Africa
The continent of Africa covers an area of approximately 30,200,000 sq km. It comprises 53 countries with time zones ranging from GMT-1 to GMT+4. In the northern region of Africa lies the Sahara, the largest desert in the world; in the central area, surrounding the equator, vast tropical rain forests can be found; and in the south, grassy highlands extend down to coastal plains. Africa is a continent of great mountain ranges (including the Atlas mountains in the north and the Ruwenzri mountains on the border between Uganda and Zaire), great lakes (many to be found to the east is the Great Rift Valley), and great rivers (including the awe-inspiring Nile, Niger, Zaire, and Zambezi rivers). With a population of approximately 1,000 million, Africa is home to an extraordinarily diverse range of people, including over 3,000 recognised ethnic groups, each with their own customs and cultures.