Africa is the most misunderstood continent. Even in the age of information, a shocking amount of people continue to refer to it as a country or think of it as a monolith, ignoring the cultural, geographic and linguistic diversity of its 54 nations.
Of course, we know that you, dear reader, aren't one of those people. But there is always something new and exciting one can learn about the second-largest continent on the planet.
These amazing maps of African countries are a great start.
Before getting into some surprising and interesting maps, let's do a refresher of the political map of African countries looks like as of 2022.
On the Mercator Map, which is the one most commonly used, Africa is shrunk and made to look much smaller than it actually is.
To give people an idea of its real size, you could fit the U.S., China, India and several European countries into this massive continent.
On the flip side, if you want to know just how gigantic Russia is, look at how it compares to Africa. Russia boasts 6.60 million square miles of territory, while Africa has 11.73 million square miles. That's over half of the continent.
The Translatlantic Slave Trade will forever be one of the darkest blemishes in the history of the world. Most of the people who were trafficked from Africa to the Americas and Europe were from the west coast of Africa.
This map highlights the countries and regions where most victims were torn from their homes.
Christianity and Islam are the most prevalent religions on the continent. The only country where Hinduism is the strongest faith is Mauritius, but there are parts of South Africa where it also has a strong hold.
As you can see, native religions are still widely practiced.
Want to feel sad? No? Then look away because this comparative map of cheetah range will have you in tears.
In the days of yore, you could find cheetahs roaming freely from South Africa all the way to India. Today, you'll be lucky (or unlucky, if they decide you look delicious) if you see one outside of eastern and southern Africa.