Africa

Africa is the second largest continent in the world, both in area as well as in population. With its 30,244,050 km2 or 11,677,240 mi2 including the islands, it covers 20.3% of the total land area on Earth, and because it has 800 million human inhabitants it accounts for around one seventh of the human population on Earth.

Origins of the Name

The European use of the name Africa came through the Romans who administered the territorry known as Carthage (modern Tunisia) as a province of Africa. The actual origins of the name is not really certain, however it might have come from the Greek word phrike, meaning cold and horror combined with the a- prefix, meaning a land free of cold and horror, though the change of the sound ph to f in Greek is from around the first century, and makes it uncertain that this should really be the origin of the name. Perhaps the suggestions that it is from the name Afer, relating to the modern name Berber might be a possibility as well. The geographer Ptolemy first assigned Egypt to Africa and made the isthmus of Suez and the Red Sea the boundary between Asia and Africa, before then Egypt was considered a part of Asia. When the Europeans came to a better knowledge of the extent of the African continent the idea of Africa expanded.

History

It is believed that the human race originated from Africa and surely it is the oldest inhabited territory on earth. Africa, (and all other continents) for most of humanity's history, had no nation states, but was instead inhabited by many small, loosely associated tribal groups, kingdoms, and families. In the 14th century European explorers arrived in Africa. Europeans bargained with some local tribal leaders, and were therefore able to capture millions of Africans, and export them around the world for labour, which later became known as the global slave trade. The European imperial powers occupied most of the continent in the early 19th century, creating many colonial states. This occupation continued until the end of the Second World War. Gradually all colonial states were hereafter granted formal independence. Africa is today the home to over 50 independent countries, many of which still have borders drawn during the era of European colonialism.

Politics

Africa consists of 56 nations, and the vast majority of these are republics that govern with some form of presidential ruling system.

Demographics

The African people exhibit several physical characteristics that distinguish them from peoples of other continents. Tall height and muscular builds are common characteristics (with the exception of some pygmy tribes) as well as dark skin which scientists believe originated as a way to adapt to the high levels of ultraviolet radiation.
Africans do, despite several shared characteristics, also exhibit linguistic and cultural diversity, with different languages and religions occurring throughout the continent. With the exception of South Africa, which is approximately 10% Caucasian, very small numbers of Caucasians exist throughout Africa.
It is now believed that the species homo sapiens originates from 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. Through much of recent history, Africans have faced much racism from non-Africans, first from the European colonizers, then in the United States, as slaves, and then in South Africa, by a large population of Caucasians.

Culture

From Egypt to Morocco in northern Africa, people mainly consider themselves as part of the Arabic culture. South of the Sahara, a large part of the many distinct cultural areas, some quite small, can be associated to the linguistic group Bantu.

Religion

Africa is home to many 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
Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia -- Somaliland -- Puntland -- Southwestern Somalia, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania.

Central Africa
Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, São Tomé and Príncipe.

Northern Africa
(Some countries are included as part of the Middle East in some definitions of that term)
Algeria, Ceuta, Egypt, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Melilla, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia, Western Sahara.

Southern Africa
Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Réunion, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Western Africa
Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Saint Helena, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo.