You are invited to vote on the global sysops proposal. Click here for more information. | [Hide] [Help us with translations!]

You are invited to vote on the global sysops proposal. Click here for more information. | [Hide] [Help us with translations!]

# Africa

### From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

| This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.

For other uses, see Africa (disambiguation).

Africa
Area | 30,221,532 km2 (11,668,598.7 sq mi)
Population | 1,000,010,000[1] (2005, 2nd)
Pop. density | 30.51/km2 (about 80/sq mi)
Demonym | African
Countries | 53 (List of countries)
Dependencies | {{{1}}}[show][show] Mayotte Réunion Canary Islands Ceuta Madeira Islands Melilla Saint Helena
Languages | List of languages
Time Zones | UTC-1 to UTC+4
Largest cities | List of cities

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² (11.7 million sq mi) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area.[2] With a billion people (as of 2009, see table) in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.72% of the World's human population. The continent is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, both the Suez Canal and the Red Sea along the Sinai Peninsula to the northeast, the Indian Ocean to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Not counting the disputed territory of Western Sahara, there are 53 countries, including Madagascar and various island groups, associated with the continent.

Africa, particularly central eastern Africa, is widely regarded within the scientific community to be the origin of humans and the Hominidae tree (great apes), as evidenced by the discovery of the earliest hominids and their ancestors, as well as later ones that have been dated to around seven million years ago – including Sahelanthropus tchadensis, Australopithecus africanus, A. afarensis, Homo erectus, H. habilis and H. ergaster – with the earliest Homo sapiens (modern human) found in Ethiopia being dated to ca. 200,000 years ago.[3]

Africa straddles the equator and encompasses numerous climate areas; it is the only continent to stretch from the northern temperate to southern temperate zones.[4]

## Etymology

Afri was the name of several peoples who dwelt in North Africa near Carthage. Their name is usually connected with Phoenician afar, "dust", but a 1981 theory[5] has asserted that it stems from a Berber word ifri or Ifran meaning "cave", in reference to cave dwellers[6]. Africa or Ifri or Afer[6] is name of Banu Ifran from Algeria and Tripolitania (Berber Tribe of Yafran) [7].

Under Roman rule, Carthage became the capital of Africa Province, which also included the coastal part of modern Libya. The Roman suffix "-ca" denotes "country or land".[8] The later Muslim kingdom of Ifriqiya, modern-day Tunisia, also preserved a form of the name.

Other etymologies that have been postulated for the ancient name "Africa":

- the 1st century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus (Ant. 1.15) asserted that it was named for Epher, grandson of Abraham according to Gen. 25:4, whose descendants, he claimed, had invaded Libya.
- Latin word aprica ("sunny") mentioned by Isidore of Seville in Etymologiae XIV.5.2.
- the Greek word aphrike, meaning "without cold." This was proposed by historian Leo Africanus (1488–1554), who suggested the Greek word phrike (φρίκη, meaning "cold and horror"), combined with the privative prefix "a-", thus indicating a land free of cold and horror.
- Massey, in 1881, derived an etymology from the Egyptian af-rui-ka, "to turn toward the opening of the Ka." The Ka is the energetic double of every person and "opening of the Ka" refers to a womb or birthplace. Africa would be, for the Egyptians, "the birthplace."[9]
- yet another hypothesis was proposed by Michèle Fruyt in Revue de Philologie 50, 1976: 221-238, linking the Latin word with africus 'south wind', which would be of Umbrian origin and mean originally 'rainy wind'.

The Irish female name Aifric is sometimes anglicised as Africa, but the given name is unrelated to the geonym.

## History

Main article: History of Africa
Further information: History of North Africa, History of West Africa, History of Central Africa, History of East Africa, and History of Southern Africa

### Paleohistory

The African prosauropod Massospondylus

At the beginning of the Mesozoic Era, Africa was joined with Earth's other continents in Pangaea.[10] Africa shared the supercontinent's relatively uniform fauna which was dominated by theropods, prosauropods and primitive ornithischians by the close of the Triassic period.[10] Late Triassic fossils are found through-out Africa, but are more common in the south than north.[10] The boundary separating the Triassic and Jurassic marks the advent of an extinction event with global impact, although African strata from this time period have not been thoroughly studied.[10]

Early Jurassic strata are distributed in a similar fashion to Late Triassic beds, with more common outcrops in the south and less common fossil beds which are predominated by tracks to the north.[10] As the Jurassic proceeded, larger and more iconic groups of dinosaurs like sauropods and ornithopods proliferated in Africa.[10] Middle Jurassic strata are neither well represented nor well studied in Africa.[10] Late Jurassic strata are also poorly represented apart from the spectacular Tendeguru fauna in Tanzania.[10] The Late Jurassic life of Tendeguru is very similar to that found in western North America's Morrison Formation.[10]

Midway through the Mesozoic, about 150–160 million years ago, Madagascar separated from Africa, although it remained connected to India and the rest of the Gondwanan landmasses.[10] Fossils from Madagascar include abelisaurs and titanosaurs.[10]

The African theropod Spinosaurus was the largest known carnivorous dinosaur.

Later into the Early Cretaceous epoch, the India-Madagascar landmass separated from the rest of Gondwana.[10] By the Late Cretaceous, Madagascar and India had permanently split ways and continued until later reaching their modern configurations.[10]

By contrast to Madagascar, mainland Africa was relatively stable in position through-out the Mesozoic.[10] Despite the stable position, major changes occurred to its relation to other landmasses as the remains of Pangea continued to break apart.[10] By the beginning of the Late Cretaceous epoch South America had split off from Africa, completing the southern half of the Atlantic Ocean.[10] This event had a profound effect on global climate by altering ocean currents.[10]

During the Cretaceous, Africa was populated by allosauroids and spinosaurids, including the largest known carnivorous dinosaurs.[10] Titanosaurs were significant herbivores in its ancient ecosystems.[10] Cretaceous sites are more common than Jurassic ones, but are often unable to be dated radiometrically making it difficult to know their exact ages.[10] Paleontologist Louis Jacobs, who spent time doing field work in Malawi,[citation needed] says that African beds are "in need of more field work" and will prove to be a "fertile ground ... for discovery."[10]

### Pre-history

Lucy, an Australopithecus afarensis skeleton discovered on November 24, 1974, in the Awash Valley of Ethiopia's Afar Depression

Africa is considered by most paleoanthropologists to be the oldest inhabited territory on Earth, with the human species originating from the continent.[11][12] During the middle of the twentieth century, anthropologists discovered many fossils and evidence of human occupation perhaps as early as 7 million years ago. Fossil remains of several species of early apelike humans thought to have evolved into modern man, such as Australopithecus afarensis (radiometrically dated to approximately 3.9–3.0 million years BC),[13] Paranthropus boisei (c. 2.3–1.4 million years BC)[14] and Homo ergaster (c. 1.9 million–600,000 years BC) have been discovered.[2]

Throughout humanity's prehistory, Africa (like all other continents) had no nation states, and was instead inhabited by groups of hunter-gatherers such as the Khoi and San.[15][16][17]

At the end of the Ice Ages, estimated to have been around 10,500 BC, the Sahara had again become a green fertile valley, and its African populations returned from the interior and coastal highlands in Sub-Saharan Africa[citation needed]. However, the warming and drying climate meant that by 5000 BC the Sahara region was becoming increasingly dry and hostile. The population trekked out of the Sahara region towards the Nile Valley below the Second Cataract where they made permanent or semi-permanent settlements. A major climatic recession occurred, lessening the heavy and persistent rains in Central and Eastern Africa. Since this time dry conditions have prevailed in Eastern Africa, and increasingly during the last 200 years, in Ethiopia.

