Africa
Africa is the second largest continent in the world. It makes up about a fifth of the world's land. It is surrounded by large areas of water. There are 61 countries in Africa, and 14% of the world's population live there.[needs proving] It is thought to be the continent where the first humans came from.
North or Saharan Africa
Much of North Africa is dry and warm, as it is dominated by the Sahara Desert and does not receive a monsoon season. In Saharan Africa there are few rivers or other water sources for the people because it is so warm and dry and the continent is very wide - this means it is far away from the ocean, which brings rain and wind. Underground water sources, such as springs are very important in the desert. These often form oasis. An oasis is an area of vegetation (plant life) surrounded by desert.
Countries that are in the North, but are not part of the Sahara desert, are not affected by the very dry wind.
The reason Africa is so warm is that it is between the two tropics:
These are very warm areas of the earth, and at the centre of the tropics is the equator (represented by the red line on the right). These lines do not really exist, they are used by people to show where the sun's rays are most powerful.

In the extreme north, the climate is cooler and similar to the climate of European Mediterranean countries.
Animals
Africa has a lot of wildlife.[needs proving] There are many types of animals there. Some are cheetahs, elephants, lions, snakes, giraffes, and a lot more. Over 2,000 types of fish live in African lakes and rivers.
Other websites
Continents of the world | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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(The Pacific Islands are not part of any continent, but sometimes they are grouped with Australia as Oceania) |