Caption 5 of 15

Photos: Africa from the air, captured by NASA Tibesti Mountains, Chad – This image of the Tibesti Mountains, Chad, was taken in 1997. The squid-like shape the lava made as it flowed down the flanks of the Pic Tousside provided astronauts with a visual marker as they flew across northern Africa. Hide Caption 6 of 15

Photos: Africa from the air, captured by NASA Tifernine dunes, Algeria – The Tifernine dunes of east-central Algeria are pictured in this image, captured in 1995. "The dunes lie in a basin of dark-colored rocks heavily cut by winding stream courses (top right)," explains the caption in the Nasa Image and Video Gallery. "Very occasional storms allow the streams to erode the dark rocks and transport the sediment to the basin. Winds then mold the stream sediments into the complex dune shapes so well displayed here." Hide Caption 7 of 15

Photos: Africa from the air, captured by NASA Djibouti, Djibouti – This view taken from the International Space Station in 2000 shows Djibouti, the capital city of the country of the same name, in East Africa. Hide Caption 8 of 15

Photos: Africa from the air, captured by NASA St. Anthony Monastery, Egypt – The world's oldest Christian monastery, in the remote mountainous area of eastern Egypt, can be seen in this image taken in 2010 by NASA Terra spacecraft. Hide Caption 9 of 15

Photos: Africa from the air, captured by NASA Lake Afrera, Ethiopia – This hypersaline lake, called Lake Afrera, is in the Danakil Depression in northern Ethiopia, it can be seen in this image taken by the NASA Terra spacecraft in 2014. Hide Caption 10 of 15

Photos: Africa from the air, captured by NASA Betsiboka River, Madagascar – This image taken from the International Space Station 2009 shows the Betsiboka River in Madagascar. Hide Caption 11 of 15

Photos: Africa from the air, captured by NASA Limpopo River, South Africa – The swollen Limpopo River was captured by the NASA Terra spacecraft as it flew over South Africa and Zimbabwe in 2013. Hide Caption 12 of 15

Photos: Africa from the air, captured by NASA Lilongwe, Malawi – Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi is pictured in this Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) image from 2016. Hide Caption 13 of 15

Photos: Africa from the air, captured by NASA Atlas mountains, Morocco – This radar image from 1999 shows the Atlas mountains and parts of Morocco. Hide Caption 14 of 15