10 Intriguing facts about Africa

Africa is in fact the second largest continent on Earth, with a sizable population that reflects that, as it's made up of over 50 countries with a multitude of languages, dialects and ethnicities. The continent covers over 30 million square kilometres and is home to a lot of iconic and endangered species.

The most spoken language in Africa isn't English, French or what may be seen as a more native African language but actually Arabic. Arabic is spoken by around 170 million people and a native language in the Maghreb region of Africa, encompassing countries like Morocco, Tunisia and Libya.

Maybe not coming as too surprising, Africa is the hottest continent in the world, with many dry and arid regions (up to 60%), including one of the largest deserts in the world - the Sahara desert. The Sahara itself covering a mind boggling 3.6 million square kilometres.

When you think of windmills you may picture the Netherlands or Santorini, but would South Africa come to mind? Probably not, however the country is actually home to around 280,000 windmills found all over the country.

Africa is vast as you may know and it can lay claim to being the second biggest continent on the planet, with 54 countries and a whopping population over 1.2 billion people - which is second only to Asia, impressive!

The Nile is a well and hugely important river in antiquity especially in Ancient Egypt, giving civilisations water and transportation routes. It's also the longest river in the world and flows through several countries, being an important source of water to this day, these countries include: Egypt, Sudan, Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo. 

It's widely believed in anthropology that modern humans can trace their origins to Africa within the last 200,000 years, before branching out to all other continents of the world via long term migration. Meaning all living humans can hold our lineage to coming from one place, intriguing!

Standing at 5,895 metres (19,341 feet), Mount Kilimanjaro is a majestic and iconic mountain - the highest mountain in Africa but also the highest free-standing mountain in the world.

Africa is home to an estimated 20% of species on Earth, including some endangered species like the white Rhino, African wild dog, Bonobo and more. The continent is home to some standout animals like Elephants (the largest land animal) and Cheetah (the fastest land animal).

Of all continents, Africa may be the last place you'd expect to find penguins but you may be surprised by the African penguin, with colonies that live in and around coastal areas of South Africa and Namibia.

Many countries in Africa are very diverse and have several of different ethnicities, tribes and languages - Nigeria has around 500 spoken languages, meanwhile South Africa has 11 official languages and Zimbabwe has the most on the continent with 16.