AFRICA

Africa and Beyond

Africa is a continent with a rich cultural history. It lies south of Europe, between the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean. Africa is widely considered to be the birthplace of humanity, where it all began. Scientific evidence has uncovered fossils of humans occupying Africa, from as far back as seven million years ago. Eastern Africa has been accepted as the place of the origin of humans.

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There is a tendency for people to refer to Africa as a country, but it’s an extremely diverse continent with 54 different countries, languages, and cultures. There are over 3,000 ethnic groups in Africa. Over 2,000 languages are spoken in Africa and this is estimated to be over a third of the world’s languages!

The true size of Africa

You may have seen pictures of Africa on TV and in books, but you often don’t get to see all the things that make each country unique, and you probably don’t see all the developed and modern parts of each country. Well that’s OK, we can all learn together, and one day you may visit many countries in Africa and you can tell me all about it!

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15 facts about Africa

  1. There are 54 countries in Africa.
  2. Sudan used to be the largest country in Africa until it was split into Sudan and South Sudan.
  3. Algeria is now the largest African country by geographical area.
  4. Nigeria is the most populated country in Africa. As of 2020, Nigeria has over 206 million inhabitants.
  5. The largest city in Africa is Lagos, Nigeria. Lagos is home to around 21 million people.
  6. There are more than 1.3 billion people living in Africa.
  7. Africa covers 6% of Earth’s total surface area and 20% of its land area.
  8. More than half of the African continent is covered by grassland or savannah.
  9. Africa accounts for about 16% of the world’s human population.
  10. Swahili is a widely spoken language in Africa.
  11. Africa has the world’s longest river – the Nile.
  12. Africa has the world’s largest desert – the Sahara.
  13. Angola has more Portuguese speakers than Portugal.
  14. Africa is the hottest continent on earth.
  15. Africa has the world’s youngest population, with 60% of its population aged below 25.
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People from Africa live all around the world

We are so excited! We want to share with you lots of information about Africa. We want to tell you that Africa is such a beautiful place. As you would have just read above, Africa is not a country, it is a continent. It’s a huge continent!

Select a flag below to find out more about countries around the world

Angola
Ghana
Nigeria
Jamaica
Haiti
Zimbabwe
South Africa
Senegal
Tunisia
Kenya
Brazil
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Cuba
Ethiopia
Egypt

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