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Africa, the second largest continent, after Asia, is covering about one-fifth of the total land surface of the earth. The continent is bound in the West by the Atlantic Ocean, in the North by the Mediterranean Sea, in the East by the Red Sea & the Indian Ocean and in the South by the the Atlantic & Indian Ocean.

Africa's total land area is approximately 30,365,000km². The continent measures about 8,000km from North to South & about 7,400 km from East to West. Its northern extremity is the Al-Ghiran Point, near Al-Abyad Point (Cape Blanc), Tunisia; its southern extremity is Cape Agulhas, South Africa. Its farthest point East is the Xaafuun (Hafun) Point, near Cape & its western extremity is the Almadi Point (Pointe des Almadies), on Cape Verde (Cap Vert), Senegal.

In the Northeast, Africa was joined to Asia by the Sinai Peninsula until the construction of the Suez Canal. Paradoxically, the coastline of Africa — 30,500 km in length — is shorter than that of Europe, because there are few inlets and few large bays or gulfs. Off the coasts of Africa a number of islands are associated with the continent. Of these Madagascar, one of the largest islands in the world, is the most significant.

Other smaller islands include the Seychelles, Socotra, & other islands to the East; the Comoros, Mauritius, Réunion, & other islands to the Southeast; Ascension, St. Helena, & Tristan da Cunha to the Southwest; Cape Verde, the Bijagós Islands, Bioko, & São Tomé and Príncipe to the West; and the Azores & the Madeira & Canary islands to the Northwest.

The continent is cut almost equally in two by the Equator, so that most of Africa lies within the tropical region bounded in the North by the Tropic of Cancer & in the South by the Tropic of Capricorn. Because of the bulge formed by western Africa, the greater part of Africa's territory lies North of the Equator. Africa is crossed from North to South by the prime meridian (0° longitude), which passes a short distance to the East of Accra, Ghana.

In antiquity the Greeks are said to have called the continent Libya. The Romans called it Africa, perhaps from the Latin aprica ('sunny') or the Greek aphrike ('without cold'). The name Africa, however, was chiefly applied to the northern coast of the continent, which was, in effect, regarded as a southern extension of Europe. The Romans, who for a time ruled the North African coast, are also said to have called the area south of their settlements Afriga, or the Land of the Afrigs — the name of a Berber community South of Carthage.

The whole of Africa can be considered as a vast plateau rising steeply from narrow coastal strips & consisting of ancient crystalline rocks. The plateau's surface is higher in the Southeast & tilts downward toward the Northeast. In general the plateau may be divided into a Southeastern portion & a Northwestern portion. The Northwestern part, which includes the Sahara & that part of North Africa known as the Maghrib, has two mountainous regions — the Atlas Mountains in Northwestern Africa, which are believed to be part of a system that extends into southern Europe, & the Ahaggar (Hoggar) Mountains in the Sahara.

The Southeastern part of the plateau includes the Ethiopian Plateau, the East African Plateau, & — in eastern South Africa, where the plateau edge falls downward in a scarp — the Drakensberg range. One of the most remarkable features in the geologic structure of Africa is the East African Rift System. The rift itself begins northeast of the continent's limits & extends southward from the Ethiopian Red Sea coast to the Zambezi River basin.

Africa contains an enormous wealth of mineral resources, including some of the world's largest reserves of fossil fuels, metallic ores, gems & precious metals. This richness is matched by a great diversity of biological resources that includes the intensely lush equatorial rainforests of Central Africa & the world-famous populations of wildlife of the eastern and southern portions of the continent.

“Although agriculture (primarily subsistence) still dominates the economies of most African countries, the exploitation of these resources has become the most significant economic activity in Africa in the 20th century. Climatic & other factors have exerted considerable influence on the patterns of human settlement in Africa. While some areas appear to have been inhabited more or less continuously since the dawn of humanity, enormous regions — notably the desert areas of northern & southwestern Africa — have been largely unoccupied for prolonged periods of time.

Thus, although Africa is the second largest continent, it contains only about 10 % of the world's population. Black peoples have long inhabited the greater part of the continent, but in historic times there also have occurred major immigrations from both Asia & Europe. Of all foreign settlements in Africa, that of the Arabs has made the greatest impact. The Islamic religion, which the Arabs carried with them, spread from North Africa into many areas south of the Sahara, so that many western African peoples are now largely islamised.