Africa continent information – Facts (How many countries in Africa)
List of Countries with Capital in Africa
Africa is the world’s second largest most-populous continent after Asia. It has 56 countries. This continent is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea to north, the Isthumus of Suez and the Red Sea to the northeast, the Indian Ocean to the southeast and the Atlantic Ocean to the west.
Africa’s largest country by area : Algeria
Africa’s largest by population : Nigeria
Largest river in Africa : Nile river
No. of time zone in Africa : 6 (range from UTC/GMT -1 to UTC/GMT + 4)
| African Country | Capital City |
| Algeria | Algiers |
| Angola | Luanda |
| Benin | Porto-Novo |
| Botswana | Gaborone |
| Burkina Faso | Ouagadougou |
| Burundi | Bujumbura |
| Cameroon | Yaoundé |
| Cape Verde | Praia |
| Central African Republic | Bangui |
| Chad | N’Djamena |
| Comoros | Moroni |
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | Kinshasa |
| Djibouti | Djibouti |
| Egypt | Cairo |
| Equatorial Guinea | Malabo |
| Eritrea | Asmara |
| Ethiopia | Addis Ababa |
| Gabon | Libreville |
| Gambia | Banjul |
| Ghana | Accra |
| Guinea | Conakry |
| Guinea-Bissau | Bissau |
| Ivory Coast | Abidjan, Yamoussoukro |
| Kenya | Nairobi |
| Lesotho | Maseru |
| Liberia | Monrovia |
| Libya | Tripoli |
| Madagascar | Antananarivo |
| Malawi | Lilongwe |
| Mali | Bamako |
| Mauritania | Nouakchott |
| Mauritius | Port Louis |
| Morocco | Rabat |
| Mozambique | Maputo |
| Namibia | Windhoek |
| Niger | Niamey |
| Nigeria | Abuja |
| Republic of the Congo | Brazzaville |
| Rwanda | Kigali |
| São Tomé and Príncipe | São Tomé |
| Senegal | Dakar |
| Seychelles | Victoria |
| Sierra Leone | Freetown |
| Somalia | Mogadishu |
| South Africa | Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Pretoria |
| South Sudan | Juba |
| Sudan | Khartoum |
| Swaziland | Mbabane |
| Tanzania | Dodoma |
| Togo | Lomé |
| Tunisia | Tunis |
| Uganda | Kampala |
| Zambia | Lusaka |
| Zimbabwe | Harare |
| Latitude | 35° S and 37° N |
| Longitude | 50° E and 17° W |
| Population | 1022234000 (2nd) |
| Area | 30065000 sq km (approx) (20.4% of the world) |
| Oceans and Seas | Indian Ocean, Red Sea, Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Guinea, Mediterranean Sea |
| Highest Point | Kilimanjaro (5895 m) |
| Lowest Point | Lake Assol (-156.1 m) |
| Straits | Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb and Straits of Gibraltar |
| Islands | Madagascar, Cape, Verde Islands, the Connors, Mauritius and Seychelles |
| Plateaus | The entire continent is a plateau. |
- Three types of palm trees are found in Africa viz Coconut palm, Oil palm and Date palm.
- It is the second largest continent after Asia and about nine times the size of India.
- It is situated in South of Europe and South-East of Asia. It is bound by Mediterranean sea in the North, the Atlantic ocean in the West and South-West, the Indian ocean in the East and Red sea in the North-East.
- Africa belongs to all four hemispheres and bulk of the continent lies in tropics. It is joined to Asia by the narrow isthmus of Suez and separated from Eurasia at three different points (Strait of Gibraltar, Suez canal and the strait of Bab-el-Mandeb).
- It is the only continent, which is crossed by Tropic of Cancer, Equator and Tropic of Capricorn.
- It is also called as Dark Continent because the greater part of its vast interior remained little known to the outside world until the last century.
Physical Aspects of Africa
| Mountains | Atlas, Ethiopian Highlands, Mt Kenya, Mt Elgon, Mt Kilimanjaro, Drakensberg, Mt. Cameroon, Mt Rouwenzori, Katanga Plateau and Jos Plateau |
| Rivers | Nile, Zaire or Congo, Niger, Orange, Limpopo, Zambezi |
| Lakes | Kariba, Nayasa, Mweru, Tanganyika, Edward, Tana, Nassar, Chad, Volta and Assal |
| Deserts | Sahara, Sahel, Libyan, Arabian, Nubian, Namib and Kalahari |
Important Information of Africa
-> Lake Victoria is the largest lake of Africa, which is located between Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania. It is source to White Nile river. The equator passes through it.
-> Nasser lake is a man-made lake which lies on Nile river and located between Egypt and Sudan.
-> Nile river is the longest river of the world and life blood of Egypt.
-> The White Nile and the Blue Nile meet at Khartoum (Sudan) to form Nile.
-> Congo river cuts equator twice.
-> Port Harcourt of Niger is located on Niger Delta.
-> The Zambezi river includes the Victoria fall, one of the largest falls in the world. It makes the natural political boundary between Zambia and Zimbabwe.
-> The Orange river forms the natural boundary between South Africa and Namibia.
-> The Limpopo river cuts the Tropic of Capricorn twice and it separates South Africa from Botswana and Zimbabwe.
-> The highest peak of Africa is Mt. Kilimanjaro and is located in Tanzania.
-> The three points where Africa almost touches Eurosia are Gibraltar, Suez and Bab-el-Mandeb.
-> The highest temperature in the world has been recorded at Al-Aziziyah (Libya) as 58° C making it the hottest place in the world.
-> Swahili is a famous language of Africa.
-> Sahara desert is the largest single stretch of desert which is 5150 km from East to West.
-> Kalahari desert is the home of the Africa’s one of the oldest races, the Kalahari Bushmen.
-> Food crops such as wheat, rice maize and cash crps such as cotton, coffee, cocoa, oil palm, sugar cane, rubber, tobacco are prominent in Africa.
-> Africa is rich in mineral deposits and these minerals are mostly found on the plateau, South of the Equator. The minerals found in Africa are diamond, gold, copper, bauxite, platinum, iron ore, petroleum, manganese etc.
Asia Continent Important Facts
Candidates can check the facts about Asia Continents by clicking on below link.
Important Information About Asia Continent
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