The domestication of cattle in Africa preceded agriculture and seems to have existed alongside hunter-gathering cultures. It is speculated that by 6000 BC cattle were already domesticated in North Africa.[18] In the Sahara-Nile complex, people domesticated many animals including the pack ass, and a small screw horned goat which was common from Algeria to Nubia. In the year 4000 BC the climate of the Sahara started to become drier at an exceedingly fast pace.[19] This climate change caused lakes and rivers to shrink significantly and caused increasing desertification. This, in turn, decreased the amount of land conducive to settlements and helped to cause migrations of farming communities to the more tropical climate of West Africa.[19]

By the first millennium BC ironworking had been introduced in Northern Africa and quickly spread across the Sahara into the northern parts of sub-Saharan Africa[20] and by 500 BC metalworking began to become commonplace in West Africa. Ironworking was fully established by roughly 500 BC in many areas of East and West Africa, although other regions didn't begin ironworking until the early centuries AD. Copper objects from Egypt, North Africa, Nubia and Ethiopia dating from around 500 BC have been excavated in West Africa, suggesting that trans-saharan trade networks had been established by this date.[19]

### Early civilizations

Main article: Ancient African history
Colossal statues of Ramesses II at Abu Simbel, Egypt, date from around 1400 BC.

At about 3300 BC, the historical record opens in Northern Africa with the rise of literacy in the Pharaonic civilisation of Ancient Egypt.[21] One of the world's earliest and longest-lasting civilizations, the Egyptian state continued, with varying levels of influence over other areas, until 343 BC.[22][23] Egyptian influence reached deep into modern-day Libya, north to Crete[24] and Canaan[citation needed], and south to the kingdoms of Aksum[citation needed] and Nubia[citation needed]. An independent centre of civilisation with trading links to Phoenicia was established on the north-west African coast at Carthage.[25][26]

European exploration of Africa began with Ancient Greeks and Romans. In 332 BC, Alexander the Great was welcomed as a liberator in Persian-occupied Egypt. He founded Alexandria in Egypt, which would become the prosperous capital of the Ptolemaic dynasty after his death.[27] Following the conquest of North Africa's Mediterranean coastline by the Roman Empire, the area was integrated economically and culturally into the Roman system. Roman settlement occurred in modern Tunisia and elsewhere along the coast. Christianity spread across these areas from Palestine via Egypt, also passing south, beyond the borders of the Roman world into Nubia and by at least the 6th century into Ethiopia.

In the early 7th century, the newly formed Arabian Islamic Caliphate expanded into Egypt, and then into North Africa. In a short while the local Berber elite had been integrated into Muslim Arab tribes. When the Ummayad capital Damascus fell in the eight century, the Islamic center of the Mediterranean shifted from Syria to Qayrawan in North Africa. Islamic North Africa had become diverse, and a hub for mystics, scholars, jurists and philosophers. During the above mentioned period, Islam spread to sub-Saharan Africa, mainly through trade routes and migration.[28]

### 9th–18th century

9th century bronzes from the Igbo town of Igbo Ukwu, now at the British Museum[29]

Pre-colonial Africa possessed perhaps as many as 10,000 different states and polities[30] characterised by many different sorts of political organisation and rule. These included small family groups of hunter-gatherers such as the San people of southern Africa; larger, more structured groups such as the family clan groupings of the Bantu-speaking people of central and southern Africa, heavily structured clan groups in the Horn of Africa, the large Sahelian Kingdoms, and autonomous city-states and kingdoms such as those of the Yoruba and Igbo people (also misspelled as Ibo) in West Africa, and the Swahili coastal trading towns of East Africa.

By the 9th century AD a string of dynastic states, including the earliest Hausa states, stretched across the sub-saharan savannah from the western regions to central Sudan. The most powerful of these states were Ghana, Gao, and the Kanem-Bornu Empire. Ghana declined in the 11th century but was succeeded by the Mali Empire which consolidated much of western Sudan in the 13th century. Kanem accepted Islam in the 11th century.

In the forested regions of the West African coast, independent kingdoms grew up with little influence from the Muslim north. The Kingdom of Nri of the Igbo was established around the 9th century and was one of the first. It is also one of the oldest Kingdom in modern day Nigeria and was ruled by the Eze Nri. The Nri kingdom is famous for its elaborate bronzes, found at the town of Igbo Ukwu. The bronzes have been dated from as far back as the 9th century.[31]

The Ife, historically the first of these Yoruba city-states or kingdoms, established government under a priestly oba, (oba means 'king' or 'ruler' in the Yoruba language), called the Ooni of Ife. Ife was noted as a major religious and cultural centre in Africa, and for its unique naturalistic tradition of bronze sculpture. The Ife model of government was adapted at Oyo, where its obas or kings, called the Alaafins of Oyo once controlled a large number of other Yoruba and non Yoruba city states and Kingdoms, the Fon Kingdom of Dahomey was one of the non Yoruba domains under Oyo control.

The Almoravids, was a Berber dynasty from the Sahara that spread over a wide area of northwestern Africa and the Iberian peninsula during the 11th century.[32] The Banu Hilal and Banu Ma'qil were a collection of Arab Bedouin tribes from the Arabian peninsula who migrated westwards via Egypt between the 11th and 13th centuries. Their migration resulted in the fusion of the Arabs and Berbers, where the locals were Arabized, and Arab culture absorbed elements of the local culture, under the unifying framework of Islam.[33]

Ruins of Great Zimbabwe (11th-15th c.)

Following the breakup of Mali a local leader named Sonni Ali (1464–1492) founded the Songhai Empire in the region of middle Niger and the western Sudan and took control of the trans-Saharan trade. Sonni Ali seized Timbuktu in 1468 and Jenne in 1473, building his regime on trade revenues and the cooperation of Muslim merchants. His successor Askia Mohammad I (1493–1528) made Islam the official religion, built mosques, and brought Muslim scholars, including al-Maghili (d.1504), the founder of an important tradition of Sudanic African Muslim scholarship, to Gao.[34] By the 11th century some Hausa states – such as Kano, jigawa, Katsina, and Gobir – had developed into walled towns engaging in trade, servicing caravans, and the manufacture of goods. Until the 15th century these small states were on the periphery of the major Sudanic empires of the era, paying tribute to Songhai to the west and Kanem-Borno to the east.

### Height of slave trade

See also: Arab slave trade and Atlantic slave trade

Slavery has been practiced in Africa, as well as other places, throughout recorded history.[35][36] Between the seventh and twentieth centuries, Arab slave trade (also known as slavery in the East) took 18 million slaves from Africa via trans-Saharan and Indian Ocean routes. Between the fifteenth and the nineteenth centuries, the Atlantic slave trade took 7–12 million slaves to the New World.[37][38][39]

In West Africa, the decline of the Atlantic slave trade in the 1820s caused dramatic economic shifts in local polities. The gradual decline of slave-trading, prompted by a lack of demand for slaves in the New World, increasing anti-slavery legislation in Europe and America, and the British Royal Navy's increasing presence off the West African coast, obliged African states to adopt new economies. Between 1808 and 1860, the British West Africa Squadron seized approximately 1,600 slave ships and freed 150,000 Africans who were aboard.[40] Action was also taken against African leaders who refused to agree to British treaties to outlaw the trade, for example against "the usurping King of Lagos", deposed in 1851. Anti-slavery treaties were signed with over 50 African rulers.[41] The largest powers of West Africa: the Asante Confederacy, the Kingdom of Dahomey, and the Oyo Empire, adopted different ways of adapting to the shift. Asante and Dahomey concentrated on the development of "legitimate commerce" in the form of palm oil, cocoa, timber and gold, forming the bedrock of West Africa's modern export trade. The Oyo Empire, unable to adapt, collapsed into civil wars.[42]

### Colonialism and the "Scramble for Africa"

Main article: Colonization of Africa
Further information: Scramble for Africa
European territorial claims on the African continent in 1914

In the late nineteenth century, the European imperial powers engaged in a major territorial scramble and occupied most of the continent, creating many colonial nation states, and leaving only two independent nations: Liberia, an independent state partly settled by African Americans; and Orthodox Christian Ethiopia (known to Europeans as "Abyssinia"). Colonial rule by Europeans would continue until after the conclusion of World War II, when all colonial states gradually obtained formal independence.

