African Map Quiz Study Gide
Somalia
Somalia (Somali: Soomaaliya; Arabic: الصومال, As-Sumal), formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic, is a coastal nation in East Africa. Continentally, it is entirely surrounded by Ethiopia and Eritrea on the north and mid-west, and Kenya on its south-west; with the Gulf of Aden on its east. It currently exists solely in a de jure capacity, which can be described as anarchy. Somalia has no recognized central government authority, no national currency, nor any other feature associated with a remotely-established nation state. De facto authority resides in the hands of the governments for the unrecognized entities of Somaliland, Puntland, and other small rival warlords.
Angola
Angola is a country in southwestern Africa bordering Namibia, Congo-Kinshasa, and Zambia, and with a west coast along the Atlantic Ocean. The exclave province Cabinda has a border with Congo-Brazzaville. A former Portuguese colony, it has considerable natural resources, among which oil and diamonds are the most relevant. The country is nominally a democracy and is formally named the Republic of Angola (Portuguese: República de Angola).
Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso is a landlocked nation of western Africa. It is surrounded by six countries. Mali to the north, Niger to the east, Benin to the south east, Togo and Ghana to the south, and the Côte d'Ivoire to the south west. Formerly called Upper Volta, it was renamed on August 4, 1984 by President Thomas Sankara to mean "the land of upright people" (or "upright land") in Mossi and Dioula, the major native languages of the country. Independence from France came in 1960. Governmental instability during the 1970s and 1980s was followed by multiparty elections in the early 1990s. Several hundred thousand farm workers migrate south every year to Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana. The inhabitants of Burkina Faso are called Burkinabe. The capital is Ouagadougou, referred to by locals as "Ouaga."
Cape Verde
Cape Verde (Portuguese: Cabo Verde) is a republic located on an archipelago of the North Atlantic Ocean, off the western coast of Africa. The previously-uninhabited islands were discovered and colonized by the Portuguese in the 15th century; they subsequently became a trading center for African slaves. Most Cape Verdeans descend from both groups.
Cote D'lvoire
Côte d'Ivoire (often called Ivory Coast in English) is a country in West Africa. It borders Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Ghana to the west, north, and east, and borders the Gulf of Guinea to its south. One of the most prosperous of the tropical West African states, its economic development has been undermined by political turmoil spawned by official corruption and refusal to adopt needed reforms.
Kenya
Kenya (pronounced as KEN-ya) is a country of eastern Africa, bordering Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and the Indian Ocean. Nairobi is its capital and largest city.
Madagascar
Madagascar is an island nation in the Indian Ocean, off the eastern coast of Africa. Madagascar is the 4th largest island in the world. It is the home of five percent of the world's plant and animal species, 80 per cent of them unique to Madagascar. Most famous among those are the lemurs. Madagascar and Mauritania are the only countries not to use a decimal currency.
Mozambique
Mozambique is a country in Southern Africa, bordering South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The Comoros lie offshore to the northeast and Madagascar lies across the Mozambique Channel. It is a member of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries and the Commonwealth of Nations. Its capital and largest city is Maputo, located in the southern edge of the country.
Niger
Niger is a landlocked sub-Saharan country in Western Africa situated north of Nigeria and south of Algeria and Libya, named after the Niger river. The capital city is Niamey.
Rwanda
Rwanda is a small landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of central Africa. Also known fondly as "Land of a Thousand Hills". It is bordered by Uganda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania. Prior to European colonization, it was the site of one of the region's most complex monarchical systems. Its fertile and hilly terrain supports one of the densest populations in Africa. It is best known to the outside world for the 1994 Rwandan Genocide that resulted in the deaths of up to one million people.
Ethiopia
The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (Ityop'iya) is a country situated in the Horn of Africa. It has one of the most extensive known histories as an independent nation on the continent. Unique among African countries, Ethiopia maintained independence during the Scramble for Africa, and continued to do so until 1936, when the Italian army invaded the country. British and Ethiopian troops defeated the Italians in 1941, but Ethiopia did not regain sovereignty until the signing of the Anglo-Ethiopian Agreement of December 1944.
Nigeria
The Federal Republic of Nigeria is a country in West Africa and, by far, the most populated nation in Africa. It borders on Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, Niger in the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the south. Major cities include the capital Abuja, the former capital Lagos, Abeokuta, Ibadan, Port Harcourt, Kano, Kaduna, Jos, and Benin City. The country's name is unrelated to its African heritage, it was proposed by a Times article in 1897.
