Chic African Culture Africa Factbook

Africa is Bizarre

These 101 peculiar African time, water, land, boundary, and air details are important to know to understand African geography.

Learn these bizarre African time, water, land, boundary and air facts about the African country.

  1. No African countries begin with the letters F, H, I, J, O, P, Q, V, W, X, or Y.
  2. Two time zones.
  3. The entire coastline along the Red Sea was lost.
  4. The highest mountain in Sub-Saharan West Africa.
  5. The largest curtain of falling water.
  6. The oldest desert in the world.
  7. The source of the Nile River.
  8. Westernmost country on the African continent.
  9. What the Sahara desert used to look like.
  10. World's largest artificial lake by surface area.
Ethiopia Gheralta Mountains

Here are 101 odd true facts about each African country time, water, land, boundary, strategic locations, and air facts.


African County Geographical Features of Africa
Algeria Largest country in Africa but 80% desert. Located along the west side of the Bay of Algiers on the Mediterranean Sea Algiers is a strategic location because it serves the Mediterranean region as a major shipping center and leading refueling station. In Algeria canyons and caves in the southern Hoggar Mountains and in the barren Tassili n'Ajjer area in the southeast of the country contain numerous examples of prehistoric art - rock paintings and carvings depicting human activities and wild and domestic animals that date to the African Humid Period, roughly 11,000 to 5,000 years ago, when the region was completely vegetated.
Angola The Okavango River is the fourth-longest river system in southern Africa, running southeastward for 1,600 km or 1,000 miles, it begins in Angola. The province of Cabinda is an exclave, separated from the rest of the country by the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Benin Mostly flat to undulating plain with some hills and low mountains, highest point is Mont Sokbaro 658 meters or 2,159 feet high. Sandbanks create difficult access to a coast with no natural harbors, river mouths, or islands.
Botswana Landlocked with the population concentrated in the southern and eastern parts of the country and the Kalahari Desert in southwest.
Burkina Faso Landlocked savanna cut by the three principal rivers of the Black, Red, and White Voltas.
Burundi Landlocked but the Kagera river, which drains into Lake Victoria, is the most remote headstream of the White Nile. The longest river in Africa is the Nile, which flows from the north for 6,853 km or 4,132 miles through 11 African countries of Egypt, Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, and South Sudan.
Cabo Verde Strategic location 500 km from west coast of Africa near major north-south sea routes; important communications station; important sea and air refueling site.
Cameroon Sometimes referred to as the hinge of Africa because of its central location on the continent and its position at the west-south juncture of the Gulf of Guinea; throughout the country there are areas of thermal springs and indications of current or prior volcanic activity. Mount Cameroon, the highest mountain in Sub-Saharan West Africa, is an active volcano
Central African Republic Landlocked; almost the precise center of Africa. Forming a border between Central African Republic and Democratic Republic of the Congo is the Ubangi River and Ulele river are the longest tributaries of Congo River which flow into the Congo.
Chad Chad is the largest of Africa's 16 landlocked countries. What is today the Sahara was green savannah teeming with wildlife; during the African Humid Period, roughly 11,000 to 5,000 years ago, a vibrant animal community, including elephants, giraffes, hippos, and antelope lived there; the last remnant of the "Green Sahara" exists in the Lakes of Ounianga (oo-nee-ahn-ga) in northern Chad, a series of 18 interconnected freshwater, saline, and hypersaline lakes now protected as a World Heritage site. Lake Chad, the most significant water body in the Sahel, is a remnant of a former inland sea, paleolake Mega-Chad; at its greatest extent, sometime before 5000 B.C., Lake Mega-Chad was the largest of four Saharan paleolakes that existed during the African Humid Period; it covered an area of about 400,000 sq km (150,000 sq mi), roughly the size of today's Caspian Sea.
Democratic Republic of the Congo Second largest country in Africa after Algeria and largest country in Sub-Saharan Africa; straddles the equator; dense tropical rain forest in central river basin and eastern highlands; the narrow strip of land that controls the lower Congo River is the DRC's only outlet to the South Atlantic Ocean. Because of its speed, cataracts, rapids, and turbulence the Congo River, most of which flows through the DRC is the deepest river in the world. The Lualaba River flows entirely within the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is the greatest river source of the Congo River. The Democratic Republic of the Congo is so large; it is in two time zones CAT Central Africa Time and WAT West Africa Time.
