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Africa is the world's second largest continent (after Asia). At 11,608,000 sq. miles (30,065,000 sq. km) it covers 20.3% of the total land area on Earth. The ancient Romans used the name Africa terra (land of the Afri (pl.) or Afer (sg.)) for the northern part of the continent, corresponding to modern Tunisia. The origin of Afer may be the Arabic afer, dust; the Afridi tribe, who dwelt in Northern Africa around the area of Carthage; Greek aphrike, without cold, or Latin aprica, sunny.
Africa is c. 11,677,240 sq mi (30,244,050 sq km) including adjacent islands; 1990 est. pop. 648,000,000. Broad to the north (c. 4,600 mi/7,400 km wide), Africa straddles the equator and stretches c. 5,000 mi (8,050 km) from Cape Blanc (Tunisia) in the north to Cape Agulhas (South Africa) in the south.
It is connected with Asia by the Sinai Peninsula (which is crossed by the Suez Canal) and is bounded on the N by the Mediterranean Sea, on the W and S by the Atlantic Ocean, and on the E and S by the Indian Ocean.
The largest offshore island is Madagascar; other islands include St. Helena and Ascension in the S Atlantic Ocean; São Tomé, Príncipe, Annobón, and Fernando Po in the Gulf of Guinea; the Cape Verde, Canary, and Madeira islands in the N Atlantic Ocean; and Mauritius, Réunion, Zanzibar, Pemba, and the Comoro and Seychelles islands in the Indian Ocean.