Gabon
The Gabonese Republic, or Gabon, is a nation of west central Africa. It borders on Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Republic of the Congo and the Gulf of Guinea. Ruled by autocratic presidents since independence from France on August 17, 1960, Gabon introduced a multiparty system and a new constitution in the early 1990s that allowed for a more transparent electoral process and for reforms of governmental institutions. A small population, abundant natural resources, and foreign private investment have helped make Gabon one of the more prosperous countries in the region.
Djibouti
The Republic of Djibouti (جيبوتي) is a country in eastern Africa, located in the Horn of Africa. Djibouti is bordered by Eritrea in the north, Ethiopia in the west and south, and Somalia in the southeast. The remainder of the border is formed by the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. On the other side of the Red Sea, on the Arabian Peninsula, 20 km from the coast of Djibouti, is Yemen.
Uganda
The Republic of Uganda is a country in east central Africa. It is bordered in the east by Kenya, in the north by Sudan, by the Democratic Republic of Congo in the west, Rwanda in the southwest and Tanzania in the south. The southern part of the country includes a substantial portion of Lake Victoria, within which it shares borders with Kenya and Tanzania. It is named after the Buganda tribe.
Zambia
The Republic of Zambia is a landlocked country in south central Africa. It borders the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania on the north-east, Malawi on the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia to the south, and Angola on the west. Formerly Northern Zambezia, and then, Northern Rhodesia, the country is named after the Zambezi river.
Zimbabwe
The Republic of Zimbabwe is a country located in the southern part of the continent of Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the west, Zambia to the north and Mozambique to the east.
Eritrea
The State of Eritrea is a country in northeast Africa. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the east. The northeast of the country has an extensive coastline with the Red Sea. Having achieved independence in 1993 from Ethiopia, Eritrea is currently one of the youngest independent states.
Togo
The Togolese Republic is a country in West Africa, bordering Ghana in the west, Benin in the east and Burkina Faso in the north. In the south, it has a small Gulf of Guinea coast, on which the capital Lomé is located.
South Sudan
South Sudan , officially the Republic of South Sudan is a landlocked country in east-central Africa. It is also part of the North Africa UN subregion.[ Its current capital is Juba, which is also its largest city; the capital city is planned to be moved to the more centrally located Ramciel in the future. South Sudan is bordered by Ethiopia to the east, Kenya to the southeast, Uganda to the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the southwest, the Central African Republic to the west, and Sudan to the north. South Sudan includes the vast swamp region of the Sudd formed by the White Nile, locally called the Bahr al Jabal. The modern states of South Sudan and Sudan were part of Egypt under the Muhammad Ali Dynasty, later being governed as an Anglo-Egyptian condominium until Sudanese independence was achieved in 1956. Following the First Sudanese Civil War, the Southern Sudan Autonomous Region was formed in 1972 and lasted until 1983. A second Sudanese civil war soon developed and ended with the Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2005. Later that year, southern autonomy was restored when an Autonomous Government of Southern Sudan was formed. South Sudan became an independent state on 9 July 2011, following a referendum that passed with 98.83% of the vote. It is a United Nations member state, a member state of the African Union,[15] and a member state of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development. In July 2012, South Sudan signed the Geneva Conventions.
Sudan
Sudan officially the Republic of the Sudan sometimes called North Sudan, is an Arab state in North Africa (it is also considered to be part of the Middle East). It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, and Libya to the northwest. The population of Sudan is a combination of indigenous inhabitants of Nile Valley, and descendants of migrants from the Arabian Peninsula. Due to the process of Arabisation common throughout the rest of the Arab world, today Arab culture predominates in Sudan. The overwhelming majority of the population of Sudan adheres to Islam. The Nile divides the country into eastern and western halves. The people of Sudan have a long history extending from antiquity which is intertwined with the history of Egypt. Sudan suffered seventeen years of civil war during the First Sudanese Civil War (1955-1972) followed by ethnic, religious and economic conflicts between the Muslim Arabs of Northern Sudan and the mostly animist and Christian Nilotes of Southern Sudan. This led to the Second Sudanese Civil War in 1983. Because of continuing political and military struggles, Sudan was seized in a bloodless coup d'état by colonel Omar al-Bashir in 1989, who thereafter proclaimed himself President of Sudan.[16] The civil war ended with the signing of a Comprehensive Peace Agreement which granted autonomy to what was then the southern region of the country. Following a referendum held in January 2011, South Sudan seceded on 9 July 2011 with the consent of Sudan.
