How many African countries are landlocked?

Almost one-third or fifteen of Africa's forty-seven continental countries are landlocked and have no access to the ocean or seas.
The landlocked countries include Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Niger, Rwanda, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

How many African countries were independent in 1950?
Only four out of fifty-three African countries - Egypt, Liberia, Ethopia, and South Africa were independent countries in 1950. The newest country in Africa is Eritrea, which gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993.

How many capital cities does South Africa have?
South Africa divides its governmental power among three capitals. Bloemfontein is the capital of the judiciary, Cape Town is the legislative capital, and Pretoria is the administrative capital.

How many provinces are now in South Africa?
In 1994, South Africa transformed its four provinces of Cape Provine, Natal, Orange Free State, and Transvaal into nine provinces based on the homelands of indigenous people. The nine provinces are Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, North-West, Northern Cape, Northern Province, and Western Cape.

What is Africa's largest lake?
Africa's largest lake is Lake Victoria, located in eastern Africa at the border of Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania. It's the world's second largest freshwater lake, following Lake Superior in North America. Lake Victoria was named by John Hanning Speke, a British explorer and the first European to see the lake (1858), in honor of Queen Victoria.

What's the only country to provide constitutional protection to homosexuals?
South Africa's 1996 constitution provides protection to gays, lesbians, and bisexuals. The protection comes in the "Equality Clause" in the country's Bill of Rights that protects people from discrimination in the public and private sectors on the basis of race, gender, pregnancy, marital status, ethnic or social origin, color, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, conscience, belief, culture, language, and birth.

Where did Swahili come from?
Swahili is not an indigenous African language but it actually developed as a lingua franca or trading language between Arab and African traders over the past few centuries. It is Africa's second most popular language (following Arabic) and is spoken throughout the continent.

Where is Caprivi's Finger?
Caprivi's Finger is the name of the panhandle (narrow strip of land) protruding from the northeast corner of Namibia and toward Botswana and Zambia.
The panhandle was named for German Chancellor Georg Leo von Caprivi who acquired the land from the British in 1890 in order to obtain access to the Zambezi River for Namibia (then known as German Southwest Africa). The strip is about 300 miles (480 km) long but no more than 65 miles (105 km) wide.

Where is the Kalahari Desert?
The Kalahari Desert occupies most of the country of Botswana and parts of Namibia and South Africa. It's one of the world's largest deserts and lies on a high plateau of about 3000 feet (910 meters).

What is the world's longest river?
Africa's Nile River is the world's longest at 4,160 miles (6,695 kilometers) long.
The Blue Nile begins in the highlands of Ethiopia and the White Nile begins at Lake Victoria. The two branches of the Nile merge at Khartoum, the capital of Sudan.

Where is the world's largest church?
The official capital of Cote d'Ivoire in Yamoussoukro is the home to the world's largest church. The Basilica of Our Lady of Peace was constructed in 1989 and has seating for 18,000 parishioners. It was constructed by President Felix Houphouet-Boigny who also moved the capital of the country from Abidjan to his hometown of Yamoussoukro.

Where is the world's largest desert?
Northern Africa's Sahara Desert is the world's largest at more than 3.5 million square miles (9 million square kilometers), which is slightly smaller that the size of the United States, the world's fourth largest country. The Sahara strectches from Mauritania to Egypt and Sudan.

Where is the world's longest freshwater lake?
Africa's Lake Tanganyika, which lies primarily on the border of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania, is the world's longest freshwater lake. It is approximately 420 miles (676 kilometers) long but it is very thin - it's between 10 and 45 miles (16 to 72 km) wide.
Lake Tanganyika is the world's second deepest lake with a maximum depth of 4,710 feet (1,435 meters).

Where was a fossil fish discovered?
In December 1938, a fisherman discovered a strange looking fish near the island country of Comoros that was thought to be extinct. The coelacanth was thought to have been extinct for over 65 million years.
The species continues to live near the islands, in the Indian Ocean's Mozambique Channel between the coast of Africa and Madagascar.

Where would you find permanent ice in Africa?
The top of Africa's tallest peak, Mount Kilimanjaro (19,340 feet / 5894 meters), which is located within three degrees of the equator is home to permanent ice that lasts year-round.

Which African country's official language is Spanish?
The African country of Equatorial Guinea is the only African country with an official language of Spanish. The continental and island country was a colony of Spain until independence in 1968.

Which continent has the most countries?
Africa is home to 53 independent countries, representing more than 25% of the countries of the world. There are 47 countries on mainland Africa and six nearby island countries.

Which country is home to the world's highest minimum elevation?
With a minimum national elevation of 4,530 feet (1380 meters) above sea level, Lesotho holds the record for the world's highest minimum elevation. Lesotho's lowest point lies in the Orange River valley but most of the country's land lies above 6,000 feet (1830 meters).
Many of the world's non-landlocked countries have minimum elevations of 0 feet above sea level since they touch the ocean or sea at sea level. Some countries also have points on land that have an elevation below sea level.

Which country is the world's leading cocoa bean producer?
Cote d'Ivoire is by far the world's leading producer of cocoa beans, the beans used to produce chocolate. Well over one-third (approximately 37.5% during the period 1994-1996) of the world's cocoa comes from Cote d'Ivoire. The second leading country is Ghana, responsible for about 13% of world production, the Ivory Coast's neighbor to the east.

Which country is the world's leading gold producer?
South Africa is the world's leading gold producer. The country is frequently responsible for about one-quarter to one-third of the world's annual gold production.

Which country's flag is nothing more than a single color?
The flag of Libya is nothing more than a green rectangle without a design or emblem. Green is the national color of Libya as well as a symbol of devotion to Islam.

Which lake killed more than 2000 people?
Cameroon's Lake Nios sits upon a volcanic vent. On August 21, 1986, the vent erupted and spewed carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide gasses which blew into nearby villages and killed over 2,000 people while they slept.

Why is Cabinda not connected to Angola?
Angola's province of Cabinda is separated from Angola by about 25 miles (40 km) consisting of a narrow strip of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Belgium gave Cabinda to Angola in 1886.