Africa's (and the world's) newest nation is South Sudan, which gained independence July 9, 2011.
Just over one billion people inhabit Africa, accounting for about 14 percent of the world's population. Africa is home to the Nile River system, the world's longest river system, and the Sahara Desert, the world's largest desert.
Africa borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Suez Canal and Red Sea along the Sinai Peninsula to the northeast, the Indian Ocean to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west.
The African continent sits along the equator and extends across several climate zones , and is the only continent to stretch from the northern temperate zone to the southern temperate zone.
Facts about Africa
- Africa is widely though to be the cradle of humans, as evidenced by the discovery of the earliest hominids and their ancestors
- Nigeria is the most populated country in Africa, with over 145 million people
- Lake Victoria is the largest lake in Africa and the world's second largest fresh water lake
- Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania is the highest point in Africa, topping out at 19,340 feet above sea level
- Equatorial Guinea is the richest country in Africa with a GDP per capita of $30,200 (USD).
- The hottest place ever recorded on Earth is Al'Aziziyah in Libya.
- Every minute, a child in Africa dies of Malaria.
- Three of the world's largest gold producers have their primary operations in Africa: Harmony Gold, Gold Fields, AngloGold Ashanti
| Country | Capital | Country | Capital |
|---|---|---|---|
| Algeria | Algiers | Libya | Tripoli |
| Angola | Luanda | Madagascar | Antananarivo |
| Benin | Porto-Novo | Malawi | Lilongwe |
| Botswana | Gaborone | Mali | Bamako |
| Burkina Faso | Ouagadougou | Mauritania | Nouakchott |
| Burundi | Bujumbura | Mauritius | Port Louis |
| Cameroon | Yaounde | Morocco | Rabat |
| Cape Verde | Praia | Mozambique | Maputo |
| Central African Republic | Bangui | Namibia | Windhoek |
| Chad | N'Djamena | Niger | Niamey |
| Comoros | Moroni | Nigeria | Abuja |
| Congo, Democratic Republic of (Congo-Kinshasa) | Kinshasa | Rwanda | Kigali |
| Congo, Republic of (Congo-Brazzaville) | Brazzaville | Sao Tome and Principe | São Tomé |
| Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) | Yamoussoukro | Senegal | Dakar |
| Djibouti | Djibouti | Seychelles | Victoria |
| Egypt | Cairo | Sierra Leone | Freetown |
| Equatorial Guinea | Malabo | Somalia | Mogadishu |
| Eritrea | Asmara | South Africa | Pretoria |
| Ethiopia | Addis Ababa | South Sudan 2 | Juba |
| Gabon | Libreville | Sudan | Khartoum |
| Gambia | Banjul | Swaziland | Mbabane |
| Ghana | Accra | Tanzania | Dodoma |
| Guinea | Conakry | Togo | Lomé |
| Guinea-Bissau | Bissau | Tunisia | Tunis |
| Kenya | Nairobi | Uganda | Kampala |
| Lesotho | Maseru | Zambia | Lusaka |
| Liberia | Monrovia | Zimbabwe | Harare |
Last Updated On : October 31, 2012
