101 FACTS ABOUT AFRICA

1. Africa is the 2nd largest and most populous continent after Asia.
2. Africa is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the North, Atlantic Ocean to the West and the
Red Sea and Indian Ocean to the East.
3. Africa’s mainland and adjacent islands measure approximately 30.3 million Sq. km.
4. Africa has the shortest coastline due to its distinct lack of peninsulas.
5. Africa includes Madagascar and other small island groups.
6. Africa is the most centrally located continent in the world.
7. Origin of the word Africa is traced to the Afri tribe.
8. 250 million years ago, Africa was fused together with other continents.
9. Africa is largely considered as the point of origin for homo sapiens.
10. In 1974, scientists discovered about 40% of a skeleton of a female hominid in Ethiopia who could
have lived 3.2 million years ago.
11. 70,000 to 100,000 years ago, modern humans began to live in Africa before moving to other
continents.
12. The Pharaohnic Civilisation of ancient Egypt rose in North Africa somewhere in 3300 BC and
constituted one of the earliest and longest lasting civilisations.
13. Precolonial Africa was home to over 10,000 different states and polities including the Kingdom of
Axum, Zimbabwe Empire and Songhai.
14. Between 7th and 20th Centuries, the Arab slave trade took over 18 million slaves from African to
the Islamic world.
15. 15th and 19th Centuries over 12 million slaves were traded in the Trans-Atlantic Slave trade. In
1933, slavery was officially abolished by British Empire.
16. In the late 19th Century, the major European Imperial powers created colonial territories with
the sole aim of recolonising Africa, hence the term Scramble for Africa.
17. The Scramble for Africa was formally ratified during the Berlin Conference in 1884-85 with the
establishing of various rules and regulations of trade on the African continent.
18. Liberia and Ethiopia (then known as Abyssinia) were never colonized.
19. Effects of centuries of colonialism on Africa include unstable democracies, authoritarianism,
violence and war.
20. Africa has 54 fully recognised sovereign states more than any other continent.

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 21. Africa has territories belonging to countries from other continents – Island of Reunion which
belongs to France and the British Islands of St Helena are some of them.
22. Africa also contains several de facto independent states which are either partially or fully
unrecognised. They include Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic and Somaliland.
23. Algeria is the largest country in Africa.
24. Sudan used to be the largest country until South Sudan was carved out from it in 2011.
25. The Seychelles is the smallest African country.
26. The Gambia is the smallest mainland African country surrounded entirely by Senegal.
27. Lesotho, surrounded entirely covered by South Africa, is the only country elevated 1000km
above sea level. The country is also referred to as the Sky Kingdom.
28. Madagascar is the largest Island in Africa and the fourth largest in the world.
29. Bir Tawil located between Egypt and Sudan is an unclaimed land covering 2000sq km.
30. Africa is the hottest continent in the world.
31. The largest hot desert is the Sahara.
32. The Nile, the longest river in the world, runs through 11 African countries.
33. Largest Water fall, Victoria is located between Zambia and Zimbabwe.
34. Largest lake, Victoria is also the 2nd largest fresh water lake in the world after Lake Superior in
North America.
35. Lake Retba in Senegal is referred to as the Pink Lake because of its colour.
36. Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa.
37. The AU, established in 2001, has its headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
38. East African countries Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi are planning to merge to
be known as East African Federation.
39. 1.2 billion people live in Africa, which amounts to 16% of world’s population.
40. Between 1950-2009, human population in Africa grew from 221 million to 1.2 billion. Population
quadrupled in less than 60 years.
41. Nigeria with a population of over 193 million, is the most populous country in Africa.
42. The largest single city in Africa is Cairo, with a population of 12 million people.
43. Africa has the youngest average population in the world. 50% under the age of 25.
44. Football is the most popular sport in Africa.
45. Islam is the largest religion in Africa.
46. There are at least 2100 languages in Africa.

