Portal:Africa
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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 nearly 1.4 billion people as of 2021, it accounts for about 18% of the world's human population. Africa's population is the youngest among 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, corruption, colonialism, the Cold War, and neocolonialism. Despite this low concentration of wealth, recent economic expansion and a large and young population make Africa an important economic market in the broader global context. Africa has a large quantity of natural resources and food resources, including diamonds, sugar, salt, gold, iron, cobalt, uranium, copper, bauxite, silver, petroleum, natural gas, cocoa beans, and.
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. In African societies, the historical process is largely a communal one, with eyewitness accounts, hearsay, reminiscences, and occasionally visions, dreams, and hallucinations, crafted into oral traditions, leading some to term them oral civilisations. Time is sometimes mythical and social, and truth generally viewed as relativist. The lack of comprehensive written records has meant that African history was largely written by outsiders, Europeans and Arabs, with contemporary historians tasked with decolonising African historiography. (Full article...)
Selected article –
The Rozvi Empire (1660–1866) was a Shona state established on the Zimbabwean Plateau by Changamire Dombo. The term "Rozvi" refers to their legacy as a warrior nation, taken from the Shona term kurozva, "to plunder". They became the most powerful fighting force in the whole of Zimbabwe. (Full article...)
Featured pictures –
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Shanty town housing in Soweto, South Africa Credit: User:Matt-80Soweto (/səˈwɛtoʊ, -ˈweɪt-, -ˈwiːt-/) is a township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for South Western Townships. Formerly a separate municipality, it is now incorporated in the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality, Suburbs of Johannesburg. -
Giraffe at Melbourne Zoo Photo credit: User:Fir0002
The giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) is an African even-toed ungulate mammal, the tallest of all land-living animal species. Males can be 4.8 to 5.5 metres (16 to 18 ft) tall and weigh up to 1,360 kilograms (3,000 lb). Females are generally slightly shorter and weigh less than the males do. The giraffe is related to deer and cattle, but is placed in a separate family, the Giraffidae, consisting only of the giraffe and its closest relative, the okapi. Its range extends from Chad to South Africa. -
Bareina Credit: Ferdinand Reus
Bareina is a Bedouin village and rural commune in the Trarza region of south-western Mauritania. As of 2000 it had a population of 14,987. This photo is a view of the village just minutes before rain started. -
Photograph: Poco a pocoPanoramic 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. -
Photo credit: LaitcheThe 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. -
Photograph: Sathyan VelumaniThe 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. -
Apartheid in Durban, South Africa Credit: User:GuinnogApartheid (meaning separateness in Afrikaans, cognate to English apart and hood) was a system of racial segregation in South Africa from 1948, and was dismantled in a series of negotiations from 1990 to 1993, culminating in democratic elections in 1994. Apartheid was designed to form a legal framework for continued economic and political dominance by people of European descent. -
Photo: NASAA 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. -
Banknote design credit: Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Bank; photographed by Andrew ShivaThe 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 two hundred rupie banknote was issued in 1915, and is now part of the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution.
Other denominations:
'"`UNIQ--templatestyles-00000015-QINU`"' -
Photograph: Muhammad Mahdi KarimAdansonia 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). -
Photo: William WarbyPortrait 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. -
Photograph credit: Charles J. SharpThe 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. -
Photograph credit: Charles James SharpThe 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. -
Photograph credit: Alexander SavinDallol 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. -
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. -
Dar es Salaam Credit: Muhammad Mahdi Karim
Dar es Salaam is the largest city in Tanzania. It is also the country's richest city and a regionally important economic centre. Dar es Salaam is actually an administrative province within Tanzania, and consists of three local government areas or administrative districts: Kinondoni to the north, Ilala in the center of the region, and Temeke to the south. The Dar es Salaam Region had a population of 2,497,940 as of the official 2002 census. Though Dar es Salaam lost its official status as capital city to Dodoma in 1974, it remains the center of the permanent central government bureaucracy and continues to serve as the capital for the Dar es Salaam Region. -
King penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus) Photo credit: User:Franek2
King penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus) on shore of Île de la Possession or "Possession Island". -
A Nodding Pincushion Flower Bud Photo credit: Mila Zinkova
Leucospermum (Pincushion or Pincushion Protea) is a genus of about 50 species of flowering plants in the family Proteaceae, native to Zimbabwe and South Africa, where they occupy a variety of habitats, including scrub, forest, and mountain slopes. -
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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Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... that after anti-apartheid activist David Rabkin was sentenced to prison in South Africa, he gave the courtroom the clenched-fist black power salute?
- ... that before the swearing-in of convicted murderer Kenny Motsamai as an MP, South African Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng cited a constitutional requirement prohibiting felons from becoming MPs?
- ... that Michigan defensive end Eyabi Okie, ranked number 3 in the 2018 college football recruiting class, changed his surname from "Anoma" to recognize his mother who lives in Africa?
- ... that a former member of the French Senate ended up being exiled to the northern Central African Republic by the future emperor?
- ... that opera singer Charles Holland spent much of his career in Europe as opportunities in classical music for African Americans were limited?
- ... that Magawa, an African giant pouched rat, sniffed out more than 70 land mines in Cambodia?
Categories
Selected biography –
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Grace Naledi Mandisa Pandor (née Matthews; born 7 December 1953) is a South African politician, educator and academic who served as the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation until 2024. She also served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for the African National Congress (ANC) from 1994 to 2024.
