Chic African Culture Africa Factbook

35 unusual Facts about Afrika, Quotes and Positive Vibes

35 unusual Facts about Afrika, Quotes and Positive Vibes

Considered the cradle of humanity and the origin of humankind, Africa has 54 countries and 9 territories.


It always seems impossible until it's done.

Memorable Quotes by Famous Africans


Nykhor Paul, South Sudanese, "Dear white people in the fashion world!... Why do I have to bring my own make-up to a professional show when all the other white girls don't have to do anything but show up. "Don't try to make me feel bad because I am blue-black - it's 2015"


Nelson Mandela, South African, "It always seems impossible until it's done."


Dr. Mo Ibrahim, Sudanese, “You stay divided; you stay backwards Africa”


Aliko Dangote, Nigerian, “In Africa, as you're being successful and doing things right, you're also creating a lot of enemies.”


Patrice Motsepe, South African, "Man cannot live by bread alone, which is correct, but man can also not live without bread."


Sudhir Ruparelia, Ugandan, "You need to go into the kind of business that suits your lifestyle, interests and passion so that you enjoy what you are doing."


Africa is a rich mix of people, cultures, geography, environments, economies and history.

35 unusual Facts about Afrika (Africa)
Africa is a rich mix of people, cultures, geography, environments, economies and history.


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


2. Sudan was the largest country in Africa until it was divided by convictions into Sudan and South Sudan.


3. Algeria is now the largest African country.


4. Cairo is the capital city of Egypt and is also the largest city.


5. One of the most interesting facts about Africa is that the length and breadth of this continent are about the same. It measures around 4,660 from north to south and from east to west.


6. Africa is not only the second largest but the second most populated continent as well and houses about 15% of the world population, 1.216 billion people.


7. Nigeria is the most populated country in Africa and has an estimated population of 186 million. The population in Seychelles is around 97,000 people and is the least populated country.


8. The African continent has approximately 3,000 known ethnic groups.


9. Around 2,000 different languages are spoken in Africa and each of them have different dialects while Arabic is the language that is most widely spoken in the African continent.


10. Followers of traditional African religion believe that ancestors maintain a spiritual connection with their living relatives.


11. Southern African Sangomas are part of spiritual traditions and are responsible for healing and telling the future.


12. The Equator goes around 2,500 miles from the west to the east of the African continent thus dividing this continent into two separate halves – north and south. It passes through many of the African nations such as Congo, Somalia, Uganda as well as Kenya.


13. 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.


14. The largest waterfall in Africa is the Victoria Falls and it is located on the Zimbabwe and Zambia border. It has a height of 355 feet and the width of the waterfall runs into almost a mile.


15. Mara Region of Tanzania is named after the River Mara. The region has a land area of 30,150 square kilometers and an estimated 1.74 million in population.


16. The largest desert in the world the Sahara the desert is also situated in Africa and it spans across at least a dozen countries - around 3.5 million square miles.


17. Mount Kilimanjaro is the largest mountain in Africa and stands tall at 19,340 feet. Lake Victoria is the largest lake in Africa measuring 26,560 square miles.


18. Madagascar is the largest island in the African continent and it lies just off the east coast of Africa. It has a length of around 1,000 miles with a width of around 350 miles. This island is also the fourth largest island in the world.


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


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


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


22. Kolmanskop was a rich German diamond-mining town but presently is a ghost town in the Namib Desert visited only by Namib wild horses.


23. South Africa is home to the ‘largest green canyon in the world’ and it is known as the Blyde River Canyon and this is also the 3rd largest Canyon in the world.


24. King Kong: An African Jazz, was the first all-Black South African musical which opened on 2 February 1959. The musical chronicles the rise and fall of champion boxer Ezekiel ‘King Kong’ Dhlamini. It helped create a new set of opportunities for Black South Africans in the arts and has taken South African theatre to new dimensions.


25. Since the beginning of the struggle of apartheid in 1948, women were at the forefront of resisting the government and fighting their actions.


26. In South Africa, the theater was a particularly popular medium for promoting Black Consciousness ideology, and mobilizing and strengthening the identity of township audiences.


27. Estimates vary from around 14-30% of the African population has Internet access but account for 15.0% of the world's population.


28. Ghana has one of the most active mobile markets in Africa and was one of the first African countries to be connected to the Internet. From 2012 and 2013, fiber-optic cables were laid, paving the way for increased international bandwidth that has transformed the country’s broadband market.


29. According to the Internet World Statistics 29.6% of Ghana’s population, use the Internet, as of June 2016. This accounts for 2.4% of Internet use in Africa.


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


31. 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.


32. Over 180 million people in sub-Saharan Africa alone could die as a result of climate change by the end of the century.


33. Currently an estimated 93% of South Africa’s electricity comes from coal. There are presently 13 operational coal-fired power stations in the country. These new power stations will be the third and fourth largest coal-fired power stations in the world.


34. Up to a fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions come from tropical deforestation; more than emissions from all the world’s planes, trains and cars put together. 

35. In Africa, 40 million people depend on the Congo Basin rainforest which is also home for 270 species of mammals, including the endangered gorilla, the chimpanzee and the bonobo, as well as 39 unique species of animals that are only found here.

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