Africa is the world’s second largest and second most-populous continent (the first being Asia in both categories). At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth’s total surface area and 20.4% of its total land area.[2] With 1.2 billion[1] people as of 2016, it accounts for about 16% of the world’s human population.