1 : Africa
2 : Map
3 : Geography
4 : History
5 : Politics
6 : Demographics
7 : Culture
8 : Religion
9 : Countries
10 : List of countries/dependencies by population density
11 : Footnotes
12 : See also
13 : External link
Africa is the world's second-largest continent in both area and population, after Asia. At c. 30,244,050 km2 (11,677,240 mi2) including the islands, it covers 20.3% of the total land area on Earth, and with over 800 million human inhabitants it accounts for around one seventh of Earth's human population.
The ancient Romans used the name Africa terra — "land of the Afri" (plural, or "Afer" singular) — for the northern part of the continent, corresponding to modern-day Tunisia. The origin of Afer may be the Phoenician `afar, dust; the Afridi tribe, who dwelt in Northern Africa around the area of Carthage; Greek aphrike, without cold; or Latin aprica, sunny.
Map
See also: World map.
Geography
Main Article: Geography of Africa
History
Main Article: History of Africa
Africa is home to the oldest inhabited territory on earth, and it is believed the human race originated from what is now this continent.
For most of humanity's history, Africa (and all other continents) had no nation states, and was instead inhabited by many small, loosely associated tribal groups, kingdoms, and families; while Egypt was probably the first nation state ever formed, much of sub-Saharan Africa remained effectively nation-state-less until quite recently. In the 14th century European explorers arrived in Africa. By bargaining with some local tribal leaders, Europeans were able to capture millions of Africans, and export them for labour around the world in what became known as the global slave trade. In the early 19th century the European imperial powers staged a massive "scramble for Africa" and occupied most of the continent, creating many colonial states. This occupation continued until the conclusion of the Second World War, after which all colonial states gradually obtained formal independence. Today, Africa is home to over 50 independent countries, many of which still have borders drawn during the era of European colonialism.
Map showing European claimants to the African continent
Politics
Africa is composed of 56 nations, the vast majority of which are republics that operate under some form of the presidential system of rule.
Since independence, African states have frequently been hampered by instability, corruption, violence, and authoritarianism. Until recently, few nations in Africa were able to sustain democratic governments, instead cycling through a series of brutal coups and military dictatorships.
Many of Africa's post-colonial political leaders were very poorly educated or ignorant on matters of governance, which led to great instability. Others were corrupt and dictatorial, outlawing opposition immediately upon assuming office, and suppressing the European-made constitutions and parliaments.
As well, many used the positions of power to re-ignite old tribal conflicts which had been suppressed under colonial rule. In many countries, the military was perceived as being the only group that could effectively maintain order and ruled most nations in Africa during the 70s and early 80s.
During the period from the early 1960s to the late 1980s Africa had over 70 coups and 13 presidential assassinations.
Cold War conflicts between The United States and the Soviet Union also played a role in the 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 aide, while many in Central and Southern Africa were supported by America or France.
Border and territorial disputes have also been common, with the European-imposed borders of many nations being widely contested through armed conflicts.
Failed government policies and political corruption have also resulted in many widespread famines, and significant portions of Africa remain with distribution systems unable to distribute enough food or water for the population to survive. The spread of dangerous diseases is also rampant, especially the deadly HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
Despite numerous hardships, there have been some signs the continent has hope for the future. Democratic governments seem to be spreading, though are not yet the majority. As well, many nations have at least nominally recognized basic human rights for all citizens, and have created reasonably independent judiciaries.
As well, under pressure from international financial institutions like the IMF, many African governments have been able to turn their economies around, so that they have started to show positive growth according to conventional economic measurements after decades of negative or zero growth. It remains to be seen if such developments will be able to survive long term, however.
There are clear signs of increased networking among African organisations and states. In the civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo (former Zaire), rather than rich, non-African countries intervening, about half-a-dozen neighbouring African countries got involved. The death toll, estimated by some to 3.5 million over five years, is very high. This might play a role similar to that of World War II for Europe, after which the people in the neighbouring countries decide to integrate their societies in such a way that war between them becomes as unthinkable as a war between, say, France and Germany would be today.
Political associations such as the African Union are also offering hope for greater co-operation and peace between the continent's many countries.
Demographics
The African people are predominantly Negro and exhibit several physical characteristics that distinguish them from peoples of other continents. Dark skin is the most noticeable, and scientists believe it originated as a way to adapt to high levels of ultraviolet radiation. Tall height and muscular builds are other common characteristics, with the exception of some pygmy tribes.
