Yearbook 2008 Swaziland. New figures during the year showed that Swaziland’s population decreased by about one-fifth to one million since the last census in 1997. The cause was the severe HIV epidemic. Swaziland has the world’s highest proportion of HIV-infected among the entire population, 26 percent. The prediction is that two-thirds of the country’s 15-year-olds…
Category: Africa
But what climates can Africa be divided into?
A special feature of this continent, which only Africa can show, is the overlap of the two tropics of the earth. Accordingly, Africa can also mainly be described as a tropical continent, although the subtropics can be found both in the north and in the south. In general, however, the tropical climates follow one another almost symmetrically. Since the so-called “Congo Basin” and the Upper Berguine Coast core areas are known for their tropical, humid climate, only temperatures above 18 degrees Celsius and high amounts of precipitation can be recorded here. In the north, south and east of the continent, however, a hot and humid savanna climate can be found, which is characterized by both rainy and dry seasons. Furthermore, areas near the equator also belong to the hot savannah climate in East Africa.
The exclusively arid regions of Africa are the central regions of Namibia and Kalahari and the Sahara, which have high temperatures every day. Areas on the Red Sea, on the other hand, can undoubtedly be called the hottest places on earth. Because temperatures of up to 50 degrees can be reached here in the summer months of July and August. The north of Sudan is also strongly influenced by this climate, but has lower temperatures. A dry summer and partly Mediterranean climate can only be found in the Cape Country.
In terms of topography, the continent of Africa can be divided into 53 states. It is also worth mentioning that the state of Mauritania has been excluded and Morocco has replaced it. Furthermore, the so-called “Arab Sahara Republic” is not officially to be found, but is recognized as a full member by many other countries on the continent. The Somaliland Republic has not yet been formally recognized either. But regardless of any political point of view, the number of 53 African states remains.
Africa’s languages
There is no continent in which more languages with their different dialects are spoken than in Africa. However, the African languages should by no means be seen as a common language family. The Arabic spoken in North Africa has absolutely nothing to do with the Afrikaans spoken in South Africa. An important subdivision of languages is those that originated in Africa and are only spoken there, and languages that were introduced from outside, such as English and Arabic. The former colonial languages, English, French and Portuguese, are still widely spoken in the former colonies and are usually also the official language of the countries concerned or at least serve as the lingua franca. For more information about the continent of Africa, please check physicscat.com.
Eritrea 2008
Yearbook 2008 Eritrea. In July, the UN Security Council decided not to extend the mandate of the UN force of 1,700 to monitor the Eritrea-Ethiopia border. As a reason, both countries’ failure to cooperate was indicated. Ethiopia has refused to accept the UN-appointed Border Commission’s decision to grant Eritrea the right to the disputed border…
Equatorial Guinea 2008
Yearbook 2008 Equatorial Guinea. Parliamentary elections were held in May, a year earlier than planned, to be coordinated with local elections for cost reasons. The ruling party Partido Democrático de Guinea Ecuatorial (PDGE, Equatorial Guinea’s Democratic Party) received 99 of Parliament’s 100 seats, an increase with a mandate. PDGE has won all the elections and…
Egypt 2008
Yearbook 2008 Egypt. The country was shaken during the year by protests aimed at high food prices, low wages, privatizations and layoffs. Industrial workers and lower officials, but also doctors and university teachers, were reported to have carried out wild strikes. Several of the protests took center stage in the textile industrial city of al-Mahalla…
Djibouti 2008
Yearbook 2008 Djibouti. In the February 8 parliamentary elections, the government-friendly coalition won the Union Presidential Majority (UMP) all 65 seats. The country’s largest opposition group, the Union for a Democratic Alternative (UAD), boycotted the election and subsequently said it had not been democratic. According to the government, turnout was 73 percent. In April, neighboring…
Democratic Republic of the Congo 2008
Yearbook 2008 Congo. Shortly after the turn of the year, a conference of about 600 participants was launched in the city of Goma in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo with the aim of ending the country’s last armed conflict. Despite threatening statements during the conference, Militia leader Laurent Nkunda wrote after more than two…
Comoros 2008
Yearbook 2008 Comoros. The conflict between the Union government and the disputed president of the island of Nzwani (Anjouan), Mohamed Bacar, also characterized the first half of 2008. Bacar had seized power in Nzwani through a coup in 2001 and the following year elected president of the island. The crisis began in June 2007 when…
Chad 2008
Yearbook 2008 Chad. In early February, the capital, N’Djamena, was joined by a coalition of rebel forces that have been marching from their bases in Sudan throughout Chad to overthrow President Idriss Déby’s regime. The rebels quickly gained control of parts of the capital, but around the presidential palace, army forces held their ground. Thousands…
Central African Republic 2008
Yearbook 2008 Central African Republic. In June, the government and three rebel groups signed a ceasefire agreement aimed at stopping years of armed conflict in the country’s northern parts. However, the formal peace talks that followed the ceasefire went slow, and an amnesty for war crimes adopted by Parliament in September was received with doubt…
Cameroon 2008
Yearbook 2008 Cameroon. Several cities were shaken at the beginning of the year by protests against the government and at least 20 people were shot dead by police. The unrest was triggered by sharply increased food and fuel prices but were also protests against the government’s plans to change the constitution so that President Paul…