Portal:Africa

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P:AFRICA

Africa is the world's second largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km² (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surface area. With 1.4 billion people0 as of 2021, it accounts for about 18% of the world's human population. Africa's population is the youngest amongst all the continents; the median age in 2012 was 19.7, when the worldwide median age was 30.4. Despite a wide range of natural resources, Africa is the least wealthy continent per capita and second-least wealthy by total wealth, ahead of Oceania. Scholars have attributed this to different factors including geography, climate, lack of democracy, tribalism, corruption, colonialism, the Cold War, and neocolonialism. Despite this low concentration of wealth, recent economic expansion and the large and young population make Africa an important economic market in the broader global context.

Africa straddles the equator and the prime meridian. It is the only continent to stretch from the northern temperate to the southern temperate zones. The majority of the continent and its countries are in the Northern Hemisphere, with a substantial portion and a number of countries in the Southern Hemisphere. Most of the continent lies in the tropics, except for a large part of Western Sahara, Algeria, Libya and Egypt, the northern tip of Mauritania, and the entire territories of Morocco, Ceuta, Melilla, and Tunisia which in turn are located above the tropic of Cancer, in the northern temperate zone. In the other extreme of the continent, southern Namibia, southern Botswana, great parts of South Africa, the entire territories of Lesotho and Eswatini and the southern tips of Mozambique and Madagascar are located below the tropic of Capricorn, in the southern temperate zone.

Africa is highly biodiverse; it is the continent with the largest number of megafauna species, as it was least affected by the extinction of the Pleistocene megafauna. However, Africa also is heavily affected by a wide range of environmental issues, including desertification, deforestation, water scarcity and pollution. These entrenched environmental concerns are expected to worsen as climate change impacts Africa. The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has identified Africa as the continent most vulnerable to climate change.

The history of Africa is long, complex, and varied, and has often been under-appreciated by the global historical community. Africa, particularly Eastern Africa, is widely accepted as the place of origin of humans and the Hominidae clade (great apes). The earliest hominids and their ancestors have been dated to around 7 million years ago, including Sahelanthropus tchadensis, Australopithecus africanus, A. afarensis, Homo erectus, H. habilis and H. ergaster—the earliest Homo sapiens (modern human) remains, found in Ethiopia, South Africa, and Morocco, date to circa 233,000, 259,000, and 300,000 years ago, respectively, and Homo sapiens is believed to have originated in Africa around 350,000–260,000 years ago. Africa is also considered by anthropologists to be the most genetically diverse continent as a result of being the longest inhabited. (Full article...)

For a topic outline, see Outline of Africa.

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Africae Tabula Nova ("New Map of Africa") is a map of Africa published by Abraham Ortelius in 1570. It was engraved by Frans Hogenberg and included in Ortelius's 1570 atlas Theatrum Orbis Terrarum ("Theater of the World"), commonly regarded as the first modern atlas. The atlas was printed widely in seven languages and 31 total editions between 1570 and 1612.

Africae Tabula Nova is largely based on a wall map published by Giacomo Gastaldi in 1564, while Paolo Forlani's 1562 map of Africa and Gerardus Mercator's 1569 map of the continent were also likely influences on Ortelius. Compared to earlier maps, Ortelius sharpened the shape of Southern Africa in Africae Tabula Nova, shortened the extent of North Africa from west to east, and reduced the eastward extension of Africa, in all cases better depicting reality. The map was also the first to include accurate information from European expeditions into portions of Africa's interior. (Full article...)

