Africa!


 * WELCOME TO AFRICA **



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 * Size**- 30,065,000 sq km or 11,608,000 sq miles ([])
 * Population**- 1,000,050,000 ([])
 * 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).
 * Number of Countries**- 52 ([])

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**African Union**-The advent of the African Union (AU) can be described as an event of great magnitude in the institutional evolution of the continent. On 9.9.1999, the Heads of State and Government of the Organisation of African Unity issued a Declaration (the Sirte Declaration) calling for the establishment of an African Union, with a view, inter alia, to accelerating the process of integration in the continent to enable it play its rightful role in the global economy while addressing multifaceted social, economic and political problems compounded as they are by certain negative aspects of globalisation. =====

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The main objectives of the OAU were, inter alia, to rid the continent of the remaining vestiges of colonization and apartheid; to promote unity and solidarity among African States; to coordinate and intensify cooperation for development; to safeguard the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Member States and to promote international cooperation within the framework of the United Nations ===== ( [])

**Geography of Africa**: Africa is the second largest continent with many different features. The continent is split in half by the equator and has a variety of physical features. This also causes the features in the north to be the same in the south. Both north and south contain deserts with the Sahara in the north and Kalahari in the south. The area around the equator is made up of rain forests. Below the equator is an area of grassy flat highlands that move into plains along the coast. The Uganda-Zaire border and on north is a system of mountain ranges with Mount Kilimanjaro being the highest peak in Africa. Throughout the continent there are a number a large lakes, especially in the Great Rift Valley, as well as a number of large rivers with the Nile River being the longest. Africa is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on the West, the Mediterranean Sea to the North, the Red Sea to the Northeast, and the Indian Ocean to the Southeast. [|Geography Africa] and [|Overview of Physical Geography]

**Main Languages**: There are many language spoken throughout Africa. The total number is between 1500 and 2000. Among those four official languages. In the north Afro-Asiatic is spoken. Scattered throughout Central and Eastern Africa Nilo-Saharian is spoken. Niger-Saharian is spoken throughout 2/3 of Africa. Finally, Khoisan is spoken through parts of Southern Africa. All of the varieties of languages in Africa are considered official under the African Union though. [|African Languages]


 * Unique Characteristics[[image:sahara_deseert.jpg align="right" caption="The Sahara Desert" link="http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:r40mr09TEzTURM:http://chattahbox.com/images/2009/07/sahara_desert.jpg&t=1"]] **
 * Although Africa is the second largest continent it has the shortest amount of coastlines because most of its coasts are not jagged and contain few bays.
 * Among Africa's population live some of the shortest people ever born. At the same time some African natives are amongst the tallest in the world.
 * On some continents several different languages are spoken. In Africa over 1,000 language varieties are still being used although some of these are threatened by extinction.
 * Almost half of the population of Africa is under the age of 15. Part of the reason for this is that the life expectancy for some countries in Africa is only 36.
 * The world's largest desert, the Sahara, is in Africa. It is so huge that it is larger than the continental U.S. ([|Associated Content])