Interesting Facts About Africa

Africa is a beautiful continent, rich in cultural heritage and diversity which makes it distinct and unique among the seven continents. Africa has a lot of natural resources, as well as breathtaking tourist attractions.


It's about 30.3 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area and 20% of its land area. With 1.2 billion people as of 2016, it accounts for about 16% of the world's human population. (Source: Wikipidia).


It contains a wide array of people, skin colours, religions, and cultures. Africa offers the visitor a unique blend of natural wonders, renowned prehistoric sites, numerous and often sprawling remains of several of the world's greatest ancient civilizations, vibrant cultures, remote villages and modern cities.


It is today a vast continent with many bustling metropolises, some of the friendliest people you'll ever meet, and amazingly diverse and beautiful landscapes.


While some people in the West refer to Africa as if it were a single country, Africa is not one country but 54 different countries, with each country, or even each part of a country having its own unique culture.


While there are places resembling the stereotypical Africa of war, famine, and poverty, most of the continent is peaceful.


Travelling and exploring the continent will reveal some of the following interesting facts about Africa.


- It is the world's second largest and second most-populous continent in terms of both land area and population.


- Africa contains arguably the longest river in the world—the 6,650 km-long (over 4,100 mi) Nile River running from Burundi to Egypt.


- The Congo River in the DR Congo is the second largest in terms of discharge, and the deepest with a depth of over 230 m (750 ft) in some spots.


- Tanzania's Mount Kilimanjaro is the world's tallest free-standing mountain at 5,890 m (19,340 ft) above sea level.


- Djibouti's Lake Assal is the second lowest point on Earth, the saltiest lake outside Antarctica, and one of the hottest places on Earth.


- The largest lake in Africa is Lake Victoria and it is also the second-largest freshwater lake in the world


- Africa has the world's largest desert, the Sahara, which is almost the size of the United States.


- Every country in Africa was colonized by foreign powers except Ethiopia and Liberia.


-Nigeria has the highest population (154.7 million people) in Africa. This represents 18% of Africa’s total population.


- Seychelles is the smallest country (by land area). It is made up of a group of 115 islands located north east of Madagascar.


- Madagascar is the largest island in Africa, located in the Indian Ocean (off Africa’s East Coast). It is also the fourth largest in the world.


- The Serengeti (Tanzania) has the world’s largest wildlife migration with over 750,000 zebra going ahead of 1.2 million wildebeest as they cross that landscape.


- Over 85 per cent of the world’s elephants and over 99 per cent of the remaining lions are found on the African continent.


- Nigeria is the largest oil producer in Africa.


- Africa is home to over 1 billion people who speak over 1,500 different languages. One in every four of the world’s language are spoken only in Africa.


- Soccer and cricket are two of Africa’s most popular sports. They were both introduced during the colonial era.


- There are more than 100 million Facebook users in Africa.


- Tanzania, Africa, has the world’s highest Albinism rates. In the country, Albino are hunted by witch-doctors to use their organs for rituals believed to heal diseases.


There are more facts about Africa! We wouldn’t even try to cover them all. There are so many others that we probably missed that are worth sharing. But, this is where you come in. Tell us about your favorite facts about Africa, using the comment section below