Independence movements in Africa gained momentum following World War II, which left the major European powers weakened. In 1951, Libya, a former Italian colony, gained independence. In 1956, Tunisia and Morocco won their independence from France. Ghana followed suit the next year, becoming the first of the sub-Saharan colonies to be freed. Most of the rest of the continent became independent over the next decade, most often through relatively peaceful means, though in some countries, notably Algeria, it came only after a violent struggle. Though South Africa was one of the first African countries to gain independence, it remained under the rule of its white settler population, in a policy known as Apartheid, until 1994.

### Post-colonial Africa

Today, Africa contains 53 independent and sovereign countries, most of which still have the borders drawn during the era of European colonialism. Since colonialism, African states have frequently been hampered by instability, corruption, violence, and authoritarianism. The vast majority of African nations are republics that operate under some form of the presidential system of rule. However, few of them have been able to sustain democratic governments, and many have instead cycled through a series of coups, producing military dictatorships. A number of Africa's post-colonial political leaders were military generals who were poorly educated and ignorant on matters of governance. Great instability, however, was mainly the result of marginalization of other ethnic groups and graft under these leaders. For political gain, many leaders fanned ethnic conflicts that had been exacerbated, or even created, by colonial rule. In many countries, the military was perceived as being the only group that could effectively maintain order, and it ruled many nations in Africa during the 1970s and early 1980s. During the period from the early 1960s to the late 1980s, Africa had more than 70 coups and 13 presidential assassinations. Border and territorial disputes were also common, with the European-imposed borders of many nations being widely contested through armed conflicts.

Cold War conflicts between the United States and the Soviet Union, as well as the policies of the International Monetary Fund, also played a role in instability. When a country became independent for the first time, it was often expected to align with one of the two superpowers. Many countries in Northern Africa received Soviet military aid, while many in Central and Southern Africa were supported by the United States, France or both. The 1970s saw an escalation, as newly independent Angola and Mozambique aligned themselves with the Soviet Union, and the West and South Africa sought to contain Soviet influence by funding insurgency movements. There was a major famine in Ethiopia, when hundreds of thousands of people starved. Some claimed that Marxist/Soviet polices made the situation worse.[43][44][45]

The most devastating military conflict in modern independent Africa has been the Second Congo War. By 2008, this conflict and its aftermath had killed 5.4 million people. Since 2003 there has been an ongoing conflict in Darfur which has become a humanitarian disaster. AIDS has also been a prevalent issue in post-colonial Africa.

## Geography

A composite satellite image of Africa (centre) with North America (left) and Eurasia (right) to scale
Main article: Geography of Africa

Africa is the largest of the three great southward projections from the largest landmass of the Earth. Separated from Europe by the Mediterranean Sea, it is joined to Asia at its northeast extremity by the Isthmus of Suez (transected by the Suez Canal), 163 km (101 miles) wide.[46] (Geopolitically, Egypt's Sinai Peninsula east of the Suez Canal is often considered part of Africa, as well.)[47] From the most northerly point, Ras ben Sakka in Tunisia (37°21' N), to the most southerly point, Cape Agulhas in South Africa (34°51'15" S), is a distance of approximately 8,000 km (5,000 miles);[48] from Cape Verde, 17°33'22" W, the westernmost point, to Ras Hafun in Somalia, 51°27'52" E, the most easterly projection, is a distance of approximately 7,400 km (4,600 miles).[49] The coastline is 26,000 km (16,100 miles) long, and the absence of deep indentations of the shore is illustrated by the fact that Europe, which covers only 10,400,000 km² (4,010,000 square miles) – about a third of the surface of Africa – has a coastline of 32,000 km (19,800 miles).[49]

Africa's largest country is Sudan, and its smallest country is the Seychelles, an archipelago off the east coast.[50] The smallest nation on the continental mainland is The Gambia.

Biomes of Africa (see world vegetation map for key)

According to the ancient Romans, Africa lay to the west of Egypt, while "Asia" was used to refer to Anatolia and lands to the east. A definite line was drawn between the two continents by the geographer Ptolemy (85–165 AD), indicating Alexandria along the Prime Meridian and making the isthmus of Suez and the Red Sea the boundary between Asia and Africa. As Europeans came to understand the real extent of the continent, the idea of Africa expanded with their knowledge.

Geologically, Africa includes the Arabian Peninsula; the Zagros Mountains of Iran and the Anatolian Plateau of Turkey mark where the African Plate collided with Eurasia. The Afrotropic ecozone and the Saharo-Arabian desert to its north unite the region biogeographically, and the Afro-Asiatic language family unites the north linguistically.

### Climate

The climate of Africa ranges from tropical to subarctic on its highest peaks. Its northern half is primarily desert or arid, while its central and southern areas contain both savanna plains and very dense jungle (rainforest) regions. In between, there is a convergence where vegetation patterns such as sahel, and steppe dominate.

### Fauna

Main article: Fauna of Africa
Savanna at Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania.

Africa boasts perhaps the world's largest combination of density and "range of freedom" of wild animal populations and diversity, with wild populations of large carnivores (such as lions, hyenas, and cheetahs) and herbivores (such as buffalo, deer, elephants, camels, and giraffes) ranging freely on primarily open non-private plains. It is also home to a variety of jungle creatures (including snakes and primates) and aquatic life (including crocodiles and amphibians). Africa also has the largest number of megafauna species, as it was least affected by the extinction of the Pleistocene megafauna.

### Ecology

Africa is suffering deforestation at twice the world rate, according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).[51] Some sources claim that deforestation has already wiped out roughly 90% of West Africa's original forests.[52] Since the arrival of humans 2000 years ago, Madagascar has lost more than 90% of its original forest.[53] About 65% of Africa's agricultural land suffers from soil degradation.[54]

## Politics

Political map of Africa. (Hover mouse to see name, click area to go to article.)

The African Union (AU) is a federation consisting of all of Africa's states except Morocco. The union was formed, with Addis Ababa as its headquarters, on 26 June 2001. In July 2004, the African Union's Pan-African Parliament (PAP) was relocated to Midrand, in South Africa, but the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights remained in Addis Ababa. There is a policy in effect to decentralise the African Federation's institutions so that they are shared by all the states.

The African Union, not to be confused with the AU Commission, is formed by an Act of Union, which aims to transform the African Economic Community, a federated commonwealth, into a state under established international conventions. The African Union has a parliamentary government, known as the African Union Government, consisting of legislative, judicial and executive organs. It is led by the African Union President and Head of State, who is also the President of the Pan African Parliament. A person becomes AU President by being elected to the PAP, and subsequently gaining majority support in the PAP.

The powers and authority of the President of the African Parliament derive from the Union Act, and the Protocol of the Pan African Parliament, as well as the inheritance of presidential authority stipulated by African treaties and by international treaties, including those subordinating the Secretary General of the OAU Secretariat (AU Commission) to the PAP. The government of the AU consists of all-union (federal), regional, state, and municipal authorities, as well as hundreds of institutions, that together manage the day-to-day affairs of the institution.

There are clear signs of increased networking among African organisations and states. In the civil war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (former Zaire), rather than rich, non-African countries intervening, neighbouring African countries became involved (see also Second Congo War). Since the conflict began in 1998, the estimated death toll has reached 5 million. Political associations such as the African Union offer hope for greater co-operation and peace between the continent's many countries. Extensive human rights abuses still occur in several parts of Africa, often under the oversight of the state. Most of such violations occur for political reasons, often as a side effect of civil war. Countries where major human rights violations have been reported in recent times include the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Sudan, Zimbabwe, and Côte d'Ivoire.

