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Hace 1 día · 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.
- Metallic Deposits
Africa - Metallic deposits: In North Africa reserves of iron...
- Transportation
Africa - Transportation, Trade, Infrastructure: There were...
- Plant Life
Africa - Flora, Fauna, Ecosystems: African vegetation...
- Nile Basin
Africa - Nile Basin, Wildlife, Cultures: There are two...
- People
Africa - Ethnic Groups, Cultures, Languages: Africa is now...
- Agriculture
Africa - Farming, Crops, Livestock: Agriculture is by far...
- Climate
Africa - Climate, Regions, Variations: A number of factors...
- The Effects of Humans
Africa - Human Impact, Resources, Climate: Until they...
- Metallic Deposits
- Overview
- Learn about the peoples, geography, and history of Africa
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).
Africa is composed largely of a rigid platform of ancient rocks that underlies vast plateau regions in the interior. Its average elevation is about 2,200 ft (670 m), but elevations range from 19,340 ft (5,895 m) at Mount Kilimanjaro to 515 ft (157 m) below sea level at Lake Assal. The Sahara, the world’s largest contiguous desert, occupies more than one-fourth of the total land area. Less than one-tenth of Africa’s land area is arable, while nearly one-fourth is forested or wooded. The continent’s hydrology is dominated by the Nile River in the north, the Niger River in the west, and the Congo River in central Africa.
The peoples of Africa probably speak more languages than those of any other continent. Arabic is predominant from Egypt to Mauritania and in Sudan. Northern Africans speak a family of languages known as Afro-Asiatic. The vast majority of sub-Saharan peoples speak Bantu languages of the Niger-Congo family, while smaller numbers in central Africa speak Nilo-Saharan languages and in southern Africa Khoisan languages. Peoples of European descent are found mostly in the south; Dutch (Boer) migrations began in the 17th century, and the English first settled in what is now Kenya and Zimbabwe in the 19th century.
Africa as a whole is a developing region. Agriculture is the key sector of the economy in most countries. Diamond and gold mining are especially important in the south, while petroleum and natural gas are produced particularly in the west.
Most African governments are controlled by the military or a single party. Many legal systems combine laws introduced by European powers during the colonial era with traditional law, though North African countries derive many laws from Islam. African leaders have sought to develop a Pan-African approach to the continent’s political and military affairs through the Organization of African Unity and its successor, the African Union.
Africa is widely recognized as the birthplace of humankind. Archaeological evidence indicates that the continent has been inhabited by humans and their hominid forebears for some 4,000,000 years or more. Anatomically modern humans are believed to have appeared about 100,000 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.
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Africa is thought to be the place where humans first developed, more than 1 million years ago. The African continent had many kingdoms and empires during its early history. One of the world’s earliest civilizations, ancient Egypt, developed in the lower Nile River valley nearly 5,000 years ago.
Africa - Geology, Plate Tectonics, History: The African continent essentially consists of five ancient Precambrian cratons—Kaapvaal, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Congo, and West African—that were formed between about 3.6 and 2 billion years ago and that basically have been tectonically stable since that time; those cratons are bounded by younger ...
Hace 18 horas · South Africa is the southernmost country on the African continent, renowned for its varied topography, great natural beauty, and cultural diversity, all of which have made the country a favored destination for travelers since the legal ending of apartheid (Afrikaans: ‘apartness,’ or racial segregation) in 1994.
Africa - Trade, Resources, Agriculture: With the exception of South Africa and the countries of North Africa, all of which have diversified production systems, the economy of most of Africa can be characterized as underdeveloped.
