Looking for a Map of Africa
and Some Quick Facts?

At 11,699,000 square miles, Africa is the second-largest of the world's seven continents - it comprises nearly 25 percent of Earth's total land mass. This continent contains the largest desert in the world, the Sahara, which spans an area measured at roughly 3.5 million square miles. Also there is the Rift Valley which is over 3,000 miles long and up to 100 miles wide. The Rift Valley is home to an active earthquake fault line. The world's second largest freshwater lake is in Africa (Lake Victoria at 26,830 square miles) as is the second deepest freshwater lake (Lake Tanganyika at a depth of 4,680 feet). The highest point on the continent is the 19,340-foot Mount Kilimanjaro.

Africa has the most countries of any continent - 53. The smallest is The Seychelles at 281 square miles and the largest is the Republic of Sudan with 967,490 square miles. All 53 countries hold 778,000,000 people - the second most populated continent. More than 1,000 different languages are spoken there. The Berbers of North Africa have no written form of their language.

The African elephant is the largest living land mammal. An elephant can weigh up to 7 tons and drink up to 40 gallons of water per day. Also, Africa is home to the world's fastest land animal (cheetah - 60 MPH), the largest reptile (Nile crocodile - up to 18 feet), the largest beetle (Goliath Beetle - 5 inches), and the largest frog (Goliath Frog - 12 inches).