Africa is the
world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about
30,221,532 km² (11,668,545 sq mi) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of
the Earth's total surface area, and 20.4% of the total land area. With more than
900 million people (as of 2005) in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14% of
the world's human population. The continent is surrounded by the Mediterranean
Sea to the north, the Suez Canal and the Red Sea to the northeast, the Indian
Ocean to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west.
Area: about 30 244 000
km2 (11 700 000 mi2) including its adjacent islands it
covers about 20 percent of Earth's total land area. Coastline: 30,539 km 18,976 miles
Population: 900 million human inhabitants, about 20 percent of the world's population. Highest Point: Mount Kilimanjaro - Uhuru Peak on the volcano Kibo, 5,895
m (19 340 ft) in Tanzania. Largest Lake: Lake Victoria or Victoria Nyanza; 68 870 sq. km. Longest River: Nile; 6 695 km. Languages of Africa: about thousand languages classified in four major
language families:
Afro-Asiatic (e.g. Berber lang), Nilo-Saharan, Niger-Congo (Bantu), and Khoi-San.
Country
Population
Capital
City
Nigeria
131,859,731
Abuja
Egypt
78,887,007
Cairo
Ethiopia
74,777,981
Addis
Ababa
Congo-Kinshasa
62,660,551
Brazzaville
South
Africa
44,187,637
Pretoria
Sudan
41,236,378
Khartoum
Tanzania
37,445,392
DaresSalaam
Kenya
34,707,817
Nairobi
Morocco
33,241,259
Rabat
Algeria
32,930,091
Algiers
Uganda
28,195,754
Kampala
Ghana
22,409,572
Accra
Mozambique
19,686,505
Maputo
Madagascar
18,595,469
Antananarivo
Côte
d'Ivoire
17,654,843
Yamoussoukro
Cameroon
17,340,702
Yaoundé
Burkina
Faso
13,902,972
Ouagadougou
Zimbabwe
12,236,805
Harare
Malawi
13,013,926
Lilongwe
Mali
11,716,829
Bamako
Senegal
11,987,121
Dakar
Malawi
13,013,926
Lilongwe
Niger
12,525,094
Niamey
Angola
12,127,071
Luanda
Zambia
11,502,010
Lusaka
Tunisia
10,175,014
Tunis
Chad
9,944,201
N'Djamena
Guinea
9,690,222
Conakry
Somalia
8,863,338
Mogadishu
Rwanda
8,648,248
Kigali
Burundi
8,090,068
Bujumbura
Benin
7,862,944
Porto-Novo
Burundi
8,090,068
Bujumbura
Sierra
Leone
6,005,250
Freetown
Libya
5,900,754
Tripoli
Togo
5,548,702
Lomé
Eritrea
4,786,994
Asmara
Central
African Republic
4,303,356
Bangui
Congo-Brazzaville
3,702,314
Kinshasa
Mauritania
3,177,388
Nouakchott
Liberia
3,042,004
Monrovia
Mauritania
3,177,388
Nouakchott
Namibia
2,044,147
Windhoek
Lesotho
2,022,331
Maseru
Gambia
1,641,564
Banjul
Botswana
1,639,833
Gaborone
Guinea-Bissau
1,442,029
Bissau
Gabon
1,424,906
Libreville
Mauritius
1,240,827
Port
Louis
Swaziland
1,136,334
Mbabane
Comoros
690,948
Moroni
Equatorial
Guinea
540,109
Malabo
Djibouti
486,530
Djibouti
Cape
Verde
420,979
Praia
Western
Sahara
Sahrawi
Arab Democratic Republic
278,600
São
Tomé and Príncipe
193,413
Sao
Tome
Seychelles
81,541
Victoria
Saint
Helena
7,502
Jamestown
Country
Official
and national Languages
Other
spoken Languages
Algeria
Arabic
French,
Berber dialects.
Angola
Portuguese
Narrow Bantu like Umbundu
and other African languages.
Benin
French
Fon and
Yoruba (most common vernaculars in south), tribal languages (at least six
major ones in north).
Botswana
English
Setswana
Burkina
Faso
French
Native
African languages belonging to Sudanic family spoken by 90% of the
population.
Burundi
Kirundi,
French
Swahili (along Lake
Tanganyika and in the Bujumbura area).
Cameroon
English,
French
24
major African language groups.
Cape Verde
Portuguese
Kabuverdianu (Crioulo) (a
blend of Portuguese and West African words).
Central
African Republic
French,
Sangho (lingua franca and national language)
Banda,
Gbaya and other tribal languages.
