Amazing Facts About Africa

Africa is an amazing continent that is distinctly unique among the seven continents. Africa is rich in
cultural heritage and diversity, a wealth of natural resources, offers breathtaking tourist attractions, and
contains some of the most intricate political systems. Explore this incredible continent with some of the
most interesting facts about Africa.

FACTS ABOUT AFRICA

Africa is the second-largest continent in the world both in size and population. As of 2009, about 14.7
percent of the world’s population resides in Africa.

Africa is home to over 1 billion people who speak over 1,500 different languages. One in every four of
the world’s language are spoken only in Africa.

Africa’s total size is roughly 11.7 square miles, representing about a fifth of the earth’s total landmass.
This makes it larger than India, China, Mexica, and USA’s and a huge chunk of Europe combined.

During the early Mesozoic Era, Africa was attached to all the other continents to form one gigantic
continental landmass called Pangea. Pangea later broke apart to form the world’s continents as we know
them today.

Despite Africa being the second-largest continent in the world, it has the shortest coastline. This is due to
the many bays and edges that extend out of the coastline.

World civilization began in Africa. The Pharaonic civilization of ancient Egypt is the oldest literate
civilization. According to historical records, the Egyptian state dates back to about 3300 B.C.

Islam is the dominant religion in Africa. Christianity is the second. Arabic is also the most widely-spoken
language in Africa.

About 38% of all Christians are projected to be living in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) by 2050.

Africa is the most centrally located continent in the world. Both the prime meridian (0 degrees
longitude), and the equator (0 degrees latitude) cut across it.

Africa’s largest country is Sudan. It has a total area of 967,940 square miles (2.5 million km2). The
smallest country on the continent is The Seychelles, which is an island nation covering just 453 km2 (175
miles2).

Nigeria has the highest population (154.7 million people) in Africa. This represents 18% of Africa’s total
population.

South Africa has the highest GDP (($182 billion) in Africa. Guinea Bissau has the lowest at $230 million.
The richest SSA country in terms of Gross National Income (GNI) per capita is Equatorial Guinea. This is
83 times higher than that of Zimbabwe which is the poorest in terms of GNI per capita.

21 percent of SSA nations have one or two products accounting for their total exports. Most of these
exports are in form of agricultural produce.

As of 2008, South Africa consumes the most electricity per person (4,759.5kW/h) in Africa. Ethiopia has
the least consumption (42.3 kW/h).

The shortest distance between Africa and Europe is only 8.9 miles (14.3 kilometers) of ocean.

Africa’s Nile River is the world’s longest river. It has a total length of 6,650 kilometers (4,132 miles) and
cuts across 11 countries. It drains into the Mediterranean Sea from Africa’s Northeastern edge.

The largest island in Africa, located in the Indian Ocean (off Africa’s East Coast) is Madagascar. It is also
the fourth largest in the world.

The Victoria Falls, located along the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe, is one of the seven natural
wonders of the world. The Zambezi River is the fall’s main water source.

The largest lake in Africa is Lake Victoria. It is also the second-largest freshwater lake in the world,
spanning 26,830 square miles.

Africa’s Sahara desert is the world’s largest hot desert covering 9.1 million km2. Of the deserts of the
world, it is the third largest after the Arctic (second largest) and Antarctic (largest) deserts.

The highest point in Africa is Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. It rises 5895 meters (19,340 feet) above sea
level.

Both the world’s tallest and largest land animals both come from Africa. They are the giraffe and African
elephant, respectively.

The giraffe is already extinct in at least 7 African nations.

The hippopotamus is Africa’s deadliest animal. It kills more people in Africa than do crocodiles and lions
combined.

Today, the San people, who reside in southern Africa, use the same tools as those found in a cave, which
dates 44,000 years back.

About 41 percent of children in Africa aged between 5-1 years are actively involved in child labor.

In Africa, just like in Asia, people have to walk an average of 3.7 miles daily to fetch water for various
uses.