## Economy

Main article: Economy of Africa
African Economic Community map

Although it has abundant natural resources, Africa remains the world's poorest and most underdeveloped continent, due to a variety of causes that may include the spread of deadly diseases and viruses (notably HIV/AIDS and malaria), corrupt governments that have often committed serious human rights violations, failed central planning, high levels of illiteracy, lack of access to foreign capital, and frequent tribal and military conflict (ranging from guerrilla warfare to genocide).[55] According to the United Nations' Human Development Report in 2003, the bottom 25 ranked nations (151st to 175th) were all African.[56]

Poverty, illiteracy, malnutrition and inadequate water supply and sanitation, as well as poor health, affect a large proportion of the people who reside in the African continent. In August 2008, the World Bank[57] announced revised global poverty estimates based on a new international poverty line of $1.25 per day (versus the previous measure of $1.00). 80.5% of the Sub-Saharan Africa population was living on less than $2.50 (PPP) a day in 2005, compared with 85.7% for India.[58] The new figures confirm that sub-Saharan Africa has been the least successful region of the world in reducing poverty ($1.25 per day); some 50% of the population living in poverty in 1981 (200 million people), a figure that rose to 58% in 1996 before dropping to 50% in 2005 (380 million people). The average poor person in sub-Saharan Africa is estimated to live on only 70 cents per day, and was poorer in 2003 than he or she was in 1973 [59] indicating increasing poverty in some areas. Some of it is attributed to unsuccessful economic liberalization programs spearheaded by foreign companies and governments, but other studies and reports have cited bad domestic government policies more than external factors.[60][61][62]

From 1995 to 2005, Africa's rate of economic growth increased, averaging 5% in 2005. Some countries experienced still higher growth rates, notably Angola, Sudan and Equatorial Guinea, all three of which had recently begun extracting their petroleum reserves or had expanded their oil extraction capacity. The continent has 90% of the world’s cobalt, 90% of its platinum, 50% of its gold, 98% of its chromium, 70% of its tantalite,[63] 64% of its manganese and one-third of its uranium.[64] The DRC has 70% of the world’s coltan, and most mobile phones in the world have coltan in them. The Democratic Republic of the Congo also has more than 30% of the world’s diamond reserves.[65] Guinea is the world’s largest exporter of bauxite.[66] In recent years, the People's Republic of China has built increasingly stronger ties with African nations. In 2007, Chinese companies invested a total of US$1 billion in Africa.[67]

## Demographics

Main articles: African people and Demographics of Africa
Tuareg man from Algeria

Africa's population has rapidly increased over the last 40 years, and consequently it is relatively young. In some African states half or more of the population is under 25 years of age.[68] African population grew from 221 million in 1950 to 1 billion in 2009.[69][70]

Speakers of Bantu languages (part of the Niger-Congo family) are the majority in southern, central and East Africa proper. But there are also several Nilotic groups in East Africa, and a few remaining indigenous Khoisan ('San' or 'Bushmen') and Pygmy peoples in southern and central Africa, respectively. Bantu-speaking Africans also predominate in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, and are found in parts of southern Cameroon. In the Kalahari Desert of Southern Africa, the distinct people known as the Bushmen (also "San", closely related to, but distinct from "Hottentots") have long been present. The San are physically distinct from other Africans and are the indigenous people of southern Africa. Pygmies are the pre-Bantu indigenous peoples of central Africa.[71]

San man from Botswana

The peoples of North Africa comprise two main groups; Berber and Arabic-speaking peoples in the west, and Egyptians in the east. The Arabs who arrived in the seventh century introduced the Arabic language and Islam to North Africa. The Semitic Phoenicians, the Iranian Alans, the European Greeks, Romans and Vandals settled in North Africa as well. Berbers still make up the majority in Morocco, while they are a significant minority within Algeria. They are also present in Tunisia and Libya.[72] The Tuareg and other often-nomadic peoples are the principal inhabitants of the Saharan interior of North Africa. Nubians are a Nilo-Saharan-speaking group (though many also speak Arabic), who developed an ancient civilisation in northeast Africa.

Some Ethiopian and Eritrean groups (like the Amhara and Tigrayans, collectively known as "Habesha") speak Semitic languages. The Oromo and Somali peoples speak Cushitic languages, but some Somali clans trace their founding to legendary Arab founders. Sudan and Mauritania are divided between a mostly Arabized north and a native African south (although the "Arabs" of Sudan clearly have a predominantly native African ancestry themselves). Some areas of East Africa, particularly the island of Zanzibar and the Kenyan island of Lamu, received Arab Muslim and Southwest Asian settlers and merchants throughout the Middle Ages and in antiquity.[73]

Prior to the decolonisation movements of the post-World War II era, Whites were represented in every part of Africa.[74] Decolonisation during the 1960s and 1970s often resulted in the mass emigration of European-descended settlers out of Africa – especially from Algeria (pieds-noirs),[75] Kenya, Congo,[76] Angola,[77] Mozambique and Rhodesia. Nevertheless, White Africans remain an important minority in many African states. The African country with the largest White African population is South Africa.[78] The Afrikaners, the Anglo-Africans and the Coloureds are the largest European-descended groups in Africa today.

Woman from Benin

European colonisation also brought sizeable groups of Asians, particularly people from the Indian subcontinent, to British colonies. Large Indian communities are found in South Africa, and smaller ones are present in Kenya, Tanzania, and some other southern and East African countries. The large Indian community in Uganda was expelled by the dictator Idi Amin in 1972, though many have since returned. The islands in the Indian Ocean are also populated primarily by people of Asian origin, often mixed with Africans and Europeans. The Malagasy people of Madagascar are an Austronesian people, but those along the coast are generally mixed with Bantu, Arab, Indian and European origins. Malay and Indian ancestries are also important components in the group of people known in South Africa as Cape Coloureds (people with origins in two or more races and continents). During the 20th century, small but economically important communities of Lebanese and Chinese[67] have also developed in the larger coastal cities of West and East Africa, respectively.[79]

## Languages

Main article: African languages
Map showing the distribution of the various language families of Africa.

By most estimates, well over a thousand languages (UNESCO has estimated around two thousand) are spoken in Africa.[80] Most are of African origin, though some are of European or Asian origin. Africa is the most multilingual continent in the world, and it is not rare for individuals to fluently speak not only multiple African languages, but one or more European ones as well. There are four major language families indigenous to Africa.

- The Afro-Asiatic languages are a language family of about 240 languages and 285 million people widespread throughout the Horn of Africa, North Africa, the Sahel, and Southwest Asia.
- The Nilo-Saharan language family consists of more than a hundred languages spoken by 30 million people. Nilo-Saharan languages are spoken by Nilotic tribes in Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, Uganda, and northern Tanzania.
- The Niger-Congo language family covers much of Sub-Saharan Africa and is probably the largest language family in the world in terms of different languages.
- The Khoisan languages number about fifty and are spoken in Southern Africa by approximately 120,000 people. Many of the Khoisan languages are endangered. The Khoi and San peoples are considered the original inhabitants of this part of Africa.

Following the end of colonialism, nearly all African countries adopted official languages that originated outside the continent, although several countries also granted legal recognition to indigenous languages (such as Swahili, Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa). In numerous countries, English and French (see African French) are used for communication in the public sphere such as government, commerce, education and the media. Arabic, Portuguese, Afrikaans and Malagasy are examples of languages that trace their origin to outside of Africa, and that are used by millions of Africans today, both in the public and private spheres.

