Africa is the second largest continent in area and in population. Only Asia covers a larger area and has more people. Africa covers approximately 11,688,000 square miles (30,272,000 square kilometers), about a fifth of the world’s land area, and has a population of more than 1.4 billion, about one-sixth of the world’s people.
The African continent is an immense plateau, broken by a few mountain ranges and bordered in some areas by a narrow coastal plain. It is a land of striking contrasts and great natural wonders. In the tropical rain forests of western and central Africa, the towering treetops form a thick green canopy. The world’s largest desert, the Sahara, stretches across northern Africa. It covers an area almost as large as the United States. Africa also has the world’s longest river—the Nile. It flows more than 4,000 miles (6,400 kilometers) through northeastern Africa. Grasslands make up about a third of the continent. Elephants, giraffes, lions, zebras, and many other animals live in the vast grasslands in eastern and southern Africa.
Africa is divided into 54 independent countries and several other political units. The largest country, Algeria, has an area of 919,595 square miles (2,381,741 square kilometers). The smallest, Seychelles, has a land area of only 176 square miles (455 square kilometers). The most heavily populated African nation, Nigeria, has about 220 million people. However, about 30 percent of all African countries have fewer than 5 million people each. About 1.2 billion people—about 85 percent of Africa’s total population—live south of the Sahara in the vast region called sub-Saharan Africa.
There are several hundred ethnic groups throughout Africa, each with its own language or dialect and way of life. The large number and various sizes of ethnic groups has made it difficult for some African countries to develop into unified, modern nations. In some African countries, national boundaries cut across traditional ethnic homelands. As a result, people may feel closer ties to neighbors in another country than to other ethnic groups within their own country. Ethnic and religious differences have led to civil wars in several countries.
Africa has great mineral wealth, including huge deposits of copper, diamonds, gold, and petroleum. It also has valuable forests. In addition, many African rivers and waterfalls could be used to produce hydroelectric power. Africa produces most of the world’s cassava, cocoa beans, and yams. But Africa has the least developed economy of any continent except Antarctica.
Agriculture is the leading economic activity in Africa, but most farmers use outdated tools and methods to farm thin, poor soil. About two-thirds of all Africans live in rural areas, where they make a living growing crops or raising livestock. Since the mid-1900’s, however, millions of rural Africans have flocked to cities and have adopted a more urban lifestyle. The development of manufacturing has been handicapped by a lack of money to build factories, a shortage of skilled workers, and competition from industries on other continents. Many African countries depend on only one or two farm or mineral products for more than half their export earnings. In case of crop failures or drops in world market prices, a country’s economy suffers. The majority of African nations rely to some extent on aid from countries outside the continent.
One of the world’s first great civilizations—ancient Egypt—arose along the banks of the Nile River more than 5,000 years ago. Later, other powerful and culturally advanced kingdoms and empires developed in Africa. Even so, for many years Westerners referred to Africa as the “Dark Continent.” They used this name because they knew little about Africa’s interior geography, and they mistakenly believed that the people of the interior had not developed any important cultures.
During the late 1400’s and 1500’s, Europeans began to establish trading posts in Africa. Gold, ivory, and enslaved people became the continent’s most valuable exports. By the late 1800’s, European nations competed fiercely for control of Africa’s resources. By the early 1900’s, they had carved almost all of Africa into colonial empires. The European colonizers used their colonies as a source of wealth, exporting natural resources while most of the colonized people lived in poor conditions. Colonial rulers often cared little about local customs and ethnic boundaries.
Many Africans resisted colonial rule from the beginning. But the demands for independence did not become a powerful mass movement until the mid-1900’s. Between 1950 and 1980, 47 African colonies gained independence. But years of colonial rule had left Africa poorly prepared in some ways to face the modern world. Leaders in many of the new nations managed their national economies poorly and struggled with the ethnic differences and other social challenges facing them. Military officers overthrew the governments of many nations. In a few countries, military dictatorships emerged. In most other countries, a single political party became the ruling power.
Today, ethnic rivalries and territorial disputes among nations continue to threaten the stability of Africa. Such problems as overpopulation, poverty, famine, corruption, and disease remain challenges for African leaders.
People
Population.
Africa’s population is distributed unevenly. Large areas of the Sahara and other deserts have no people at all. Some dry grasslands and tropical forests are also thinly populated. On the other hand, certain areas are greatly overcrowded. The Nile River Valley in Egypt is one of the most heavily populated regions on Earth. It has an average of about 3,500 people per square mile (1,352 per square kilometer). Other heavily populated areas include sections of the Mediterranean coast; parts of Nigeria and the west coast; the lakes region of eastern Africa; and the southeast coast.