Egypt
The Arab Republic of Egypt, commonly known as Egypt, (in Arabic: مصر) is a republic mostly located in north-eastern Africa. Covering an area of about 1,020,000 km² Egypt includes the Sinai Peninsula (considered part of Southwest Asia), whilst the majority of the country is located in North Africa. It shares land borders with Libya to the west, Sudan to the south, Israel to the North East. It is bordered to the North and East by the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea, respectively. The vast majority of Egypt's population inhabit the banks of the Nile river (about 40,000 km²).Large areas of land are part of the Sahara Desert and are sparsely inhabited. Egypt is famous for its ancient civilisation and some of the world's most stunning ancient monuments, including the Giza Pyramids, the Karnak Temple and the Valley of the Kings. The southern city of Luxor contains what accounts to two-thirds of the ancient artifacts present in the entire world. Today, Egypt is widely regarded as the main political and cultural centre of the Arab and Middle Eastern regions.
Central African Republic (C.A.R)
The Central African Republic is a land-locked country in central Africa. It borders Chad in the north, Sudan on the east, the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the south, and Cameroon on the west. The CAR is situated north of the equator, separating the Congo River basin from Lake Chad and the White Nile river basin. Formerly, the French colony of Ubangi-Shari, the nation was first ruled by French plantation interests, and for three decades after it gained its independence in 1960, by military governments. While a civilian government was installed in 1993, the country's political instability remains.
Sao Tome & Principe
The Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe is a tiny two-island nation in the Gulf of Guinea, distanced 140 kilometers from one another, and situated about 250 and 225 kilometers, respectively, off the northwestern coast of Gabon. Both islands are part of an extinct volcanic mountain range. São Tomé, the sizable southern island, is situated almost exactly on the equator. It is named after Saint Thomas Day, the day of its discovery by Portuguese explorers.
Congo (D.R.C)
The Democratic Republic of the Congo, called Zaire between 1971 and 1997, is a nation in central Africa. It is sometimes called Congo-Kinshasa, after its capital, to distinguish it from the Republic of Congo, or Congo-Brazzaville. It borders on Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic, Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia, Angola and the Gulf of Guinea.
Libya
The Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya or Libya (Arabic: ليبيا) is a country in North Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, located between Egypt on the east, Sudan on the southeast, Chad and Niger on the south and Algeria and Tunisia to the west. Its capital city is Tripoli. The three traditional parts of the country are Tripolitania, the Fezzan and Cyrenaica. The name "Libya" derives from the ancient Egyptian term "Lebu", referring to Berber peoples living east of the Nile, and adopted into Greek as "Libya". In ancient Greece, the term had a broader meaning, encompassing all of North Africa west of Egypt, and sometimes referring to the entire continent of Africa.
Mauritania
The Islamic Republic of Mauritania is a country in northwest Africa. Its coast faces the Atlantic Ocean on the west, with Senegal on the south-west, Mali on the east and south-east, Algeria on the north-east, and the Moroccan-annexed territory of Western Sahara on the north-west. The capital and largest city is Nouakchott, located on the Atlantic coast. It is named after the ancient Berber kingdom of Mauretania.
Lesotho
The Kingdom of Lesotho ('Muso oa Lesotho) is a country in southern Africa. It is an enclave-nation and is entirely surrounded by the Republic of South Africa. Formerly Basutoland, it is a member of the British Commonwealth. The name Le-sotho roughly translates into 'the people who speak Sotho.'
Morocco
The Kingdom of Morocco is a country in northwest Africa. It has a long coastline on the Atlantic Ocean that reaches past the Strait of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean Sea. Morocco has annexed Western Sahara, but this is not recognized by any other country.
Swaziland
The Kingdom of Swaziland (Ngwana) is a small country in southern Africa (one of the smallest on the continent), situated on the eastern slope of the Drakensberg mountains, embedded between South Africa in the west and Mozambique in the east. The country is named after the Swazi, a Bantu tribe.
Algeria
The People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, or Algeria, is the second largest country in northern Africa. It is bordered by Tunisia in the northeast, Libya in the east, Niger in the southeast, Mali and Mauritania in the southwest, and Morocco as well as a few kilometers of its annexed territory, Western Sahara, in the west. The name Algeria (Arabic al-jazā'ir) is derived from the name of the city of Algiers, which itself is from the Arabic al-jazā'ir, which translates as the islands, referring to the four islands which lay off that city's coast until becoming part of the mainland in 1525.
Benin
The Republic of Benin is a nation of western Africa, formerly known as Dahomey. It has a small coast line with the Bight of Benin in the south, borders Togo in the west, Nigeria in the east, and Burkina Faso and Niger in the north.
Botswana
The Republic of Botswana (Lefatshe la Botswana) is a landlocked nation of southern Africa. Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent on September 30, 1966. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Namibia to the west, Zambia to the north, and Zimbabwe to the northeast. The economy, closely tied to South Africa's, is dominated by cattle raising and mining. The capital is Gaborone.
