FACTS ABOUT AFRICA PART 3 1. There are 54 countries and 8 dependencies in Africa 2. Libya is the only country in the world with only one color for its flag, with no insignias, design or other details 3. Libya is the fourth largest country in Africa by area, and the 17th largest in the world 4. 90% of Libya is desert but it has the 9th highest GDP in Africa because of its Petroleum and low population. 5. The world’s biggest frog is found in Cameroon. Named the Goliath frog, their body can be one-foot long and weighs up to 8 IB. The goliath frog can live up to 15 years. 6. Afri was the Latin name for an ancient people located on the shores of the southern Mediterranean Sea near the city of Carthage, nowadays Tunisia. The Romans referred to the region as Africa terra (land of the Afri), based on the stem Afr- with the adjective suffix -ic- 7. Angola is from the Kimbundu language n’gola “lord, chief. N’gola, name as 16th century king, when Portugal colonized the country. 8. Botswana - the country (bo) of the Tswana people- was formerly called Bechuanaland. 9. Burkina Faso means “the land of upright people. It was renamed on 4 August 1984, by President Thomas Sankara to mean “the land of upright people 10. Cameroon or Cameroon means “River of Shrimps, from Portuguese Rio de Camarões, the name given to the River Wouri by Portuguese explorers in the 15th century. 11. Ethiopia was called Aithiopis by the Ancient Greek, a name meaning black face and applied to all black people. The ancient Egyptians called it Kush, the Hebrew Kush, the name of a son of Cham. 12. Liberia means Liberty, so named because the nation was created as a homeland for freed American slaves in 1922 13. Liberia was the first African independent republic 14. The Names of the Country Nigeria and Niger are both named from the river Niger. 15. Tanzania is combination of the names of two states that merged to form this country, Tanganyika, and Zanzibar 16. Morocco today is one of only three kingdoms left on the continent of Africa-the others, are Lesotho and Swaziland 17. Named “Lion Mountain by a 15th-century Portuguese explorer, Sierra Leone was a British colony from the early 19th century until 1961. 18. Though most of the names of African countries mean Land of Blacks (Sudan), or Land of Dark People (Somalia) Black faces (Ethiopia), not all Africans are black 19. Africa is the second largest continent 20. Africa accounts for about 14.2 percent of the world’s human population and makes up about 22 per cent of the world’s total land area. 21. Africa is the only continent to stretch from the northern temperate to southern temperate zones 22. Yamoussoukro in Cote D’voire was the site of an extravagant replica of Rome’s St. Peter’s Basilica. 23. There are about 250 ethnic groups speaking about 270 languages in Cameroon 24. The smallest African country is the Seychelles 25. The Republic Sudan is the largest country of the African continent. 26. Egypt’s capital city, Cairo, is the largest city by population in Africa with an estimated 9.2 million population 27. Lake Victoria is the largest lake in Africa and the is the world’s second-largest freshwater lake 28. Lake Tanganyika is the deepest lake in Africa reaching at its greatest depth is 1,436 m (4,710 ft), making it the second deepest freshwater lake in the world after Lake Baikal. 29. The River Nile is the longest river in Africa and in the world. 30. Lake Malawi contains the largest number of fish species of any lake in the world, probably over 500 from ten families. 31. The Namib is the world’s oldest desert, and the only desert in Africa inhabited by elephant, rhino, giraffe and lion 32. The Fish River canyon in Namibia is the second largest canyon in the world. 33. The Sahara Desert alone is expanding southwards at an average of 0.8 km (½ mile) a month. 34. Four of the five fastest land animals live in Africa - the cheetah (70 mph), wildebeest, lion, and Thomson’s gazelle (all about 50 mph). 35. South Africa has a penguin colony, which thrives thanks to the cold Antarctic currents on the west coast near the Cape. 36. Madagascar is the home of the world’s largest as well as the smallest chameleons. Almost half of the world’s chameleon species live on the island of Madagascar. 37. The largest seal colony in the southern hemisphere is Cape Cross in Namibia 38. The Nile crocodile is Africa’s largest living reptile 39. The African elephant is the largest living land mammal. 40. The world’s largest and heaviest beetle, the Goliath Beetle is found in tropical Africa. It can reach a length of 5 inches and weigh up to ¼ lb. 41. Having a wingspan of only ½, the smallest butterfly is in the world is found in South Africa. It is known as the Dwarf Blue Butterfly 42. The only place where shoals of fresh water sardines are found is in Lake Tanganyika. 43. Apart from Muslim nations, Ghana has the lowest per capita consumption of beer in Africa, yet its brewery industry is one of the most competitive 44. It is almost impossible to hold a small wedding. The idea of a private wedding is unknown and is greatly frowned upon. Friends and relatives expect to be invited to a wedding and to play a role in the ceremony. 45. Did you know that Africa would have been an estimated US $100 billion better off in 1999 if malaria had been eliminated years ago? 46. The world’s biggest hospital is in Soweto. 47. The word “Crossword in Kiswahili is “chemshebongo which, when translated, means “boil brains. 48. The world’s largest diamond was the Cullinan, found in South Africa in 1905. It weighed 3,106.75 carats uncut. It was cut into the Great Star of Africa, weighing 530.2 carats, the Lesser Star of Africa, which weighs 317.40 carats, and 104 other diamonds of nearly flawless color and clarity. They now form part of the British crown jewels. 49. Did you know there are about 280 000 windmills on farms across South Africa, second in number only to Australia? 50. With a population of more than 113 million, Nigeria is easily the most populated country in Africa and the 10th most populous country in the world.
Posted on: Wed, 31 Dec 2014 17:16:36 +0000
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