Since 2007
Africa Did You Know Geography Facts
Oodles of interesting true and false fun facts plus stats to keep you in the know of African geography.
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| Logger in the Democratic Republic of the Congo |
Did you know that The Sudd is a vast swamp in the north-central region of South Sudan in Africa? Formed by the White Nile, its size varies but can reach some 15% of the country's total area during the rainy season, making it is one of the world's largest wetlands.
Lake Victoria, the world's largest tropical lake and the second largest freshwater lake, is shared among three countries. Lying mainly in Tanzania and Uganda but bordering on Kenya Lake Victoria is a lifeline of Africa. North America's Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake.
There are about a dozen countries in the world that have two capitals, but only one has three, South African cities: Pretoria, Cape Town, and Bloemfontein.
Madagascar is the 4th large island in the world and is located in the Indian Ocean supporting a unique biota; about 90% of its plants and animals are found nowhere else on earth.
Did you know that there are four countries that make up the Horn of Africa, the eastern part of the continent that sticks out into the Indian Ocean? They are Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Djibouti (the initials spell SEED). The Horn designation is derived from its shape being reminiscent of a rhinoceros horn.
Africa has the most countries (54, 55 and 57) of any continent; 16 of these countries, 30% are landlocked.
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No less than five African countries have at least two national capitals (usually one serves as an administrative capital while the other seats the legislature). The countries are Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, South Africa, eSwatini, and Tanzania
Two of the top ten rivers are the world's longest rivers, the Nile and the Congo - are in Africa, but it is the latter that is the world's deepest.
An exclave is a distinct territorial unit that is politically part of a larger country but not physically attached to it because of surrounding foreign territory. Angola has an exclave that is surrounded by both the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo.
The coastal exclave of Cabinda in the north has borders with the Republic of the Congo to the north and with the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the south.
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| Political Map of Africa |
Not many people realize it, but nine of the world's 25 largest countries by land area are in Africa; they are (in alphabetical order) Algeria, Angola, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Libya, Mali, Niger, South Africa, and Sudan.
Composed of 155 islands, Seychelles is Africa's smallest country. By far the largest island is Mahe, home to about 90% of the population and the site of its capital city of Victoria.
The Kalahari Desert covers a considerable part of this southern African country formerly known as Bechuanaland, the African country of Botswana.
Maritime piracy continues to be a concern in certain areas of the world. While successful pirate attacks have decreased off the East African coast, they have become more widespread off West Africa.
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The Sahara desert is not only the largest African desert but also the largest hot desert in the world occupying 3.3 million sq. miles and still growing larger. It extends over 25% of the continent and occupies many countries including Chad, Algeria, Sudan, Niger, Morocco, Mali, Libya, Egypt, Mauritania, and Tunisia.
Egypt is more than 96% desert yet supports a population of over 100 million people.
The South African national anthem employs the lyrics of five different languages.
The Horn of Africa on the continent's eastern coast contains the highest and lowest points in Africa - 5,895 meters (19,341 ft) above sea level (Kilimanjaro) in Tanzania and 155 meters (509 ft) below sea level (Lac Assal) in central-western Djibouti.
Abyssinia is the former name for African country Ethiopia
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