Africa is the
world's second-largest and second most-populous continent,
after Asia. At about 30.2 million km˛ (11.7 million sq mi)
including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total
surface area and 20.4% of the total land area.[2] With 1.0
billion people (as of 2009, see table) in 61 territories, it
accounts for about 14.72% of the world's human population.
The continent is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the
north, both the Suez Canal and the Red Sea along the Sinai
Peninsula to the northeast, the Indian Ocean to the southeast,
and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. The continent has 54
sovereign states, including Madagascar, various island groups,
and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, a member state of
the African Union whose statehood is disputed by Morocco.
Africa, particularly central eastern Africa, is widely
regarded within the scientific community to be the origin of
humans and the Hominidae clade (great apes), as evidenced by
the discovery of the earliest hominids and their ancestors, as
well as later ones that have been dated to around seven
million years ago – including Sahelanthropus tchadensis,
Australopithecus africanus, A. afarensis, Homo erectus, H.
habilis and H. ergaster – with the earliest Homo sapiens
(modern human) found in Ethiopia being dated to circa 200,000
years ago.[3]
Africa straddles the equator and encompasses numerous climate
areas; it is the only continent to stretch from the northern
temperate to southern temperate zones.[4] The African expected
economic growth rate is at about 5.0% for 2010 and 5.5% in
2011
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