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With 1.4 billion people 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.
- List of ethnic groups
The ethnolinguistic groups include various Afroasiatic,...
- History
The history of Africa begins with the emergence of hominids,...
- List of ethnic groups
- Overview
- People of Africa
- Culture areas
Africa is now widely recognized as the birthplace of the Hominidae, the taxonomic family to which modern humans belong. Archaeological evidence indicates that the continent has been inhabited by humans and their forebears for some 4,000,000 years or more. Anatomically modern humans are believed to have appeared as early as 200,000 years ago in the eastern region of sub-Saharan Africa. Somewhat later those early humans spread into northern Africa and the Middle East and, ultimately, to the rest of the world.
Africa is the most tropical of all the continents; some four-fifths of its territory rests between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. As a consequence, the cultures and the physical variations of the peoples reflect adaptation to both hot, dry climates and hot, wet climates. Dark skin is the dominant characteristic of indigenous African peoples, but skin colour is not uniform. Skin colour shows a clinal variation from a light or tan colour in the northern fringe of the continent, which has a Mediterranean climate, to very dark skin in certain Sudanic regions in western and East Africa, where radiation from the Sun has been most intense. Africa has the most physically varied populations in the world, from the tallest peoples to the shortest; body form and facial and other morphological features also vary widely. It is the continent with the greatest human genetic variation, reflecting its evolutionary role as the source of all human DNA.
Throughout human history there have been movements of peoples (see human migration) within, into, and out of Africa along its northern coasts, across the Sinai Peninsula, along the Red Sea, and especially in the Horn of Africa and coastal areas as far south as Southern Africa. North Africa from the Strait of Gibraltar to the Nile River delta has been the site of conquests and movements of peoples for thousands of years. Along the east coast, trading cities arose and fell, cities that had overseas contacts during the past two millennia with peoples of southern Arabia and as far east as India and Indonesia. Internal movements during that time contributed to the heterogeneity and complexity of native African societies. The greatest movement of peoples out of the continent was a result of the Atlantic slave trade that lasted from the 16th to the 19th century and involved the transport of an estimated 10,000,000 people to the New World. Such a loss of people, together with the devastating warfare and raiding associated with it, was the major cause of the subsequent weakness and decline of African societies.
Whereas the majority of Africa’s peoples are indigenous, European colonial settlers constitute the largest majority of new peoples, with substantial numbers in Kenya, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia, and Mozambique. Dutch settlers first arrived in South Africa in 1652; their descendants now constitute the main Afrikaner, or Boer, population. The vast majority of European settlers arrived after the 1885 Berlin West Africa Conference and the resulting “scramble for Africa,” during which European leaders carved out spheres of influence. Attendant, but unassociated, with the scramble, French and Italian settlers also established new communities in North Africa and, to some extent, western Africa. Much earlier, in several waves of migrations beginning in the 7th century, Arabs spread across northern Africa and, to a lesser extent, into western Africa, bringing a new religion (Islam) and a new language (Arabic), along with some new cultural and political institutions. They also spread Islam southward along the east coast, largely through trading and kinship relationships. (More detail is given in the regional history articles North Africa, Central Africa, Southern Africa, Western Africa, and Eastern Africa.) The colonial era began to disintegrate in the 1950s.
Africa is now widely recognized as the birthplace of the Hominidae, the taxonomic family to which modern humans belong. Archaeological evidence indicates that the continent has been inhabited by humans and their forebears for some 4,000,000 years or more. Anatomically modern humans are believed to have appeared as early as 200,000 years ago in the eastern region of sub-Saharan Africa. Somewhat later those early humans spread into northern Africa and the Middle East and, ultimately, to the rest of the world.
Africa is the most tropical of all the continents; some four-fifths of its territory rests between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. As a consequence, the cultures and the physical variations of the peoples reflect adaptation to both hot, dry climates and hot, wet climates. Dark skin is the dominant characteristic of indigenous African peoples, but skin colour is not uniform. Skin colour shows a clinal variation from a light or tan colour in the northern fringe of the continent, which has a Mediterranean climate, to very dark skin in certain Sudanic regions in western and East Africa, where radiation from the Sun has been most intense. Africa has the most physically varied populations in the world, from the tallest peoples to the shortest; body form and facial and other morphological features also vary widely. It is the continent with the greatest human genetic variation, reflecting its evolutionary role as the source of all human DNA.
