Fact & Figures on Africa

How much do you really know about Africa?

Here are some facts and figures about the Motherland.

Africa is located mainly in the Eastern Hemisphere and to the major part in the Northern Hemisphere.

Africa covers an area larger than 30 million square kilometres or 11.7 million square miles!

Africa is second largest continent in size and the second largest continent in population.

Africa is bigger than the USA, Canada and India combined together.

.

There are 54 countries in Africa – and 9 dependent territories.

More than 1.3 billion people live on the African continent.

This amount to about 15% of the world’s total population.

Botswana

Comoros

Egypt

Eswatini

Ethiopia

Ghana

Kenya

Lesotho

Madagascar

Mauritius

Morocco

Namibia

Nigeria

Seychelles

South Africa

Tanzania

Tunisia

Uganda

Zambia

Algeria. This country is among the ten largest countries in the world.

Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa. It has an estimated 223 million people.
In terms of land area, it is only a third of the size of Algeria.

The most populous city in Africa is Lagos, Nigeria with more than 22 million people by 2021 estimate. It is projected to become the world’s largest city by 2100 with more than 100 million inhabitants!

Cairo in Egypt is the second largest city in Africa with 21 million people.

Seychelles. It is an archipelago (nation of islands) in the Indian Ocean.

On the African mainland, the smallest country is The Gambia.

Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. It is the fourth largest island in the world – after Greenland, New Guinea and Borneo.

The Nile, with 6,852 km or 4,258 miles is the longest river in Africa.

It is also the longest river in the world and passes through eleven countries.

The Nile has two sources: The White Nile coming from Lake Victoria in Tanzania and the Blue Nile coming from Lake Tana in Ethiopia.

The river mouth is in Egypt. The confluence in Khartoum in Sudan.

Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania is the highest mountain. The mountain has three volcanic cones and the highest volcanic cone of them is called ‘Kibo’. The highest peak is ‘Uhuru Peak’ with 5,895 m or 19,340 ft. The mountain is located in the Tanzanian highlands at the border with Kenya. Mount Kilimanjaro can only be climbed from the Tanzanian side but can even be seen from Nairobi in Kenya.

Lake Victoria. It borders Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya.
It is also the world’s second largest freshwater lake. Second only to Lake Superior in North America.

The Sahara in northern Africa is the largest hot desert in the world. It is extremely dry and arid in this region.

The southernmost point of the African continent is Cape Agulhas, which is roughly 170 km or 100 miles southeast from Cape Town.

There are sixteen landlocked countries in Africa. These countries are all located in the interior of the continent and have neither access to the Atlantic Ocean nor to the Indian Ocean. Two of them, the tiny countries of Eswatini and Lesotho, are located within South Africa.

More than half of the continent is covered by grassland or savannah.
Northern Africa is dominated by the vast Sahara desert and the semi-arid Sahel zone which also includes fertile land in the Nile delta.
Central Africa has rainforests, coastal plains and the continents highest mountains and lakes.
Southern Africa lies mainly on a high plateau and only has a small coastal band.

Main natural resources in Africa are minerals such as crude oil, copper, gold, diamonds, platinum and various agricultural produce.

Almost 65% of all Africans work in the agricultural sector.

Africa has some of the largest mammals on this planet. Among them are the largest land mammal, the African elephant, the tallest mammal, the giraffe, and the fastest mammal, the cheetah, which can run with speeds up to 113 km/ hour.

 

Africa is also home to many endangered animals such as the white and black rhinoceros. Kruger National Park where one can admire the beautiful African wildlife is one of the biggest national parks and wildlife conservation areas in the world.

Table Mountain in Cape Town in South Africa

The pyramids of Egypt

Masai Mara National Park in Kenya

Kruger National Park in South Africa

Victoria Falls in Zambia/Zimbabwe

Namib Desert and Etosha National Park/Namibia

Mauritius and the Indian Ocean Islands

Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania

Morocco – Markets, Deserts and Mountains

Morocco Atlas Mountains

Atlas Mountains in Morocco

Sahara desert is the driest hot desert on earth

The Nile is the world’s longest river

Tugela Falls in South Africa are Africa’s highest waterfalls

Blyde River Canyon in South Africa is the world’s largest green canyon.

Africa is the ‘cradle of humankind’. In other words, it is the place where the first hominids, human beings and their closest relatives the gorilla and chimpanzees, evolved.

Fossils found in Africa, show that the modern human evolved there about 5 to 10 million years ago and spread from this continent. One of the earliest evidences of human life were found in South Africa. ‘Mrs Ples and the Taung Child are among the most important fossils.

Many powerful kingdoms existed on the African continent in the early history and the Middle Ages. Between the 5th and 15th century, African slaves were traded mainly by Arab traders and later sent overseas.

Niger Republic: The French colonisers named this country after River Niger.

Nigeria: The British colonisers coined the name Nigeria from two words “Niger” and “Area” to refer to the area around River Niger.

During the partition of Africa between the colonisers, the French took a land area which they named after the River Niger even though it is not directly above the river. With a population of 26 million, this is the modern-day Niger Republic. That country borders Nigeria to the north.
Inside Nigeria itself, there is a Niger State which is one of the 36 states in the federal republic of Nigeria. With a population of just over 6 million, the state is located directly by the Niger river.
In summary, one Niger is a sovereign state while the other is a state within a sovereign nation. 

There are more than 3,000 different groups of indigenous people living in Africa.

Each has its own distinct language and culture.

The original name, Benin belongs to the Edo people of the Benin Kingdom which was one of the most advance kingdoms in the world. which the British sent the infamous Punitive Expedition to destroy. In 1852, the British named the waters of the bight along the West African coast the Bight of Benin. It lies within the Gulf of Guinea and is bordered by southeastern Ghana, Togo, Dahomey and southwestern Nigeria. It was named after the powerful and prosperous Kingdom of Benin.  In 1975, the newly independent French colony – Republic of Dahomey – changed its name to Republic of Benin.
In conclusion, the original name Benin is from the southwestern Nigeria. The people of Dahomey (now Benin) and the original Benin people of Nigeria are not related.

The richest and most developed countries in Africa are the Seychelles, Libya, Mauritius, Algeria, Egypt, Botswana, South Africa and Nigeria.

The poorest countries in Africa are:

Malawi,
the Central African Republic and
Burundi.

Most of the African people are either Christians or Muslims.
In North Africa and many West African countries, people are mostly Muslims, while in southern and eastern Africa the Christian faith dominates.
About 10% of the African people follow traditional African religions which include herbal medicine and celebrating the Spirit of the ancestors.

It is estimated that about 2,000 different languages are spoken on the African continent! Many Africans speak several African languages and also often another ‘European‘ language. In many countries, people speak English, French or Portuguese as an additional language, as these languages are often used in official communication and business.

English is the most widely spoken language in Africa as many countries were formerly British colonies. Arabic, spoken in northern Africa, is also used in many North African countries as official language. Swahili, spoken in many East African countries has the most native speakers in Africa.

Nigeria (520)

Cameroon (227)

DR of the Congo (214)

Chad (129)

Tanzania (128)

Ethiopia (92)

Côte d’Ivoire (88)

Ghana (83)

Sudan (75)

South Sudan (73)

Swahili: Over 100 million speakers.

Hausa: 63 million speakers.

Igbo: 60 million speakers.

Yoruba: 55 million speakers.

Berber: 40 million speakers

Oromo: 55 million speakers

Fula: 25 million speakers
Amharic: 22 million speakers

Some quick links to the Knowledge-Base

N3