Africa is the second biggest continent in the world. It lies between the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the Indian Ocean to the east. To the north is the Mediterranean Sea and to the south is the Southern Ocean. Africa is made up of 54 countries and around 1 billion people!
People in Africa speak many different languages from English and French to thousands of African languages including Swahili, Fulani and Oromo.
Big and small
The largest country in Africa is Algeria, but just because it’s big doesn’t mean it has the most people! The African country with the most people is Nigeria.
The smallest country belonging to Africa is the Seychelles, which is actually a chain of islands off the mainland. In the mainland itself, the smallest country is Gambia.
Africa also has a big island called Madagascar. Madagascar is the 4th biggest island in the entire world and has some of the world’s most unusual and amazing animals.
Rivers, mountains and lakes
The longest river in Africa is called the Nile and it’s also the longest river in the world. It runs through many countries including Egypt. The tallest mountain is Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. It’s so high it has icy glaciers!
The biggest lake in Africa is Lake Victoria which is the second-largest freshwater lake in the world.
African landscape
Africa has many different landscapes from the dry Sahara desert in the north to the Blyde River Canyon in South Africa, which is the largest green canyon in the world.
The African Savanna is a tropical grassland that covers around half the continent.
What is Africa famous for?
Africa is known worldwide for its wild animals and safaris. It’s home to the fastest land animal in the world, the cheetah and the tallest land animal on Earth, the giraffe.
It’s the land of African elephants, lions, leopards, zebras and so many more beautiful animals that do not live anywhere else in the world!
Africa is also known for its diamonds, gold, coffee, oil, music, dance and bright colours.
