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Africa is one of the largest and most easily distinguishable land masses in the world. Second only to the continent of Asia in size and population, Africa comprises 20.3 % of the planet's surface and is home to 14% of the world's population. The
Equator runs through the center of this continent, so most of Africa
lies in the tropical belt. This explains the extreme hot conditions.
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Latin word aprica means sunny. The Romans who ruled North Africa
for some time are said to have given the continent its name. Africa has a number of islands associated with it. Madagascar is one of the biggest in the world. The smaller ones include famous holiday destinations like Seychelles, Mauritius, Saint Helena and Canary Island among others. |
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Location
The continent is bounded on the west by the Atlantic
Ocean, on the north by the Mediterranean Sea, on the east by the Red
Sea and the Indian Ocean, and on the south
by the mingling waters of the Atlantic and Indian oceans.
Features
The hot climatic and other factors have exerted considerable influence
on the patterns of human settlement in Africa. Huge areas of Africa including
its forests and the Sahara desert have been largely unoccupied. This explains
that inspite of being the second largest continent
in the word with a mammoth area of more than 1.17 crore kilometres, Africa
contains only 14 percent of the world population.
Among the foreigners who have migrated and made Africa their home, Arabs
are largest in numbers. They bought Islam into this continent,
which is now very widespread among the population.
Africa is rich in mineral resources. This is what has attracted foreigners
since a long time, and till date Africa has some of the largest reserves
of metallic ores, gems and precious stones.
Deserts
There are two great deserts on the African continent,
the Sahara in the north, and the Kalahari in the south. Deserts
cover much of North Africa including Algeria, Libya, Egypt, Niger, Chad,
Mali, Western Sahara, Mauritania, Sudan, and Morocco. In the south, deserts
fill Namibia, Botswana, and South Africa. In the east there is much less
desert land than the rest of Africa, but you can still find desert areas
in parts of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia, and Kenya.
Rainforests
Once, there were tropical rainforests across much of central Africa. Today,
as in many parts of the world, the rain forest is shrinking. It is common
to find rainforests in tropical areas near the equator where it is generally
hot and wet. Some scientists believe that some of
the plants yet to be discovered in these rainforests may hold the cure
to diseases like cancer.
Mountains
Mount Kilimanjaro is the tallest mountain peak in Africa. Other mountain
regions in Africa include the Atlas mountains in Algeria and Morocco,
the Cape Mountains in South Africa and the Ruwenzori Mountains on the
border of Uganda and Rwanda. The most mountainous region in Africa though
is on the eastern coast, in the Great Rift Valley, stretching from Mozambique
to Israel.