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= **Africa** = media type="googlemap" key="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Africa&aq=&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=26.177529,85.166016&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Africa&ll=-8.783195,34.508523&spn=62.335039,170.332031&z=3&output=embed" width="425" height="350"

**Size:**
11.7 million square miles

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**Union:**
African Union = =

**Population:**
1,000,010,000

**Number of Countries:**
54

**Main Languages:**
There are over 1,500 languages spoken in African with 6 major linguistic families
 * Afroasiatic: Many different Afroasiatiic languages are spoken in Africa, but the most common one is Arabic.
 * Nilo-Saharan: The most widely used languages are Kanuri, Songhay, and Nubian.
 * Niger-Congo: Yoruba and Igbo are the most common languages in this family.
 * Khoe: The most used languages in this family are Khoe, Tuu, and Kx'a.
 * Austronesian: Malagasy, the official language of Madagascar, is an example of a Austronesian language. These languages originate outside of Africa.
 * Indo-European: The languages in this family have been around since the colonial period and consist of English, Italian, Spanish, and French.

**Largest Country:**
Sudan

**Smallest Country:**
Seychelles: a chain of islands off the eastern coast The smallest country on the continental mainland is The Gambia

**Highest Mountain:**
Mount Kilimanjaro has its peak at 19,340 feet above sea level and is located in Tanzania.

**Longest River:**
The Nile, which stretches 4,241 miles

**Largest Lake:**
Lake Victoria is the second largest fresh water lake in the world.

**Fun Facts:**

 * Eastern Africa is highly regarded in the scientific community as the origin of humans.
 * Africa has a immense population of animals and fauna that can be found no where else on Earth.
 * Africa is the hottest continent and the highest temperature ever recoded was in Libya in 1992.

**References:**
"Africa - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2011. .

"What is Africa's largest lake?." //Geography Home Page - Geography at About.com//. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2011. .