Home to the youngest population in the world, fascinating history, spectacular art and a plethora of languages, Africa boasts some truly amazing facts.
Here are 20 Interesting Facts That You Might Not Know About the African Continent.
1. Africa has the highest concentration of national parks in the world with 335 of them protecting more than 1,100 species of mammals, 100,000 species of insects, 2,600 species of birds, and 3,000 species of fish.
2. Africa is home to the world’s largest living land animal, the African Elephant. It is also home to the world’s tallest animal, the giraffe.
3. According to the Guinness Book of World Records Zimbabwe is the country with the most official languages at 16.
4. Tanzania has the world’s highest rate of albinism. Unfortunately, albinos are often hunted by witch doctors in order to create various potions.
5. Graca Machel is the only woman to have ever been the first lady of two different countries (Mozambique and South Africa).
6. Almost half of the gold ever mined on Earth has come from one small place – Witwatersrand, South Africa. The gold fields of the Witwatersrand Basin in South Africa are, by a landslide, is also the largest single gold producing district in the world. It has produced some 2 billion ounces over a century of mining.
7. According to Pew Research, by 2050 roughly 38% of the world’s Christians will live in sub-saharan Africa.
8. More people speak French in Africa than in France.
9. According to Pew Research, the world’s most committed Christians live in Sub-Saharan Africa.
10. Most of the fastest runners in the world come from a single tribe in Kenya known as the “Kalenjins”
11. Mount Kilimanjaro im Tanzania is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain in the world at 19,341 feet above sea level.
12. All of Africa was colonized by foreign powers during the “scramble for Africa”, except Ethiopia and Liberia.
13. Dallol Pools in Ethiopia is the Only Place on Earth Where No Life Can Exist.
14. With 200 million people aged between 15 and 24 (the youth bracket), Africa has the youngest population in the world.
15. Lake Malawi has more fish species than any other freshwater system on earth.
16. Megafauna like giraffe, zebra, gorilla, hippopotamus, chimpanzee and wildebeest are unique to the African continent and only found here.
17. Africa is the second most populous continent with about 1.3 billion people or 16% of the world’s population.
18. Over 25% of all languages are spoken only in Africa with over 2,000 recognised languages spoken on the continent.
19. Africa has over 25% of the world’s bird species.
20. Africa has the highest number of female entrepreneurs in the world
