Africa facts

Largest Country
– Sudan, Republic of, republic in north-eastern Africa, the largest country of the African continent. Sudan has a total area of 2,505,800 sq km (967,490 sq mi).

Smallest Country
– The smallest African country is The Seychelles covering an area of 453 sq km but Gambia is the smallest of the mainland African states, covering an area of 11,300 sq km (4,363 sq mi).

Largest City
– Egypt’s capital city, Cairo, is the largest city in Africa with an estimated 9.2 million population

Highest Point
– Mount Kilimanjaro – Uhuru Point – (5895m/19,340 ft) in Tanzania

Lowest Point
– the lowest is Lake ‘Asal (153 m/502 ft below sea level) in Djibouti

Northernmost tip
– is Cape Blanc (Ra’s al Abyad;) in Tunisia

Southernmost tip
– is Cape Agulhas in South Africa

Largest Lake
– Lake Victoria is the largest lake in Africa and the is the world’s second-largest freshwater lake – covering an area of 69,490 sq km (26,830 sq mi) and lies 1,130 m (3,720 ft) above sea level. Its greatest known depth is 82 m (270 ft).

Deepest Lake
– Lake Tanganyika is the deepest lake in Africa reaching at its greatest depth is 1,436 m (4,710 ft), making it the second deepest freshwater lake in the world after Lake Baikal.

Longest River
– The River Nile drains north-eastern Africa, and, at 6,650 km (4,132 miles), is the longest river in Africa and in the world. It is formed from the Blue Nile, which originates at Lake Tana in Ethiopia, and the White Nile, which originates at Lake Victoria.

The Great Africa Rift Valley
– The Rift Valley extends more than 4,830 km (3,000 mi) from Syria in south-western Asia to Mozambique in south-eastern Africa.
The width of the valley ranges from a few miles to more than 160 km (100 mi). In eastern Africa, the valley splits into two branches: the

Eastern Rift and the Western Rift
– The fault in which the Rift sits is still moving: the western side of the rift is pulling away from the eastern ridge at about 6 mm per year, while in the south it is moving together at a rate of 2 mm per year.

Lake Malawi
– Lake Malawi contains the largest number of fish species of any lake in the world, probably over 500 from ten families. Particularly noteworthy are the Cichlidae, of which all but five of over 400 species are endemic to Lake Malawi. The lake contains 30% of all known cichlid species. Of particular interest is the ‘mbuna’ rock fish.

Namibia Desert
– The Namibia is the world’s oldest desert, and the only desert in Africa inhabited by elephant, rhino, giraffe and lion

Namibia – Fish River Canyon
– The Fish River canyon is the second largest canyon in the world.

The Sahara Desert
– The Sahara Desert alone is expanding southwards at an average of 0.8 km (½ mile) a month.