## Culture

Main article: Culture of Africa
Kikuyu woman in Kenya

Modern African culture is characterised by conflicted responses to Arab nationalism and European imperialism.[citation needed] Increasingly, beginning in the late 1990s, Africans have been reasserting their identity.[citation needed] In North Africa, especially because of the rejection of the label Arab or European, there is now an upsurge of demands for special protection of indigenous Berber languages and culture in Morocco, Egypt, Algeria and Tunisia.[citation needed] The re-emergence of Pan-Africanism since the fall of apartheid has heightened calls for a renewed sense of African identity.[citation needed] In South Africa, intellectuals from settler communities of European descent increasingly identify as African for cultural, rather than geographical or racial, reasons. Famously, some have undergone ritual ceremonies to become members of the Zulu or other communities.[citation needed]

Many aspects of traditional African cultures have become less practiced in recent years as a result of years of neglect and suppression by colonial and post-colonial regimes.[citation needed] There is now a resurgence in the attempts to rediscover and revalourise African traditional cultures, under such movements as the African Renaissance, led by Thabo Mbeki, Afrocentrism, led by a group of scholars, including Molefi Asante, as well as the increasing recognition of traditional spiritualism through decriminalization of Vodou and other forms of spirituality. In recent years, traditional African culture has become synonymous with rural poverty and subsistence farming.[citation needed]

Mali's Great Mosque of Djenné is built in an architectural style prevalent in the interior regions of West Africa.

The vast majority of the scholarship on Africa was extraneous and catered to the demand for exotic and outlandish representations of Africa. The enforcement of government decrees and policies tended to produce effects that confirmed the prejudices of the European colonialists.

### Visual art and architecture

African art and architecture reflect the diversity of African cultures. The oldest existing examples of art from Africa are 82,000-year-old beads made from Nassarius shells that were found in the Aterian levels at Grotte des Pigeons, Taforalt, Morocco.[citation needed] The Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt was the world's tallest structure for 4,000 years, until the completion of Lincoln Cathedral around the year 1300. The stone ruins of Great Zimbabwe are also noteworthy for their architecture, and the complexity of monolithic churches at Lalibela, Ethiopia, of which the Church of St. George is representative.[citation needed]

### Music and dance

Main article: Music of Africa
A young man playing the k'ra, a traditional instrument of Ethiopia

Egypt has long been a cultural focus of the Arab world, while remembrance of the rhythms of sub-Saharan Africa, in particular West Africa, was transmitted through the Atlantic slave trade to modern samba, blues, jazz, reggae, hip hop, and rock. The 1950s through the 1970s saw a conglomeration of these various styles with the popularization of Afrobeat and Highlife music. Modern music of the continent includes the highly complex choral singing of southern Africa and the dance rhythms of the musical genre of soukous, dominated by the music of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Indigenous musical and dance traditions of Africa are maintained by oral traditions, and they are distinct from the music and dance styles of North Africa and Southern Africa. Arab influences are visible in North African music and dance and, in Southern Africa, Western influences are apparent due to colonisation.

### Sports

Fifty-three African countries have football (soccer) teams in the Confederation of African Football, while Cameroon, Nigeria, Senegal, and Ghana have advanced to the knockout stage of recent FIFA World Cups. South Africa will host the 2010 World Cup tournament, and will be the first African country to do so.

Cricket is popular in some African nations. South Africa and Zimbabwe have Test status, while Kenya is the leading non-test team in One-Day International cricket and has attained permanent One-Day International status. The three countries jointly hosted the 2003 Cricket World Cup. Namibia is the other African country to have played in a World Cup. Morocco in northern Africa has also hosted the 2002 Morocco Cup, but the national team has never qualified for a major tournament.

## Religion

Main article: Religion in Africa

Africans profess a wide variety of religious beliefs[81] and statistics on religious affiliation are difficult to come by since they are too sensitive a topic for governments with mixed populations.[82] According to the World Book Encyclopedia, Islam is the largest religion in Africa, followed by Christianity. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, 45% of the population are Muslims, 40% are Christians and less than 15% are non-religious or follow African religions. A small number of Africans are Hindu, Baha'i, or have beliefs from the Judaic tradition. Examples of African Jews are the Beta Israel, Lemba peoples and the Abayudaya of Eastern Uganda.

## Territories and regions

Main articles: Regions of Africa and List of African countries

The countries in this table are categorised according to the scheme for geographic subregions used by the United Nations, and data included are per sources in cross-referenced articles. Where they differ, provisos are clearly indicated.

Regions of Africa: Northern Africa Western Africa Middle Africa Eastern Africa Southern Africa
Physical map of Africa
Satellite photo of Africa
Political map of Africa

Name of region[83] and territory, with flag | Area (km²) | Population (2009 est) except where noted | Density (per km²) | Capital
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
Eastern Africa: | 6,384,904 | 316,053,651 | 49.5
Burundi | 27,830 | 8,988,091[84] | 322.9 | Bujumbura
Comoros | 2,170 | 752,438[84] | 346.7 | Moroni
Djibouti | 23,000 | 516,055[84] | 22.4 | Djibouti
Eritrea | 121,320 | 5,647,168[84] | 46.5 | Asmara
Ethiopia | 1,127,127 | 85,237,338[84] | 75.6 | Addis Ababa
Kenya | 582,650 | 39,002,772[84] | 66.0 | Nairobi
Madagascar | 587,040 | 20,653,556[84] | 35.1 | Antananarivo
Malawi | 118,480 | 14,268,711[84] | 120.4 | Lilongwe
Mauritius | 2,040 | 1,284,264[84] | 629.5 | Port Louis
Mayotte (France) | 374 | 223,765[84] | 489.7 | Mamoudzou
Mozambique | 801,590 | 21,669,278[84] | 27.0 | Maputo
Réunion (France) | 2,512 | 743,981(2002) | 296.2 | Saint-Denis
Rwanda | 26,338 | 10,473,282[84] | 397.6 | Kigali
Seychelles | 455 | 87,476[84] | 192.2 | Victoria
Somalia | 637,657 | 9,832,017[84] | 15.4 | Mogadishu
Tanzania | 945,087 | 41,048,532[84] | 43.3 | Dodoma
Uganda | 236,040 | 32,369,558[84] | 137.1 | Kampala
Zambia | 752,614 | 11,862,740[84] | 15.7 | Lusaka
Middle Africa: | 6,613,253 | 121,585,754 | 18.4
Angola | 1,246,700 | 12,799,293[84] | 10.3 | Luanda
Cameroon | 475,440 | 18,879,301[84] | 39.7 | Yaoundé
Central African Republic | 622,984 | 4,511,488[84] | 7.2 | Bangui
Chad | 1,284,000 | 10,329,208[84] | 8.0 | N'Djamena
Congo | 342,000 | 4,012,809[84] | 11.7 | Brazzaville
Democratic Republic of the Congo | 2,345,410 | 68,692,542[84] | 29.2 | Kinshasa
Equatorial Guinea | 28,051 | 633,441[84] | 22.6 | Malabo
Gabon | 267,667 | 1,514,993[84] | 5.6 | Libreville
São Tomé and Príncipe | 1,001 | 212,679[84] | 212.4 | São Tomé
Northern Africa: | 8,533,021 | 211,087,622 | 24.7
Algeria | 2,381,740 | 34,178,188[84] | 14.3 | Algiers
Egypt[85] | 1,001,450 | 83,082,869[84] total, Asia 1.4m | 82.9 | Cairo
Libya | 1,759,540 | 6,310,434[84] | 3.6 | Tripoli
Morocco | 446,550 | 34,859,364[84] | 78.0 | Rabat
Sudan | 2,505,810 | 41,087,825[84] | 16.4 | Khartoum
Tunisia | 163,610 | 10,486,339[84] | 64.1 | Tunis
Western Sahara[86] | 266,000 | 405,210[84] | 1.5 | El Aaiún
Spanish and Portuguese territories in Northern Africa:
Canary Islands (Spain)[87] | 7,492 | 1,694,477(2001) | 226.2 | Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Santa Cruz de Tenerife
Ceuta (Spain)[88] | 20 | 71,505(2001) | 3,575.2 | —
Madeira Islands (Portugal)[89] | 797 | 245,000(2001) | 307.4 | Funchal
Melilla (Spain)[90] | 12 | 66,411(2001) | 5,534.2 | —
Southern Africa: | 2,693,418 | 56,406,762 | 20.9
Botswana | 600,370 | 1,990,876[84] | 3.3 | Gaborone
Lesotho | 30,355 | 2,130,819[84] | 70.2 | Maseru
Zimbabwe | 390,580 | 11,392,629[84] | 29.1 | Harare
Namibia | 825,418 | 2,108,665[84] | 2.6 | Windhoek
South Africa | 1,219,912 | 49,052,489[84] | 40.2 | Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Pretoria[91]
Swaziland | 17,363 | 1,123,913[84] | 64.7 | Mbabane
Western Africa: | 6,144,013 | 296,186,492 | 48.2
Benin | 112,620 | 8,791,832[84] | 78.0 | Porto-Novo
Burkina Faso | 274,200 | 15,746,232[84] | 57.4 | Ouagadougou
Cape Verde | 4,033 | 429,474[84] | 107.3 | Praia
Côte d'Ivoire | 322,460 | 20,617,068[84] | 63.9 | Abidjan,[92] Yamoussoukro
Gambia | 11,300 | 1,782,893[84] | 157.7 | Banjul
Ghana | 239,460 | 23,832,495[84] | 99.5 | Accra
Guinea | 245,857 | 10,057,975[84] | 40.9 | Conakry
Guinea-Bissau | 36,120 | 1,533,964[84] | 42.5 | Bissau
Liberia | 111,370 | 3,441,790[84] | 30.9 | Monrovia
Mali | 1,240,000 | 12,666,987[84] | 10.2 | Bamako
Mauritania | 1,030,700 | 3,129,486[84] | 3.0 | Nouakchott
Niger | 1,267,000 | 15,306,252[84] | 12.1 | Niamey
Nigeria | 923,768 | 149,229,090[84] | 161.5 | Abuja
Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha (UK) | 410 | 7,637[84] | 14.4 | Jamestown
Senegal | 196,190 | 13,711,597[84] | 69.9 | Dakar
Sierra Leone | 71,740 | 6,440,053[84] | 89.9 | Freetown
Togo | 56,785 | 6,019,877[84] | 106.0 | Lomé
Africa Total | 30,368,609 | 1,001,320,281 | 33.0

