Africa, the second most populous and third-largest continent on the planet, covering 30.3 million square kilometers, is a landscape of unparalleled geographical and cultural diversity. It is home to the Sahara Desert, the world´s largest desert by area of sand, and the Nile, the longest river at 6,650 kilometers, as well as Lake Victoria, the third-largest lake on the planet. Its straight borders are a legacy of the Berlin Conference of 1884–1885, when European powers drew boundaries on maps without taking ethnic groups, traditional kingdoms, or physical geography into account, creating artificial states that still shape continental politics today. In this Risk, the Mediterranean north connects with Europe and the Middle East, the Horn of Africa provides access to the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, and the Sahel acts as a transit belt between the desert and sub-Saharan regions. Controlling the Congo and Niger basins gives you access to vital river resources, while the Atlantic and Indian Ocean coasts are naval invasion routes. The continent offers a medium bonus, but its central position makes it an unavoidable battlefield between players expanding from Europe, Asia, or the Americas.