It's a continent, not a country...

So I was thinking yesterday about how we have a tendency to lump all of Africa as one, as if it were a country. Maybe this is because of Europe (which we also lump together) or something. Or maybe because similar things seem to happen there (genocides and tribal violence/war, poverty)...not really sure, but it's really a continent, not a country (I was thinking about this because a guy was generalizing saying "African". For example, he said he learned how to do "the African handshake" and was telling that to a girl from Ghana who didn't really seem to know what exactly he was talking about...). So I decided to see just how big Africa as a continent is (because often things are much bigger than you'd think. Last year, when I found out the Australia is BIGGER than the continental US, I was completely shocked. In my mind it was maybe the size of Texas...geography is (obviously) not my strong point), and I found this map:

SO interesting, right? I hadn't really thought about it other than knowing that it starts above the equator and goes pretty far down...which doesn't say all that much (well, I guess so. It says that it's long. But you can't forget the wide-ness...). Well, there's your geography lesson for the day. You're welcome.