Africa is the second continent of the world
Africa is the second continent of the world, both in size and in population. In 2013, almost 15 percent of the world’s population lived in Africa.
In Africa, there are over a billion people (1.1 billion), and the number of languages ??used in Africa exceeds 1,500. In every fourth language of the world, they speak in Africa.
The total size of Africa is a little more than 30 million square kilometers, which is about one-fifth of the Earth’s land area. Proceeding from this, the African continent is larger than India, China, Mexico, and the United States, as well as a large part of Europe combined.
In the era of the early Mesozoic, Africa was connected to all other continents, and all together they formed a supercontinent called Pangea. Subsequently, Pangea broke up into continents, which took the familiar form to us today.
Despite the fact that Africa is the second largest continent in the world, the coastline of Africa is the shortest of all other continents.
The world civilization began in Africa. The Pharaonic civilization of ancient Egypt is the oldest civilization with developed literacy. According to historical records, the Egyptian state began its existence approximately in 3300 BC.
Islam is the dominant religion in Africa. After him follows Christianity. In addition, the most common language in Africa is Arabic.
It is projected that by the year 2050, about 38% of the world’s Christians will live in sub-Saharan Africa (the Black Africa region).
Africa is the most central continent of the world from a geographical point of view. Both the zero meridian (longitude – 0 degrees), and the equator (latitude – 0 degrees) are located on the territory of the African continent.
The largest country in Africa is Algeria . Its area is almost 2.4 million square kilometers. The smallest country in Africa is the Seychelles (an island state, with an area of ??only 453 sq.km.).
The most populous country in Africa is Nigeria (estimated population for 2015 is 184 million people).
In Nigeria, the highest GDP (568 billion dollars in 2015) from all countries in Africa. The lowest GDP in Africa is in Sao Tome and Principe ($ 335 million in 2015).
In the closest place to Europe, Africa is separated from Europe by only 14.3 kilometers of water.
The Nile River, flowing on the territory of Africa, is the longest river in the world. Its total length is 6 650 km., It flows through 11 countries, and flows into the Mediterranean Sea.
The largest African island, located in the Indian Ocean (along the eastern coast of Africa) is Madagascar. It is also the fourth largest island in the world.
Victoria Falls, along the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe, is one of the seven natural wonders of the world. The main source of water for the waterfall is the Zambezi River.
The largest lake in Africa is Lake Victoria. It is also the second largest fresh lake in the world (with an area of ??68,000 sq. Km.).
The Sahara desert, located on the territory of Africa, is the world’s largest hot desert (with an area of ??9.4 million square kilometers), and the third largest desert in the world, after the Arctic (second largest) and Antarctic (the first largest) .
The highest point of Africa is Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. Its height is 5,895 meters above sea level.
As the highest animal in the world, and the largest animal, it comes from Africa. It’s a giraffe, and an African elephant, respectively.
Giraffe is considered to be an endangered species in at least 7 African states.
Behemoth is the most deadly animal in Africa. Hippos in Africa kill more people than crocodiles and lions combined.
Today, Bushmen living in southern Africa use the same tools as those found in a cave inhabited 44,000 years ago.
About 41 per cent of children in Africa between the ages of 1 and 5 are actively involved in child labor.
In Africa, as in Asia, people have to pass an average of 6 km. a day to get water for different purposes.
39 per cent of children under the age of 5 living in Burundi are underweight.
Over 90 per cent of all malaria cases in the world are in Africa. Each year, 3,000 children die from this disease.
In the African state of Swaziland, every fourth adult is HIV positive.
It is estimated that the total number of people infected with HIV in Africa is 25 million.
The second Congolese war, lasting from 1998 to 2006, claimed more lives (5.4 million people) than any other war since the Second World War. In this conflict, eight African states were involved.
According to the World Bank, in 2010 in Seychelles the literacy rate among women was 92 percent. The same level at the same time in Chad was 13 percent, and in the Niger – 15 percent.
As of 2010, 216 days were required in Guinea-Bissau in order to complete all the procedures necessary to start a business. In Rwanda, the same could be done only in 3 days.
Only 24 percent of the inhabitants of villages and villages of Black Africa have standard sanitary conditions. In cities, this figure is 42 percent.
In the African country of Tanzania, the highest number of people with albinism in the world (the absence of the pigment of melanin, which imparts color to the skin, hair, and the shells of the eye, so that a black person can look like a light-skinned person). Various healers and healers in Africa catch people with albinism, and use their organs in their rituals, which they believe to treat illnesses.
In the Witwatersrand mountains in South Africa, almost half of all gold mined in Africa is located.
In Africa, more people speak French than in France itself.
Most of the world’s fastest runners in the long run are from the Kalengine tribe in Kenya.
Egypt is the most popular tourist destination in Africa. Every year more than 10 million people visit the country as tourists. In addition, Cairo – the capital of Egypt – is the largest city in Africa.
In northern Africa, there are two Spanish exclaves – Melilla and Ceuta.
On the national flag of Mozambique is a Kalashnikov assault rifle. This is the only state flag in the world with the image of the machine gun.
All African states were colonized by Europeans, with the exception of two: Ethiopia and Liberia. Ethiopia was an Orthodox Christian country, and Liberia was a country of African-American settlers who were slaves.
To date, African countries are united by one organization – the African Union (AU). The AU was established in 2001. Only one African country – Morocco – is not a member of the AU.
The two most popular sports in Africa are football and cricket. They both appeared in Africa in the colonial era.
In Africa, more than 100 million Facebook accounts have been registered.