Cameroon
The Republic of Cameroon is a unitary republic of central Africa. It borders Nigeria, Chad, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and the Gulf of Guinea. The former French Cameroon and part of British Cameroons merged in 1961 to form the Federal Republic of Cameroon which in 1972 was renamed the United Republic of Cameroon; since 1984 the country is known as the Republic of Cameroon or République du Cameroun (its official languages are English and French). Cameroon has generally enjoyed stability, which has permitted the development of agriculture, roads, and railways, as well as a petroleum industry. Despite movement toward democratic reform, political power remains firmly in the hands of an ethnic oligarchy. The capital is Yaoundé.
Chad
The Republic of Chad (تشاد) is a country in central Africa that borders Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest and Niger to the west.
Eq. Guinea
The Republic of Equatorial Guinea is a nation in central Africa, and one the smallest countries in continental Africa. It borders Cameroon on the north, Gabon on the south and east, and the Gulf of Guinea on the west, where the islands of São Tomé and Príncipe lie to its southwest. Formerly the Spanish colony of Spanish Guinea, the country's territory (continentally known as Río Muni) includes a number of islands, including the sizable island of Bioko where the capital, Malabo (formerly Santa Isabel), is located. Its post-independence name is suggestive of it being situated nearby both the equator and the Gulf of Guinea.
Ghana
The Republic of Ghana is a nation in West Africa. It borders Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso in the north, Togo to the east, with the Gulf of Guinea on its southern coastline. Formerly the Gold Coast, the name Ghana is derived from the Ghana Empire (although its territory never reached present-day Ghana).
Guinea
The Republic of Guinea (République de Guinée) is a nation in northwest Africa. It borders Guinea-Bissau and Senegal on the north, Mali on the north and north-east, the Ivory Coast on the south-east, Liberia on the south, and Sierra Leone on the west. Its territory encompases the water source for the Niger, Senegal, and Gambia rivers. The name Guinea (geographically assigned to most of Africa's west coast, south of the Sahara desert and north of the Gulf of Guinea) originates from Berber and roughly translates into 'land of the blacks.'
Guinea-Bissau
The Republic of Guinea-Bissau (República da Guiné-Bissau) is a country in western Africa, and one the smallest countries in continental Africa. It is bordered by Senegal to the north, and Guinea to the south and east, with the Atlantic Ocean to its west. Formerly the Portuguese colony of Portuguese Guinea, upon independence, the name of its capital, Bissau, was added to the country's official name in order to prevent confusion between itself and the Republic of Guinea.
Liberia
The Republic of Liberia is a country on the west coast of Africa, bordered by Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Côte d'Ivoire. It has recently been afflicted by two civil wars (1989-1996 and 1999-2003) that have displaced hundreds of thousands of its citizens and destroyed the Liberian economy.
Malawi
The Republic of Malaŵi is a landlocked nation in east Africa. It is bordered by Tanzania to the north, Zambia on the north-west, and Mozambique on the east, south, and west. Lake Malawi comprises about a third of the country's territory and it is stretched through most of its eastern border. The origins for the name Malaŵi remains unclear; it is held to be either derived from that of southern tribes, or noting the 'glitter of the sun setting into the lake' (as seen in its flag).
Mali
The Republic of Mali (République du Mali) is a landlocked nation in west Africa. It is the second largest country among West African nations. It borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Ivory Coast on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its straight borders on the north stretch into the centre of the Sahara desert, while the country's south, where the majority of inhabitants live, features the Niger and Senegal rivers. Formerly French Sudan, the country's is named after the Empire of Mali.
Namibia
The Republic of Namibia is a country in southwest Africa, on the Atlantic coast. It is bordered by Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east, and South Africa to the south. It gained independence from South Africa in 1990, and as such it is one of the youngest nations in the world. Its capital is Windhoek.
Senegal
The Republic of Senegal is a country south of the Senegal River in West Africa. Senegal is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Mauritania to the north, Mali to the east, and Guinea and Guinea-Bissau to the south. The Gambia forms a virtual enclave within Senegal, following the Gambia River more than 300 km inland. The Cape Verde islands lie some 560 km off the Senegalese coast.
Seychelles
The Republic of Seychelles (say-SHELLS or say-SHELL) (Creole: Repiblik Sesel) is an island nation in the Indian Ocean, some 1,600 km east of mainland Africa, northeast of the island of Madagascar. Other nearby island countries and territories include Mauritius and Réunion to the south, Comoros to the southwest, and the Maldives to the northeast.
Sierra Leone
The Republic of Sierra Leone is a country in West Africa, on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. The country is bordered by Guinea in the north and Liberia in the southeast.
