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Africa, the planet's 2nd largest continent and the second most-populous continent (after Asia) includes (54) individual countries, as well as Western Sahara, a member state of the African Union whose statehood is disputed by Morocco. Note that South Sudan is the continent's newest country.
With just over a billion people (a 2009 estimate) it accounts for just over 14% of the world's human population. It also contains the Nile River system, the world's longest, and the massive Sahara Desert, the world's largest.
Africa is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, both the Suez Canal and the Red Sea along the Sinai Peninsula to the northeast, the Indian Ocean to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west.
The continent straddles the equator and encompasses numerous climate areas, and is the only continent to stretch from the northern temperate to southern temperate zones.
Africa, particularly central eastern Africa, is widely thought (by science) to be the origin of humans as evidenced by the discovery of the earliest hominids and their ancestors.
Cape Town, South Africa
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An African Sunset...
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An African Moon...
Happy Children in the Congo...
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- Continent Size: 30,065,000 sq km or 11,608,000 sq miles
- Coastline: 30,539 km or 18,976 miles
- Percent of Earth's Land: 20.2%
- Population: 1,000,050,000
(2009 est.)
- Highest Point:
Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
19,341 ft or 5,895 m
- Lowest Point:
Lac' (lake) Assal,
Djibouti
512 ft or 156 m below sea level
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