Africa is distinctively unique continent among all 7 continents of the world. Africa has a very diverse culture. It is rich in cultural heritage and diversity, a wealth of natural resources, offers breathtaking tourist attractions.
These interesting facts about Africa are must to be known.
1. Africa is the second-largest continent in the world both in size and population.
2. Islam is the dominant religion in Africa. Christianity is the second. Arabic is also the most widely-spoken language in Africa.
3. Africa has the shortest coastline despite being the second largest continent in the world.
4. Africa is the most centrally located continent in the world. Both the prime meridian (0 degrees longitude), and the equator (0 degrees latitude) cut across it.
5. Nigeria has the highest population (154.7 million people) in Africa. This represents 18% of Africa’s total population.
6. Both the world’s tallest and largest land animals both come from Africa. They are the giraffe and African elephant, respectively.
7.Africa hosts the fastest cat mammal. The Cheetah, the world’s fastest land animal, reaching speeds of up to 70 mph/ 112 kmph, the cheetah is an exceptional animal to see on your safari, especially if you’re lucky enough to witness one on the hunt. Mostly docile during the heat of the day, the cheetah prefers to be active post-sunset.
7. Around 2,000 different languages are spoken in Africa and each of them have different dialects while Arabic is the language that is most widely spoken in the African continent.
8. The world’s longest river the Nile and the world’s largest desert — the Sahara — both are home in Africa.
9. Algeria is the biggest country in Africa by land area.
10. The world’s hottest place — Ethiopia — is in Africa.
11. The continents terrain was inhabitable and remained unknown for thousands of years, earning it the name of ‘Dark Continent, by a British explorer Henry M. Stanley in his book.
12. The equator passes through the middle African continent and it receives direct sunlight throughout the year through Gabon, Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lake Victoria Uganda, Kenya and Somalia.
13. The major animals in Africa include — cheetah, African elephant, lion, zebra, Egyptian mongoose, giraffe, addax.
14. The largest waterfall in Africa is the Victoria Falls and it is located on the Zimbabwe and Zambia border. It has a height of 355 feet and the width of the water fall runs into almost a mile.
15. More than 50% of the world’s French-speaking population lives here on the continent.
16. Angola has more Portuguese speakers than Portugal.
17. Africa has a pink lake in Senegal.
18. Africa is the hottest continent on earth. Africa mainly lies within the equatorial zone between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. Africa is a hot continent as the heat of the sun is always strong there. Thus, warm and hot climates prevail all over Africa but the northern part is the most marked part by aridity and high temperatures.
