Africa Reading Comprehension

Language Fun: In Swahili, “Welcome to Africa” would be translated as “Kuwakaribisha kwa Afrika.”

Size: Africa has a land area of about 12 million square miles. It is bigger than Canada, the United States, and China combined!

Population: More than 1.1 billion people live in Africa. Africa is the world's second most populous continent. The most populated country is Nigeria. Lagos, Nigeria is one of the six largest metropolitan cities of the world.

Number of Countries: There are 54 countries in Africa. The smallest country is Seychelles.

Largest Country: The country of Algeria covers more than half the continent's landmass.

Location: Africa borders the southern half of the Mediterranean Sea. To the west is the Atlantic Ocean.

Ranking: Africa is the 2nd largest continent.

​Africa Reading 2

Language Fun: Lekker [lek-uh] is a popular term indicating something is ‘great.’ For example, ‘The steak was lekker,’ or ‘We had a lekker day at the pool.’

Deserts: Africa has three deserts. The Sahara desert is the largest desert in the world. The Kalahari desert is a rocky desert in southern Africa. The Namib desert in southwest Africa is one of the hottest places on earth.

Mountains: Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania is Africa’s highest mountain. The highest peak is 'Kibo Peak’ or 'Uhuru Peak.’ The mountain is made up of an inactive volcano. Mt. Kilimanjaro is located near the equator but is so high that its peak is always snow-covered.

Rivers: Africa’s longest river is the Nile River, which is also the longest river in the world. The Nile River runs 4,258 miles. Other rivers include the Congo, the Niger, and the Zambesi. Proper English pronunciation of the Niger River is “NYE-jur”. Most of Africa's rainforests are found along the Congo River basin.

Natural Resources: Africa’s natural resources include oil, wood, sugar, diamonds, gold, iron, copper, salt, silver, and cocoa beans. Resources from African rainforests are at risk from logging, agriculture, and firewood collection.

Africa Reading 3

Language Fun: Biltong is a favorite snack in South Africa made from dried meat, similar to beef jerky.

Landmarks: The Great Pyramids in Egypt are massive tombs of dead pharaohs. Victoria Falls in Zambia is the largest waterfall in the world. The Ngorongoro Crater acts as a protective habitat for the black rhinoceros, hippopotamus, wildebeest, and zebra.

Animals: Africa is the home to many wild animals such as the aardvark, antelope, elephant, baboon, buffalo, cheetah, giraffe, hippopotamus, hyena, leopard, lion, meerkat, ostrich, rhinoceros, vulture, wildebeest and zebra. Many tourists visit the lush rainforests or go on African safaris to see the animal life.

Climate: Most of Africa has a tropical, warm climate.

Health: Africa is the poorest continent on earth. Millions of Africans live without electricity. Clean water and sanitation issues affect daily life and health. Hunger is also a major issue. A disease called malaria kills thousands of people per day. Sadly, parts of Africa are so poor that the people live on only $0.70 per day.

Africa Reading 4

Language Fun: “Hujambo, jinsi unafanya” translates in English to “Hello, how are you doing?”

Culture: Over 3,000 different groups of people live in Africa. Each indigenous group or tribe has their own language and culture. Arts and craft may include sculpture, weaving, painting, pottery, and beading. In Kenya, wealth is measured by how many cows a family has.

Food: A common corn-based dish is called pap. Depending on the location in Africa, it can also be known as ugali, sadza, chima, ubgali, bugali or sokora.

Language: Over 2,000 languages are spoken in Africa. English is spoken in many African countries. Arabic is the official language of northern Africa. Swahili is mostly spoken in eastern countries like Kenya and Uganda.

Religion: Most Africans are Christians or Muslims. About 10% of Africans use religious rituals such as bone-throwing, herbal medicine and even ‘magic’.