Do jackals only eat dead things?

The jackal is a member of the canine family living in parts of Africa, Europe and Asia. Because he can eat meat that is rotting, the jackal is known as a scavenger.

But the jackal prefers to eat animals he has killed himself, so he usually hunts small mammals and birds. Sometimes a group of jackals can kill a sheep or an antelope.

However, there are times when fresh meat is scarce, so the jackal feeds on dead things or in the garbage. Jackals sometimes follow lions and tigers, and take care of the last remains of a creature killed by big cats.

Anubis was an Egyptian god with the head of a jackal.

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Which African country can be seen from Spain?

Five nations in Africa border the Mediterranean Sea, and many other African countries border the Atlantic Ocean. But only one African nation has a coastline on the Atlantic and the Mediterranean: Morocco.

Morocco is located in the northwest corner of Africa, where the Mediterranean joins the Atlantic. With its western coast, bathed by the Atlantic, Morocco is the only Arab country that touches the ocean. It is also the closest Arab country to Europe, as part of the Moroccan coast is within sight of Spain.

This African nation has an area of 446,550 square kilometers, larger than California, and a population of more than 35 million people. Most Moroccans live in the fertile strips of land along both coasts, the rest of the country is covered by mountains and deserts.

Morocco was conquered by Arab invaders in the 7th century. The Muslim people of Morocco, whose inhabitants were called Moors, finally conquered most of Spain and formed a kingdom that stretched from Spain to the borders of Egypt.

In later times, the paintings were reversed: Morocco was conquered by the Europeans and divided between France and Spain. In 1956, Morocco gained its independence.

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What are the driest islands in the world?

Cape Verde is a cape in the westernmost part of Africa. It is also the name of a group of islands in the Atlantic Ocean, about 650 kilometers from Cape Verde in Africa. It is an archipelago consisting of ten islands and five islets, this nation has an area of only 4,033 km².

The Cape Verde Islands were discovered in 1460 by Portuguese sailors. The islands were uninhabited when they were discovered, today they have a population of around 539,560 people. Portuguese is the official language, but each island has its own dialect. Cape Verde became an independent nation in 1975.

The islands of Cape Verde are of volcanic origin, and seven of the largest islands are mountainous. One of the peaks found on the Islands is over 2,700 meters high, higher than any mountain in Portugal, or anywhere else that was once the vast Portuguese empire!

Situated at the same latitude as the Sahara desert, the Cape Verde Islands are warm and dry. Drought is always a problem, even though the nation is surrounded by water.
Cape Verde is very poor, with no railways, no infrastructure and only a few telephones. Much of the country's income comes from recharging ships and planes on their way to other places.

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In what African country is there a Sacred Stool?

Ashanti is the name of a kingdom founded in West Africa around 1600 by a tribal group known as Akan. One of the curious customs of these people was their veneration of a sacred golden stool!

In the kingdom of Ashanti, this sacred stool was considered as the seat of royal power, just as a throne is the seat of the power of the European monarchs.

But the Ashanti people also thought that the stool contained the spirits of the present chief and the leaders who had ruled before him. The stools of the previous rulers were kept in the "stool house," where sacrifices were offered to the spirits that these stools represented.

In the 19th century, the Ashanti people began to invade European settlements along the coast of Africa. But they were defeated by the British. Ashanti is now part of the nation of Ghana.

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What is the most populous country in Africa?

Nearly a quarter of all black Africans live in one nation: Nigeria.

Although only two-thirds the size of Alaska, Nigeria has a population of 186 million (2015), the largest population of any country in Africa.

In fact, Nigeria is the seventh most populous country on the planet, with more people than any other country in Europe.

Nigeria is located in the Gulf of Guinea, where the delta of West Africa's largest river, the Niger, flows. Nigeria's coastal regions are swampy, but rainforests and grassy plains cover a large area of the interior. The northern part of the country is bordered by the Sahara desert.

About 250 tribal groups live in this populous country. The Yoruba, who live in the west, and the Ibo, who live in the east of the country, each represent about 15 percent of the population. In the north live the Hausa and Fulani Muslim peoples, who together account for about 30 percent of Nigeria's population.

