Africa is a continent that covers nearly 12 million square miles. How big is that you wonder? It’s BIG! Africa could hold the land occupied by China, India, Europe, Argentina, and the continental United States with room to spare!

Africa

Africa is the second largest of the earth’s seven continents and makes up approximately 22% of the earth’s total land area.g

•Largest island in Africa - Madagascar off the East coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean is the largest island in Africa and the 4th largest island in the world. Madagascar is just over 1000 miles (1580 km) long and 350 miles (570 km) wide.

Madagascar is the largest island in Africa and the fourth largest island in the world. Madagascar is in the Indian Ocean.

Horn of Africa

Madagascar

Kiliminjaro is the tallest mountain in Africa.

Kiliminjaro

SAHARA DESERT "The Great Desert") is the world's largest hot desert. At over 9,400,000 square kilometres (3,630,000 sq mi), it covers most of Northern Africa, making it almost as large as Europe or the United States.

Sahara

Nile River

•Believed to be the longest river in the world, the Nile River lies in the following countries: Kenya, Eritrea, Congo, Burundi, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia.•The Nile River has huge significance in regards to Ancient Egypt and the Bible.

Four of the five fastest land animals reside in Africa: the cheetah, the wildebeest, the lion, and the Thomson’s gazelle. All of these animals can run at speeds above 50 miles per hour, with the cheetah reaching a top speed of about 70 miles per hour.e

Africa is home to the world’s largest living land animal, the African elephant, which can weigh between 6 and 7 tons.e Elephants are herbivores!

Central eastern Africa is believed by most to be the origin place of humans. The earliest remains of the modern human species Homo sapiens have been found in Ethiopia and date to roughly 200,000 years ago.h