Africa The second largest of the continents, on the Mediterranean in the north, the Atlantic in the west, and the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Indian Ocean in the east. The Sahara desert divides the continent unequally into North Africa and Africa south of Sahara. The largest lake is Lake Victoria and the chief rivers are the Nile, Niger, Congo, and Zambezi. The hottest continent, Africa has vast mineral resources, many of which are still undeveloped