5 Amazing Facts About Africa You Didn’t Know

I’m sure we all know Africa is the world’s second largest and second most populous continent. Very few people are aware Asia is number one with over 4 billion people, while Africa follows with over 1.2billion. However, Africa is first in terms of wildlife, wild lands and rich cultural traditions.

In today’s article, we will be sharing with you amazing facts we bet you didn’t know about Africa.

5 Amazing Facts About Africa You Didn’t Know

1. Africa owns a very big percentage of the worlds Elephant population

Africa is believed to have over 85% of the world’s elephant population. Also it’s believed to have over 99% of the remaining lions in the world which means Africa owns most of the lions in the world.

2. The human race might have started in Africa

Some of the world’s foremost scientists like Charles Darwin, suggested that the ancestors of human beings may have originated from Africa. But racism and the prejudicial attitude of most of the rest of the world towards Africa, made many people to be highly resistant to such suggestions until very well into the twentieth century.

3. Lake Malawi is believed to have more fish species than any other lake in the world

Lake Malawi located between Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania is the ninth largest lake in the world, and the third largest and second deepest lake in Africa. It’s a meromictic lake (that is, its water layers do not mix), and its waters are rich in fish. The lake is believed to have more fish species than any other freshwater system on earth; however the wild population of fish in the lake has been increasingly threatened by overfishing and water pollution.

4. Africa is home to the only country in the world to voluntarily abandon it’s nuclear weapon program

South Africa is the only country in the world to voluntarily abandon its nuclear weapon program. The reason the then president of South Africa, F.W. de Klerk, gave for dismantling the nation’s nuclear weapons was that he saw no value of nuclear weapons in fighting wars, and the prospect of using them against neighbouring countries was too appalling for him to consider.

5. Africa is everything extreme

Africa is considered by many, including its people a continent of extremes. It is a continent that’s very rich in mineral and agricultural wealth, but at the same time considered the world’s poorest continent, with many of its people suffering poverty and sicknesses. The continent is also extremely large, as well as extremely dry, with an extremely young population, so young that over half of the continent is under the age of 25.

Source: El Crema