1. It is the second largest continent of the world

It is one of the 7 continents of the world and is only smaller than Asia.

2. There are 54 countries in Africa

These include Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria and Ethiopia.

3. Africa has the world’s largest desert – sort of!

The Sahara desert is the largest desert in the world – well technically the largest hot desert. It is the third largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Arctic.

4. It is home to the world’s longest river, The Nile

The Nile is the longest river in the world – although some researchers are arguing that The Amazon is longer. It flows through many different African countries and is the main water source of Egypt, Sudan and South Sudan.

 

5. Most of the world’s diamonds come from Africa

As much as 95 percent of the world’s diamonds and 50 percent of the world’s gold comes from Africa

6. Africa makes 70% of the world’s cocoa beans

Cocoa beans are used to make chocolate. Most of the world’s beans come from 4 West African countries: Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon.

7. Our earliest ancestors originated from Africa

Africa is sometimes called The Cradle of Humankind because there have been many fossils, tools which indicate that early human life originated here. These people are the earliest known homo-sapiens, which is the species we belong to.

8. 1.2 billion people live in Africa

That’s 16% of the world’s population.

9. There are over 2000 different languages spoken in Africa

Arabic is the most spoken language in Africa.

10. Beware of Hippos in Africa

More people are attacked by hippos than any other animal in Africa! They are very protective so if you see a hippo leave it alone.