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Image 1
A lioness in Ishasha Southern sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park in southwestern Uganda)

Photo credit: Cody Pope

The lion (Panthera leo) is a mammal of the family Felidae and one of four "big cats" in the genus Panthera. The lion is the second largest feline species, after the tiger. The male lion, easily recognized by his mane, weighs between 150 and 250 kg (330–500 lb). Females range 120–150 kg (260–330 lb). In the wild, lions live for around 10–14 years, while in captivity they can live over 20 years. Though they were once found throughout much of Africa, Asia and Europe, lions presently exist in the wild only in Africa and India. They enjoy hot climates, and hunt in groups.
Image 2
Eswatini
Photograph credit: Amada44
Eswatini, formerly known as Swaziland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The government is an absolute monarchy, the last of its kind in Africa, and the country has been ruled by King Mswati III since 1986. One of the country's important cultural events is Umhlanga, the reed-dance festival, held in August or September each year. This photograph shows Princess Sikhanyiso Dlamini, the eldest daughter of Mswati III, at the 2006 festival.
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Image 3
Sable antelope
Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp
The sable antelope (Hippotragus niger) is an antelope which inhabits wooded savanna in eastern and southern Africa, from the south of Kenya to South Africa, with a separate population in Angola. The species is sexually dimorphic, with the male heavier and about one-fifth taller than the female. It has a compact and robust build, characterized by a thick neck and tough skin, and both sexes have ringed horns which arch backward. The sable antelope has four subspecies.

This picture shows an adult male common sable antelope (H. n. niger) in the Tswalu Kalahari Reserve, South Africa.
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Image 4
Boy with fodder on bicycle

Credit: Muhammad Mahdi Karim

A Tanzanian boy transports fodder on his bicycle, to feed cattle. In agriculture, fodder or animal feed is any foodstuff that is used specifically to feed domesticated livestock, such as cattle, goats, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs. Most animal feed is from plants but some is of animal origin. "Fodder" refers particularly to food given to the animals (including plants cut and carried to them), rather than that which they forage for themselves (see forage). It includes hay, straw, silage, compressed and pelleted feeds, oils and mixed rations, and also sprouted grains and legumes.
Image 5
Larabanga Mosque
Photograph: Sathyan Velumani
The Larabanga Mosque was built in the Sudanese architectural style in the village of Larabanga, Ghana. It is the oldest mosque in the country and one of the oldest in West Africa, and has been called the "Mecca of West Africa". It has undergone restoration several times since it was founded. The World Monuments Fund has contributed substantially to its restoration, and lists it as one of the 100 most endangered sites.
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Image 6
Giza pyramid complex

Photo credit: Ricardo Liberato

The Giza Necropolis stands on the Giza Plateau, on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt. This complex of ancient monuments is located some eight kilometres (5 mi) inland into the desert from the old town of Giza on the Nile, some 25 kilometres (15 mi) southwest of Cairo city centre. The pyramids are the only remaining monuments of the 7 Wonders of the World.
Image 7
German East African rupie
Banknote design credit: Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Bank; photographed by Andrew Shiva
The rupie was the unit of currency of German East Africa between 1890 and 1916. During World War I, the colony was cut off from Germany as a result of a wartime blockade and the colonial government needed to create an emergency issue of banknotes. Paper made from linen or jute was initially used, but because of wartime shortages, the notes were later printed on commercial paper in a variety of colours, wrapping paper, and in one instance, wallpaper. This twenty-rupie banknote was issued in 1915, and is now part of the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution.

Other denominations:
'"`UNIQ--templatestyles-00000013-QINU`"'

* 1 rupie
* 5 rupie
* 10 rupie
* 50 rupie
* 200 rupie
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Image 8
A gold dust day gecko licking nectar from a bird of paradise flower