## See also

| Africa portal

| Book:Africa
Books are collections of articles which can be downloaded or ordered in print.

Main articles: Outline of Africa and Index of Africa-related articles

- List of African countries by population
- List of cities in Africa
- Urbanization in Africa
- List of topics related to Africa
- Highest mountain peaks of Africa

## References

1. ^ "World Population Prospects: The 2006 Revision" United Nations (Department of Economic and Social Affairs, population division)
2. ^ a b Sayre, April Pulley. (1999) Africa, Twenty-First Century Books. ISBN 0-7613-1367-2.
3. ^ "Homo sapiens: University of Utah News Release: Feb. 16, 2005". http://web.utah.edu/unews/releases/05/feb/homosapiens.html.
4. ^ Visual Geography. "Africa. General info". http://www.visualgeography.com/continents/africa.html. Retrieved 2007-11-24.
5. ^ Names of countries, Decret and Fantar, 1981
6. ^ a b The Berbers, by Geo. Babington Michell, p 161, 1903, Journal of Royal African people book on ligne
7. ^ Itineraria Phoenicia, Edward Lipinski, Peeters Publishers, p200, 2004, ISBN 9042913444 Book on ligne
8. ^ "Consultos.com etymology". http://www.consultsos.com/pandora/africa.htm.
9. ^ 'Nile Genesis: the opus of Gerald Massey'
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Jacobs, Louis L. (1997). "African Dinosaurs." Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs. Edited by Phillip J. Currie and Kevin Padian. Academic Press. pp. 2–4.
11. ^ Genetic study roots humans in Africa, BBC News | SCI/TECH
12. ^ Migration of Early Humans From Africa Aided By Wet Weather, sciencedaily.com
13. ^ Kimbel, William H. and Yoel Rak and Donald C. Johanson. (2004) The Skull of Australopithecus Afarensis, Oxford University Press US. ISBN 0-19-515706-0.
14. ^ Tudge, Colin. (2002) The Variety of Life., Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-860426-2.
15. ^ van Sertima, Ivan. (1995) Egypt: Child of Africa/S V12 (Ppr), Transaction Publishers. pp. 324–325. ISBN 1-56000-792-3.
16. ^ Mokhtar, G. (1990) UNESCO General History of Africa, Vol. II, Abridged Edition: Ancient Africa, University of California Press. ISBN 0-85255-092-8.
17. ^ Eyma, A. K. and C. J. Bennett. (2003) Delts-Man in Yebu: Occasional Volume of the Egyptologists' Electronic Forum No. 1, Universal Publishers. p. 210. SBN 1-58112-564-X.
18. ^ Diamond, Jared. (1999) "Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. New York:Norton, pp.167.
19. ^ a b c O'Brien, Patrick K. (General Editor). Oxford Atlas of World History. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. pp.22–23
20. ^ Martin and O'Meara. "Africa, 3rd Ed." Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1995. [1]
21. ^ Were Egyptians the first scribes?, BBC News | Sci/Tech
22. ^ Hassan, Fekri A. (2002) Droughts, Food and Culture, Springer. p. 17. ISBN 0-306-46755-0.
23. ^ McGrail, Sean. (2004) Boats of the World, Oxford University Press. p. 48. ISBN 0-19-927186-0.
24. ^ Shavit, Jacob; Shavit, Yaacov (2001). History in Black: African-Americans in Search of an Ancient Past. Taylor & Francis. p. 77. ISBN 0-714-68216-0. http://books.google.com/books?id=VlNkzTO6IecC&pg=PA77.
25. ^ Fage, J. D. (1979) The Cambridge History of Africa, Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-21592-7.
26. ^ Oliver, Roland and Anthony Atmore. (1994) Africa Since 1800, Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-42970-6.
27. ^ Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt: 332 BC-395 AD
28. ^ Ayoub, Mahmoud M. (2004). Islam: Faith and History. Oxford: Oneworld. pp. 76, 92–3, 96–7.
29. ^ Apley, Apley. "Igbo-Ukwu (ca. 9th century)". The Metropolitan Museum of Art. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/igbo/hd_igbo.htm. Retrieved 2008-11-23.
30. ^ "The Fate of Africa - A Survey of Fifty Years of Independence". washingtonpost.com. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2006/01/11/DI2006011101372.html. Retrieved 2007-07-23.
31. ^ http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/igbo/hd_igbo.htm
32. ^ Glick, Thomas F. Islamic And Christian Spain in the Early Middle Ages. (2005) Brill Academic Publishers page 37
33. ^ Genetic Evidence for the Expansion of Arabian Tribes into the Southern Levant and North Africa
34. ^ Ira M. Lapidus, A History of Islamic Societies, Cambridge 1988
35. ^ Historical survey > Slave societies, Encyclopædia Britannica
36. ^ Swahili Coast, National Geographic
37. ^ Welcome to Encyclopædia Britannica's Guide to Black History, Encyclopædia Britannica
38. ^ Focus on the slave trade, BBC
39. ^ Transformations in Slavery: A History of Slavery in Africa p 25 by Paul E. Lovejoy
40. ^ Sailing against slavery. By Jo Loosemore BBC
41. ^ The West African Squadron and slave trade
42. ^ Simon, Julian L. (1995) State of Humanity, Blackwell Publishing. p. 175. ISBN 1-55786-585-X.
43. ^ "BBC: 1984 famine in Ethiopia". 2000-04-06. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/703958.stm. Retrieved 2010-01-01.
44. ^ Robert G. Patman, The Soviet Union in the Horn of Africa 1990, ISBN 0521360226, pp. 295–296
45. ^ Steven Varnis, Reluctant aid or aiding the reluctant?: U.S. food aid policy and the Ethiopian Famine Relief 1990, ISBN 0887383483, p.38
46. ^ Drysdale, Alasdair and Gerald H. Blake. (1985) The Middle East and North Africa, Oxford University Press US. ISBN 0-19-503538-0.
47. ^ "Atlas - Xpeditions @ nationalgeographic.com". National Geographic Society. 2003. http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/atlas/index.html?Parent=africa&Rootmap=&Mode=d. Retrieved 2009-03-01.
48. ^ Lewin, Evans. (1924) Africa, Clarendon press.
49. ^ a b (1998) Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary (Index), Merriam-Webster. pp. 10–11. ISBN 0-87779-546-0.
50. ^ Hoare, Ben. (2002) The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia, Kingfisher Publications. p. 11. ISBN 0-7534-5569-2.
51. ^ Deforestation reaches worrying level - UN. AfricaNews. June 11, 2008.
52. ^ Forests and deforestation in Africa - the wasting of an immense resource. afrol News.
53. ^ Terrestrial Ecoregions -- Madagascar subhumid forests (AT0118), National Geographic.
54. ^ Nature laid waste: The destruction of Africa. The Independent. June 11, 2008.
55. ^ Richard Sandbrook, The Politics of Africa's Economic Stagnation, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1985 passim
56. ^ [2], United Nations
57. ^ World Bank Updates Poverty Estimates for the Developing World
58. ^ "The developing world is poorer than we thought, but no less successful in the fight against poverty". World Bank. http://econ.worldbank.org/external/default/main?pagePK=64165259&piPK=64165421&theSitePK=469372&menuPK=64166093&entityID=000158349_20080826113239.
59. ^ Economic report on Africa 2004: unlocking Africa’s potential in the global economy, (Substantive session 28 June-23 July 2004) United Nations
60. ^ Neo-Liberalism and the Economic and Political Future of Africa
61. ^ Capitalism - Africa - Neoliberalism, Structural Adjustment, And The African Reaction
62. ^ http://www.turkishweekly.net/news.php?id=58925
63. ^ "Africa: Developed Countries' Leverage On the Continent". AllAfrica.com. February 7, 2008.
64. ^ "Africa, China's new frontier". Times Online. February 10, 2008.
65. ^ "DR Congo poll crucial for Africa". BBC News. November 16, 2006.
66. ^ "China tightens grip on Africa with $4.4bn lifeline for Guinea junta". The Times. October 13, 2009.
67. ^ a b "China and Africa: Stronger Economic Ties Mean More Migration". By Malia Politzer, Migration Information Source. August 2008.
68. ^ "Africa Population Dynamics". http://www.overpopulation.org/Africa.html.
69. ^ Population. Western Kentucky University.
70. ^ Africa's population now 1 billion. AfricaNews. August 25, 2009.
71. ^ Pygmies struggle to survive in war zone where abuse is routine. Times Online. December 16, 2004.
72. ^ Q&A: The Berbers. BBC News. March 12, 2004.
73. ^ The Story of Africa. BBC World Service.
74. ^ "We Want Our Country" (3 of 10). Time. November 5, 1965
75. ^ North Africa after 1830. Britannica Online Encyclopedia.
76. ^ Jungle Shipwreck. Time. July 25, 1960
77. ^ Flight from Angola, The Economist , August 16, 1975
78. ^ South Africa: People: Ethnic Groups. World Factbook of CIA
79. ^ Lebanese Immigrants Boost West African Commerce, By Naomi Schwarz, voanews.com, July 10
80. ^ "Africa". UNESCO. 2005. http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=8048&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html. Retrieved 2009-03-01.
81. ^ "African Religion on the Internet", Stanford University
82. ^ Onishi, Normitsu (November 1, 2001). "Rising Muslim Power in Africa Causing Unrest in Nigeria and Elsewhere". The New York Times Company. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C00EEDC1030F932A35752C1A9679C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1. Retrieved 2009-03-01.
83. ^ Continental regions as per UN categorisations/map.
84. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc bd USCensusBureau:Countries and Areas Ranked by Population: 2009
85. ^ Egypt is generally considered a transcontinental country in Northern Africa (UN region) and Western Asia; population and area figures are for African portion only, west of the Suez Canal.
86. ^ Western Sahara is disputed between the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, who administer a minority of the territory, and Morocco, who occupy the remainder.
87. ^ The Spanish Canary Islands, of which Las Palmas de Gran Canaria are Santa Cruz de Tenerife are co-capitals, are often considered part of Northern Africa due to their relative proximity to Morocco and Western Sahara; population and area figures are for 2001.
88. ^ The Spanish exclave of Ceuta is surrounded on land by Morocco in Northern Africa; population and area figures are for 2001.
89. ^ The Portuguese Madeira Islands are often considered part of Northern Africa due to their relative proximity to Morocco; population and area figures are for 2001.
90. ^ The Spanish exclave of Melilla is surrounded on land by Morocco in Northern Africa; population and area figures are for 2001.
91. ^ Bloemfontein is the judicial capital of South Africa, while Cape Town is its legislative seat, and Pretoria is the country's administrative seat.
92. ^ Yamoussoukro is the official capital of Côte d'Ivoire, while Abidjan is the de facto seat.