Chad
French,
Arabic
Sara (in south), more
than 120 different languages and dialects.
Comoros
Arabic,
French
Shikomoro
(a blend of Swahili and Arabic).
Democratic Republic of
the Congo
French
Lingala (a lingua franca
trade language), Kingwana (a dialect of Kiswahili or Swahili), Kikongo,
Tshiluba.
Congo,
Republic of the
French
Lingala
and Monokutuba (lingua franca trade languages), many local languages and
dialects (of which Kikongo is the most widespread).
Côte
d'Ivoire
French
60 native dialects with
Dioula the most widely spoken.
Djibouti
French,
Arabic
Somali,
Afar
Egypt
Arabic
English and French widely
understood by educated classes.
Equatorial
Guinea
Spanish,
French
pidgin
English, Fang, Bubi, Ibo.
Eritrea
Tigrinya (Tigrigna),
Arabic, English
Tigré (second major
language), Afar, Bedawi, Kunama, other Cushitic languages.
Ethiopia
Amharic
Tigrinya,
Oromo, Gurage, Somali, Arabic, 80 other local languages, English (major
foreign language taught in schools)
Gabon
French
Bantu languages like
Fang, Myene, Nzebi, Bapounou/Eschira, Bandjabi.
Gambia,
The
English
Mandinka,
Wolof, Fula, other indigenous vernaculars.
Ghana
English
African languages
(including Akan, Moshi-Dagomba, Ewe, and Ga)
Guinea
French
(spoken by 15-20%)
Eight
national languages, Soussou (Susu, in coastal Guinea), Peulh (Fulani, in
Northrn Guinea), Maninka (Upper Guinea), Kissi (Kissidougou Region), Toma
and Guerze (Kpelle) in rain forest Guinea; plus various ethnic groups with
their own language.
Guinea-Bissau
Portuguese
Crioulo (a mixture of
Portuguese and African), other African languages.
Kenya
English,
Kiswahili
numerous
indigenous languages.
Lesotho
Sesotho (southern Sotho),
English
Zulu, Xhosa.
Liberia
English
20%
some 20
ethnic group languages, of which a few can be written and are used in
correspondence.
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
Arabic
Italian, English, all are
widely understood in the major cities.
Madagascar
French,
Malagasy
Malawi
English,
Nyanja (Chichewa, Chewa)
Lomwe, Tumbuka, Yao,
other languages important regionally.
Mali
French
Bambara
(Bamanakan), Arabic and numerous dialects of Dogoso, Fulfulde, Koyracini,
Senoufou, and Mandinka/Malinké (Maninkakan), Tamasheq are also widely
spoken.
Mauritania
Arabic
Hassaniya Arabic, Pulaar,
Soninke, Wolof, French
Mauritius
English,
French
Creole,
Hindi, Urdu, Hakka, Bhojpuri
Morocco
Arabic
Berber dialects, French
often the language of business, government, and diplomacy.
Mozambique
Portuguese
(spoken by 27% of population as a second language)
Makhuwa,
Tsonga, Lomwe, Sena, numerous other indigenous languages.
Namibia
English 7%
Afrikaans common language
of most of the population and about 60% of the white population, German
32%, indigenous languages: Oshivambo, Herero, Nama.
Niger
French
Hausa,
Djerma
Nigeria
English
Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo
(Ibo), Fulani, Ijaw, Ibibio and about 250 other indigenous languages
spoken by the different ethnic groups.
Réunion
French
Creole
widely used
Rwanda
Rwanda (Kinyarwanda,
Bantu vernacular) French, English
Kiswahili (Swahili) used
in commercial centers.
Saint
Helena
English
Sao Tome and Principe
Portuguese
Senegal
French
Wolof,
Pulaar, Jola, Mandinka
Seychelles
English, French
Creole
Sierra
Leone
English
(regular use limited to literate minority)
Mende
(principal vernacular in the south), Temne (principal vernacular in the
north), Krio (English-based Creole a first language for 10% of the
population but understood by 95%)
Somalia
Somali
Arabic, Italian, English
South
Africa
11
official languages, including Afrikaans, English, isiNdebele, Pedi,
Sesotho (Sotho), siSwati (Swazi), Xitsonga (Tsonga), Tswana, Tshivenda (Venda),
isiXhosa, isiZulu
Sudan
Arabic
Nubian, Ta Bedawie,
diverse dialects of Nilotic, Nilo-Hamitic, Sudanic languages, English.
