1. Africa

2. Africa is the second-largest continent in the world after Asia
Africa is the second-largest continent in the world after Asia. About 1 billion people live there. There are 61 countries.

3. The majority of Africans are Muslim or Christian
The majority of Africans are Muslim or Christian Has the world’s longest river, the Nile.

4. Climate: Africa has very different weather all across the continent.
The Sahara desert covers the northern part of the continent.
The center has plains, and also thick jungles.
The south is a mixture of desert, plains, and forested areas.

5. History
Africa has a very long history. Scientists think the first humans evolved (进化) there.
The Egyptian civilization started there.

6. History
Africa has had a big problem with slavery (奴隶制度). From the year 800 – 1900, about 18 million slaves were taken.
Many countries in Europe wanted to take over countries in Africa. This was called colonialism (殖民主义). The African countries became colonies of European countries.

7. Now let’s learn about some of the countries in Africa…

8. South Africa
Capital city: Pretoria, Johannesburg, Bloemfontein
The San (Bushmen) are among the oldest native (born there) peoples of South Africa.
South Africa has 11 official languages.
There are about 49 million people.

9. Diamonds were discovered in 1867.
In 1886 gold was discovered. These discoveries (especially gold) helped the country’s economy (money) during 1870–1900.

10. Trade with other countries went up.
Railroads (trains) grew from 110 km in 1870 to 5,790 km in 1895.
The number of white people increased from about 300,000 in 1870 to about 1 million in 1900.

11. The population of South Africa is about 80% black (African) and 10% white (European), with about 9% people of mixed white and black descent

12. South Africa used to be ruled by a system called Apartheid
South Africa used to be ruled by a system called Apartheid. This was a system that did not allow some people to be citizens, have rights or be in a government job. This was because of the color of their skin. It ended in 1990, but there are still problems today.

14. Population of little over 81 million people.
Egypt
Capital city is Cairo and it is the largest city in Egypt.
Languages: Arabic (official), English and French widely understood by educated people.
Population of little over 81 million people.

15. Egypt is at the northeast corner of Africa on the Mediterranean Sea.
Egypt is mainly made up of hot deserts and receives little rainfall. Without the Nile river, the area would be entirely desert.

16. The Egyptian civilization was very powerful and lasted for thousands of years.
They built many great cities and were very rich.
A famous early Egyptian king (called a pharaoh), named Menes, brought together two fighting countries and made them into one Egypt.

17. The Egyptians believed that if the pharaoh's body could be mummified after death the pharaoh would live forever. The tombs were made to protect the buried Pharaoh's body and his belongings.
tomb
mummy

19. Madagascar
Capital city and the largest city in Madagascar is Antananarivo.
Population of 22 million.
Official languages are Malagasy and French.

20. Madagascar lies in the Indian Ocean off the southeast coast of Africa.
The world's fourth-largest island, more than twice as big as the UK.

21. 90% of the animals and plants on Madagascar are found nowhere else on Earth.
People first arrived in Madagascar about 350 BCE.
Madagascar became a French colony, but later became independent in 1960.