## Further reading

- Asante, Molefi (2007). The History of Africa. USA: Routledge. ISBN 0415771390.
- Clark, J. Desmond (1970). The Prehistory of Africa. London: Thames and Hudson. ISBN 9780500020692.
- Crowder, Michael (1978). The Story of Nigeria. London: Faber. ISBN 9780571049479.
- Davidson, Basil (1966). The African past; chronicles from antiquity to modern times. Harmondsworth: Penguin. OCLC 2016817.
- Gordon, April A.; Donald L. Gordon (1996). Understanding contemporary Africa. Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers. ISBN 9781555875473.
- Khapoya, Vincent B. (1998). The African experience: an introduction. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. ISBN 9780137458523.

## External links

Find more about Africa on Wikipedia's sister projects:

Definitions from Wiktionary
Textbooks from Wikibooks
Quotations from Wikiquote
Source texts from Wikisource
Images and media from Commons
News stories from Wikinews
Learning resources from Wikiversity

| Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Africa.

General information

- Africa at the Open Directory Project
- African & Middle Eastern Reading Room from the United States Library of Congress
- Africa South of the Sahara from Stanford University
- The Index on Africa from The Norwegian Council for Africa
- Africa from The Columbia Gazetteer of the World Online
- Aluka Digital library of scholarly resources from and about Africa
- Atlas of Our Changing Environment: Africa from United Nations Environment Programme
- Africa Interactive Map from the United States Army Africa
- Wikimedia Atlas of Africa

History

- African Kingdoms
- The Story of Africa from BBC World Service
- Charles Finch: Nile Genesis

News media

- allAfrica.com current news, events and statistics
- Focus on Africa magazine from BBC World Service

