There are so many facts about Africa known by just few individuals in the world. Africa is quite different from the other continents. Africa’s cultural diversity is immense. It has an abundance of natural resources, a diverse cultural history, and amazing tourism sites.
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Africa is a continent that is still growing and gaining more power and impact over the rest of the world. Some information about Africa that should be known by all:
Facts About Africa
- Africa is the 2nd largest continent at 30 million square kilometers or 11.7 million square miles. Africa is bigger than China, India, the continental U.S., and most of Europe combined. The Sahara alone is bigger than the continental USA.
- Africa is the ‘cradle of humankind’. Fossils found in Africa, show that human beings and their closest relatives the gorilla and chimpanzees were born and evolved in Africa.
- Africa is the 2nd most populated continent in the world. There are 1.3 billion people in Africa, 17% of the world population. Over 50% of Africans are under the age of 25. The continent’s population is expected to more than double to 2.3 billion people by 2050.
- Africa has 54 countries and about 3000 tribes.
- There are over 3000 languages spoken in Africa. Amharic, Arabic, English, French, Hausa, Oromo, Swahili and Yoruba are among the languages widely spoken.
- Africa has the largest populations of lion, elephant, rhinoceros, cheetah, hyena, leopard, and hundreds of other species. Giraffe, zebra, gorilla, hippopotamus, chimpanzee and wildebeest are unique to Africa and not found in the wild on any other continent on Earth. Africa has over 25 percent of the world’s bird species.
- The majority of Africans practice Christianity or Islam. Most Africans also participate in traditional African religions.
- Africa’s GDP growth is above the world average at 4% but Africa’s has significant opportunity for growth at 3% of global GDP versus 17% of global population.
- Agriculture employs 65% of Africa’s labor force and accounts for 32 percent of the continent’s gross domestic product.
- Africa has approximately 30% of the earth’s remaining mineral resources. Africa has the largest reserves of precious metals with over 40% of the gold reserves, over 60% of the cobalt, and 90% of the platinum reserves.
