Africa

Africa is the world's second largest continent. From the perspective of geologists and paleontologists (scientists studying ancient life forms), Africa also takes center stage in the physical history and development of life on Earth. Africa possesses the world's richest and most concentrated deposits of minerals such as gold, diamonds, uranium, chromium, cobalt, and platinum. It is also the cradle of human evolution and the birthplace of many other animal and plant species, and has the earliest evidence of reptiles, dinosaurs, and mammals.