The Africa is the second Continent in the world by its population and the third (or the second if one regards the America as made of two continents) by its surface, after the Asia. With a surface of 30221532 km2 by including the islands, Africa covers 6.0% of terrestrial surface, and 20.3% of the surface of the emerged grounds. With a population of: 944000000 inhabitants (mid 2007), the Africans account for 14% of the world population. The continent is bordered by the Mediterranean in north, the Suez Canal and the Red Sea in the North-East, the Indian Ocean in south-east and the Atlantic Ocean in the west. Africa includes/understands 48 countries by including Madagascar, and 53 by including all the archipelagoes.

Africa overlaps the equator and includes many climates; it extends from the areas Tempéré are north at the moderate zones of the south. Because of the lack of Precipitation S regular and Irrigation, just like of Glacier S or systems mountainous Aquiferous S, it does not exist there natural means of regulation of the climate except for the coasts.

Etymology

The word “Africa” could come from the name " Afridi ", a tribe which lived in North Africa close Carthage.

It may be also that it comes from the Berbère Taferka “ground”, “land property”. That which lives on a ground is named Aferkiw , that gave africanus in Latin, whose territory corresponds to the Roman Province of Africa. This name gave in Arab إفريقيا ifrīqīyā which indicated formerly current the Tunisia and would have given the designation of Africa in its modern direction by the newcomers. It is as possible as the word descends from the Greek aphrike (“without cold”), from the Latin aprica (“sunny”), or from another Latin term africus (ventus) indicating in Campanie, the “rain-bearing wind” coming from the area of Carthage, since in the beginning, the Romains named only “Africa” this northern part of the continent (see Africa (Roman province)).

According to other researchers, the word Africa comes from the Ifri radical which gave the word Ifriquia at the time Roman. And they is the Romans who gave this name to the inhabitants of Tunisia. Ifri is the ancestor of the tribe Ifren (cave or cave in Berber language according to Ibn Khaldoun). Ifri is also a divinity amazighe.

Moreover, Banou Ifren are Ifuraces, tribe which gathers Afar. Ifuraces lived old the tripolitaine being of Zénètes Berbère that Corripus indicated in its book of Johanide.

History

See also: History of Africa

Old Egypt

The anthropological facts recognize Africa like cradle of humanity, Africa can also be regarded as one of the cradles of the evolution of the modern Man.

The Egypt is one of the African civilizations oldest and most famous also. Thus before the other continents in particular Europe do not know civilization in its in particular scientific element. the priests of old Egypt had already speculated in mathematics, philosophy, astronomy etc

Medieval empires and kingdoms

Since the 6th century and with the following beginning of the millennium, the great marketing activity and the fertile grounds of West Africa supported there the emergence of kingdoms and powerful empires such as the civilization Nok, the Empire of Mali, the Oba of Benign the, the Royaume of Kanem-Bornou, the empire Fulani, the Dahomey, the Royaume of Oyo, the empire Ashanti, the Empire of Ghana and the Empire Songhai.

Looser federations of city-States such as the Yoruba and the Haoussa also transfer the day.

Islamization

As from the 7th century, the armies Arab S invaded the North Africa. The trade caravaneer and the Islamic expansion tied new relations between the two Africa.

Draft of the blacks

See also: Slavery, Treats blacks, Traite Arab

The Black Africa had its first contacts with the European at the 15th century. They established competitor counters of the Eastern Traite; initially to trade, then also for the blacks at the origin of the African Diaspora Treats.

The North Africa passed from the Arab domination to the Othoman , except the part of the Morocco which stopped the Othoman projection has Fès the capital of ancient Morocco.

Colonization

At the 19th century, after the Abolition of slavery, the European States settled in North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa thanks to their technological advance and in spite of the resistance of the African people. The colonial powers divide Africa at the time of the Conférence of Berlin in 1884-1885. The exploitation of the natural resources and human African continued under European administration until the 20th century.

See also: Africa at the XIXe century, Colonization

The search of the political autonomy and independences

See also: Decolonization of Africa

The African nationalist aspirations led to independences which were spread out 1910 with 1975 according to the countries. The Africa until the Années 1990 was instrumentalisée by the powers of the Cold war.

Contemporary Africa

Conflicts

Many conflicts are present in Africa:
  • conflicts known as " ethniques" whose causes of some are allotted to the traced borders holding only very little account of the history and the organization sociétale of the various cultural components of the African continent;
  • conflicts known as " politiques" because of irresponsible governments making pass the interests of the leaders before those of the local populations in spite of their morbid poverty;
  • conflicts known as " social-politiques" had with this extreme poverty;
  • of the civil wars to the international stakes bursts for the control of the raw materials by which marketing enriches only seldom the local populations.

Africa is the continent more devastated by the conflicts. By a vicious circle, these conflicts involve poverty then social conflicts, which supports the bursting of other conflicts.

In a concern of preserving peace on the continent, the Organization of African Unity was created in 1963, then replaced in 2002 by the African Union

See also: African Union

Rwandan genocide

See also: Rwandan genocide

Civil war in Darfur
It is held in this moment currently with the Darfur a civil war to obtain the control of certain resources (Eau, grounds…) and a ethnic Cleaning. One counts already more: 200000 dead.

