13 Interesting Facts about Africa Which You Didn’t Know
Africa is a continent that has its own extremes. It is extremely poor, large, young and even dry. The average age of people living in Africa is less than 25. However, despite being portrayed as one of the poorest continents in the world, living in Africa has its own perks. In fact, the continent is home to several unique things which you might not find anywhere else in the world. We have managed to list down a few things which are going to help you out in getting to know about the continent more.
Instructions
-
1
Before Colonial Rule
Before Africa came under the colonial rule, it was actually comprised of almost 10,000 different states which were all autonomous and had their own cultures and languages.
-
2
Chinese Citizens
Africa has almost 1 million Chinese citizens across the continent with Angola alone serving has host to as many as 350,000 Chinese.
-
3
Dams
Africa has several rivers and almost all of them have dams, which takes their total amount to 1270 dams in the continent.
-
4
Lake Malawi
Researchers claim that Lake Malawi, located in Africa, is a fresh water system that currently has the highest variety of fish species in the world.
-
5
Area of Sahara
We all know that Sahara is the largest desert in the world, but you never knew that it is bigger than the continental USA.
-
6
Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria is the second largest fresh water lake in the world.
-
7
Population
Africa has the second highest population in the world, being host to 1.1 billion people, which makes up to 16% of the world’s total population.
-
8
Literacy Rate
The continent’s literacy rate is so low that 40% of adults in the area are absolutely illiterate.
-
9
Percentage of Total Languages
25% of the total languages in the world are spoken in Africa. In fact, the continent recognizes 2,000 different languages.
-
10
Number of Countries
In total there are 54 countries in Africa, with Western Sahara being the non-self governing territory.
-
11
Soil
Despite having a large amount of vacant area, Sahara’s soil is not good for growing any vegetation. In fact, 90% of the soil on the continent is unsuitable for agriculture and only 0.25% has a low potential for sustaining farms.
-
12
Deforestation Rate
The deforestation rate in the continent is actually twice the average of the rest of the world. Almost 2 million hectares of primary forests are cleared by wood-seeking industries every year.
-
13
Unique Animals
There are certain animals such as giraffes, zebras, gorillas, hippopotamuses, chimpanzees and wildebeests that are only found in Africa and no other continent in the world.
