HERE ARE 10 MIND- BLOWING FACTS ABOUT AFRICA , THAT YOU PROBABLY DIDN’T KNOW.
It is widely believed the African continent got its name from the ancient Romans. Upon defeating the ancient northern African city of Carthage, the Romans founded a province there they named it Africa; named after the Afri tribe that inhabited the area.
1) AFRICA IS THE SECOND LARGEST CONTINENT ON EARTH.
Africa is the second largest continent in the world with a total area of around 11.73 million square miles (30.37 million square kilometers) that account for 5.7% of the earth’s surface as well as 20% of the total surface of land on our planet. It is divided up into five sub-sections; North Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, Southern Africa and West Africa. One of the most interesting facts about Africa is that the length and breadth of the continent are about the same, Horizontal Width: 4,355 miles (7,009 km) from Dakar, Senegal, east to Mogadishu, Somalia and Vertical Length: 4,504 miles (7,248 km) from Cape Town, South Africa north to Tripoli, Libya.
Map of Africa
There are 54 countries and ten territories and two de facto independent states with limited or no recognition. Sudan used to be the largest country in Africa until it was split into Sudan and South Sudan. Algeria is now the largest African country by geographical area. Cairo is the largest city, the capital city of Egypt.
Africa is often thought of as quite isolated from the rest of the world, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Africa and Europe are separated by less than 9 miles at the Strait of Gibraltar, which separates Spain from Morocco, ferries are even available to take you from Africa to Europe or vice versa.
The African continent has the second largest population in the world, at 1,287,920,518 people approximately 16.87% of the world’s population (as of August 2018). It’s really no surprise that Africa is home to the most genetically diverse people on Earth as it is the 2nd largest continent.
2) BETWEEN 1500-2000 LANGUAGES ARE SPOKEN IN AFRICA
There are at least 3,000 distinct ethnic groups in Africa and around 2,000 different languages are spoken and each of them has different dialects. While Arabic is the language that is most widely spoken in the African continent, followed by English and Swahili, French respectively.
Ovahimba and Ovazimba tribes in Northern Namibia © Array
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.
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3) AFRICA IS THE SOURCE OF THE WORLD’S LONGEST RIVER
The Nile River is the longest river in the world, is approximately 4,258 miles (6,853 kilometers) long and passes Flowing northward through through 11 countries: Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea, South Sudan, Sudan and Egypt
River Nile
4) AFRICA IS HOME TO THE WORLD’S OLDEST UNIVERSITY
The oldest existing, and continually operating educational institution in the world is the University of Karueein, ( Athen’s of Africa) founded in 859 AD by Fatima al-Fihri in Fez, Morocco and was originally a madrassa. The University of Bologna, Italy, was founded in 1088 and is the oldest one in Europe.
University of Karueein.
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5) THE RICHEST MAN EVER IS AFRICAN
Mansa Musa, or Musa I of Mali is considered one of the richest men in history. Musa was the tenth emperor of the Mali Empire, one of the prosperous Sahelian kingdoms that developed along the Saharan slave trade routes in the later medieval period.
By the time of his death in 1937, estimates place his net worth in the range of US$300 billion to US$400 billion in adjusted dollars for the late 2000s
Mansa Musa
6) THE WORLD’S LARGEST HOTTEST DESERT IS IN AFRICA
The Sahara is the world’s largest hot desert and one of the harshest environments on the planet. It is third largest desert overall after Antarctica and the Arctic, which are cold deserts. At 3.6 million square miles (9.4 million square kilometers) bigger than the entire USA! The desert covers 11countries (large sections of Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Western Sahara, Sudan and Tunisia).
Sahara Desert
To add on:
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.
7) THE WORLD’S LARGEST, TALLEST AND FASTEST ANIMALS COME FROM AFRICA.
The African elephant is the world’s largest land animal, they are gigantic in fact that they can weigh over six tons and they be up to seven meters long in size. The world’s tallest animal, the giraffe, Male giraffes can reach up to 6 m in height, while females can reach about 4,6m.
Elephants at Kruger Park – Pixabay
Giraffe
The fastest land animal in the world, the cheetah, lives in Africa . It speeds of up to around 60 miles per hour (96.5 kilometers per hour).
This record was set by an 11-year-old cheetah in 2012 named Sarah
Cheetah
8) SOUTH AFRICA IS A HOME TO THE HIGHEST BUNGY JUMPY IN THE WORLD
Bloukrans Bridge Bungy is one of the world’s highest commercial bridge bungy at 216 metres (709 ft) above the Bloukrans River. It is situated at Bloukrans Bridge on the N2 Highway at the border between the Eastern Cape and the Western Cape in the Tsitsikamma area of South Africa’s Garden Route.
Bloukrans Bridge Bungy
9) THE WORLD’S THEMED RESORT HOTEL IN THE FOUND IN AFRICA.
Located in South Africa – Sun City’s The Paradise of the lost city
The Palace of the Lost City is the world’s biggest themed resort, located in South Africa.
Sun City’s The Paradise
10) AFRICA IS A HOME TO THE LARGEST WILDLIFE IMMIGRATION ON EARTH
The Serengeti (Tanzania) hosts the world’s largest wildlife migration on Earth with over 750,000 zebras marching ahead of 1.2 million wildebeest as they cross this amazing landscape
Great Migration.