Photo credit: Mila Zinkova

The Gold dust day gecko (Phelsuma laticauda laticauda (Boettger, 1880) (syn. Pachydactylus laticauda Boettger, 1880)) is a diurnal subspecies of gecko that lives in northern Madagascar and the Comoros. It typically inhabits trees and houses and feeds on insects and nectar.
Image 9
Amphitheatre of El Jem
Photograph: Poco a poco
Panoramic view of the Amphitheatre of El Jem, an archeological site in the city of El Djem, Tunisia. The amphitheatre, one of the best-preserved Roman ruins and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979, was built around 238 AD, when modern Tunisia belonged to the Roman province of Africa. It is the third-biggest amphitheatre in the world, with axes of 148 m (486 ft) and 122 m (400 ft) and a seating capacity of 35,000, unique in Africa.
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Image 10
Pelargonium graveolens
Photo credit: Laitche
The Rose Geranium (Pelargonium graveolens) is a plant indigenous to various parts of southern Africa, and in particular South Africa. This specific species has great importance in the perfume industry. Its cultivars have a wide variety of smells, including rose, citrus, mint, coconut and nutmeg, as well as various fruits.
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Image 11
Maasai people
Photo: William Warby
Portrait of a Maasai woman, with shaved head, stretched earlobes, and beaded adornments, typical of the Maasai culture. The Maasai are a Nilotic ethnic group of semi-nomadic people located in Kenya and northern Tanzania. They are among the best known of African ethnic groups, due to their distinctive customs and dress and residence near the many game parks of East Africa. Their primary language Maa (ɔl Maa) is a member of the Nilo-Saharan language family that is related to Dinka and Nuer.
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Image 12
Roan antelope
Photograph credit: Charles James Sharp
The roan antelope (Hippotragus equinus) is a species of savanna antelope found in western, central and southern Africa. Named for its reddish-brown coat, it has a black face with white patches around the eyes and the mouth, and a short erect mane of greyish brown hair extending from the back of the neck to the rump. This roan antelope, of the subspecies H. e. koba, was photographed in Senegal; the subspecies's range extends from Senegal to Benin in western Africa.
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Image 13
A Senegal Wattled Plover in Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya

Photo credit: Whit Welles

The Senegal Wattled Plover (Vanellus senegallus) is a large lapwing, a group of largish waders in the family Charadriidae. It is a resident breeder in most of sub-Saharan Africa outside the rainforests, although it has seasonal movements.
Image 14
Geography of Africa
Photo: NASA
A composite satellite image of the geography of Africa, the Earth's second-largest continent, and its adjacent islands. Separated from Europe by the Mediterranean Sea and from much of Asia by the Red Sea, Africa is joined to Asia at its northeast extremity by the Isthmus of Suez. For geopolitical purposes, the Sinai Peninsula – east of the Suez Canal – is often considered part of Africa, although geographically it belongs in Asia. Africa can be divided into a number of geographic zones: The Atlas Mountains in the north, the Sahara, the coastal plains, and the inner plateaus.
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Image 15
Baobab
Photograph: Muhammad Mahdi Karim
Adansonia digitata is a sub-Saharan African species of baobab tree. The genus, scientifically known as Adansonia, consists of nine species native to Madagascar, Africa, Arabia and Australia, and can reach heights of 5 to 30 m (16 to 98 ft) with trunk diameters of 7 to 11 m (23 to 36 ft).
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Image 16
Ring-tailed Lemur holding twins born the previous night in Colchester Zoo, Essex, England

Photo credit: NASA

The Sahara (Arabic: الصحراء الكبرى, aṣ-ṣaḥrā´, "The Great Desert") is the world's largest hot desert at over 9,000,000 square kilometres (3,500,000 sq mi). The Sahara defines the borders of North Africa and has an intermittent history that may go back as much as 2.5 million years.
Image 17
Mikumi National Park

