Flags of African countries

Africa is the second largest and most populous continent in the world, with an area of about 30.37 million square kilometers, which is approximately 20% of the earth's surface. The continent is home to 54 sovereign states with a population of more than 1.4 billion people and more than 2,000 African languages, although some researchers believe there are more than 3,000.

Flags of Africa on the world map

Among the most interesting countries on the continent are Egypt, Algeria, Nigeria, and South Africa. The last country on the list, but not the least developed, South Africa has one of the most developed infrastructures and is known for its natural resources, in particular gold and diamonds. Egypt is known for its pyramids, but few people know that Egypt has an ancient complex of pyramids on the Giza Plateau, which is even included in the list of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and its Cheops pyramid (Khufu) is the only one that has survived to this day. Algeria is the largest African country by area, covering 2.4 million km², while the smallest is the island nation of Seychelles, with an area of only 453 km². Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa, with more than 200 million inhabitants and the largest city on the continent, Lagos, with a population of more than 21 million people.

Interesting facts about Africa

  1. The average age of the population does not exceed 20 years;
  2. Ethiopia is considered the birthplace of coffee. According to the legend, coffee beans were discovered by a shepherd when he noticed that his goats became more energetic after eating these fruits;
  3. Benin is the country with the highest twin birth rate in the world - 27 pairs of twins per 1000 births, which is almost twice the global average;
  4. The Sahara is the world's largest desert, covering an area of approximately 9.1 million km², larger than the United States;
  5. Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania is the highest point on the continent, with an altitude of 5895 meters above sea level;
  6. The Nile is the longest river in the world, flowing through 11 African countries, including Egypt and Sudan, and has a total length of 6,650 km.