See also: Civil war in Darfur

Crisis politico-soldier in Ivory Coast
In Ivory Coast dispute the forces of the State of the Ivory Coast and the rebellious forces to obtain political changes, this crisis lasted 5 years (2002 - 2007).

See also: Crisis politico-soldier in Ivory Coast

War of Algeria
The war of Algeria is held 1954 with 1962 and leads to the independence of the Algérie, French Colonie of 1830 with 1848, then integral part of the territory of the République.

See also: War of Algeria

The Neocolonialism

See also: France-Africa

Geography

See also: Geography of Africa

With a surface of 30 million km ² of emerged surface, Africa is the second continent the most extended to the world. Separated from Europe by the Mediterranean, it is attached to Asia at its north-eastern end by the Isthme of Suez (crossed by the Suez Canal) on 163 km. Since its northern end with Close-cropped Ben Sakka (37°21' NR) in Tunisia with its southern extemity with the Cape of the Needles (34°51' 15" S) in South Africa, the continent extends on approximately 8000 km, and since the Cape Verde (17°33' 22" W), in its extreme-west, Close-cropped Hafun (51°27' 52" E) in Somalia, to extreme-is, on 7.400 km.

Its coasts, rectilinear, 26.000 km is long, and the absence of deep notches of its Rive is remarkable by the fact that Europe, which extends on 10.400.000 km ² - that is to say approximately a third of the surface of Africa - has a littoral, longer, of 32.000 km.

The Frontière S of the State S of this continent result mainly from the Colonisation, which explains why they take only little counts realities of the populations of them. In the same way the regrouping of the various countries under-areas is used more in one practical concern than per historical truth. One generally distinguishes the North Africa, the Black Africa (called also the sub-Saharan Africa) and the Southern Africa:

Cultures and religions

See also: African Art, African Theater

Languages

The linguists count 2.000 Living languages on the African continent, gathered in four big families, made exclusion of the Langue S of nonAfrican stock.

The Afro-Asian Famille (353 Living languages including 299 spoken in Africa, adding up 340 million Speaker S) is not exclusively African. It also extends on the Arabic Péninsule and covers only the northern part of the West Africa. It includes the Arab which is the first African language of many speakers.

The nilo-Saharan Famille (197 Living languages and 35 million speakers) covers part of the the Sahara, the high basin of the the Nile and certain high plateaus of the Eastern Africa. It is made up of twelve groups of languages of which only two are localized in West Africa: the Songhai (Mali, Niger, Burkina, Benign) and the Kanouri (Niger, Nigeria, Cameroun and Chad around the lake of the same name).

The Famille khoisan (22 Living languages and 360.000 Locuteur S) is smallest linguistic Famille African. She is centered on the Namibia and radiates on the Angola, the Botswana and the South Africa. “In the past, the languages khoisan were spoken in the major part of the Southern Africa and Eastern. They were gradually évincées of many places by the languages bantou (then) European”.

The Famille Niger Congo account nearly 1.500 Living languages, which makes of it largest linguistic Famille of the world (22% of the Langue S of planet and 71% of the African languages). It covers most of the territory Ouest-africain and relates to the vast majority of the population of the area. It counts in its center a group - the Bantou - which covers with him only the near total of subequatorial Africa except for the surface khoisan.

Many specialists estimate that the original hearth of the Bantou is located at the south of the Bénoué (at the border of the Cameroun and the Nigeria). There is that 4.000 years, the Bantou start a long migration towards the central Africa, undoubtedly pushed by the aridification of the climate and the development of the Agriculture and the breeding which they reject. This colonization takes nearly three millenia. The Bantou reach the South of the continent only at the 16th century, 17th century fleeing the Massaï come from high the Vallée of the Nile. The many similarities between the languages Bantou as their remarkable geographical extension make of it a specific linguistic zone very often distinguished from the remainder of the nigéro-Congolese family.

linguistic Families present on the continent:

The African Académie of the languages was created in 2001 in order to manage this linguistic inheritance.

Religions

Africa is very marked by the arrival of the Islam which settled in North Africa, and in central Africa.

One also finds Animisme in central West Africa and .

But it is also actively Catholique since European colonization.

Economy

See also: Economy of Africa

The African debt

The question of the African national debt dates from the years 1970. Since, the share of the debt servicing burdens the budgets to reach today 38% of the budget (2007). August 1st

The place of Africa in the universalization of the exchanges

L´Afrique is a continent rich in Natural resources: the Angola, the Guinea Conakry, the Gabon, the Democratic republic of Congo, the Nigeria and l´ South Africa, the Ivory Coast are probably the countries best equipped with the continent.

Richnesses

Africa is rich of Gisement S of Minéraux (Métaux), of invaluable stone, reserves of Or and Zinc. The resources (Oil, Natural gas, coal) are exploited mainly by large Multinationale S. They are often denounced like contributing to the Paupérisation of the populations indigenous S.

Tourism

Famous places and monuments:

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