Swaziland
English
(government business conducted in English), siSwati
Tanzania,
United Republic of
Kiswahili (Swahili),
Kiunguju (name for Swahili in Zanzibar), English (primary language of
commerce, administration, and higher education)
Arabic
(widely spoken in Zanzibar), Gogo, Haya, Makonde, Nyakyusa, Nyamwezi,
Sukuma, Tumbuka, many other local languages.
Togo
French
(the language of commerce)
Ewe and
Mina (the two major African languages in the south), Kabye (Kabiye) and
Dagomba (the two major African languages in the north)
Tunisia
Arabic (and the languages
of commerce)
French
(commerce)
Uganda
English
(used in courts of law and by most newspapers and some radio broadcasts)
Ganda (Luganda;
most widely used of the Niger-Congo languages, preferred for native
language publications), other Niger-Congo languages, Nilo-Saharan
languages, Swahili, Arabic
Western Sahara
Hassaniya Arabic,
Moroccan Arabic
Zambia
English
major
vernaculars: Bemba, Kaonda, Lozi, Lunda, Luvale, Nyanja, Tonga, and about
70 other indigenous languages.
Zimbabwe
English
Chishona (Shona),
Sindebele (Ndebele), numerous but minor tribal dialects like: Sotho and
Nambya, Shangani, Venda, Chewa, Nyanja, and Tonga.
Geographical
Facts
Africa, second-largest of the Earth's seven continents - Largest Country
Sudan, Republic of, republic in north-eastern Africa, the largest country of the
African continent. Sudan has a total area of 2,505,800 sq km (967,490 sq mi). Smallest Country
The smallest African country is The Seychelles covering an area of 453 sq km but
Gambia is the smallest of the mainland African states, covering an area of
11,300 sq km (4,363 sq mi). Largest City
Egypt's capital city, Cairo, is the largest city in Africa with an estimated 9.2
million population Highest Point
Mount Kilimanjaro - Uhuru Point - (5895m/19,340 ft) in Tanzania Lowest Point
the lowest is Lake 'Asal (153 m/502 ft below sea level) in Djibouti Northernmost tip
is Cape Blanc (Ra's al Abyad;) in Tunisia Southernmost tip
is Cape Agulhas in South Africa Largest Lake
Lake Victoria is the largest lake in Africa and the is the world's
second-largest freshwater lake - covering an area of 69,490 sq km (26,830 sq mi)
and lies 1,130 m (3,720 ft) above sea level. Its greatest known depth is 82 m
(270 ft). Deepest Lake
Lake Tanganyika is the deepest lake in Africa reaching at its greatest depth is
1,436 m (4,710 ft), making it the second deepest freshwater lake in the world
after Lake Baikal. Longest River
The River Nile drains north-eastern Africa, and, at 6,650 km (4,132 miles), is
the longest river in Africa and in the world. It is formed from the Blue Nile,
which originates at Lake Tana in Ethiopia, and the White Nile, which originates
at Lake Victoria. The Great Africa Rift Valley
The Rift Valley extends more than 4,830 km (3,000 mi) from Syria in
south-western Asia to Mozambique in south-eastern Africa. The width of the
valley ranges from a few miles to more than 160 km (100 mi). In eastern Africa,
the valley splits into two branches: the Eastern Rift and the Western Rift
The fault in which the Rift sits is still moving: the western side of the rift
is pulling away from the eastern ridge at about 6 mm per year, while in the
south it is moving together at a rate of 2 mm per year. Lake Malawi
Lake Malawi contains the largest number of fish species of any lake in the
world, probably over 500 from ten families. Particularly noteworthy are the
Cichlidae, of which all but five of over 400 species are endemic to Lake Malawi.
The lake contains 30% of all known cichlid species. Of particular interest is
the 'mbuna' rock fish. Namib Desert
The Namib is the world's oldest desert, and the only desert in Africa inhabited
by elephant, rhino, giraffe and lion Namibia - Fish River Canyon
The Fish River canyon is the second largest canyon in the world. The Sahara Desert
The Sahara Desert is expanding southwards at an average of 0.8 km (½
mile) a month.
Sub-Saharan
remains the most affected region in the world by AIDS. Two thirds of all people
living with HIV are in sub-Saharan Africa .
Data
compiled from The British Antarctic Study, NASA, Environment Canada,
UNEP, EPA and other sources as stated and credited Researched
by Charles Welch-Updated dailyThis Website is a project of the The
Ozone Hole Inc. a 501(c)(3) Nonprofit Organization