It tends to irk me when people think that UK = England, or when people talk of Europe as one country with one currency. The EU alone has 27 countries and over 500 million inhabitants. Only 20 of these countries use the euro. Similarly people tend to talk about Africa as though it is one country. There are 53 or 54 countries in Africa, depending on whether you regard West Sahara as an independent country or a province of Morocco. Most people cannot name more than 15 African countries with no problem. The countries in Africa vary widely in terms of history, language and size. Many of them are at war with each other. Only two have never been colonized – Ethiopia and Liberia. The image above gives you an idea of the sheer size of this continent. It is absolutely enormous.
Africa is the world’s second-largest and second-most-populous continent. At about 30.2 million km2 (11.7 million sq mi) including adjacent islands, it covers six percent of the Earth’s total surface area and 20.4 percent of the total land area. With 1.1 billion people as of 2013, it accounts for about 15% of the world’s human population. (Wikipedia)
I have never been asked if there are lions walking in the streets but some of the things that people have said to me:
- How can you come from Africa? You’re white!
- You mean there is more than one country in Africa?
- Do you know my cousin XXX? He lives in Kenya I think.
- I bet you see lots of tigers in Africa (though I can’t really laugh at that one. I thought Sweden had polar bears until I came to live here)
- There are two Congos?
- Niger? Oh, you mean Nigeria?s.
Another map that really makes you think is the Ebola map, created by Anthony England