Credit: Muhammad Mahdi Karim

Mikumi National Park is a national park in Mikumi, near Morogoro, Tanzania. The park was established in 1964, currently covers an area of 3230 km² and is the fourth largest in the country. The landscape of Mikumi is often compared to that of the Serengeti. The road that crosses the park divides it into two areas with partially distinct environments. The area north-west is characterized by the alluvial plain of the river basin Mkata. The vegetation of this area consists of savannah dotted with acacia, baobab, tamarinds, and some rare palm. In this area, at the furthest from the road, there are spectacular rock formations of the mountains Rubeho and Uluguru. The southeast part of the park is less rich in wildlife, and not very accessible.
Image 18
Dallol
Photograph credit: Alexander Savin
Dallol is a cinder-cone volcano in the Danakil Depression, northeast of the Erta Ale Range in Ethiopia. The area lies up to 120 m (390 ft) below sea level, and has been repeatedly flooded in the past when waters from the Red Sea have inundated it. The Danakil Depression is one of the hottest places on Earth, and the evaporation of seawater after these flooding episodes produced thick deposits of salt, as seen in this landscape. The deposits at Dallol include significant quantities of the carbonate, sulfate and chloride salts of sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium. Hot springs discharge brine to form the blueish ponds, and small, temporary geysers produce cones of salt.
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Image 19
South-West African mark
Banknote: Swakopmund Bookshop (courtesy of the National Numismatic Collection, National Museum of American History)
The South West African mark was a temporary currency issued in South West Africa between 1916 and 1918 as part of the South West Africa campaign. Issued after the conquest of German South West Africa by South Africa, notes were denominated in marks and pfennig, as with the withdrawn German South West African Mark. Many institutions issued banknotes; this two-mark note was issued by the Swakopmund Bookshop. The South-West African mark was replaced in 1918 by the South African pound.
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... that whilst serving as the Central African ambassador in Paris, Sylvestre Bangui held a press conference confirming that his government had massacred children and resigned?
... that activist Gerlin Bean co-founded the Organisation of Women of African and Asian Descent in 1978, an event described as "a watershed in the history of Black women's rights activism"?
... that Olive MacLeod journeyed 6,000 km (3,700 mi) through Africa in 1910–1911 to visit her murdered fiancé's grave, and wrote a book based on her observations?
... that the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Springtown, New Jersey, was used by Harriet Tubman to help fugitive slaves escape?
... that the sea urchin Pourtalesia miranda and the Venus flytrap sea anemone dominate the seabed community at a depth of 2,000 m (6,600 ft) off the coast of West Africa?
... that the first successful Mars rover, Sojourner, was named after the Civil War era African-American abolitionist and women's rights advocate Sojourner Truth?

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Bantu Stephen Biko OMSG (18 December 1946 – 12 September 1977) was a South African anti-apartheid activist. Ideologically an African nationalist and African socialist, he was at the forefront of a grassroots anti-apartheid campaign known as the Black Consciousness Movement during the late 1960s and 1970s. His ideas were articulated in a series of articles published under the pseudonym Frank Talk.

Raised in a poor Xhosa family, Biko grew up in Ginsberg township in the Eastern Cape. In 1966, he began studying medicine at the University of Natal, where he joined the National Union of South African Students (NUSAS). Strongly opposed to the apartheid system of racial segregation and white-minority rule in South Africa, Biko was frustrated that NUSAS and other anti-apartheid groups were dominated by white liberals, rather than by the blacks who were most affected by apartheid. He believed that well-intentioned white liberals failed to comprehend the black experience and often acted in a paternalistic manner. He developed the view that to avoid white domination, black people had to organise independently, and to this end he became a leading figure in the creation of the South African Students' Organisation (SASO) in 1968. Membership was open only to "blacks", a term that Biko used in reference not just to Bantu-speaking Africans but also to Coloureds and Indians. He was careful to keep his movement independent of white liberals, but opposed anti-white hatred and had white friends. The white-minority National Party government were initially supportive, seeing SASO's creation as a victory for apartheid's ethos of racial separatism. (Full article...)

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Flag of Mauritania	Seal of Mauritania

Mauritania (Arabic: موريتانيا Mūrītāniyā), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a country in northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on the west, by Senegal on the southwest, by Mali on the east and southeast, by Algeria on the northeast, and by the Moroccan-annexed territory of Western Sahara on the northwest. It is named after the ancient Berber kingdom of Mauretania. The capital and largest city is Nouakchott, located on the Atlantic coast.

Approximately three-fourths of Mauritania is desert or semidesert. As a result of extended, severe drought, the desert has been expanding since the mid-1960s. A majority of the population still depends on agriculture and livestock for a livelihood, even though most of the nomads and many subsistence farmers were forced into the cities by recurrent droughts in the 1970s and 1980s. Mauritania has extensive deposits of iron ore, which account for almost 50% of total exports. The nation's coastal waters are among the richest fishing areas in the world, but overexploitation by foreigners threatens this key source of revenue. (Read more...)

