Africa

Africa is one of Earth's seven continents, or large contiguous bodies of land. Comprising 20 percent of the planet’s land area and host to just over one billion people, Africa is second only to Asia among the continents in both size and population. It lies between the Indian Ocean to the east and the Atlantic Ocean to the west; the Mediterranean Sea divides northern Africa from Southern Europe, and the Red Sea and Suez Canal separate northeastern Africa from Asia. Lengthwise, Africa is nearly evenly divided by the Equator, but it has more land mass in the Northern Hemisphere. While most of the continent is in the tropical regions, Africa has great environmental diversity, from deserts to rainforests and plains to high mountains.

Human evolution is generally believed to have in Africa, and the continent's human history is extensive and complex. Numerous societies developed on the continent, including the famed early civilization of Ancient Egypt. The expansion of Bantu-speaking peoples in the first few millennia BCE and CE had a particularly strong and lasting influence on culture in much of sub-Saharan Africa; Arab migration became influential in much of northern Africa from the seventh century on. However, many African cultures were severely disrupted by the transatlantic slave trade beginning in the sixteenth century and then escalating European colonialism in the nineteenth century. Decolonization gained traction after World War II, but the impact of longstanding economic exploitation continued to be felt throughout the continent. By the 2020s, there were fifty-four fully recognized sovereign states in Africa, as well as several territories and disputed regions.

The origin of the word Africa is unknown, although several explanations exist. For example, the Latin word for “sunny,” aprica, is associated with the continent. Similarly, the Greek word for “without cold” is aphrike.

Geography and Climate

Africa, the only continent crossing into both the southern and northern temperate zones, is divided nearly in half by the equator. The distance from the continent’s most northern point to its southern extremity is 5,000 miles, while it stretches 4,600 miles east to west. Africa has more than 16,000 miles of shoreline.

Africa is the world’s hottest continent. Its climate ranges from mountainous subarctic to tropical. Most of the northern third of Africa is desert, while rain forest and savanna comprise much of the rest.

Africa’s eight major geographic regions include the Sahara, savanna, Southern Africa, Sahel, rain forest, African Great Lakes, Swahili Coast, and Ethiopian Highlands. Each of these regions features flora and fauna common to Africa as well as those unique to their local habitats. Extraction of natural resources, particularly as developed under colonialism, and climate change have threatened the natural environment in many parts of Africa. However, there are also thousands of environmental reserves and other protected areas intended to protect the continent's rich biodiversity.

Demographics

The earliest known hominids appeared in Africa around 7 million years ago, and there is evidence of modern human presence on the continent dating back more than 200,000 years. Since then, a wide variety of human societies have developed in Africa.

In the twenty-first century, over a thousand languages are spoken in Africa, some of which correspond to ethnic groups or other populations that have shaped the continent's diverse cultural fabric. Broadly speaking, the Bantu-speaking peoples dominate most of the central and southern regions of the continent, while Niger-Congo languages predominate in West Africa. Various Afroasiatic languages are most common in Northern Africa and parts of the Somali peninsula (or Horn of Africa) in the east. Some scholars identify another grouping of languages, known as Nilo-Saharan, as predominant in north-central Africa. There are many other linguistic and ethnic minorities throughout Africa, including some populations spread across political borders. In some regions, colonial European influence remains strong, including both in language and the presence of substantial White populations. Significant Asian minorities can also be found in some African countries.

Islam is the most widespread religion in Africa, followed by Christianity. Myriad traditional religions also remain in practice, sometimes alongside other faiths. While these religions are highly diverse, most share certain features, such as a powerful creator god and a hierarchy of other spiritual figures, the importance of ritual, and connection to other parts of social life. Oral tradition is also important in many African spiritual and cultural traditions.

Much of Africa’s healthcare system is abysmally poor, and infant mortality and life expectancy are the world’s highest and lowest respectively. Malaria, HIV and other communicable diseases kill millions of Africans every year.

Economy and Politics

Africa is widely considered the poorest continent on earth. Its volatile and fragmented political history, and especially the legacy of colonial exploitation, has contributed to pervasive socioeconomic challenges despite its great extent of natural and human resources. Wars, corruption, and other social and political obstacles have proven persistent in many places. Some individual states have developed thriving economies, but in general the continent has long been seen as lagging in development and quality of living indicators. A significant portion of economic activity in many regions includes hunting and gathering, subsistence farming, and nomadic herding, and many Africans live below the international standard of extreme poverty. While some critics note that these standards themselves reflect the perspectives of colonial interference, observers agree that there are significant humanitarian issues in many parts of Africa.

Africa is one of the richest continents in terms of raw natural resources. Mineral resources include half of the world’s gold, 98 percent of its chromium, and 90 percent of its platinum. The continent is also rich in cobalt, uranium, and manganese. Much of the world’s aluminum needs depend on Africa’s bauxite exports. Even after decolonization, however, profits from such resources often primarily benefit a handful of elites and international corporations. In the twenty-first century, efforts continue to improve economic outcomes across the content. Africa possesses over 60 percent of the world’s unused cropland, for example, making for enormous agricultural potential. Experts also note its large labor force as a major resource primed for growth. International aid and investment to boost the economies of African nations have also achieved some successes.

All of Africa’s fully recognized countries are members of the African Union (AU), a political body seeking to unite the economies and interests of its individual member states into a single entity. However, its mission has often been disrupted by international tensions, both between member states and with non-member states. Overcoming major human rights violations within some African countries remains one of the AU’s most significant challenges.

Bibliography

"Africa: Human Geography." National Geographic Education, education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/africa-human-geography/. Accessed 6 Dec. 2024.

Ajayi, J. F. Ade, Michael Crowder, Paul Richards, Elizabeth Dunstan, and Alick Newman. Historical Atlas of Africa. Longman, 1985.

Aluka: Building a Digital Library of Scholarly Resources from and about Africa. Aluka, JSTOR/ITHAKA, 2014. Accessed 6 Dec. 2024.

Coppard, Kit. Africa’s Animal Kingdom: A Visual Celebration. PRC, 2001.

"Global Issues: Africa." United Nations, www.un.org/en/global-issues/africa. Accessed 6 Dec. 2024.

Harris, Joseph E. Africans and Their History. 2nd ed., Meridian, 1998.

Herbst, Jeffrey Ira. States and Power in Africa: Comparative Lessons in Authority and Control. Rev. ed. Princeton UP, 2014.

Reader, John. Africa: A Biography of the Continent. Knopf, 1998.

Soyinka, Wole. Of Africa. Yale UP, 2012.

Steel, Robert Walter, and Audrey Smedley. "Africa." Britannica, 5 Dec. 2024, www.britannica.com/place/Africa. Accessed 6 Dec. 2024.

Thomson, Alex. Introduction to African Politics. 5th ed., Routledge, 2022.

Wolfe, Art, and Michelle A. Gilders. Africa. Wildlands, 2001.