Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, covering about 30.3 million square kilometres, roughly 20 percent of Earth's land. Its population of nearly 1.4 billion is the youngest of any continent, with a median age of 19.7 in 2012 against a world median of 30.4. Africa, especially eastern Africa, is where the earliest hominids appeared around 7 million years ago, and Homo sapiens is believed to have originated there 350,000 to 260,000 years ago. The continent has 54 fully recognised states and is the most biodiverse region for large mammals, since it lost fewer megafauna in the Pleistocene extinction.

Israeli reports also say the cabinet directed the military to prepare for a possible new attack on Iran.

Angkor, near Siem Reap in northern Cambodia, was the capital of the Khmer Empire, which ruled much of mainland Southeast Asia between roughly the 9th and 15th centuries. At its height the city spread across about 3,000 square kilometres, making it the largest pre-industrial city on Earth by area. Its growth depended on water: huge reservoirs called barays, along with canals and embankments, stored monsoon rain and carried it to rice fields. That system let farmers harvest more than once a year and fed a very large population through the dry season. The temple complex of Angkor Wat, built in the early 12th century, is the best-known monument and still stands at the heart of the park.