→ Second largest continent in the world (accounts for 22% of Earth's land) and continent with the second largest population (approximately 1.3 billion).
→ More than half of Africa's population is below the age of 25, making it the youngest population in the world.
→ Almost 2,000 languages are used, so much so that tribes have difficulty communicating with each other (generally communicate in one official language – for example, Swahili in East Africa).
→ The longest river in the world, the Nile, flows across the eastern part of Africa, with the source of the river located in a city called Jinja in Uganda.
→ The largest hot desert in the world, the Sahara, is located in North Africa. The size of the Sahara is known to be comparable to the U.S.
→ It is the hottest continent on the planet.
→ Mount Kilimanjaro, well-known by Koreans through singer Cho Yongpil's song, is located in Tanzania, Africa. It is the highest mountain in Africa (5,895m above sea level) and a special mountain that is situated near the equator, but its peak is covered with snow.
→ More than half of the world's gold comes from Witwatersrand, South Africa.
→ More than 25% of the world's bird species live in Africa.
→ The largest lake in Africa, Lake Victoria, is the world's second largest freshwater lake.
→ Four types of the world's fastest animals (cheetah, wildebeest, lion, Thomson's gazelle) live in Africa. These animals can all run at a speed above 80km/h. But the animal with the most harm to people is the hippo.
→ African women and children walk an average of 6km every day to fetch water they need for a day.
→ The bones of the oldest human dated back to about 3.2 million years ago, 'Lucy', was discovered in Ethiopia in 1974.
→ Ancient Egyptian town Kahun is the world's first planned town.

→ In East Africa, people with bright skin tone are called Mzungu, which means 'someone who wonders' or 'white people' in Swahili. Koreans are also sometimes called Mzungu in East Africa.
→ Cassava, which is one of Uganda's staple food, is a root plant of a slightly purple color. It is the same as the plant commonly known as 'tapioca' in Korea.
→ Cities with the most lightning strikes in the world are located in Congo and Uganda, with Uganda being known as the country with the highest rate of lightning strike deaths in the world.
→ The phrase "Hakuna Matata" Timon and Pumbaa use in The Lion King means "don't worry and be happy!" in East Africa's official language, Swahili.
→ In Uganda, sometimes dry lightning strikes and there are times when it rains in the front yard while not a single drop of rain falls in the back yard.
→ Winston Churchill, during his trip to Uganda, named it 'the Pearl of Africa' inspired by the beautiful landscape of Uganda.
→ Uganda weather maintains a cool temperature of around 25 degrees Celsius throughout the year with two dry seasons and two wet seasons in a year.
→ There is no word in Uganda meaning "straight". So, Ugandans have trouble understanding the concept of a straight line.
→ In Uganda, saying "you have become fat" is a huge compliment because eating well and gaining weight means living a wealthy lifestyle.

 It is my first time writing a column like this. And with every word and sentence, I was very worried that my column might be giving a bad image of Africa. Or maybe, these facts are not at all new to you. So, it took me quite a while to write this column. And even now, as I end this edition, I worry that my column is too short or it's too boring, just listing out a few facts. But I end my column looking forward to my next, hoping to share with you something more fun and interesting! I wanted to let you know through this column that Africa is not a faraway continent, and that it is a beautiful place full of things to experience. Send me comments or email about anything you want to know more about Africa, and I will try to do my best explaining through the eyes of a 'local'. Please support [The Unknown Yet Curious Place, Africa] for it to become an engaging and interactive column!