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 47. Arabic is the most widely used language in Africa. It’s spoken by at least 140-170 million people.
48. There are more speakers of French in Africa than in France.
49. Angola has more Portuguese speakers than Portugal.
50. Zimbabwe has over 16 official languages.
51. South Eastern Africa is the only place on earth with languages that feature click consonants,
Xhosa being an example.
52. Cola, Coffee, jazz, zombie are all original African words now used in the English language.
53. The 2nd Congo war, which occurred between 1998—2006, killed 5.5 million people making it
second deadliest in history after 2nd World War.
54. Parliament of Rwanda holds the record of female members outnumbering men.
55. Nigeria is home to Nollywood, the 2 nd largest film industry in the world by virtue of volume of
films produced.
56. Republic of Sudan also has pyramids, over 200 more than Egypt’s, though smaller.
57. Canaan Banana was the first president of Zimbabwe.
58. Official Title of Ugandan Dictator Iddi amin was, His Excellency, President for Life, Field Marshal
Al Hadji Dr. Idi Amin Dada, VC, DSO, MC, Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Seas
and Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa in General and Uganda in Particular.
59. Sobhuza II of Swaziland who ruled for 82 years is the longest verifiable reign of any monarch in
recorded history. The king had 70 wives, 210 children and over 1,000 grandchildren.
60. There’s a famous image of the hand print of Nelson Mandela which depicts the continent Africa.
61. Graca Machel served as first lady of two countries: Mozambique and later South Africa.
62. Former Ivorian footballer Didier Drogba was able to make warring factions in Ivory Coast cease
fire after calling on them to make peace on national TV after the national team qualified for the
2006 World Cup.
63. The world’s largest land animal is the African Elephant.
64. Africa is home to the tallest animal, Giraffe.
65. The fastest land animal is the cheetah.
66. The Nile Crocodile is the world’s largest reptile.
67. The gorilla is the world’s largest primate.
68. Africa has over a quarter of the world’s bird species.
69. Lake Malawi contains more species of fishes than any other fresh water in the world.

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 70. The hippopotamus, the most dangerous animal on the continent, killing more people than the
crocodiles and lions combined.
71. Tigers are not found in Africa; they are in Asia.
72. The Serengeti Region in Tanzania hosts the world’s largest animal migration on earth. 260,000
zebras, 470,000 and in total 1.7 million beats travel across that region because of the area’s
grazing
73. Nearly half of the world’s gold ever mined comes from one place: Witwatersrand in South Africa
74. In 1972, a pocket of Uranium in Gabon was discovered to be undergoing self-sustaining nuclear
effusion for 100,000s of years.
75. The oldest surviving pair of socks was found in Egypt dating back to the 4 th century.
76. The oldest mathematical object to be discovered is the lebombo bone, found in the Lebombo
mountains in Swaziland.
77. The San people of Southern Africa today, are known to use tools used in caves dating back to 44,
000 years ago.
78. Timbuktu in Mali is referred to as the Paris of the Medieval world because of its ancient
intellectual culture
79. The flag of Mozambique is the only country in the world to feature a modern fire arm.
80. Prior to the ousting of Muamar Gadhafi in 2011, the flag of Libya was simply green.
81. The flag of La Cote d’Ivoire shares a striking similarities with that of Republic of Ireland.
82. The Liberian flag also shares a similarity with that of the United States but for the number of
stars and strides.
83. The statue depicting an African family in front of the African Renaissance Movement in Senegal is
49 meters taller than the Statue of Liberty in the United States.
84. The Surma and Mursi people of Ethiopia are the most famous practitioners of the lip plate.
85. The Kenyan tribe Kalenjin is known to produce most of the world’s fastest long distance runners.
86. Benin records more births of twins that any other nation.
87. There are over 150 regional Nigerian Kings in spite of the fact that the country is a republic.
88. The Societe des Ambianceurs et des Personnes Elegantes is a group of immaculately dressed
Congolese gentlemen who conduct themselves in gentlemanly order.
89. In Ghana, death is viewed as the beginning of the afterlife which must be celebrated and not
mourned.

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 90. Zambia had a space programme several decades ago started by a school teacher in 1964 with
the team known as “Afronauts.”
91. The cowboy metal heads subculture in Botswana who blend heavy metal leather dressing with
traditional African music.
92. The Vadoma tribe in Zimbabwe, also known as the ostrich tribe has a substantial minority of the
population with only two toes.
93. 7th October 2014 is an important date in Somalia as the country welcomed its first ATM.
94. George Lucas’ film “Star Wars” had a set in the Tunisian Sahara Desert.
95. It is legal in South Africa to attach flamethrowers to cars as it prevents carjacking.
96. Akon owns a diamond mine in South Africa and donates profits to local communities
97. American guitarist Rodriguez quit music after failure of his two albums in the 70s but he became
aware of his overseas fame especially in SA when his daughter found out on a website. He now
performs in SA and has a platinum record.
98. In 2009 Zimbabwe release 100 Zimbabwean trillion-dollar bank note, equivalent to $US30.
99. South Africa is the first country in the world to have dismantled its nuclear weapons programme
in the name of world peace.
100. In 2003, a Boeing 727 aircraft at Luanda in Angola went missing from the airport.
101. Banana beer is common in Central and Eastern Africa.

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