Africa is an area of about 30.3 million km (equivalent to about 22 percent of the total land surface of the earth) to Asia and America’s third largest continent in the world and about three times larger than Europe. The approximately 906 million inhabitants (mid 2005) account for about 14 percent of the world’s population jetzgen. A geographically important feature of Africa is almost symmetrical position to the equator, of between 37 degrees 51 ‘north latitude (Cape Blanc in Tunisia) and 34 degrees 51’ south latitude (Cape Agulhas in South Africa), with a north-south distance is about 8000 km and a maximum east-west extent of 7,000 km. Africa is bounded on the north by the Mediterranean Sea in the west by the Atlantic Ocean, on the east by the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. The low-indented coastline is 30,490 km long.
The Sahara divides Africa in the populated mainly by Arabs, North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa (Black Africa). The only land connection to other land masses, the Sinai, which is located between Africa and the Arab peninsula. Africa can in three geographical areas are divided: the smallest part is occupied by the Atlas Mountains with an area of about 2,000 km. The largest part of the continent is occupied by the African plateau. These include Sahara, Sudan, Upper Guinea and the highlands of Adamawa, the Congo Basin, the Kalahari, the Cape and Madagascar. is located on East Africa with the highest athopischen Highlands and the East African plateau.