How Africa Got Her Name

Naming Africa

Interesting facts about Africa, there are three dominant theories on how Africa got her name.

Learn How Africa Got Its Name And Interesting Facts About Africa

Explore and Understand Africa Through Her Food and Culture

8-25-2015

Africa is 11.68 million square miles or 30.2 million km2 and covers 20.4 percent of the total land area on Earth with over 2,000 languages, 1.2 billion people and 3 theories on how Africa was named.

Africa covers 20.4 percent of the total land on Earth.

There are three dominant theories on how Africa got her name.

First theory on how Africa received her name is from “Afri”, the name of peoples in North Africa located near Carthage under Roman rule in modern Tunisia in the third century B.C.

Second theory on how Africa was named is from the Greek word “Aphrike” meaning without cold.

Lastly, the third theory on how Africa was named in Latin, “Aprica” means sunny or always hot derived from the Egyptian sun God Ra.

Interesting facts about Africa

Interesting Facts About Africa's Geography

Mount Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain on the continent. It towers over 19,300 feet, which is so tall that glaciers can be found at its summit even though the mountain is near the equator.

The longest river in the world, the Nile at 4,132 miles is located in eleven countries in Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Congo, Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea, South Sudan, Sudan and Egypt.

Dragon’s Breath Cave is the largest underground lake in the world and is located in the Southern African country of Namibia.

Interesting Facts About African Wildlife

Africa has 54 countries, South Sudan is the newest and Liberia is the oldest republic.

Africa has over 85% of the world’s elephants and over 99% of the remaining lions are on the African continent.

Africa has over 25% of the world’s bird species.

The ostrich is native to Africa and are the largest birds in the world. Ostriches live in portions of 25 African countries.

Interesting Facts About Africa's Population

Namibia in Southern Africa is one of the least densely populated African countries, 2.9 people per sq km or 2.9 people per 247 acres.

Rwanda and Nigeria are the top two most densely populated  African countries.

Africa current human population is 1.1 billion; by 2050, it is estimated to grow to over 17 million.

By 2025 there will be 30 million people younger than 24 years old living in Africa.

By 2050, Africa is projected to be home to one in every four of the world's inhabitants, and almost 40% of its children under 18 years old.

Interesting Facts About African Sports and Games

Intonga or stick fighting is one of South Africa’s oldest games developed hundreds of years ago in the rural parts of South Africa where it served as an important rite of passage in Xhosa culture.

The most popular sports in Africa are football (soccer), rugby, cricket, and capoeira, long distance running and wrestling.

Oral traditions are important in African history and culture. One such oral tradition takes the form of hand clapping games played by children throughout the African continent.

Mancala or Mankala Oware is a traditional African game which is also played in Europe and around the world. Oware is one of the most played games in the Mancala Family of pit and pebbles games.

The Lugazi Uganda Little League team is bringing baseball in Africa to the World stage by competing in the 2015 Little League Baseball World Series.

Interesting Facts About African Architecture

 

The ancient Egyptian city of Kahun was the world’s first planned city.

The ruins of Great Zimbabwe are a compound of stone buildings.

Sudan has more pyramids than any other country on earth, even more than Egypt.

There are gigantic Mosque adobes in Djenné and Mopti in the African country of Mali.