After almost a century as a British colony, Nigeria gained its independence in 1960. But in 1967, the Ibo people declared that their country was going to be an independent nation, Biafra.

Troops from other parts of Nigeria invaded the homeland of the Ibo, and the fighting caused a famine that killed more than 1 million people. The Ibo abandoned their struggle in 1970, but conflicts between the peoples of Nigeria continued.

Today, most of Nigeria's income comes from the sale of oil. Nigeria is the largest oil producer in Africa and the eighth largest producer in the world. About 6 percent of all the oil used by Americans comes from Nigeria.

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Is the Garden of Eden in the Seychelles?

Why were the Seychelles called the Garden of Eden?

The Seychelles is an archipelago of some 90 islands in the Indian Ocean, near the equator and 1,600 kilometres from Africa.

The total area of the islands is only 451 km², making the Seychelles the smallest country in Africa and one of the smallest nations on Earth.

The Seychelles were uninhabited when they were discovered by Europeans. The islands were colonized in the 18th century, and now have a population of over 87,000. The Seychelles was a British colony for many years before gaining independence in 1976.

There are few places on Earth with a more pleasant climate than these islands in the Indian Ocean, at least in terms of temperature. Over a long period of time, at a weather station in the Seychelles, the temperature never dropped below 20 degrees Celsius and never rose above 32 degrees Celsius.

The islands are so pleasant that early European visitors believed that the Seychelles should have been the site of the original Garden of Eden!

But there is one small climate problem in the Seychelles: rain. The islands receive more than 2.25 m of rainfall per year, and in some parts they receive 3.70 m.

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How many countries are separated by the world's smallest border?

How many nations are separated by the shortest border in the world?

One of the meanings of the word border is that of boundary between two nations. The smaller the nation, of course, the smaller that country's border with another nation will be.

The tiny nation of Vatican City, for example, has a border of about 4 kilometers, and the colony of Gibraltar, on the Mediterranean, has a border of only 1,500 meters.

Curiously, the shortest border in the world is the boundary between some of Africa's largest nations, not just two, but four! This border between 4 nations is where Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia meet.

If you were there, you could put one foot in each of the nations of Namibia and Zimbabwe, and put one hand in Zambia and the other in Botswana, and you would be in all four countries at the same time!

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What's called thundering smoke?

Why were Victoria Falls given the name "thundering smoke"?

To begin with, these Victoria Falls have nothing to do with Lake Victoria.

This waterfall is located in the Zambezi River, which flows along the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia. Anyone who has seen Victoria Falls knows that it offers one of the most spectacular views of nature.

Near the falls, the Zambezi River runs through many tree-covered islands. At its widest point, which is a kilometre and a half, it is thrown into an abyss between two walls of pure rock.

The waterfalls are considered an extraordinary spectacle because of that narrow and rare abyss into which the water falls. So you can see the fall with the naked eye. The water falls a total of 110 meters to the bottom of the abyss.

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Why is Malawi called the Switzerland of Africa?

Where is Africa's Switzerland?

Malawi is a small country in East Africa, hidden between Zambia, Tanzania and Mozambique.

This landlocked nation has no ports, but there is plenty of water in Malawi, as the country has a 580 kilometre long shore with Lake Malawi, or Nyasa.

About the size of Pennsylvania, Malawi is 836 kilometers long, but only 80 kilometers wide at some points. Because of the scenic beauty of Lake Nyasa and the mountains in the southern part of the nation, one of them almost 3,000 meters high, Malawi is also known as the "Switzerland of Africa".

Britain gained control of this region at the end of the 19th century. The British called it Nyasaland. In 1953, Nyasaland joined with its neighboring Northern and Southern Rhodesia to form the Federation of Central Africa, but that union was broken about ten years later.

Previously the capital of Malawi was Zomba.

The young city of Lilongwe, built at a cost of $60 million, became the nation's capital in 1975.

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What's Africa's snowy peak?

Are there snowy mountains in Africa?

In 1848, a German explorer reported the discovery of a snow-covered mountain in central Africa, only a few hundred kilometers from the Equator line.

