Around 2 million km² of Africa is covered by tropical rainforests. They are second only in extent to those in Amazonia, which cover around 6 million km². Rainforests are home to vast numbers of species.
Is there any rainforest in Africa?
Most of Africa’s remaining rainforests are found in the Congo river basin on the Atlantic Ocean side of the continent. The Congo rainforest is famous for its gorillas, chimpanzees, and elephants as well as its native population of forest dwellers known as pygmies.
What African countries have rainforests?
The vast African rainforest stretches across much of the central African continent, encompassing the following countries in its woods: Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Comoros, Congo, Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea, …
Which African country has most rainforest?
Of these six countries, DRC contains the largest area of rainforest, with 107 million hectares, amounting to 60 percent of Central Africa’s lowland forest cover. Map Africa’s tropical rainforests. Click to enlarge. NASA images of the Congo Basin.
What is the Africa rainforest?
The Congo Rain Forest is located in central Africa. Spans approximately 1.5 million square miles. World’s second largest rain forest. One of the most endangered ecosystems in the world due to commercial logging and expansion of farming.
How many countries does Africa have?
How many countries are there in Africa? 48 countries share the area of mainland Africa, plus six island nations are considered to be part of the continent. All in all, there are 54 sovereign African countries and two disputed areas, namely Somaliland and Western Sahara (see the list of African countries below).
Does South Africa have rainforests?
South Africa’s only rainforest rests on the edge of the Crocodile River on the outskirts of Nelspruit, in a place so unlikely that hardly anyone knows it exists. … South Africa’s erratic dry periods mean that the chances of a tropical rainforest, as they occur in Africa, is virtually impossible.
What percentage of Africa is rainforest?
Africa is home to around 18% of the world’s tropical forests. The second largest tropical forest on the planet is located in the Congo Basin in central Africa and extends for around 3 million square kilometres – which is larger than the entire land mass of Argentina.
How many countries does the rainforest touch in Africa?
Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Tropical rainforests are tropical, moist forests of semi-deciduous varieties distributed across nine West African countries.
What is the biggest threat to the African rainforests today?
Looking forward, the biggest threats to the Congo rainforest come from industrial logging and conversion for large-scale agriculture. Some environmentalists fear that the Congo could be on the verge of a massive increase in deforestation for palm oil, rubber, and sugar production.
Where is tropical Africa?
“Tropical South Africa” includes Namibia and Botswana, countries which lean economically towards the Republic of South Africa, with a total population of only 1.8 million inhabitants in 1980, and a total area of 1.4 million km2.
How much of Africa is jungle?
Around 2 million km² of Africa is covered by tropical rainforests. They are second only in extent to those in Amazonia, which cover around 6 million km². Rainforests are home to vast numbers of species.
What animals live in the Congo rainforest?
Some of the area’s most famous occupants include leopards, forest elephants, gorillas, chimpanzees, lions, hippos, cheetahs, giraffes, spotted hyenas, bonobos and, of course, lowland and mountain gorillas. Many of these animals are endangered, and conservation efforts have steadily gained momentum over the years.
Are there African tigers?
Once established in Asia, however, tigers never returned to Africa, although scientists aren’t exactly sure why. … Now, although tigers are not indigenous to Africa, they can be found there in zoos, special reserves and even kept as pets. And that’s how you might come across one in the wild.
Does Africa have deserts?
Africa – the second largest continent in the world is also home to the largest desert in the world – the Sahara. In fact there are three deserts on the continent – The Sahara, the Namib and the Kalahari.
What is the climate of the rainforest in Africa?
All climate models agree that the African rainforest regions will warm, with a mean rate across models of 0.8–1.0°C per 1°C of global warming. Hence, the African rainforest realm is likely to warm by 3–4°C over this century under the most likely emissions scenarios.