39 percent of children under the age of five years in Burundi are underweight.
Over 90 percent of all malaria cases reported worldwide come from Africa. Every year, 3,000 children die
from the disease.

In Swaziland, Africa, one in every four adults is HIV positive.

To date, over 17 million people in SSA have succumbed to AIDS. Estimates put the current number of HIV
infection in Africa at 25 million people.

16 countries in Africa record higher rates of vaccination than the U.S. alone.

The Second Congo War, which began in 1998 and lasted until 2006, claimed the second-highest number
of casualties (5.4 million lives), after World War II. The conflict involved eight African countries.

According to the World Bank, Seychelles had a 92 percent women literacy rate in 2010. Chad’s equivalent
was 13 percent while Niger’s was 15 percent.

As of 2010, it took 216 days to complete each procedure required to start a business in Guinea-Bissau. In
Rwanda, the same took only 3 days.

Only 24 percent of SSA’s rural population has access to standard sanitation. This is in comparison to 42
percent of the urban population with access to the same.

Tanzania, Africa, has the world’s highest Albinism rates. In the country, Albino are hunted by
witchdoctors to use their organs for rituals believed to heal diseases.

Witwatersrand, South Africa, produces almost half of all the gold mined in Africa.

More people speak French in Africa than do those in France.

A single tribe in Kenya-called the “Kalenjin”-produces most of the world’s fastest long-distance runners.

Egypt is Africa’s most popular tourist destination. The country receives over 10 million visitors every year.
Cairo, Egypt’s capital city, is also Africa’s largest city.

Women from Africa’s Mursi tribe pierce their lips and wear plates as large are 5 inches in diameter, inside
them (lips).

Mainland Africa is home to two of Spain’s exclaves, Melilla and Ceuta.

The national flag of Mozambique has the image of an AK-47 assault rifle embedded into it. It is the only
national flag in the world featuring such a modern rifle.

All of Africa’s nations were colonized by the Europeans except two: Ethiopia and Liberia. The former was
an Orthodox Christian country, while the latter was established by African-American settlers from the
United States, who previously served as slaves.

Currently, Africa is united under a political organization known as the African Union (AU). The AU was
established in 2001. Only one African country, Morocco, is not a member of the AU.
Soccer and cricket are two of Africa’s most popular sports. They were both introduced during the
colonial era.

There are more than 100 million Facebook users in Africa.

40 INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT ASIA

Asia is a vast continent, so large that it takes up a third of the entire world’s land area. This automatically
makes it the most populous continent on the planet. Asia is a continent of uniqueness, fascination and
bewilderment all brought about by its cultures, economies, populations, landscapes, plants and animals.
The oldest civilizations, highest peaks, populous cities, and tallest buildings are all found in Asia. Below
you will find our curated 40 interesting facts about Asia. Facts about culture, geography, animals, plants,
and more!

Asia’s population-of over 4 billion people-is greater than that of the all the other continents combined.

In China, it is not uncommon to come across canned fresh air on sale. This is due to the widespread air
pollution that has rocked the country due to its expansive industrialization.

Both the highest point on land, Mount Everest (over 8,848 meters above sea level), and the lowest point
on land, the Dead Sea (-395meters), are found in Asia. It is continent of varied landscape.

Everyone in Vietnam has the same birthday, which is celebrated on the Vietnamese New Year (aka Tet).
Day one of the lunar calendar marks the beginning of a new year, and as a result, the Vietnamese,
alongside the Koreans, calculate age based on the number of lunar years that have elapsed.

Sill on the New Year, Thailand celebrates this event (known as the Songkran festival) not on 1st January,
but sometime in mid-April, for three days. Even more bizarre is the way Thais celebrate this day-using
water guns and water pistol to spray each other.

In 2005, a Chinese billionaire built the world’s largest shopping mall in in Dongguan, China. It is so big, it
boasts of an indoor rollercoaster. What is even more interesting is that fact that since it opened, 99
percent of the mall has remained unoccupied.