Africa’s population is increasing rapidly, partly because of improvements in medical care for children. Another reason for the rapid increase in population is a high birth rate—that is, the number of births in a given year per 1,000 people. Africa’s rate of 34 births per 1,000 people is higher than the world average. But Africa’s death rate—that is, the number of deaths in a given year per 1,000 people—is also higher than the world rate. The rate in Africa is 8 deaths per 1,000 people.
The average life expectancy—that is, the average number of years people can expect to live—is about 64 years for Africans, compared with about 79 years for Americans. However, life expectancy is much lower than the average in the poorer countries of Africa. For example, life expectancy is 55 years in both Mozambique and Nigeria. In the more developed nations of Africa, life expectancy is higher than the average for the continent. For example, life expectancy is 76 years in both Libya and Morocco. For more information on life expectancy in African countries, see Life expectancy (table: Life expectancy at birth for selected countries).
Several factors account for the low life expectancy in many regions of Africa. People in many parts of the continent suffer from malnutrition. Over the years, terrible famines have killed countless Africans, especially in the regions bordering the Sahara. In addition, warfare, poverty, poor sanitation, and inadequate medical services contribute to widespread disease. Serious diseases that affect life expectancy in Africa include AIDS, malaria, schistosomiasis, tuberculosis, sleeping sickness, yellow fever, and the Ebola virus.
Peoples of Africa.
It is impossible to view the peoples of Africa as a single population. The African people belong to a variety of population groups and have many diverse cultural backgrounds. The terms Black and Black African are often used to describe people descended from the original inhabitants of the continent, whose ancestors have lived for centuries in west and sub-Saharan Africa. Today, however, many experts view such terms as inappropriate labels that apply inaccurate concepts of race to a large, ethnically diverse population. Most Africans prefer to be recognized as citizens of a particular nation or as members of a particular ethnic group rather than simply as Africans. In the north, for example, most of the people are Arabs.
Sub-Saharan Africans include the oldest, most genetically diverse human populations in the world. The peoples of sub-Saharan Africa have rich and varied cultures and ancestry. There are hundreds of ethnic groups. Some of the largest include the Igbo and Yoruba of west and central Africa, the Kikuyu of eastern Africa, and the Zulu of southern Africa. The members of various ethnic groups are linked by a shared history, culture, language, religion, artistic traditions, and way of life. However, migration, intermarriage, colonization, and other factors throughout history have complicated the patterns of physical and cultural diversity in this enormous region.
Pygmies are an African population that includes the Aka, Mbuti, Efe, Twa, and other ethnic groups who inhabit the tropical forests of the Congo River Basin in central Africa. The term Pygmy comes from an ancient Greek word and refers to the characteristic short stature of these people. Today, many people consider this name insulting. Traditionally, these people have lived by hunting animals and gathering plant foods in the forest and by trading with nearby agricultural groups. 
The Khoikhoi and San are among the most ancient cultures in the world. The San and various Khoikhoi groups once lived throughout much of the southern and eastern parts of Africa. The two groups speak related languages characterized by clicking sounds. Today, the only remaining Khoikhoi populations are the Nama people who live in Namibia and a smaller population in Botswana and South Africa. The San live mainly in the Kalahari Desert of Botswana and Namibia and also in parts of South Africa and Angola.
Most of Africa’s millions of Arabs live in Egypt, in northern Sudan, and along the Mediterranean coast. The first Arabs settled in northern Africa during the 600’s.
Berbers have lived in the northwestern part of Africa since prehistoric times. The term Berber comes from a Greek word meaning foreigner or non-Greek speaker. Today, most Berbers and many experts prefer the term Amazigh instead of Berber (or the plural, Imazighen). The language they speak is called Tamazight. The Berbers live throughout much of northern Africa and the Sahara, mainly in Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania, Western Sahara, Mali, and Niger.
Europeans began to settle in Africa during the 1600’s. Most of the continent’s people of European ancestry are of British, Dutch, or French descent. The majority live along the Mediterranean coast, in the Republic of South Africa, in Zimbabwe, and in parts of east Africa.
Many people of Asian ancestry live in southern and eastern Africa. Most of them are descendants of people who came to Africa from India during the 1800’s. Large numbers of people of Asian ancestry also live in Madagascar, an island country southeast of the African mainland. Their ancestors began to migrate to Madagascar from Indonesia about 2,000 years ago.
Languages.