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa (pronunciation) is a large republic in Southern Africa. It is located at the extreme southern tip of the continent, and borders Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Swaziland. The small nation of Lesotho is entirely contained within South African territory. Its economy is the largest and most well developed of the entire African continent, with modern infrastructure common in nearly all of the country.South Africa has the largest population of people of European descent in Africa, the largest Indian population outside of Asia, as well as the largest Coloured community in Africa, making it one of the most ethnically diverse countries on the continent. Racial and ethnic strife between the white minority and the black majority have played a large part in the country's history and politics. The National Party began introducing the policy of apartheid after winning the general election of 1948; however, it was the same party under the leadership of F.W. de Klerk who started to dismantle it in 1990 after a long struggle by the black majority, as well as many white, coloured and Indian South Africans.The country is one of the few in Africa never to have had a coup d'état, and regular free and fair elections are held since 1994, making it a regional power and among the most stable democracies in Africa.
Gambia
The Republic of The Gambia is a nation in West Africa. It is the smallest country within the African continent and is entirely surrounded by Senegal, with the Gambia River emptying into the Atlantic Ocean in its center. In 1965, The Gambia became independent from the British Empire. Banjul is its capital.
Rep. of the Congo
The Republic of the Congo, also known as Middle Congo, Congo-Brazzaville, and Congo (but not to be confused with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, formerly Zaire, which was also at one time known as the Republic of the Congo), is a former French colony of west-central Africa. It borders on Gabon, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Gulf of Guinea. Upon independence in 1960, the former French region of Middle Congo became the Republic of the Congo. A quarter century of experimentation with Marxism was abandoned in 1990 and a democratically elected government installed in 1992. A brief civil war in 1997 restored former Marxist President Denis Sassou-Nguesso. The capital is Brazzaville.
Burundi
The Republika y'u Burundi (formerly Urundi) is a small landlocked nation in the Great Lakes region of Africa. It is bordered by Rwanda on the north, Tanzania on the south and east, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the west. Although the country is landlocked, much of its western border is adjacent to Lake Tanganyika where it enjoys access to the Tanzanian ocean port of Dar es Salaam. The country's name derives from its Bantu language, Kirundi. Landlocked, facing population pressures and having sparse resources, Burundi is one of the poorest and most conflict-ridden countries in Africa and in the world. Its small size belies the magnitude of the problems it faces in seeking to bring an end to the supremacist claims of the ruling Tutsi minority with the growing demands for political participation of the Hutu majority.
Tunisia
The Tunisian Republic (الجمهرية التونسية), or Tunisia, is a Muslim Arab country situated on the North African Mediterranean coast. It is the easternmost and smallest of the three nations along the Atlas mountain range, bordering the two others: Algeria to the west and Libya to the south and east. Forty per cent of the country is comprised by the Sahara desert, with much of the remainder consisting of particularly fertile land and easily accessible coasts. Both played a prominent role in ancient times, first with the founding of the famous Phoenician city of Carthage, and later, as the Africa Province, it became known as the bread basket of the Roman Empire. It is thought that the name Tunis originated from Berber, meaning either a geographical promontory, or, 'to spend the night.'
Comoros
The Union of Comoros (until 2002 the Islamic Federal Republic of the Comoros) is principally a three-island country in southern Africa, situated at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean, between northern Madagascar and northern Mozambique. The country consists of three volcanic islands: Grande Comore, Moheli and Anjouan, while the nearby island of Mayotte is claimed by Comoros but declined independence from France. The country's territory also encompasses many smaller islands. Its name was adopted from the word al-Khamar, meaning 'island of small moon,' as seen depicted on its flag.
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania (Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania in Swahili) is a country on the east coast of central Africa. It is bordered by Kenya and Uganda on the north, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the west, and Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique on the south. To the east it borders the Indian Ocean.The capital of Tanzania was officially moved from Dar es Salaam to Dodoma in 1996, although many government offices remain in Dar es Salaam.
Western Sahara
Western Sahara (EH in ISO 3166-1) is a region of northwestern Africa, bordering Morocco on the north, Algeria on the northeast, Mauritania to the east and south, and the Atlantic Ocean on the west. The largest city is El Aaiún (Laayoune), containing the majority of the population.Whether it is part of Morocco or is the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), is disputed. At present it is largely occupied, and entirely claimed, by Morocco, but this claim is far from universally recognized and in fact a majority of other nations do not recognize the Moroccan claim.In the peace plan a future Western Sahara Authority (WSA) is envisaged.Western Sahara is one of the most sparsely populated territories in the world, with some rankings listing it as the least dense.
