Interesting Facts about Africa

• There is no shortage of interesting facts about Africa. This continent was the place where the oldest human species lived and the human race started its life from this continent. In fact, Africa is the main birthplace of all of us.

• Africa is bounded by the Mediterranean Sea from the north, the Suez Canal and the Red Sea from the northeast, the Gulf of Aden from the east, the Indian Ocean from the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean from the west. Africa is located on both sides of the equator and includes different climatic zones.

• One of the interesting things to know about Africa is that in the center of this continent (near the equator), half of the year is hot and humid and full of rain, and half of the year is dry and burning.

• There are various opinions about the etymology of the word Africa. Some have considered it to be from the Phoenician word ofer meaning dust, some consider this name to be the name of Afridi tribe living in North Africa around Carthage, and some consider the Greek word Africa (aphrike) meaning never cold and always warm to be the root of this name.

• Nigeria is the most populous country in the continent with more than 206 million and 230 thousand people. 

• Virunga National Park is located near the eastern border of the Democratic Republic of Congo and a few minutes away from Uganda. Virunga was established in 1925 by King Albert of Belgium and was the first national park in Africa.

• One of the interesting facts about Africa is that Bwindi Forest in Uganda is one of the best places in the world to watch gorillas in their natural habitat.

• The Valley of the Kings is considered one of the most prominent places to visit Africa because it is the burial place of many ancient Egyptian kings.

• Victoria Falls is located right on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe and on the Zambezi River. In Zimbabwe, this waterfall and the town around it are known as Victoria Falls. Across the border in Zambia, this waterfall is called Mosi-oa-Tunya.

• The most important country in Africa is South Africa, which is economically more advanced than other African countries.

South Africa has 11 official languages. 9 native African languages and 2 European languages, one of which has Dutch roots and is the language of most white people and two races of this country, and the other is English, which is used by the public.

• It is interesting to know that this continent houses about one seventh of the current world population. The average age of the population in this continent is about 20 years.

After Asia, Africa is the second largest and second most populated continent in the world.

• Early human civilizations such as ancient Egypt and Carthage emerged in North Africa. Following a long and complex history of civilizations, migration and trade, Africa hosts a great diversity of ethnicities, cultures and languages.

During the middle of the 20th century, anthropologists in Africa found fossils and evidence of human existence that probably dates back to 7 million years ago.

• Africa is one of the rich and blessed continents of the world in terms of natural and mineral resources.

• According to most estimates, Africa as a whole contains more than a thousand languages, some have estimated this figure to be more than two thousand.

• One of the interesting facts about Africa is that approximately 45% of all Africans are Christians and 45% are Muslims. About 9.5% of Africans mainly follow indigenous African religions.