Europeans mocked the idea that such a mountain might exist, until other explorers saw the snowy peak for themselves a few decades later.

This peak is Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa at 5,895 meters. Its name means "Mountain of the frozen demons", although the base of the mountain is 'cooked' in a characteristic equatorial climate, ice and snow often cover the top of the mountain.

The snowy peak of Mount Kilimanjaro can be seen from as far away as 300 kilometers, which is often a strange sight in a region with such a hot climate.

Mount Kilimanjaro was originally part of the British colony of Kenya. However, it was included in the neighboring German colony (now the nation of Tanzania) as a birthday present from Queen Victoria of England to the German ruler, Kaiser Wilhelm.

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What was the shortest war in history?

How long did the shortest war in history last?

Zanzibar is an island off the coast of Africa, which now belongs to the nation of Tanzania.

In 1896, Said Khalid seized power in Zanzibar and proclaimed himself a sultan. A British fleet soon arrived at the port of Zanzibar and ordered the sultan to leave the royal palace.

The sultan refused to leave. At 9:02 a.m. on August 27, British ships began firing at the palace, beginning a war between Britain and Zanzibar. The sultan's only warship sank quickly, and the palace was destroyed. At 9:40 in the morning, the sultan surrendered the palace, and the war ended.

This "war" was the shortest in history. It lasted a total of 38 minutes! The British later demanded money from the people of Zanzibar to pay for the shells that British warships had used to win the war.

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What is the largest country in Africa?

Map of Sudan

Sudan is a nation in northeast Africa, south of Egypt. The country borders the Red Sea and shares a border with eight other nations.

The reason why Sudan borders many other countries is that it is the largest nation in Africa and the tenth largest country on Earth. Its area is 2,505,810 square kilometers, about one-third the size of the United States without Alaska!

The Nile River flows through Sudan. In fact, the Nile travels a greater path within Sudan than in Egypt. Sudan's capital, Khartoum, lies at the junction of two major branches of the Nile, the Blue Nile and the White Nile.

The northern part of Sudan is a desert region, just like Egypt. But much of the country lies within the so-called Sudan grass belt, and the southern part of the nation is a land of swamps and tropical forests. The people living in the northern part of the country are Muslims and speak Arabic.

In the southern part, where there are few Muslims, more than 30 African languages are spoken. A civil war between the north and south of the country lasted for 17 years before ending in the early 1970s.

The northern part of Sudan was known as Nubia by the ancient Egyptians. It was said to contain large gold mines. In the 19th century, the joint British-Egyptian rule over the country led to the region being known as Anglo-Egyptian Sudan.

Then, in 1948, the people of this territory voted to decide whether to join Egypt or become an independent country. The Sudanese opted for independence, and Sudan became a nation by right in 1956.

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When was an electric chair used as a throne?

History is full of curious cases such as the following case we present:

Menelik II, who called himself "king of kings", became emperor of Ethiopia in 1889.

A year after his enthronement, news reached the Ethiopian nation of the first use of an electric chair to execute a criminal in New York. Menelik decided that his country should also have an electric chair, and ordered three of the new execution devices to be sent to Ethiopia.

Only that there was a small problem about the purchase, and that was that Ethiopia still did not have electricity. So what Menelik did after receiving the chairs was turn one of them into a throne for him.

It is difficult to know whether Menelik II wanted to prevent his purchase from being useless, or vainly took advantage of it to show his people that he was brave enough to sit on such a throne.

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What is the oldest independent nation?

Gondar Castle, Ethiopia

The oldest place as an independent country is in Africa.

Only 45 of today's nations were independent before the 20th century. But only one country can boast of its independence since before Christ.

Ethiopia, the East African country formally known as Abyssinia, has been an independent nation since at least the eleventh century BC. The rulers of this nation are said to be descendants of the biblical king Solomon and the queen of Sheba, who, according to legend, was the then monarch of Ethiopia.

Some historians claim that Ethiopia has existed as an independent nation since about 3,000 BC. That makes Ethiopia a nation with at least 5,000 years without having been under the subjection of other kingdoms.

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