MAP OF AFRICA
Welcome to the Dark Continent which is known as
“AFRICA”. AFRICA is known as “the Dark Continent” which
its country can be describe as “Darkness”. Why?
- The Dark Continent was named so because it was
unexplored by the Europeans and because of the
savagery that was expected to be found on the
continent.
- Africa was known as the “Dark Continent” because
it remained unexplored for a fairly long period of
time.
- Factors that made is difficult for the explorer to
venture in to the continent of africa were: The
largest desert in the world, the Sahara Desert
acted as a natural barrier for the European
explorers. The term Dark Continent was used to
refer to Africa by a British explorer Henry M.
Stanley in his book.
Quick Facts About Africa
Continent Size: Second largest in the world
Area: 11,700,000 square miles
Estimated population: 877 million people
Largest City: Cairo, Egypt, 9.2 million people
Largest Country: Algeria - 919,595 square miles (was Sudan, 968,000 square
miles)
Longest River: Nile, 4,160 miles
Largest Lake: Victoria, 26,828 square miles
Tallest Mountain: Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, 19,340 feet
- Africa is a continent south of Europe, between
the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean. -
There are 54 sovereign states (or countries) in
Africa.
Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso,
Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad,
Comoros Islands, Democratic Republic of the Congo,
Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea,
eSwatini (formerly Swaziland), Ethiopia, Gabon,
Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast,
Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi,
Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia,
Niger, Nigeria, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Sao
Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia,
South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo,
Tunisia, Uganda, Western Sahara, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
- It is subdivided the African continent into five
regions, Northern Africa, Central or Middle Africa
, Southern Africa, East Africa, and Western
Africa.
Northern Africa
The North Africa consists of 7 countries at the
northernmost part of the continent -- Algeria, Egypt,
Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia, Western Sahara. North
Africa is an economically prosperous area, generating
one-third of Africa's total GDP. Oil production is high
in Libya.
Central Africa
The African Development Bank defines Central Africa as
Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the
Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon.
Northern Africa
The UN subregion of Southern Africa consists of five
countries in the southernmost part of the continent--
Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South
Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, Zimbabwe. The region is rich
in valuable minerals deposits.
East Africa
East African countries (19) - Burundi, Comoros,
Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi,
Mauritius, Mozambique, Réunion, Rwanda, Seychelles,
Somalia, S The
West Africa
West Africa UN subregion includes the following
countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Côte
D'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia,
Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone,
Togo .omaliland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Africa is the second largest continent,
covering about a fifth of the world's landmass with
a total area of around 11 million square miles that
account for 5.7% of the earth's surface as well as
20% of the total surface of land on our planet.
- It has a rich geography as well as an interesting
history thus making it a continent with such
biodiversity that is awe inspiring. Africa has
much more to it than poverty and apartheid, for
which it is well known the world over.
- It stretches equally to the north and south of the
equator and is made up of many different kinds of
landscapes and ecosystems.
-
- Africa is a continent of over a billion people,
yet questions of underdevelopment, malgovernance,
and a form of political life based upon patronage
are characteristic of many African states.
- Considered by many scientists to be the origin of
mankind, Africa is a continent of 54 independent
countries and a rich mix of native peoples,
cultures, economies and history.
- The scenic beauty and variety is quite stunning,
it is home to vast deserts, tropical rain forests,
rugged mountains and fertile grasslands. It is
abundant in flora and fauna unsurpassed by any
other continent.
- An ever-increasing number of tourists from around
the globe are drawn to this incredible continent
every year to experience its wonders.
- Yet despite its natural wealth and beauty, Africa
includes the fifteen least developed nations in
the world, 70% of its population survives on less
than $2 a day, disease and famine continue to kill
millions of its people each year.
-
- Despite a wide range of natural resources, Africa
is the least wealthy continent per capita, in part
due to geographic impediments. Despite this low
concentration of wealth, recent economic expansion
and the large and young population make Africa an
important economic market in the broader global
context.
- The continent is surrounded by the Mediterranean
Sea to the north, the Isthmus of Suez and the Red
Sea to the northeast, the Indian Ocean to the
southeast and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. The
continent includes Madagascar and various
archipelagos.
-
Amazing Facts About Africa
• One of the most interesting facts about Africa is that the length and breadth of this
continent are about the same. It measures around 4,660 from north to south and from
east to west.
• Africa is not only the second largest but the second most populated continent as well
and houses about 12% of the world population.