So you know: The endless plains of the serengeti National Park happens to boost the oldest eco-system on the planet
It is widely believed the African continent got its name from the ancient Romans. Upon defeating the ancient northern African city of Carthage, the Romans founded a province there they named it Africa; named after the Afri tribe that inhabited the area.
1) AFRICA IS THE SECOND LARGEST CONTINENT ON EARTH.
Africa is the second largest continent in the world with a total area of around 11.73 million square miles (30.37 million square kilometers) that account for 5.7% of the earth’s surface as well as 20% of the total surface of land on our planet. It is divided up into five sub-sections; North Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, Southern Africa and West Africa. One of the most interesting facts about Africa is that the length and breadth of the continent are about the same, Horizontal Width: 4,355 miles (7,009 km) from Dakar, Senegal, east to Mogadishu, Somalia and Vertical Length: 4,504 miles (7,248 km) from Cape Town, South Africa north to Tripoli, Libya.
Map of Africa
There are 54 countries and ten territories and two de facto independent states with limited or no recognition. Sudan used to be the largest country in Africa until it was split into Sudan and South Sudan. Algeria is now the largest African country by geographical area. Cairo is the largest city, the capital city of Egypt.
Africa is often thought of as quite isolated from the rest of the world, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Africa and Europe are separated by less than 9 miles at the Strait of Gibraltar, which separates Spain from Morocco, ferries are even available to take you from Africa to Europe or vice versa.
The African continent has the second largest population in the world, at 1,287,920,518 people approximately 16.87% of the world’s population (as of August 2018). It’s really no surprise that Africa is home to the most genetically diverse people on Earth as it is the 2nd largest continent.
2) BETWEEN 1500-2000 LANGUAGES ARE SPOKEN IN AFRICA
There are at least 3,000 distinct ethnic groups in Africa and around 2,000 different languages are spoken and each of them has different dialects. While Arabic is the language that is most widely spoken in the African continent, followed by English and Swahili, French respectively.
Ovahimba and Ovazimba tribes in Northern Namibia © Array
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.
.
3) AFRICA IS THE SOURCE OF THE WORLD’S LONGEST RIVER
The Nile River is the longest river in the world, is approximately 4,258 miles (6,853 kilometers) long and passes Flowing northward through through 11 countries: Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea, South Sudan, Sudan and Egypt
River Nile
4) AFRICA IS HOME TO THE WORLD’S OLDEST UNIVERSITY
The oldest existing, and continually operating educational institution in the world is the University of Karueein, ( Athen’s of Africa) founded in 859 AD by Fatima al-Fihri in Fez, Morocco and was originally a madrassa. The University of Bologna, Italy, was founded in 1088 and is the oldest one in Europe.
University of Karueein.
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5) THE RICHEST MAN EVER IS AFRICAN
Mansa Musa, or Musa I of Mali is considered one of the richest men in history. Musa was the tenth emperor of the Mali Empire, one of the prosperous Sahelian kingdoms that developed along the Saharan slave trade routes in the later medieval period.
By the time of his death in 1937, estimates place his net worth in the range of US$300 billion to US$400 billion in adjusted dollars for the late 2000s
Mansa Musa
6) THE WORLD’S LARGEST HOTTEST DESERT IS IN AFRICA
The Sahara is the world’s largest hot desert and one of the harshest environments on the planet. It is third largest desert overall after Antarctica and the Arctic, which are cold deserts. At 3.6 million square miles (9.4 million square kilometers) bigger than the entire USA! The desert covers 11countries (large sections of Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Western Sahara, Sudan and Tunisia).
Sahara Desert
To add on:
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.
7) THE WORLD’S LARGEST, TALLEST AND FASTEST ANIMALS COME FROM AFRICA.
The African elephant is the world’s largest land animal, they are gigantic in fact that they can weigh over six tons and they be up to seven meters long in size. The world’s tallest animal, the giraffe, Male giraffes can reach up to 6 m in height, while females can reach about 4,6m.
Elephants at Kruger Park – Pixabay
Giraffe
The fastest land animal in the world, the cheetah, lives in Africa . It speeds of up to around 60 miles per hour (96.5 kilometers per hour).
This record was set by an 11-year-old cheetah in 2012 named Sarah
Cheetah
8) SOUTH AFRICA IS A HOME TO THE HIGHEST BUNGY JUMPY IN THE WORLD
Bloukrans Bridge Bungy is one of the world’s highest commercial bridge bungy at 216 metres (709 ft) above the Bloukrans River. It is situated at Bloukrans Bridge on the N2 Highway at the border between the Eastern Cape and the Western Cape in the Tsitsikamma area of South Africa’s Garden Route.
Bloukrans Bridge Bungy
9) THE WORLD’S THEMED RESORT HOTEL IN THE FOUND IN AFRICA.
Located in South Africa – Sun City’s The Paradise of the lost city
The Palace of the Lost City is the world’s biggest themed resort, located in South Africa.
Sun City’s The Paradise
10) AFRICA IS A HOME TO THE LARGEST WILDLIFE IMMIGRATION ON EARTH
The Serengeti (Tanzania) hosts the world’s largest wildlife migration on Earth with over 750,000 zebras marching ahead of 1.2 million wildebeest as they cross this amazing landscape
Great Migration.
So you know: The endless plains of the serengeti National Park happens to boost the oldest eco-system on the planet