Throughout human history there have been movements of peoples (see human migration) within, into, and out of Africa along its northern coasts, across the Sinai Peninsula, along the Red Sea, and especially in the Horn of Africa and coastal areas as far south as Southern Africa. North Africa from the Strait of Gibraltar to the Nile River delta has been the site of conquests and movements of peoples for thousands of years. Along the east coast, trading cities arose and fell, cities that had overseas contacts during the past two millennia with peoples of southern Arabia and as far east as India and Indonesia. Internal movements during that time contributed to the heterogeneity and complexity of native African societies. The greatest movement of peoples out of the continent was a result of the Atlantic slave trade that lasted from the 16th to the 19th century and involved the transport of an estimated 10,000,000 people to the New World. Such a loss of people, together with the devastating warfare and raiding associated with it, was the major cause of the subsequent weakness and decline of African societies.
Whereas the majority of Africa’s peoples are indigenous, European colonial settlers constitute the largest majority of new peoples, with substantial numbers in Kenya, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia, and Mozambique. Dutch settlers first arrived in South Africa in 1652; their descendants now constitute the main Afrikaner, or Boer, population. The vast majority of European settlers arrived after the 1885 Berlin West Africa Conference and the resulting “scramble for Africa,” during which European leaders carved out spheres of influence. Attendant, but unassociated, with the scramble, French and Italian settlers also established new communities in North Africa and, to some extent, western Africa. Much earlier, in several waves of migrations beginning in the 7th century, Arabs spread across northern Africa and, to a lesser extent, into western Africa, bringing a new religion (Islam) and a new language (Arabic), along with some new cultural and political institutions. They also spread Islam southward along the east coast, largely through trading and kinship relationships. (More detail is given in the regional history articles North Africa, Central Africa, Southern Africa, Western Africa, and Eastern Africa.) The colonial era began to disintegrate in the 1950s.
Although the precise number is unknown, there are several thousand different societies or ethnic groups in Africa. They are identified by their recognition of a common culture, language, religion, and history. But in some areas the boundaries among ethnic groups and communities (villages, towns, farm areas) may not always be clear to the outsider. Most Africans speak more than one language, and frequent migrations and interactions, including intermarriage, with other peoples have often blurred ethnic distinctions. There are an estimated 900 to 1,500 different languages, but many distinct political units share a common or similar language (as among the Yoruba, Hausa, and Swahili-speaking peoples). Complicating the situation in the 20th century was the creation of new “tribes” (such as the Zande [Azande] and Luo) that had not been distinct polities before the colonial era. Ethnic (cultural) identities in modern times have often been heightened, exacerbated, or muted for political reasons.
In their attempts to comprehend such a huge heterogeneous continent, scholars have often tried to divide it into culture areas that represent important geographical and ecological circumstances. Those areas reflect differences in the cultural adaptation of traditional societies to varying natural habitats. For the purposes of this discussion, the principal regions are northern, western, west-central, eastern, and Central and Southern Africa; Madagascar is also included.
Há 3 dias · Africa, the second largest continent (after Asia ), covering about one-fifth of the total land surface of Earth. The continent is bounded on the west by the Atlantic Ocean, on the north by the Mediterranean Sea, on the east by the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, and on the south by the mingling waters of the Atlantic and Indian oceans.
Africa, Second largest continent on Earth. It is bounded by the Mediterranean Sea, the Atlantic Ocean, the Red Sea, and the Indian Ocean and is divided almost equally by the Equator. Area: 11,642,094 sq mi (30,152,882 sq km).
The Encyclopaedia Africana provides an African worldview of the people, culture, literature and history of Africa and is a key tool to be used to educate, inform and set the records straight regarding the history, culture and contributions of African people throughout the world.
