Discover fascinating fun facts about Africa, it's geography, animals and much more below...
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Population: 1.2 billion +
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Number of Countries: 54
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Highest Point: Mount Kilamanjaro 5895m
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Lowest Point: Lake Assal -155m
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Longest river: Nile 6695km
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Biggest country: Algeria
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Smallest country: Seychelles
DID YOU KNOW
Africa is home to the Big 5 animals. They are the Cape Buffalo, Leopard, Lion, Rhino and Elephant. You can see them all on a Safari!
THE COUNTRIES OF AFRICA
Algeria
Angola
Benin
Botswana
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cape Verde
Cameroon
Central African Republic
Chad
Comoros
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Republic of the Congo
Cote d'Ivoire
Djibouti
Egypt
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
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eSwatini
Ethiopia
Gabon
Gambia
Ghana
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Kenya
Lesotho
Liberia
Libya
Madagascar
Malawi
Mali
Mauritania
Mauritius
Morocco
Mozambique
Namibia
Niger
Nigeria
Rwanda
Sao Tome and Principe
Senegal
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Somalia
South Africa
South Sudan
Sudan
Tanzania
Togo
Tunisia
Uganda
Zambia
Zimbabwe
QUICK FACTS ABOUT AFRICA
The continent of Africa is right in the middle of the world. It sits to the South of Europe and is half in the Southern and half in the Northern hemispheres. Both the Equator, the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn run through it. Look at the map above to see all these different geographical features.
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Due to its size and the fact it covers a huge percentage of the world, Africa experiences lots of different weather and has lots of different environments. Read more about different countries environments and weather below:
Kenya
Gabon
Kenya and Gabon - are situated right on the Equator which means it is really hot and sunny for most of the year. Countries that sit on the Equator often have two seasons in the year, dry and wet as it doesn't get cold enough to have a Winter.
Rep. Congo
Dem.Congo
The Republic and Democratic Republic of the Congo - are situated around the great Congo Basin, a waterway surrounded by dense rainforest. This is where you can go trekking to see the elusive Mountain Gorillas.
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Seychelles
Mauritius
Seychelles and Mauritius - Many of Africa's most famous islands are between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. This zone with the Equator in the middle means they only have dry and wet seasons along with very hot weather, perfect for beach days!
Madagascar
Madagascar - This unique island is the largest island in Africa. Due to it's size and isolation it has developed some very weird and wonderful wildlife that can only be found in Madagascar like the Lemur.
ACTIVITY
1. Take a look at the map of Africa.
2. Pick a country and see if you can guess what it's environment and weather is like.
3. Then take a search on the internet or in a book to see if you're correct!
WHO LIVES IN AFRICA?
Africa has lot's of different tribes and indigenous people. Find out about the Tuareg desert dwellers of the North, the San people of the South or the Maasai Warriors of the Rift Valley on our page on Indigenous People..
African Elephant
Type of animal - Mammal
Maximum Height - 3.3m
Region - Central and Southern Africa
Diet - Grass, plants and fruits
Lemur
Type of animal - Mammal
Maximum Length - 1m (including tail)
Region - Madagascar
Diet - Fruits and leaves
Giraffe
Type of animal - Mammal
Maximum Height - 19m
Region - South West and East Africa
Diet - Acacia leaves, tree leaves
Lion
Type of animal - Mammal
Maximum Length - 2.5m
Region - Central and Southern Africa
Diet - Large and Small Mammals
Gorilla
Type of animal - Mammal
Maximum Height - 1.2m
Region - Central Africa
Diet - Plants, leaves and bark
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White Rhino
Type of animal - Mammal
Maximum Length - 4.2m
Region - Central and East Africa
Diet - Grasses
8.6 million square kilometres of Africa is filled with the Sahara Desert, the world's largest desert.
The Nile is the longest river in the world at over 6,600km long!
Flowing from Uganda all the way to Egypt.
The King changed his country's name from Swaziland to eSwatini because people kept getting it confused with Switzerland.
Over a 1000 languages are spoken in Africa. The most
of any continent on Earth!
Scientists believe humans originated in Africa over 7 million years ago probably from the South of the continent!
Home to the Great Migration of over 1.7 million Wildebeest who travel from Tanzania to Kenya in search of new grazing every year.
Maasai warriors are famed for the Adumu dance where they show off their incredibly high jumps!
The island of Madagascar is the only place you can find Lemurs in the wild!
Some of the Sahara deserts sand dunes can reach heights of over 600ft. That's twice the height of the Statue of Liberty!
AFRICA ON FILM
ACTIVITY
1. Take a look and read about my travels in Africa below.
2. Put some of the interesting information into a search engine and see if you can find which country the image is from!
Fig. 188
Wildebeest ‘enjoy’ the great migration through the Rift Valley.
Over 1.7m Wildebeest make the journey from Tanzania to Kenya each year! What a sight!
Fig. 176
A Bamileke chief wears a traditional Elephant mask during a ceremonial dance. The head dress is adorned with thousands of tiny coloured beads, each colour representing something significant to the tribe.
Fig. 27
A North African Tuareg man or Amajagh stands next to his camel wearing his traditional blue veil. They are often nicknamed the blue men because the dyes used for their clothes stain their skin blue.
Fig. 92
Racing camels with the Tuareg people of Hassi Messaoud. A strange and exhilarating experience to celebrate the changing of the seasons.
Fig. 97
The Great Pyramids of Giza are over 4,500 years old and were built by the ancient Egyptians as tombs for their Pharaohs. These 3 pyramids took over 85 years to complete!
Fig. 63
Boab trees line the road to Morondava and some Lemurs came along for the ride. It’s the only place in the world where they live in the wild!
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See which African animals are on the endangered list and how you can help save them: www.awf.org/
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Watch 'Africa' on BBC iPlayer, narrated by Sir David Attenborough: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p010jc6p
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Learn more about the Maasai people of Kenya and Tanzania: http://maasaiwilderness.org