Like many other nations, North Korea does have a Christmas festival, but not to celebrate the birth of
Jesus Christ. Instead, Koreans celebrate the birthday of Kim Jong II’s mother, on December 24.

China is so wide that naturally, it should cut across up to 5 separate time zones, but oddly enough, it has
only one national time zone (China Standard Time).

Japan is a wonderful place to live in, just as long as you don’t get fat, because it is against the law.
India is the world’s leading producer of Mangoes. Every year it produces about 12 million tons of the
fruit.

Of the top ten tallest buildings in the world, nine are found in Asia.

Only two countries in the world, India and China, have a population above 1 billion people, and both of
them are in Asia.

The ten largest shopping malls in the world are all located in Asia.

India is a country of interesting customs. One of the most peculiar one is that people eat with their right
hand only. The left hand is out of limits because it is used for other purposes-like wiping oneself after
using the toilet, instead of using toilet paper.

Of the ten largest cities in the world (by population), seven of them are located in Asia.

Afghanistan’s National Game is not soccer, basketball, tennis; it is goat grabbing.

Only one country in the world has banned tobacco sale. It is called Bhutan, and is found in Asia.

Being over 100 years of age is amazing. In Japan, there are over 50,000 people who have surpassed the
100-year mark.

Sholapur is no typical Indian town. It has a bizarre tradition where newborns are thrown from the top of
a 50-feet-high tower to symbolize health, wealth and good fortunes.

In China, it is common for children to be named after events. What is interesting, though, is that there
are over 4,000 people named Aoyun, or “Olympic Games”.

The world’s most spoken language is not English, but Mandarin Chinese, which boasts of over one billion
speakers.

The Arabian Desert found in Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest continuous sandy desert.

Many countries boast of two, three of even five official languages. India alone has 30 of them while
Indonesia brags of 12.

The original merchant farmers were all from Asia, not Africa.

The second oldest people in the world are the Japanese. They have a median age of 44.6, coming second
only to Monaco’s people.

Although the pop culture paints all Asians as one the same, they are not. Japanese, Chinese, Koreans,
Indians, Arabs, and many more cultures are vastly different.

Most Chinese action movies had characters with a very unique hairstyleh-a tonsured beard and pigtail.
Well, that is not a fashion trend. It was actually a state enforceable law whose violation was punishable
by execution.
Asia’s size and position makes it the only continent that borders two other continents, Europe and Africa.
Sometimes during winter when the Bering Sea freezes, Asia joins with North America.

Out of the three largest economies in the world, two are in Asia-China (second), and Japan (third).

Some of the most fascinating and revered animals-the tiger, giant panda, king cobra, Komodo dragon,
and Asian Elephant-are all found in Asia.

“Asia” has always been thought of as being of Greek origin. In actual fact, there is no concrete evidence
of where the name actually came from.

In 2013, the world’s most toured city was not New York, London, or Paris; it was Bangkok, Thailand,
which recorded the highest number of international arrivals.

The ratio of mobile phone to people in North Korea is roughly 1:12. This means that in every 100 citizens,
only 9 have mobile phones. North Korea thus scoops the global award for lowest mobile phone density.

Asia is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. That said, it is also home about 44 tribes with
absolutely no contact to modern civilization. They live alone, in the jungles of Indonesia and Papua.

Some Asian countries have more mobile phones is use more than the total population. Hong Kong, for
instance, has 2.36 mobile phones per person.

According to the WHO, Japan’s life expectancy is the longest in the world-87.3 years for women, and 85
years for men.

As of 2012, there were more millionaires in Tokyo, Japan (460,700), than in New York City (389,100).

Only two places on the planet are home to wild orangutans-the island of Borneo (shared by Indonesia
and Malaysia) and Sumatra (Indonesia). Both of these places are in Asia.

Turkey is home to the world’s tallest man (8 feet, 3 inches). The world’s tallest woman (7 feet, 8 inches)
comes from China.

Indonesia is made up of over 17,000 islands, effectively making it the world’s largest archipelago.