About+Africa

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1. General Information
Africa is the second largest and second most populous continent in the world. It is about 11.7 million square miles and covers approximately 6% of the Earth's total surface. As of 2009, the population was 1 billion people, holding it accountable for 14.72% of the world's population. It is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea, the Suez Canal and the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. Africa is the only continent to stretch across both the northern temperate and the southern temperate zones.

2. Climate
The climate in Africa ranges depending on where you are. It can go from tropical to subartic on it's highest peaks. The northern half is mostly desert while the central and southern areas contain both savannah plans and very dense rainforest regions. Africa is the hottest continent on Earth, and drylands and deserts comprise 60% of its entire land surface. The highest recorded temperature occured in Libya in 1922 at 58 °C

3. Ecology
Deforestation affects Africa at twice the world rate. Africa's lands and 19% of its forests and woodlands are classified as degraded. The continent is losing over four million hectares of forest every year, which is twice the average rate compared to the rest of the world. It is said that deforestation has already destroyed roughly 90% of the original forests, and since the arrival of humans 2000 years ago, Madagascar has lost more than 90% of its original forest. About 65% of Africa's agricultural land suffers from soil degradation.

4. Biodiversity
Africa has over 3 000 protected areas, which includes: 198 marine areas, 50 biosphere reserves and 80 wetlands reserves. habitat destruction, increases in human population and poaching and reducing Africa's biological diversity. Biodiversity is also threatened by civil unrest and the introduction of non-native species.



5. Economy
Africa is the world's poorest and most underdeveloped continent. Corrupt governments have often committed serious human rights violations and have failed central planning. There is also high levels of illiteracy and frequent tribal and military conflict. In the 2003 Human Development Report, the bottom 25 ranked nations were all African. A large percentage of the African population suffer from poverty, illiteracy, malnutrition, inadequate water supply and sanitation, and poor health. From 1995 to 2005, the rate of economic growth increased to an average of 5% in 2005. A study done by Harvard University shows that if Africa had decent governance, it could easily feed the entire population.

Taken from: http://www.africa.com/