Travel

- Africa travel guide from Wikitravel

[show][show] Articles Related to Africa
[show][show] Africa topics
Culture | Architecture (World Heritage Sites) · Art · Cinema (Films · Film festivals) · Cuisine · Etiquette · Languages · Literature (Writers by country) · Music (Musicians) · Religion
Demographics | People · Countries by population density · HIV/AIDS · Urbanization (Cities · Largest metropolitan areas)
Economy | Countries by GDP (nominal) · Countries by HDI · Central banks and currencies · Education · Internet · Natural resources · Poverty · Renewable energy · Stock exchanges
Geography | Countries and territories · Impact craters · Islands · Natural history · Regions · Rivers
History | Colonisation (European exploration · African slave trade · Atlantic slave trade · Scramble for Africa) · Decolonization · Economic history · Empires · Military history (List of conflicts)
Politics | African Union · Elections · Human rights · Pan-Africanism · United States of Africa
Society | Caste system · Media (Radio stations · Television stations) · Philosophy
Sport | African Cricket Association · Afro-Asian Games · All-Africa Games · Australian rules football · Confederation of African Football (Africa Cup of Nations) · Confederation of African Rugby (Africa Cup) · FIBA Africa · Stadiums by capacity · Tour d'Afrique
Years | 2004 in Africa · 2005 in Africa · 2006 in Africa · 2007 in Africa · 2008 in Africa · 2009 in Africa
[show][show] Countries and territories of Africa
West Africa | Benin · Burkina Faso · Cape Verde · Côte d'Ivoire · The Gambia · Ghana · Guinea · Guinea-Bissau · Liberia · Mali · Mauritania · Niger · Nigeria · Senegal · Sierra Leone · Togo
North Africa | Algeria · Egypt · Libya · Mauritania · Morocco · Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic · Sudan · Tunisia
Central Africa | Angola · Burundi · Cameroon · Central African Republic · Chad · Democratic Republic of the Congo · Republic of the Congo · Equatorial Guinea · Gabon · Rwanda · São Tomé and Príncipe
East Africa | Burundi · Comoros · Djibouti · Eritrea · Ethiopia · Kenya · Madagascar · Malawi · Mauritius · Mozambique · Seychelles · Somalia · Tanzania · Uganda · Zambia · Zimbabwe
Southern Africa | Botswana · Lesotho · Namibia · South Africa · Swaziland
Partially in Africa | Iles Eparses / Mayotte / Réunion (France) · Pantelleria (Italy) · Madeira (Portugal) · Canary Islands / Ceuta / Melilla (Spain) · Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha (UK) · Socotra (Yemen)
Disputed areas | Western Sahara
Italics indicate an unrecognised or partially recognised state.
[show][show] Continents of the world
| Africa | Antarctica | Asia | Australia | Europe | North America | South America
| Afro-Eurasia | Americas | Eurasia | Oceania
| Geological supercontinents Gondwana · Laurasia · Pangaea · Pannotia · Rodinia · Columbia · Kenorland · Nena · Ur · Vaalbara |  | Historical continents Arctica · Asiamerica · Atlantica · Avalonia · Baltica · Cimmeria · Congo craton · Euramerica · Kalaharia · Kazakhstania · Laurentia · North China · Siberia · South China · Ur
| Submerged continents Kerguelen Plateau · Zealandia | Possible future supercontinents Pangaea Ultima · Amasia | Mythical and theorized continents Atlantis · Lemuria · Meropis · Mu · Terra Australis | Fictional Continents Aarklash · Aman · Ansalon
See also Regions of the world
[show][show] Regions of the world
| Africa | Northern (Maghreb) · Sub-Sahara (Central · Southern · Western · Eastern (Horn)) |  |  | Oceania | Australasia · Melanesia · Micronesia · Polynesia
| Americas | North (Northern • Middle • Central • Caribbean) · South (Southern Cone) · Anglo · Latin |  |  | Polar | Arctic · Antarctic
| Asia | Central · Eastern · Northern · Southeastern · Southern · Western |  |  | Oceans | World · Arctic · Atlantic · Indian · Pacific · Southern
| Europe | Central · Eastern · Northern · Southeastern · Southern · Western
See also Continents of the world

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africa"
Categories: Africa | Continents | African given names | African-language surnames
Hidden categories: Articles needing additional references | All articles needing additional references | Wikipedia pages semi-protected against vandalism | Wikipedia protected pages without expiry | Wikipedia indefinitely move-protected pages | Articles containing Irish language text | All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements from April 2009 | Articles with unsourced statements from November 2007 | Articles with unsourced statements from May 2009 | Articles with unsourced statements from August 2009

##### Views

- Article
- Discussion
- View source
- History

##### Personal tools

- Try Beta
- Log in / create account

##### Search

##### Toolbox

- What links here
- Related changes
- Upload file
- Special pages
- Printable version
- Permanent link
- Cite this page

##### Languages

- Acèh
- Afrikaans
- Akan
- Alemannisch
- አማርኛ
- Anglo-Saxon
- العربية
- Aragonés
- ܐܪܡܝܐ
- Armãneashce
- Arpetan
- অসমীয়া
- Asturianu
- Avañe'ẽ
- Azərbaycan
- Bamanankan
- বাংলা
- Bân-lâm-gú
- Беларуская
- Беларуская (тарашкевіца)
- Bikol Central
- Boarisch
- བོད་ཡིག
- Bosanski
- Brezhoneg
- Български
- Català
- Чӑвашла
- Cebuano
- Česky
- Chi-Chewa
- Corsu
- Cymraeg
- Dansk
- Deitsch
- Deutsch
- Diné bizaad
- Dolnoserbski
- ཇོང་ཁ
- Eesti
- Ελληνικά
- Español
- Esperanto
- Estremeñu
- Euskara
- فارسی
- Fiji Hindi
- Føroyskt
- Français
- Frysk
- Fulfulde
- Furlan
- Gaeilge
- Gaelg
- Gàidhlig
- Galego
- 贛語
- گیلکی
- ગુજરાતી
- Hak-kâ-fa
- Хальмг
- 한국어
- هَوُسَ
- Hawai`i
- Հայերեն
- हिन्दी
- Hornjoserbsce
- Hrvatski
- Ido
- Igbo
- Ilokano
- Bahasa Indonesia
- Interlingua
- Interlingue
- ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑐᑦ/inuktitut
- Иронау
- isiZulu
- Íslenska
- Italiano
- עברית
- Basa Jawa
- Kalaallisut
- ಕನ್ನಡ
- Kapampangan
- ქართული
- Kaszëbsczi
- Қазақша
- Kernowek
- Kinyarwanda
- Кыргызча
- Kiswahili
- Коми
- Kongo
- Kreyòl ayisyen
- Kurdî / كوردی
- Ladino
- ລາວ
- Latina
- Latviešu
- Lëtzebuergesch
- Lietuvių
- Líguru
- Limburgs
- Lingála
- Lojban
- Lumbaart
- Magyar
- Македонски
- Malagasy
- മലയാളം
- Malti
- मराठी
- مصرى
- مَزِروني
- Bahasa Melayu
- Mìng-dĕ̤ng-ngṳ̄
- Mirandés
- Монгол
- မြန်မာဘာသာ
- Nāhuatl
- Nederlands
- Nedersaksisch
- नेपाली
- नेपाल भाषा
- 日本語
- Nnapulitano
- Norfuk / Pitkern
- ‪Norsk (bokmål)‬
- ‪Norsk (nynorsk)‬
- Nouormand
- Novial
- Occitan
- Олык Марий
- Oromoo
- O'zbek
- ਪੰਜਾਬੀ
- Pangasinan
- پنجابی
- Papiamentu
- Picard
- Piemontèis
- Tok Pisin
- Plattdüütsch
- Polski
- Ποντιακά
- Português
- Qaraqalpaqsha
- Qırımtatarca
- Ripoarisch
- Română
- Rumantsch
- Runa Simi
- Русский
- Саха тыла
- Sámegiella
- Gagana Samoa
- संस्कृत
- Sängö
- Sardu
- Scots
- Seeltersk
- Shqip
- Sicilianu
- Simple English
- SiSwati
- Slovenčina
- Словѣ́ньскъ / ⰔⰎⰑⰂⰡⰐⰠⰔⰍⰟ
- Slovenščina
- Ślůnski
- Soomaaliga
- Soranî / کوردی
- Sranantongo
- Српски / Srpski
- Srpskohrvatski / Српскохрватски
- Basa Sunda
- Suomi
- Svenska
- Tagalog
- தமிழ்
- Taqbaylit
- Татарча/Tatarça
- తెలుగు
- Tetun
- ไทย
- Тоҷикӣ
- lea faka-Tonga
- Tshivenda
- Türkçe
- Türkmençe
- Українська
- اردو
- Uyghurche‎ / ئۇيغۇرچە
- Vèneto
- Tiếng Việt
- Võro
- Walon
- 文言
- West-Vlams
- Winaray
- Wolof
- 吴语
- Xitsonga
- ייִדיש
- Yorùbá
- 粵語
- Zazaki
- Žemaitėška
- 中文