Most African ethnic groups have their own language or dialect. In some cases, members of different groups speak the same language. The peoples of Africa speak more than 1,000 languages. As a result, communication among Africans is difficult at times. But certain languages, such as Arabic, Swahili (also called Kiswahili), and Hausa, are widely spoken. In addition to their own language, millions of Africans speak one or more other languages, which they use when traveling or conducting business and government affairs. The languages spoken in Africa can be classified into six broad families: (1) Niger-Congo, (2) Nilo-Saharan, (3) Khoisan, (4) Afro-Asian, (5) Indo-European, and (6) Austronesian. The first three families, known as indigenous African languages, originated in Africa and are limited to the continent. 
Niger-Congo languages
make up the largest of the African language families and are spoken throughout sub-Saharan Africa. This family includes about 300 Bantu languages spoken in central, eastern, and southern Africa. The term Bantu refers to both the languages and the groups of people who speak them. Swahili is the most widely spoken Bantu language. Other important Bantu languages are Ganda (Luganda), Kikuyu (Kikikuyu or Gigikuyu), Kongo (Kikongo), Rundi (Kirundi), Sesotho, and Zulu (isiZulu). The Niger-Congo family also includes many non-Bantu languages spoken mainly in western and central Africa. These languages include Akan; Igbo, or Ibo; and Yoruba.
Nilo-Saharan languages
are used by people who live in parts of Chad, Kenya, Mali, Niger, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. Major languages in this family include Bari, Dinka, Kalenjin, Kanuri, and Maasai.
Khoisan languages
are sometimes called click languages because many words are expressed with unusual click sounds. These languages are unrelated to any other African language. The San and Khoikhoi of southwestern Africa speak Khoisan languages. Two small ethnic groups in Tanzania, the Hadza and Sandawe, also speak these languages.
Afro-Asian languages
are spoken throughout the northern half of Africa. The Afro-Asian language family includes Arabic and Berber (also called Tamazight), the two major languages of northernmost Africa. More Africans speak Arabic than any other single language. Other Afro-Asian languages include Amharic, Afaan Oromo, Hausa, and Somali.
Indo-European languages.
A large number of educated Africans speak English, French, or Portuguese in addition to their local language. The use of these European languages remains as a reflection of colonial rule in many African nations. English, French, or Portuguese serves as the official language in many countries and helps unify the people. European languages are also important for communication in international business and government affairs. Two Indo-European languages—Afrikaans and English—are widely spoken in southern Africa. The Afrikaans language developed from the speech of early Dutch settlers in southern Africa. Many of the people of Asian descent who live in southern and eastern Africa speak various Indian languages. Most of them also know English.
Austronesian languages.
The people of Madagascar speak Malagasy, a language of the Austronesian family. Their ancestors arrived in Madagascar from southeast Asia around 2,000 years ago. This language family is not found among the ethnic groups of mainland Africa.
Religions.
Millions of Africans practice local traditional religions. There are hundreds of African traditional religions because each ethnic group has its own set of beliefs and practices. In general, however, local religions have many features in common. They explain how the universe was created and teach what is right and wrong. They define relationships between human beings and nature and between the young and the old. They give the reasons for human suffering and instruct people in how to live a good life and in how to avoid or lessen misfortune. 
African traditional religions all recognize the existence of a supreme god. However, most of the African traditional religions emphasize that people should seek help by appealing to lesser gods or to the spirits of dead ancestors. People pray or offer sacrifices to the gods or the spirits to gain such things as good health or fertile land. Many religions conduct ceremonies to celebrate a person’s passage from childhood to adulthood.
The more complex African religions include those of certain peoples of western Africa, such as the Dogon of Mali, the Yoruba of Nigeria, and the Ashanti of Ghana. The religions of these peoples include elaborate sets of beliefs about a supreme being and a pantheon of lesser gods. Women as well as men hold important religious positions in western Africa.
Millions of Africans are Muslims. Their religion, Islam, is the state religion in the countries of northern Africa. Islam is also a strong force in many neighboring nations, such as Chad and Mali. In addition, large Muslim populations have great influence in such countries as Djibouti, Somalia, Sudan, Nigeria, and Tanzania.
Millions of other Africans are Christians. Most of them belong to the Roman Catholic Church or to various Protestant churches. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church is the largest church of Ethiopia. In Egypt, a few million people belong to the Coptic Orthodox Church. A growing number of Africans belong to syncretic African churches. These churches combine Christian or Islamic beliefs with traditional African practices.