Despite several shared characteristics, Africans also exhibit linguistic and cultural diversity, with different languages and religions occurring throughout the continent. Very small numbers of Caucasians exist throughout Africa, with the exception of South Africa, which is approximately 10% Caucasian.
Much of the African continent continues to suffer from severe poverty, famine, disease, and war. In recent times AIDS has become a particularly widespread and damaging problem, with over 30% of some African populations infected.
The species homo sapiens sapiens is now believed to have originated in Africa and migrated into the outlying continents about 80,000 years ago. After this African diaspora, humans developed into what are considered the different human races, although it is also contended that not enough isolated evolution in different geographical areas was possible for the species to become polytypic. However, during the years following the migration, some cultural changes, changes of group identities, and some genetic changes, such as skin color, clearly happened.
Throughout much of their recent history, Africans have faced much racism from non-Africans, first at the hands of European colonizers, then in the United States, where they were enslaved, and then in South Africa, where they coexist with a substantial population of Caucasians. Often this racism results because Africa has made comparatively few technological and cultural achievements.¹ For example, there was no written African language until the invention of N'ko in the early 20th century. A minority of conservative European observers, such as Dr. William Pierce, assert this fact to be the result of lower intelligence, describing Africa as "The Dark Continent" in reference to its perennial poverty and warfare. These are are highly controversial subjects; throughout history their misapplication has led to many tragedies, such as the enslavement of Africans in the United States. See Slavery, Racism, and Apartheid for more information.
Culture
Most northern countries, from Egypt to Morocco, have people who largely associate themselves as part of the Arabic culture. To the south of the Sahara, there are many distinct cultural areas, sometimes quite small; a large part of those can be associated to the linguistic group Bantu.
List of African writers
African art
Religion
Africa is home to a wide variety of different religious groups. Christianity and Islam have a significant presence in many countries, while others retain regionally unique tribal beliefs and customs.
Countries
Eastern Africa
Central Africa
Northern Africa (Some countries are included as part of the Middle East in some definitions of that term)
Southern Africa
Western Africa
population density">
in inhabitants/km2.
Saint Helena, being closest to Africa, has been included.
Egypt as a whole has been included, even though some of Egypt is located in Asia.
Unlike the figures in the country articles, the figures in this table are based on areas including inland water bodies (lakes, reservoirs, rivers) and may therefore be lower here.
{|
|- bgcolor="#FFD700"
!country
!pop. dens.
!area
!population
|- bgcolor="#FFD700"
!
!(/km²)
!(km²)
!(2002-07-01 est.)
|-
|Mauritius
|align="right"|588
|align="right"|2,040
|align="right"|1,200,206
|-
|Mayotte (Fr.)
|align="right"|457
|align="right"|374
|align="right"|170,879
|-
|Réunion (Fr.)
|align="right"|296
|align="right"|2,512
|align="right"|743,981
|-
|Comoros
|align="right"|283
|align="right"|2,170
|align="right"|614,382
|-
|Rwanda
|align="right"|281
|align="right"|26,338
|align="right"|7,398,074
|-
|Burundi
|align="right"|229
|align="right"|27,830
|align="right"|6,373,002
|-
|Seychelles
|align="right"|176
|align="right"|455
|align="right"|80,098
|-
|São Tomé and Príncipe
|align="right"|170
|align="right"|1,001
|align="right"|170,372
|-
|Nigeria
|align="right"|141
|align="right"|923,768
|align="right"|129,934,911
|-
|Gambia
|align="right"|129
|align="right"|11,300
|align="right"|1,455,842
|-
|Uganda
|align="right"|105
|align="right"|236,040
|align="right"|24,699,073
|-
|Cape Verde
|align="right"|101
