GENERAL DESCRIPTION

Africa is about three times the size of Europe. On the northern and western sides of the
continent are the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The continent is consists of huge plateaus,
deserts and semi-deserts, rugged mountains and jungle forests. About two-thirds of the continent lies
between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn. In Northern Africa, the worlds largest desert, the
Sahara, blocks Africas north border from the central and southern portions.
The large Congo Basin in the center runs from the Atlantic seaboard east to the foot of highlands of
East Africa, marked by the Rift Valley which can be reached by a string lakes. The south end of Africa is
the Kalahari Desert which divides the southernmost portion from the rest of the continent. The plateaus of
southern Africa are much higher than the plateaus of northern Africa. They extend continuously from the
mountains of Ethiopia (Abyssinia) through the East African plateau to South Africa. Through the plateau in
east Africa is the lowland, from north to south, known as the East African Rift Valley.
Most of the high mountains in Africa like Mount Kilimanjaro-the highest peak of the continent, Kenya,
Elgou and Cameron are of volcanic origin. Africa has many huge and famous rivers namely: the Congo,
Niger, Zambe and the worlds longest river, the Nile.
Africa has several lakes: Victoria, Tanganyika, Chad, Niger, Ngami, Rudolf and Kivu. Kivu in
Rwanda is the highest lying-lake with an altitude of 4, 829 ft.
Dams were constructed for water reserves and for generation of hydroelectricity. The principals are
Kariba, Aswan Owen falls and Volta
Africa has several gulfs and inlets. The famous ones are the Gulf of Guinea in the west, Aden in the
northeast and Tripoli in the north. Comparatively, there are few islands off shore. One of the few islands is
Madagascar Island which is the fifth largest island in the world. Mozambique Channel separates it from the
mainland.
ETYMOLOGY
Afri was a Latin name used to refer to the Carthaginians, who dwelt in North Africa in modernday Tunisia. This name seems to have referred to a native Libyan tribe originally, however, The
name is usually connected with Phoenician afar, meaning "dust", but has asserted that it stems
from the Berber word ifri (plural ifran) meaning "cave", in reference to cave dwellers.
DIVISIONS
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most-populous continent. At about 30.2 million
km (11.7 million sq mi) including adjacent islands, it covers six percent of theEarth's total surface
area and 20.4 percent of the total land area. With 1.0 billion people (as of 2009) it accounts for
about 15% of the world's human population. The continent is surrounded by the Mediterranean
Sea to the north, both the Suez Canal and the Red Sea along the Sinai Peninsula to the northeast,
the Indian Ocean to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. The continent
includes Madagascar and various archipelagoes. It has 54 fully recognized sovereign
states 9 territoriesand three de facto states with limited recognition
Eastern Africa
Country
Burundi

Population

Map

Capital City

8,500,000

Burundi Map

Bujumbura

Comoros

727,000

Comoros Map

Moroni

Djibouti

900,000

Djibouti Map

Djibouti

Eritrea Map

Asmara

Eritrea

5,200,000

Ethiopia

85,000,000

Ethiopia Map

Kenya

40,000,000

Kenya Map

Madagascar

20,100,000

Madagascar Map

Malawi

15,400,000

Malawi Map

Mauritius
Mozambique

Addis Ababa
Nairobi
Lilongwe

1,300,000
23,400,000

Runion

800,000

Rwanda

10,400,000

Seychelles

Antananarivo
Port Louis

Mozambique Map

Maputo
Saint-Denis

Rwanda Map

Kigali

100,000

Victoria

Somalia

9,400,000

Somalia Map

Mogadishu

Tanzania

45,000,000

Tanzania Map

Dodoma, Dar es Salaam

Uganda

33,800,000

Uganda Map

Kampala

Zambia

13,300,000

Zambia Map

Lusaka

Zimbabwe

12,600,000

Zimbabwe Map

Harare

Central Africa (Middle Africa)

Country

Population

Map

Angola

19,000,000

Angola Map

Cameroon

20,000,000

Cameroon Map

Central African Republic

Chad
Congo, Rep. (Brazzaville)
Congo, Dem. Rep. (Kinshasa)
Equatorial Guinea
Gabon
So Tom and Prncipe