Republic of the Congo The Congo-Lualaba-Chambeshi River system has an overall length of 4,700 km or 2,920 miles, which makes it the world's ninth-longest river. About 70% of the population lives in Brazzaville, Pointe-Noire, or along the railroad between them.
Cote d'Ivoire Most of the inhabitants live along the sandy coastal region; apart from the capital area, the forested interior is sparsely populated.
Djibouti Strategic location near world's busiest shipping lanes and close to Arabian oilfields; terminus of rail traffic into Ethiopia; mostly wasteland; Lac Assal (Lake Assal) is the lowest point in Africa and the saltiest lake in the world.
Egypt Controls Sinai Peninsula, the only land bridge between Africa and remainder of Eastern Hemisphere; controls Suez Canal, a sea link between Indian Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Egypt has dominance of Nile basin issues.
Equatorial Guinea Insular and continental regions widely separated; despite its name, no part of the Equator passes through Equatorial Guinea; the mainland part of the country is located just north of the Equator.
Eritrea Strategic geopolitical position along world's busiest shipping lanes; Eritrea retained the entire coastline of Ethiopia along the Red Sea upon de jure independence from Ethiopia on May 24, 1993.
Eswatini Landlocked; almost completely surrounded by South Africa.
Ethiopia Landlocked, the entire coastline along the Red Sea was lost with the de jure independence of Eritrea on May 24, 1993. Ethiopia is, therefore, the most populous landlocked country in the world; the Blue Nile, the chief headstream of the Nile by water volume, rises in t'ana Hayk (Lake Tana) in northwest Ethiopia. Three major crops are believed to have originated in Ethiopia: coffee, grain sorghum, and castor bean
Gabon The Ogooué, also known as the Nazareth river, some 1,200 kilometres long, is the principal river of Gabon in west central Africa and the fourth largest river in Africa by volume of discharge, trailing only the Congo, Niger and Zambezi.
The Gambia Almost an enclave of Senegal; smallest country on the African mainland.
Ghana Lake Volta is the world's largest artificial lake by surface area, 8,482 sq km; 3,275 sq miles. The lake was created following the completion of the Akosombo Dam in 1965, which holds back the White Volta and Black Volta Rivers.
Guinea The Niger is the third longest river in Africa with main source water from Guinea Highlands in Southern Guinea, and merges into the Atlantic Ocean, it has the total discharge of 9,570 cubic meters per second. Its primary tributaries are Sokoto River, Kaduna River, Benue River, Bani River and flow through many cities.
Guinea-Bissau This small country is swampy along its western coast and low-lying inland.
Kenya The Kenyan Highlands comprise one of the most successful agricultural production regions in Africa; glaciers are found on Mount Kenya, Africa's second highest peak; unique physiography supports abundant and varied wildlife of scientific and economic value; Lake Victoria, the world's largest tropical lake and the second largest fresh water lake, is shared among three countries: Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.
Lesotho Landlocked, completely surrounded by South Africa; mountainous, more than 80% of the country is 1,800 m above sea level.
Liberia Facing the Atlantic Ocean, the coastline is characterized by lagoons, mangrove swamps, and river-deposited sandbars; the inland grassy plateau supports limited agriculture.
Libya More than 90% of the country is desert or semi-desert. The volcano Waw an Namus lies in south central Libya in the middle of the Sahara; the caldera is an oasis - the name means "oasis of mosquitoes" - containing several small lakes surrounded by vegetation and hosting various insects and a large diversity of birds.
Madagascar World's fourth-largest island; strategic location along Mozambique Channel; despite Madagascar’s close proximity to the African continent, ocean currents isolate the island resulting in high rates of endemic plant and animal species; approximately 90% of the flora and fauna on the island are found nowhere else.
Malawi Landlocked; Lake Nyasa, some 580 km long, is the country's most prominent physical feature; it contains more fish species than any other lake on earth.
Mali Landlocked; divided into three natural zones: the southern, cultivated Sudanese; the central, semiarid Sahelian; and the northern, arid Saharan.