• Nigeria is the most populated country in Africa and has an estimated population of
120-140 million. The population in Seychelles is around 80,000 people and is the least
populated country.
• The African continent has approximately 3,000 distinct ethnic groups while Nigeria
alone has about 370 of these tribes that have been officially recognized. You will find
more information on African culture here.
• 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.
• The Equator goes around 2,500 miles from the west to the east of the African continent
thus dividing this continent into two separate halves – north and south. It passes through
many of the African nations such as Congo, Somalia, Uganda as well as Kenya.
• If we go by the records of the fossil remains Africa seems to be the first
continent where humans were found. The fossil remains have suggested that humans had
inhabited the African continent around 7 million years ago.
• Africa also boasts of having the longest river in the world which is the Nile that runs
for around 4,150 miles before it meets the ocean. It flows through several African
countries such as Ethiopia, Sudan, Uganda as well as Egypt thus making the land
extremely fertile.
• Mount Kilimanjaro is the largest mountain in Africa and stands tall at 19,340 feet.
Lake Victoria is the largest lake in Africa measuring 26,560 square miles.
• Madagascar is the largest island in the African continent and it lies just off the east coast
of Africa. It has a length of around 1,000 miles with a width of around 350 miles. This
island is also the 4th largest island in the world.
• Africa also boasts of the best flora and fauna in the world. It has the most flourishing
wildlife in the entire world. It also houses some of the fastest animals on land such as the
cheetah, wildebeest, gazelle and lion.
• Africa’s mining is well known and the continent produces at least 50% of the
diamonds and gold in the whole world. The rest of the countries around the world
contribute to the remaining 50% of the production of these precious stones and metal.
• South Africa is also home to the ‘largest green canyon in the world’ and it is known as
the Blyde River Canyon and this is also the 3rd largest Canyon in the world.
Languages of Africa
Africa's languages can be subdivided into three main language families, Afro-
Asiatic, Nilo-Saharan, and Niger-Congo. The thousands of languages and dialects
which are spoken on the continent are classified into six major language families:
Afro-Asiatic (e.g., Berber, Semitic, Cushitic, etc.), Austronesian languages
(Madagascar), Indo-European languages (colonial languages), Nilo-Saharan (African
interior), Niger-Congo (Bantu), and Khoi-San (a language with click consonants).
- The story of epidemics, however, is always
evolving. As we see clearly now with the ongoing
COVID-19 pandemic, which is believed to have
originated from virus-infected meat or live
animals sold in a traditional “wet” food market in
Wuhan, China, our hopes for the end of infectious
disease were badly misplaced. Over the last 100
years, in fact, there has been growing evidence of
not less but more frequent emergence and greater
spread of zoonotic pathogens in humans and
animals.
- Africa is now catching up to Asia as an infectious
disease hotspot. Africa now has the fastest-
growing and youngest human population of any
region in the world. In 1900, Africa south of the
Sahara had around 100 million inhabitants; the
population now stands at 1 billion and by 2100 is
projected to grow to around 4 billion people. With
increasing human populations and increasing demand
for milk, meat and eggs due to rising urbanization
and incomes, the densities of humans and domestic
animals are also increasing—particularly in
coastal West Africa and North Africa and the
highlands of East Africa. Figure 1 compares the
current human, poultry, pig, and ruminant
populations across Africa and Asia. Regions of
Africa are now approaching the high-density levels
seen in Asia.
-
- In past centuries in Africa, animal pathogens
jumping to humans almost always caused limited
outbreaks—reflecting the comparatively low
densities of people and animals and their relative
isolation. However, this pattern is changing, with
increases in both frequency of emergence and
expanded spread in human populations.
- Here, we highlight key changes in human, animal,
and environmental health drivers contributing to
more frequent emergence and greater spread of
emerging zoonoses in Africa, now and in the
future. Understanding these changes is critical in
developing preventive and rapid response
strategies and capacities to mitigate the
increasing risk of epidemics of emerging diseases
in Africa.
- New COVID-19 variants have emerged in Africa as
the continent records a new peak in infections.
- Beta, also known as 501.V2 or B.1.351, has some
significant genetic changes that experts are
studying. It was first identified in South Africa.
"Africa is still the poorest continent in the world,
the biggest sufferer of HIV and AIDS, the continent
with the most external debts and the least foreign
investment. But we are lot more hopeful than we were 5
or 10 years ago." ~ IBRAHIM GAMBARI, United Nations
special representative for Africa