4,800,000

Capital City
Luanda
Yaound

Central African Republic

Bangui
Map

11,500,000

Chad Map

N'Djamena

3,900,000

Congo, Rep. Map

Brazzaville

67,800,000 Congo, Dem. Rep. Map

700,000
1,500,000

Equatorial Guinea Map

Gabon Map

Kinshasa
Malabo
Libreville

200,000

So Tom

Northern Africa
Country

Population

Map

Algeria

36,000,000

Algeria Map

Egypt

80,400,000

Egypt Map

Cairo

Libya

6,500,000

Libya Map

Tripoli

31,900,000

Morocco Map

Rabat

9,000,000

see: Sudan Map

Juba

Sudan

36,000,000

Sudan Map

Khartoum

Tunisia

10,500,000

Tunisia Map

Tunis

Morocco
South Sudan

Western Sahara

Capital City
Algiers

500,000 see: Mauritania Map ---

Southern Africa
Country

Population

Map

Botswana

1,800,000

Lesotho

1,900,000

Namibia

2,200,000

Namibia Map

49,900,000

South Africa Map

1,200,000

Swaziland Map

South Africa
Swaziland

Botswana Map

Capital City
Gaborone
Maseru
Windhoek
Pretoria, Bloemfontein, Cape Town
Mbabane, Lobamba

Western Africa
Country

Population

Benin

9,800,000

Burkina Faso

Map
Benin Map

Capital City
Porto-Novo, Cotonou

16,200,000 Burkina Faso Map Ouagadougou

Cape Verde

500,000

Cape Verde Map

Praia

22,000,000

Ivory Coast Map

Yamoussoukro, Abidjan

1,800,000

see: Senegal Map

Banjul

Ghana

24,000,000

Ghana Map

Accra

Guinea

10,800,000

Guinea Map

Conakry

Cte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast)