Mauritania Mauritania is considered both a part of North Africa's Maghreb region and West Africa's Sahel region; most of the population is concentrated in the cities of Nouakchott and Nouadhibou and along the Senegal River in the southern part of the country.
Mauritius The main island, from which the country derives its name, is of volcanic origin and is almost entirely surrounded by coral reefs; former home of the dodo, a large flightless bird related to pigeons, driven to extinction by the end of the 17th century through a combination of hunting and the introduction of predatory species.
Morocco Strategic location along Strait of Gibraltar; the only African nation to have both Atlantic and Mediterranean coastlines.
Mozambique The Zambezi River flows through the north-central and most fertile part of the country.
Namibia The Namib Desert, after which the country is named, is considered to be the oldest desert in the world; Namibia is the first country in the world to incorporate the protection of the environment into its constitution; some 14% of the land is protected, including virtually the entire Namib Desert coastal strip; Namib-Naukluft National Park (49,768 sq km), is the largest game park in Africa and one of the largest in the world.
Niger Landlocked; one of the hottest countries in the world; northern four-fifths is desert, southern one-fifth is savanna, suitable for livestock and limited agriculture.
Nigeria The Niger River enters the country in the northwest and flows southward through tropical rain forests and swamps to its delta in the Gulf of Guinea.
Rwanda Landlocked; most of the country is intensively cultivated and rugged with the population predominantly rural.
Sao Tome and Principe The second-smallest African country after the Seychelles. The two main islands form part of a chain of extinct volcanoes and both are mountainous.
Senegal Westernmost country on the African continent; The Gambia is almost an enclave within Senegal.
Seychelles The smallest African country in terms of both area and population; the constitution of the Republic of Seychelles lists 155 islands: 42 granitic and 113 coralline; by far the largest island is Mahe, which is home to about 90% of the population and the site of the capital city of Victoria.
Sierra Leone Rainfall along the coast can reach 495 cm or 195 inches a year, making it one of the wettest places along coastal, western Africa.
Somalia Strategic location on Horn of Africa along southern approaches to Bab el Mandeb and route through Red Sea and Suez Canal.
South Africa South Africa completely surrounds Lesotho and almost completely surrounds Eswatini.
South Sudan Landlocked, the Sudd is a vast swamp in the north central region of South Sudan, formed by the White Nile, its size is variable but can reach some 15% of the country's total area during the rainy season; it is one of the world's largest wetlands.
Sudan The Nile is Sudan's primary water source; its major tributaries, the White Nile and the Blue Nile, meet at Khartoum to form the River Nile which flows northward through Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea.
Tanzania Kilimanjaro is the highest point in Africa and one of only three mountain ranges on the continent that has glaciers. Tanzania is bordered by three of the largest lakes on the continent: Lake Victoria the world's second-largest freshwater lake in the north, Lake Tanganyika the world's second deepest in the west, and Lake Nyasa Lake Malawi in the southwest
Togo The country's length allows it to stretch through six distinct geographic regions; climate varies from tropical to savanna.
Tunisia Strategic location in central Mediterranean; Malta and Tunisia are discussing the commercial exploitation of the continental shelf between their countries, particularly for oil exploration.
Uganda Landlocked; fertile, well-watered country with many lakes and rivers; Lake Victoria, the world's largest tropical lake and the second largest fresh water lake, is shared among three countries: Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.
Zambia Landlocked, the Zambesi River is forth longest in the continent. It is also the longest river in Africa to flow east, and the longest to flow into the Indian ocean. Its basin takes up an area o around 1, 390, 000 square kilometers.
Zimbabwe Landlocked; the Zambezi forms a natural riverine boundary with Zambia. At the peak of flood season, February-April, the massive Victoria Falls on the river forms the world's largest curtain of falling water. Lake Kariba on the Zambia-Zimbabwe border forms the world's largest reservoir by volume.

Together we build awareness that boost harmony, education, and success, below are more links to articles you will find thought provoking.

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