Africa

Africa is the second-largest of the world's seven continents with 11,699,000 square miles. It comprises nearly 25 percent of Earth's total land mass. Africa is home to vast deserts, tropical rain forests, rugged mountains and fertile grasslands. Its National Parks, wildlife preserves, and incredible natural beauty attract an increasing number of tourists from around the world. One of the vast deserts is the largest desert in the world, the Sahara, which spans an area measured of approximately 3.5 million square miles. 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 53 independent countries, the most of any continent. 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  which makes it 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.

Many languages in Africa have a "click" sound that is pronounced simultaneously as other sounds. You have to learn these languages during childhood to do it properly.

Somalia is the only African country in which the entire population speaks the same language, Somali.

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 (the cheetah can run 60 MPH), the largest reptile (Nile crocodile - grows up to 18 feet), the largest beetle (Goliath Beetle - 5 inches), and the largest frog (Goliath Frog - 12 inches).

The religions in Africa are many as there are countries and over 1 million languages.  The largest are Catholic, Animist,  Protestant, Islam, Hinduism, and Christian. Islam is the religious faith of Muslims. In Africa, Islam is the predominant religion in the north, and in the eastern portion of Africa, largely due to proselytizing efforts from the Arab world. Islam is practiced throughout Africa. Hinduism is practiced in few places in Africa, mostly in Southern Africa where people from India have settled.
Christianity began as a movement within Judaism. By the 19th century, the great century of Christian missions, took the faith to every corner of the world, including Africa. Christianity is growing quickly but Africans will still practice their own indigenous religions and beliefs in conjunction.

Animism or Indigenous religions vary from region to region in Africa.
In many cases, indigenous symbols and rituals are integrated into the ceremonies and symbols of the practice of these other religions.

While there are no areas in Africa that are predominantly Jewish, small communities of Jewish people can be found throughout Africa.

African News