Gambia, The

Guinea-Bissau

1,600,000 Guinea-Bissau Map Bissau

Liberia

4,100,000

Liberia Map

15,200,000

Mali Map

3,400,000

Mauritania Map

15,900,000

Niger Map

158,300,000

Nigeria Map

Mali
Mauritania
Niger
Nigeria
Saint Helena

6,000

Senegal

Monrovia
Bamako
Nouakchott
Niamey
Abuja
Jamestown

12,500,000

Senegal Map

Sierra Leone

5,800,000

Sierra Leone Map

Togo

6,800,000

Togo Map

List Of Widely-Recognised States In Africa

Country

Official Name

Algeria

People's Democratic Republic of Algeria

Angola

Republic of Angola

Benin

Republic of Benin

Botswana

Republic of Botswana

Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso

Dakar
Freetown
Lom

Burundi

Republic of Burundi

Cameroon

Republic of Cameroon

Cape Verde

Republic of Cape Verde

Central African Republic

Central African Republic

Chad

Republic of Chad

Comoros

Union of the Comoros

Djibouti

Republic of Djibouti

DR Congo
Egypt

Democratic Republic of the Congo /

Congo-Kinshasa
Arab Republic of Egypt

Equatorial Guinea

Republic of Equatorial Guinea

Eritrea

State of Eritrea

Ethiopia

Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

Gabon

Gabonese Republic

Gambia

Republic of the Gambia

Ghana

Republic of Ghana

Guinea

Republic of Guinea

Guinea-Bissau

Republic of Guinea-Bissau

Ivory Coast

Republic of Cte d'Ivoire

Kenya

Republic of Kenya

Lesotho

Kingdom of Lesotho

Liberia

Republic of Liberia

Libya
Madagascar

Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab

Jamahiriya
Republic of Madagascar

Malawi

Republic of Malawi

Mali

Republic of Mali

Mauritania

Islamic Republic of Mauritania

Mauritius

Republic of Mauritius

Morocco

Kingdom of Morocco

Mozambique

Republic of Mozambique

Namibia

Republic of Namibia

Niger

Republic of Niger

Nigeria

Federal Republic of Nigeria

Republic of the Congo

Republic of the Congo / CongoBrazzaville

Republic of Rwanda

Rwanda
Sao Tome & Principe
Senegal

Democratic Republic of So Tom &

Prncipe
Republic of Senegal

Seychelles

Republic of Seychelles

Sierra Leone

Republic of Sierra Leone

Somalia

Federal Republic of Somalia

South Africa

Republic of South Africa

Sudan

Republic of the Sudan

Swaziland

Kingdom of Swaziland

Tanzania

United Republic of Tanzania

Togo

Togolese Republic

Tunisia

Republic of Tunisia

Uganda

Republic of Uganda

Zambia

Republic of Zambia

Zimbabwe

Republic of Zimbabwe

List Of Partially-Recognised States In Africa

Country

Official Name

Somaliland

Republic of Somaliland

Western Sahara

Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic / SADR

POPULATION
As of JULY 2012 AFRICAS POPULATION IS 1,070,096,000
(Population of each state is stated on the chart under the Divisions of Africa)
LANGUAGES
Afroasiatic languages
Afroasiatic languages are spoken throughout the Middle East, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and parts of
the Sahel. There are approximately 375 Afroasiatic languages spoken by over 350 million people. The main
subfamilies of Afroasiatic are the Berber languages, Semitic languages, Chadic languages and the Cushitic
languages. The Afroasiatic Urheimat is uncertain. However, its most extensive sub-branch, the Semitic languages
(including Arabic, Amharic and Hebrew among others), seems to have developed in the Arabian peninsula. The
Semitic languages are the only branch of the Afroasiatic family of languages that is spoken outside of Africa.
Some of the most widely spoken Afroasiatic languages include Arabic (a Semitic language, and a recent arrival from
West Asia), Berber(Berber), Hausa (Chadic), Amharic (Semitic), and Oromo and Somali (Cushitic). Of the world's
surviving language families, Afroasiatic has the longest written history, as both the Akkadian language of
Mesopotamia and Ancient Egyptian are members.
Nilo-Saharan languages
Nilo-Saharan is extremely diverse and thus a somewhat controversial grouping uniting over a hundred languages
from southern Egypt to northern Tanzania and into Nigeria and DR Congo, with the Songhay languages along the

middle reaches of the Niger River as a geographic outlier. The languages share some unusual morphology, but if
they are related, most of the branches must have undergone major restructuring since diverging from their common
ancestor. The inclusion of the Songhay languages is questionable, and doubts have been raised over
the Koman, Gumuz, and Kadu branches.
Some of the better known Nilo-Saharan languages are Kanuri, Songhay, Nubian, and the widespread Nilotic family,
which includes Luo,Dinka, and Maasai. The Nilo-Saharan languages are tonal.
NigerCongo languages
The NigerCongo language family is the largest group of Africa (and probably of the world) in terms of the number
of languages. One of its salient features is an elaborate noun class system with grammatical concord. The vast
majority of languages of this family are tonalsuch as Yoruba and Igbo, Ashanti. A major branch of NigerCongo
languages is the Bantu family, which covers a greater geographic area than the rest of the family put together (see
NigerCongo B (Bantu) in the map above).
The NigerKordofanian language family, joining NigerCongo with the Kordofanian languages of southcentral Sudan, was proposed in 1950s by Joseph Greenberg. Today, linguists often use "NigerCongo" to refer to
this entire family, including Kordofanian as a subfamily. One reason for this is that it is not clear whether
Kordofanian was the first branch to diverge from rest of NigerCongo. Mandehas been claimed to be equally or
more divergent. NigerCongo is generally accepted by linguists, though a few question the inclusion of Mande
and Dogon, and there is no conclusive evidence for the inclusion of Ubangian.

Austronesian
Several languages spoken in Africa belong to language families concentrated or originating outside of the African
continent: for example,Malagasy, the language of Madagascar, is an Austronesian language.
Indo-European
Afrikaans is Indo-European, as are the lexifiers of most African creoles. Afrikaans is the only Indo-European
language known to have developed in Africa.
Since the colonial era, Indo-European languages such
as Afrikaans, English, French, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish have held official status in many countries, and are
widely spoken, generally as lingua francas. (See African French and African Portuguese.) Germanwas once widely
spoken in Germany's colonies there from the late 1800s until World War I when the Britain and France took over
and revoked German's official status. Despite this, German is still spoken in Namibia, mostly among the white

