What is the biggest country in terms of land size, and the smallest? What about the oldest republic on the African continent or the country where two Nobel Peace Prize winners lived on the same street?

Well, we won’t be going into these today because we already went over it in our last installment of the series.

Here come the next seven countries.

Mozambique

The only one word country in the world with all five vowels in its name, the Southern African nation is home to just over 31 million people.

The sole UNESCO World Heritage site in the nation is on an offshore island where the country derives its name. The island has the oldest European building in the Southern Hemisphere, known as the Chapel of Nossa Senhora de Baluarte, built in the 16th century.

The Bazaruto Archipelago, endowed with five national park islands, has a conservation area of dolphins and over 2000 types of fish.

When it comes to other flora and fauna, Mozambique has 200 species of mammals, close to 600 bird species and 6,000 plant species, of which 250 are believed to be endemic. 

Republic of Congo

Also known as Congo-Brazzaville to distinguish it from neighbors DR Congo, the central African nation is home to about 6 million people.

The second largest rain forest in the world, the Congolese Rainforest is partly in the nation and so is the second longest river in Africa, the Congo River (after the Nile), which is 4,700km in length. This River is also the deepest in the entire world.

The Republic of Congo and DR Congo are the only countries in the world where the two capital cities are closest to each other; Brazzaville and Kinshasa are just 1.6km apart. 

When it comes to flora, the Republic of Congo remarkably has a forested land area of 64.3%. The Congo Basin is one of the most important wilderness areas on Earth with close to 10,000 plant species, 400 mammal species, 1,000 bird species and 700 fish species.

Botswana

The Southern African nation is home to just over 2 million people. Its vast land size means where there are 122 people living in France, there are only 4 in Botswana. 

Close to 70% of the nation is covered by the Kalahari desert and is known to have the second largest diamond reserves in the world. Do you know which country has the largest? The world’s second ever largest diamond, a 1,111-carat stone, was discovered in Botswana in 2015.

The nation also has the world’s largest population of elephants, approximately 130,000 of them, found in the Okavango Delta. The Makgadikgadi Pans which cover an area of over 30 000 km2, are world’s largest salt pans which are also found in the country.

Botswana never fighting a war

Ethiopia

Ethiopia is one of two African countries never to be colonized, we featured the other in our last installment of the series. The Italians occupied the country between 1936-1941 but never managed to gain control as the locals fought back.

Home to over 120 million people, the East African country has the lowest point on the continent, the Danakil Depression is at the junction of three tectonic plates and sits at close to 125 metres below sea level.

Even more interestingly, Ethiopians use a unique Amharic alphabet and have their own calendar which has 13 months. Translating that to our Gregorian calendar, it means Ethiopians are in 2015 whilst we’re in 2023.

Somalia

Somalia is the easternmost country in Africa with a population of close to 17 million people.

Over the years, Somalia has struggled with unrest, many people dying as victims of war and starvation.

Somalia is not to be mistaken with Somaliland, a separate nation which declared independence in 1991 but yet to be recognised. Camels are a symbol of wealth and status in the nation, and also a key part of their culture, providing milk, meat and as a means of transportation.

After Madagascar, Somalia has the largest coastline on the continent, which is 3,025km long.

Togo

This West African nation is home to close to 9 million people and borders Ghana, Benin and Burkina Faso.

Its capital city, Lomé, is one of the most beautiful West African cities and was once referred to as the ‘Paris of West Africa’ or the ‘pearl of West Africa’ because of its broad boulevards and cosmopolitan atmosphere.

Togo’s also one of the world’s largest producers of phosphates and is on record for being a subject of illegal ivory trade. The biggest seizure of such a trade occurred in 2015 where 4 tonnes of tusks representing 800 poached elephants were apprehended.

The mud tower houses (Takienta) found at the UNESCO listed Koutammakou, the Land of the Batammariba have become a symbol of Togo.

Côte d’Ivoire

Also known as Ivory Coast, the francophone West African nation is home to the largest church in the world. The Basilica of Our Lady of Peace of Yamoussoukro has an exterior area of 30,000 square metres.

The country got its name from the intense ivory trade that took place between the 15th and 17th centuries. 

Home to close to 30 million people, Ivory Coast is the world’s largest producer and exporter of cocoa beans, shipping out a total of $3.8 billion worth of beans in 2019.

On to the next one

There you have it folks? Which fact gripped your attention the most and which countries do you want featured in our 6th installment of the series? Let us know in the comments.