29 Facts About Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases.

Africa's population is the youngest amongst all the continents; the median age in 2012 was 19.

Africa is highly biodiverse; it is the continent with the largest number of megafauna species, as it was least affected by the extinction of the Pleistocene megafauna.

However, Africa is heavily affected by a wide range of environmental issues, including desertification, deforestation, water scarcity, pollution and other issues.

Africa is considered by anthropologists to be the most genetically diverse continent as a result of being the longest inhabited.

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Under Roman rule, Carthage became the capital of the province it then named Africa Proconsularis, following its defeat of the Carthaginians in the Third Punic War in 146 BC, which included the coastal part of modern Libya.

Africa is considered by most paleoanthropologists to be the oldest inhabited territory on Earth, with the Human species originating from the continent.

Domestication of cattle in Africa preceded agriculture and seems to have existed alongside hunter-gatherer cultures.

Africa founded Alexandria in Egypt, which would become the prosperous capital of the Ptolemaic dynasty after his death.

The first Roman emperor native to North Africa was Septimius Severus, born in Leptis Magna in present-day Libya—his mother was Italian Roman and his father was Punic.

Islamic North Africa had become diverse, and a hub for mystics, scholars, jurists, and philosophers.

Pre-colonial Africa possessed perhaps as many as 10, 000 different states and polities characterized by many different sorts of political organization and rule.

The 10 percent of Africa that was under formal European control in 1870 increased to almost 90 percent by 1914, with only Ethiopia and Liberia remaining independent, although Ethiopia would later be invaded and occupied by Italy for five years, from 1936 to 1941.

Independence movements in Africa gained momentum following World War II, which left the major European powers weakened.

Portugal's overseas presence in Sub-Saharan Africa lasted from the 16th century to 1975, after the Estado Novo regime was overthrown in a military coup in Lisbon.

Today, Africa contains 54 sovereign countries, most of which have borders that were drawn during the era of European colonialism.

Africa is the largest of the three great southward projections from the largest landmass of the Earth.

Africa has over 3, 000 protected areas, with 198 marine protected areas, 50 biosphere reserves, and 80 wetlands reserves.

Water in Africa is an important issue encompassing the sources, distribution and economic uses of the water resources on the continent.

Climate change in Africa is an increasingly serious threat in Africa which is among the most vulnerable continents to the effects of climate change.

The average poor person in sub-Saharan Africa is estimated to live on only 70 cents per day, and was poorer in 2003 than in 1973, indicating increasing poverty in some areas.

Tausch maintains that the certain recent optimism, corresponding to economic and human rights data, emerging from Africa, is reflected in the development of a civil society.

Africa is starting to focus on agricultural innovation as its new engine for regional trade and prosperity.

Africa's population has rapidly increased over the last 40 years, and is consequently relatively young.

Peoples of West Africa primarily speak Niger–Congo languages, belonging mostly to its non-Bantu branches, though some Nilo-Saharan and Afro-Asiatic speaking groups are found.

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Peoples of North Africa consist of three main indigenous groups: Berbers in the northwest, Egyptians in the northeast, and Nilo-Saharan-speaking peoples in the east.

Sub-Saharan Africa alone accounted for an estimated 69 percent of all people living with HIV and 70 percent of all AIDS deaths in 2011.

Morocco in northern Africa has hosted the 2002 Morocco Cup, but the national team has never qualified for a major tournament.

Namibia and Zimbabwe both have appeared on multiple occasions at the Rugby World Cup, while South Africa is the joint-most successful national team at the Rugby World Cup, having won the tournament on 3 occasions, in 1995, 2007, and 2019.