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Port Said (Egyptian Arabic: بورسعيد [poɾ-, boɾ.sæˈʕiːd]) is a city that lies in northeast Egypt extending about 30 km (19 mi) along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, straddling the west bank of the northern mouth of the Suez Canal. The city is the capital of the Port Said governorate and it forms the majority of the Governorate, where its seven districts comprise seven of the governorate's eight regions. The city was established in 1859 during the building of the Suez Canal, and at the beginning of 2023 had a population of 680,375 people.

There are numerous old houses with grand balconies on all floors, giving the city a distinctive look. Port Said's twin city is Port Fuad, which lies on the eastern bank of the Suez Canal. The two cities coexist, to the extent that there is hardly any town centre in Port Fuad. The cities are connected by free ferries running all through the day, and together they form a metropolitan area with over a million residents that extends both on the African and the Asian sides of the Suez Canal. The only other metropolitan area in the world that also spans two continents is Istanbul. (Full article...)

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In the news

12 February 2024 –: Two boats collide on the Congo River near Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo; with the death toll remains unclear. (AP)
11 February 2024 – 2023 Africa Cup of Nations: In association football, hosts Ivory Coast win their third Africa Cup of Nations by defeating Nigeria 2–1 in the final. Sébastien Haller scores the winning goal in the 81st minute. (The Guardian)
10 February 2024 – Somali civil war: Four Emirati soldiers and a Bahraini military officer are killed, while ten other people are injured, when a soldier opens fire at a military base in Mogadishu, Somalia, before being killed in the ensuing shootout. Al-Shabaab claims responsibility. (AP)
10 February 2024 –: A Eurocopter EC130 helicopter crashes near Nipton, California, United States, killing all the six people on board, including Nigerian banker Herbert Wigwe. (CBS News)
10 February 2024 – 2023–2024 Senegalese protests: Violent protests occur in Senegal following an announcement by President Macky Sall that presidential elections have been delayed from February 25 to December 15. (Sky News)
9 February 2024 –: At least 18 people are killed during a collision between a bus and a truck on a road in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. (AP)