|align="right"|4,033
|align="right"|408,760
|-
|Togo
|align="right"|93
|align="right"|56,785
|align="right"|5,285,501
|-
|Malawi
|align="right"|90
|align="right"|118,480
|align="right"|10,701,824
|-
|Ghana
|align="right"|85
|align="right"|239,460
|align="right"|20,244,154
|-
|Sierra Leone
|align="right"|78
|align="right"|71,740
|align="right"|5,614,743
|-
|Lesotho
|align="right"|73
|align="right"|30,355
|align="right"|2,207,954
|-
|Egypt
|align="right"|71
|align="right"|1,001,450
|align="right"|70,712,345
|-
|Morocco (excluding Western Sahara)
|align="right"|70
|align="right"|446,550
|align="right"|31,167,783
|-
|Swaziland
|align="right"|65
|align="right"|17,363
|align="right"|1,123,605
|-
|Benin
|align="right"|60
|align="right"|112,620
|align="right"|6,787,625
|-
|Ethiopia
|align="right"|60
|align="right"|1,127,127
|align="right"|67,673,031
|-
|Tunisia
|align="right"|60
|align="right"|163,610
|align="right"|9815,644
|-
|Senegal
|align="right"|54
|align="right"|196,190
|align="right"|10,589,571
|-
|Kenya
|align="right"|53
|align="right"|582,650
|align="right"|31,138,735
|-
|Côte d'Ivoire
|align="right"|52
|align="right"|322,460
|align="right"|16,804,784
|-
|Burkina Faso
|align="right"|46
|align="right"|274,200
|align="right"|12,603,185
|-
|Tanzania
|align="right"|39
|align="right"|945,087
|align="right"|37,187,939
|-
|Guinea-Bissau
|align="right"|37
|align="right"|36,120
|align="right"|1,345,479
|-
|Eritrea
|align="right"|37
|align="right"|121,320
|align="right"|4,465,651
|-
|South Africa
|align="right"|36
|align="right"|1,219,912
|align="right"|43,647,658
|-
|Cameroon
|align="right"|34
|align="right"|475,440
|align="right"|16,184,748
|-
|Guinea
|align="right"|32
|align="right"|245,857
|align="right"|7,775,065
|-
|Liberia
|align="right"|30
|align="right"|111,370
|align="right"|3,288,198
|-
|Zimbabwe
|align="right"|29
|align="right"|390,580
|align="right"|11,376,676
|-
|Madagascar
|align="right"|28
|align="right"|587,040
|align="right"|16,473,477
|-
|Mozambique
|align="right"|24
|align="right"|801,590
|align="right"|19,607,519
|-
|Democratic Republic of the Congo
|align="right"|24
|align="right"|2,345,410
|align="right"|55,225,478
|-
|Djibouti
|align="right"|21
|align="right"|23,000
|align="right"|472,810
|-
|Equatorial Guinea
|align="right"|18
|align="right"|28,051
|align="right"|498,144
|-
|Saint Helena (UK)
|align="right"|18
|align="right"|410
|align="right"|7,317
|-
|Sudan
|align="right"|15
|align="right"|2,505,810
|align="right"|37,090,298
|-
|Algeria
|align="right"|14
|align="right"|2,381,740
|align="right"|32,277,942
|-
|Zambia
|align="right"|13
|align="right"|752,614
|align="right"|9,959,037
|-
|Somalia
|align="right"|12
|align="right"|637,657
|align="right"|7,753,310
|-
|Mali
|align="right"|9.1
|align="right"|1,240,000
|align="right"|11,340,480
|-
|Republic of the Congo
|align="right"|8.7
|align="right"|342,000
|align="right"|2,958,448
|-
|Angola
|align="right"|8.5
|align="right"|1,246,700
|align="right"|10,593,171
|-
|Niger
|align="right"|8.4
|align="right"|1,267,000
|align="right"|10,639,744
|-
|Chad
|align="right"|7.0
|align="right"|1,284,000
|align="right"|8,997,237
|-
|Central African Republic
|align="right"|5.8
|align="right"|622,984
|align="right"|3,642,739
|-
|Gabon
|align="right"|4.6
|align="right"|267,667
|align="right"|1,233,353
|-
|Libya
|align="right"|3.1
|align="right"|1,759,540
|align="right"|5,368,585
|-
|Mauritania
|align="right"|2.7
|align="right"|1,030,700
|align="right"|2,828,858
|-
|Botswana
|align="right"|2.7
|align="right"|600,370
|align="right"|1,591,232
|-
|Namibia
|align="right"|2.2
|align="right"|825,418
|align="right"|1,820,916
|-
|Western Sahara (Morocco)
|align="right"|1.0
|align="right"|266,000
|align="right"|256,177
|-
|'TOTAL'
|align="right"|
|align="right"|
|align="right"|841,627,750
|}
Footnotes
¹ Note that Afrocentrists assert the opposite, claiming that many achievements which have traditionally been attributed to Western civilizations actually originated in Africa.
See also
External link
- An provides a readable and compelling, but biased, introduction to today's western Africa.
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