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Africa is the second largest and most populous continent in the world after Asia. About 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles), including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the entire surface of the Earth and 20% of its land area. By 2018, the world’s population with 1.3 billion, which was about 16% of the world’s population. The average population of Africa is the youngest of all continents; The median age in 2012 was 19.7 years, while the global average was 30.4 years. Despite its wide range of natural resources, the continent is the least rich per capita, probably due in part to the legacy of European colonization of Africa. Despite such a low concentration of wealth, recent economic growth and a large and young population make Africa an important economic market in a wider global context.

The continent is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Isthmus of Suez and the Red Sea to the northeast, the Indian Ocean to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. The continent includes Madagascar and various archipelagos. It comprises 54 fully recognized sovereign states (countries), eight territories and two de facto independent states with limited or no recognition. Algeria is the largest country in Africa and Nigeria which has the largest population. African countries are cooperating through the creation of the African Union, headquartered in Addis Ababa.

Africa straddles along the equator and covers many climatic regions; it is the only continent stretching from the northern temperate to the southern temperate zones. Most of the continent and its countries are located in the Northern Hemisphere, with a significant proportion and number of countries in the Southern Hemisphere. Africa is home to great biodiversity; it is the continent with the most megafauna species as it was least affected by the extinction of the Pleistocene megafauna. However, Africa is also seriously affected by a wide range of environmental problems, including desertification, deforestation, water scarcity and other problems. These environmental problems are expected to worsen as climate change affects Africa. The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has identified Africa as the most vulnerable continent to climate change.

Africa, especially East Africa, is widely recognized as the place of origin of humans and the Hominidae (great apes) clade, which means that Africa has a long and complex history. The earliest hominids and their ancestors date back about 7 million years, including Sahelanthropus tchadensis, Australopithecus africanus, A. afarensis, Homo erectus, H. habilis, and H. ergaster, the earliest remains of Homo sapiens (modern humans) found in Ethiopia, South Africa and Morocco, date back to about 200,000, 259,000 and 300,000 years, respectively, and it is believed that Homo sapiens was born in Africa between about 350,000-260,000 years ago.

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