Born in Durban, Pandor completed high school in Botswana. She qualified as a teacher and taught at multiple schools and universities, while she achieved various degrees from different universities. Pandor took office as a Member of Parliament in 1994. She soon became Deputy Chief Whip of the ANC caucus in 1995. She was elected Deputy Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces in 1998 and became chairperson in 1999. (Full article...)
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Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in southern Africa on the Atlantic coast. It shares borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east, and South Africa to the south. It gained independence from South Africa in 1990 and its capital city is Windhoek (German: Windhuk). It is divided into 13 regions and subdivided into 102 constituencies. Namibia is a member state of the United Nations (UN), the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the African Union (AU), and the Commonwealth of Nations.
The politics of Namibia takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Namibia is elected to a five year term and is both the head of state and the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of parliament. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. (Read more...)
Selected city –
Kampala (UK: /kæmˈpɑːlə/, US: /kɑːmˈ-/) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,875,834 (2024) and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala, Kawempe, Makindye, Nakawa, and Rubaga.
Kampala's metropolitan area consists of the city proper and the neighboring Wakiso District, Mukono District, Mpigi District, Buikwe District and Luweero District. It has a rapidly growing population that is estimated at 6,709,900 people in 2019 by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics in an area of 8,451.9 km2 (3,263.3 square miles). Other estimates estimate put the size of the metropolitan area at around four million people. (Full article...)
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
General images -
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Tingatinga is one of the most widely represented forms of paintings in Tanzania, Kenya and neighbouring countries (from Culture of Africa) -
Ancient Kano City Walls, Nigeria (from Culture of Africa) -
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Maasai wearing traditional clothes named Matavuvale while performing Adumu, a traditional dance (from Culture of Africa) -
Evolution of the Fatimid Caliphate (from History of Africa) -
The Great Pyramids of Giza, Egypt (from Culture of Africa) -
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Map of ancient Egypt, showing major cities and sites of the Dynastic period (c. 3150 BC to 30 BC) (from History of Africa) -
A 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) -
traditional pearl using for differents pearl in the religion. (from Culture of Africa) -
Pre-Neolithic and Neolithic migration events in Africa. (from History of Africa) -
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The Ghana Empire at its greatest extent (from History of Africa) -
Potjiekos is a traditional Afrikaner stew made with meat and vegetables and cooked over coals in cast-iron pots. (from Culture of Africa) -
The Kilwa Sultanate in 1310 (from History of Africa) -
An Ethiopian woman preparing Ethiopian coffee at a traditional ceremony. She roasts, crushes, and brews the coffee on the spot. (from Culture of Africa) -
9th-century bronze staff head in form of a coiled snake, Igbo-Ukwu, Nigeria (from History of Africa) -
The Kingdom of Aksum in the 6th century AD. (from History of Africa) -
Map of the western Sahel and Sudan (northern West Africa) c. 1200, including some successor states of Ghana. (Songhai is Gao)
Kingdoms in this era were centred around cities and cores, with variations of influence radiating out from these points, meaning there weren't fixed borders. (from History of Africa) -
DISPLAY OF AFRICAN CULTURAL APPAREL (SMOCK) (from Culture of Africa) -
Traditional male dancers from Northern Nigeria (from Culture of Africa) -
Fufu (right) is a staple meal in West Africa and Central Africa. It is usually served with some peanut soup. (from Culture of Africa) -
Gateway to the Castle of Good Hope in South Africa (from Culture of Africa) -
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Sudan basket-tray, tabar of weaved natural plant fiber, in different colors (from Culture of Africa) -
Kenyan boys and girls performing a traditional folklore dance (from Culture of Africa) -
The Mali Empire in 1337 CE, with major gold fields, of Bambuk, Bure, Lobi (tended by the Gan and later Lobi people), and Akan, and trade routes, outlined. The desert should extend further south to Koumbi. The Mossi Kingdoms are located north of Lobi. (from History of Africa) -
Ruby, Egyptian singer performing (from Culture of Africa) -
Major pre–colonial states in Africa, (excluding East African states such as Ajuran, Adal, Buganda, Rwanda, Nkore, Kilwa, Imerina, and Iboina,
Central African ones such as Kuba, Kasanje, Mbunda, and Utetera, and Southern African ones such as Mapungubwe, Rozvi, Maravi, Mutapa, Uukwanyama, Mthethwa, Mthwakazi, and Zulu) (from History of Africa) -
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Dates of independence of African countries (from History of Africa) -
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) -
A Yombe sculpture (Louvre, Paris) (from Culture of Africa) -
Areas 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) -
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Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum, one of the most iconic singers in African history (from Culture of Africa) -
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Nok sculpture (from History of Africa) -
Carthaginian Empire in 323 BC (from History of Africa) -
The Almoravid empire in the 12th century. (from History of Africa) -
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Africa topics
More did you know –
- ... that the British Museum's oldest African-American object is the Akan Drum (pictured) that was used to "dance the slaves"?
- ... that L.C. Lecesne rose to prominence as an activist against slavery after the British Government compensated him for his illegal exile from Jamaica?
- ... that despite receiving a budget allocation in 2003, the public sports stadium in Gibeon, Namibia, hadn't been repaired as of December 2007?
- ... that Thomas Edward Wilkinson was made Bishop of Zululand after his predecessor in South Africa, John Colenso, was excommunicated?
Related portals
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Major Religions in Africa
North Africa
West Africa
Central Africa
East Africa
Southern Africa
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