population. Although it lost its official status in the 90's, its has been redesignated as a national language. Indian
languages such as Gujarati are spoken by South Asian expatriates exclusively. In earlier historical times, other IndoEuropean languages could be found in various parts of the continent, such as Old Persian and Greek in
Egypt, Latin and Vandalic in North Africa, and Modern Persian in the Horn of Africa
Creole languages
Due partly to its multilingualism and its colonial past, a substantial proportion of the world's creole languages are to
be found in Africa. Some are based on Indo-European languages (e.g. Krio from English in Sierra Leone and the
very similar Pidgin in Nigeria and parts ofCameroon, Cape Verdean Creole in Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau
Creole in Guinea-Bissau and Senegal both from Portuguese,Seychellois Creole from French in the Seychelles,
or Mauritian Creole in Mauritius); some are based on Arabic (e.g., Juba Arabic in the southern Sudan, or Nubi in
parts of Uganda and Kenya); some are based on local languages (e.g., Sango, the main language of theCentral
African Republic.) While in Cameroon a creole based on French, English and local African languages known
as Camfranglaishas started to become popular.
RELIGION
Abrahamic religions
The Bah' Faith in Africa has a diverse history. It is the 3rd most widespread organized Abrahamic religion in
Africa after Islam and Christianity[14] after its wide-scale growth in the 1950s and extend in the
1960s.[15] The Association of Religion Data Archives (relying on World Christian Encyclopedia) lists many large
and smaller populations in Africa[16] with Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo,South
Africa and Zambia among the top ten numerical populations of Bah's in the world in 2005 (each with over 200,000
adherents), and Mauritius in terms of percentage of the national population.
All three individual heads of the religion, Bah'u'llh, `Abdu'l-Bah, and Shoghi Effendi, were in Africa at various
times. More recently the roughly 2000
Christianity is now one of the two most widely practised religions in Africa and is the largest
religion inSub-Saharan Africa. Most adherents outside Egypt, Ethiopia and Eritrea are Roman
Catholic or Protestant. Several syncretistic and messianic sects have formed throughout much of
the continent, including the Nazareth Baptist Church in South Africa and the Aladura churches in
Nigeria.There is also fairly widespread populations of Seventh-day Adventists and Jehovah's
Witnesses. The oldest Christian denominations in Africa are the Coptic church in Egypt and
the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Churchand the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church,
all Oriental Orthodox, which rose to prominence in the fourth century AD after King Ezana the
Great made Ethiopia one of the first Christian nations

Islam is the largest religion in Africa,[28] with 47% of the population being Muslim, accounting for 1/4 of the world's
Muslim population.[29] The faith's historic roots on the continent stem from the time of the Prophet Muhammad,
whose early disciplesmigrated to Abyssinia (hijira) in fear of persecution from the pagan Arabs.
Islam is the dominant religion in North Africa and the Horn of Africa. It has also become the predominant religion
on the Swahili Coastas well as the West African seaboard and parts of the interior. There have been several Muslim
empires in Western Africa which exerted considerable influence, notably the Mali Empire, which flourished for
several centuries and the Songhai Empire, under the leadership ofMansa Musa, Sonni Ali and Askia Mohammed
Hinduism
Hinduism has existed in Africa mainly since the late 19th century. While the religion is not well spread, it is the
largest religion inMauritius,[30] and several other countries have Hindu temples
Syncretism
Syncretism is the combining of different (often contradictory) beliefs, often while melding practices of various
schools of thought. In thecommonwealth of Africa syncretism with indigenous beliefs is practiced throughout the
region. It is believed by some to explain religious tolerance between different groups.[33]
ISSUES
1. Deforestation : The large scale felling of trees and the resulting decreases in forest areas is the main environment
problem of the continent Africa. Rampant clearing of the forest of the forest goes on for agriculture, settlement and
fuel needs. As a result, the areas under forest is decreasing day by day, as for example, in the region of equatorial
evergreen forests.
2. Soil degradation : The erosion caused by rains, rivers and winds as well as over-utilisation of soils for agriculture
and low use of manures have resulted in turning the soils infertile, as for example, in the plains of the River Nile and
the River Orange
3. Water Source
As of 2006, one third of all nations suffered from clean water scarcity, [2] but Sub-Saharan Africa had the
largest number of water-stressed countries of any other place on the globe. In Africa, the struggle for access to
clean drinking water is one of today's most obvious examples of how water scarcity leads to the stalling and reversal
of human progress. While each individual living in the United States uses on average 100 to 175 gallons of water per
day in the home, the average African family uses only 5 gallons of water per day

4. Poverty
African nations typically fall toward the bottom of any list measuring small size economic activity, such as
income per capita or GDP per capita, despite a wealth of natural resources. In 2009, 22 of 24 nations identified as

having "Low Human Development" on the United Nations' (UN) Human Development Index were in Sub-Saharan
Africa.[1] In 2006, 34 of the 50 nations on the UN list of least developed countries are in Africa.[2] In many nations,
GDP per capita is less than USD$200 per year, with the vast majority of the population living on much less. In
addition, Africa's share of income has been consistently dropping over the past century by any measure. In 1820, the
average European worker earned about three times what the average African did. Now, the average European earns
twenty times what the average African does.[3] Although GDP per capita incomes in Africa have also been steadily
growing, measures are still far better in other parts of the world.