Updated: 16:33, 14 February 2024

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The following are images from various Africa-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Dates of independence of African countries (from History of Africa)
Image 2Carthaginian Empire in 323 BC (from History of Africa)
Image 3Ethiopian king Menelik II at the Battle of Adwa in 1896 (from History of Africa)
Image 4Ruby, Egyptian singer performing (from Culture of Africa)
Image 5Gateway to the Castle of Good Hope in South Africa (from Culture of Africa)
Image 6Ashanti Kente cloth patterns (from Culture of Africa)
Image 7A woman in Kenya wearing kanga (from Culture of Africa)
Image 8The Bent Pyramid of Sneferu,
c. 2600 BC, an early experiment in true pyramid building (from History of Africa)
Image 9Pre-Neolithic and Neolithic migration events in Africa. (from History of Africa)
Image 10Tingatinga is one of the most widely represented forms of paintings in Tanzania, Kenya and neighbouring countries (from Culture of Africa)
Image 11The Almoravid empire at its greatest extent (from History of Africa)
Image 12Kenyan boys and girls performing a traditional folklore dance (from Culture of Africa)
Image 13Fresh Moroccan couscous with vegetables and chickpeas (from Culture of Africa)
Image 14Nok sculpture (from History of Africa)
Image 15Maasai wearing traditional clothes named Matavuvale while performing Adumu, a traditional dance (from Culture of Africa)
Image 16The Almohad empire at its greatest extent, c. 1180–1212 (from History of Africa)
Image 17Map of ancient Egypt, showing major cities and sites of the Dynastic period (c. 3150 BC to 30 BC) (from History of Africa)
Image 18Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum, one of the most iconic singers in African history (from Culture of Africa)
Image 19Romanised-Berber kingdoms: Altava, Ouarsenis, Hodna, Aures, Nemencha, Capsus, Dorsale, Cabaon. (from History of Africa)
Image 20Evolution of the Fatimid Caliphate (from History of Africa)
Image 21Idrisid state, around 820 CE, showing its maximal extent (from History of Africa)
Image 22Potjiekos is a traditional Afrikaner stew made with meat and vegetables and cooked over coals in cast-iron pots. (from Culture of Africa)
Image 23Fufu (right) is a staple meal in West Africa and Central Africa. It is usually served with some peanut soup. (from Culture of Africa)
Image 24Vegetation and water bodies in early Holocene (top), between about 12,000 and 7,000 years ago, and Eemian (bottom) (from History of Africa)
Image 25The Marinids, Zayyanids, and Hafsids c. 1360 (from History of Africa)
Image 269th-century bronze staff head in form of a coiled snake, Igbo-Ukwu, Nigeria (from History of Africa)
Image 27Ancient Kano City Walls, Nigeria (from Culture of Africa)
Image 28Warriors from the Bornu Empire and their mounted chief (from History of Africa)
Image 29BaKongo masks from the Kongo Central region (from Culture of Africa)
Image 30The Kingdom of Aksum in the 6th century AD. (from History of Africa)
Image 31Approximate extent of Rustamid control in the 9th century (from History of Africa)
Image 32Sudan basket-tray, tabar of weaved natural plant fiber, in different colors (from Culture of Africa)
Image 33The Umayyad Caliphate at its greatest extent, under Caliph Umar II, c. 720 (from History of Africa)
Image 34Pre–colonial states in Africa (excluding East African states such as Ajuran, Imerina, and Kilwa, and southern African ones such as Rozvi, Maravi, and Mthethwa.) (from History of Africa)
Image 35The Ghana Empire at its greatest extent (from History of Africa)
Image 36A Yombe sculpture (Louvre, Paris) (from Culture of Africa)
Image 37The Great Pyramids of Giza, Egypt (from Culture of Africa)
Image 38Traditional male dancers from Northern Nigeria (from Culture of Africa)
Image 39Maximal extent of Aghlabid authority (from History of Africa)
Image 40An Ethiopian woman preparing Ethiopian coffee at a traditional ceremony. She roasts, crushes, and brews the coffee on the spot. (from Culture of Africa)
Image 41Central mosque in Nouakchott, Mauritania (from Culture of Africa)
Image 42Reconstruction of "Lucy" (from History of Africa)
Image 43Yoruba drummers at celebration in Ojumo Oro, Kwara State, Nigeria (from Culture of Africa)
Image 44
1 = 2000–1500 BC origin

2 = c. 1500 BC first dispersal
2.a = Eastern Bantu
2.b = Western Bantu

3 = 1000–500 BC Urewe nucleus of Eastern Bantu

4–7 = southward advance

9 = 500–1 BC Congo nucleus

10 = AD 1–1000 last phase (from History of Africa)
Image 45Areas controlled by European powers in 1939. British (red) and Belgian (marroon) colonies fought with the Allies. Italian (light green) with the Axis. French colonies (dark blue) fought alongside the Allies until the Fall of France in June 1940. Vichy was in control until the Free French prevailed in late 1942. Portuguese (dark green) and Spanish (yellow) colonies remained neutral. (from History of Africa)
Image 46Extent of the Mamluk Sultanate under Sultan Al-Nasir Muhammad (from History of Africa)
Image 47Sample of the Egyptian Book of the Dead of the scribe Nebqed, c. 1300 BC (from Culture of Africa)
Image 48A terra-cotta head sculpture (1100-1500) of the Yoruba, showing extraordinary naturalism. This head represents the oni or king of Ife. (from Culture of Africa)

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...that Rukwanzi Island, an island in Lake Albert, one of the African Great Lakes, is the subject of a territorial dispute between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda?
...that Oumarou Sidikou, vice-governor of the Central Bank of West African States from 1988 to 1993, was a minister in the government of Nigerien Prime Minister Hama Amadou, which was ousted by a military coup in 1996?
...that Jason Dunford, an All-Africa Games gold medalist and runner-up for the 2006 Kenyan Sportsman of the Year award, has a younger brother who was selected "most promising sportsman" at the same awards?
...that Sam Mbakwe, governor of Imo State from 1979 to 1983, served in the army of the Republic of Biafra, an Igbo secessionist state in southeastern Nigeria, during the Nigerian Civil War?