Ways of life in northern Africa
The six countries of northern Africa—Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt—have much in common. A large majority of the people speak the same language, Arabic; practice the same religion, Islam; and share the same history. Northern Africa lies along the Mediterranean Sea, and the region has long been in close contact with Europe and the Middle East. The Middle East has been the most important influence on the culture and history of northern Africa since the arrival of the Arab people in the 600’s. Today, northern Africa is an important part of the Arab world.
In addition to the Arab Muslim majority, northern Africa has minority groups that differ in language or religion. For example, the Berbers or Imazighen share the Islamic religion, but many maintain their own culture and language. Sub-Saharan Africans form another important minority group. Many of them speak Arabic and practice Islam. An important religious minority group in Egypt is the Copts. They are Christians who speak Arabic and follow many Arab ways of life.
The following discussion deals chiefly with the ways of life among the Arab Muslim majority in northern Africa, but even within this group there are important differences. For more information, see the separate articles on the countries that make up the region.
Rural life.
About half the people in northern Africa live in rural areas. Most of them raise livestock or grow crops on small plots of land. They do much of the work by hand or with the help of animals. In some areas, farmers work on larger farms where machinery and modern agricultural practices are used. Governments or wealthy individuals own many of these large farms. Many rural people lack sufficient land to support their families and must work as laborers or move to the cities or to foreign countries to find jobs. Small groups of nomads called Bedouins tend camels, goats, and sheep. Today, less than 10 percent of northern Africa’s people lead a nomadic lifestyle.
In many rural parts of northern Africa, the people live in flat-roofed houses with thick adobe walls that help keep out the region’s intense heat. In highland areas, houses are more often made of stucco or stone. Most rural homes are simply furnished and lack many modern conveniences. Private generators supply power in many communities, and cellular telephones have enabled rural people to maintain contact with others. 
City life.
Cairo, the capital of Egypt, is one of the largest cities in Africa. About 9 1/2 million people live in the city. Other cities of northern Africa with more than a million people are Alexandria, Giza, and Shubra al Khaymah in Egypt; Algiers, Algeria; Casablanca, Morocco; and Tripoli, Libya. 
The architecture of most cities in the north reflects a combination of European and Islamic styles. Many mosques (Islamic houses of worship) and suqs (outdoor markets) are typical features of the large cities. Older neighborhoods often lie within the remnants of city walls, some of them centuries old. In these quarters, houses and shops are crowded along narrow, winding streets. Broad boulevards, parks, and modern apartment and office buildings occupy newer sections. 
Most city dwellers in northern Africa have a higher standard of living than rural people. The cities offer better medical facilities and schools, and most city workers earn more than rural people. Factories and such services as banks, insurance companies, and government offices are concentrated in urban centers. Hospitals and clinics are also more common in the cities.
The attractions of urban life have led many rural people to move to the cities. Many move in with urban relatives, but others can afford to live only in slums. Such neighborhoods consist of substandard dwellings, have inadequate sanitary facilities, and lack many public services.
Marriage and the family.
At one time, Islamic traditions regulated marriage practices and family life throughout northern Africa. These traditions included polygyny—the right of a man to have more than one wife. They also required a bride’s family to give a dowry of household goods or money to the bridegroom. In addition, parents usually selected a husband or wife for each of their children. Today, polygyny remains legal in every northern country except Tunisia. Dowries are less common, but many people still consider at least a token dowry as essential. Arranged marriages have also decreased, though parents exert more influence on their children’s choice of a spouse than do parents in Western cultures. 
A typical rural household in much of northern Africa consists not only of parents and children but also of grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. These extended families provide security, financial help, and social life. In the cities, the nuclear family, which consists only of parents and their children, is more common. But even in urban areas, grandparents and other relatives often share the household with the nuclear family.
The traditional role of women in northern Africa has been to remain at home to care for their families. Many older women and those who live in rural regions still follow this tradition. But a growing number of younger women have taken advantage of education and career opportunities and now work outside the home.
Food and drink.
Flat breads and other grain products are the basic foods in northern Africa. Couscous, coarse grains of wheat steamed and served with a spicy stew, is a common dish in much of the region. Vegetables, often served in soups, are an important part of regional diet, as are fresh fruits. People in coastal regions often eat fish and other seafoods. Refrigerated trucks now make it possible to ship seafood to the interior, where fish consumption has increased greatly. Meat is too expensive to be part of the daily diet of most people, but chicken, goat, or lamb are enjoyed occasionally. 
Tea, mint tea, and coffee are preferred hot beverages. Soft drinks and citrus and other juices are locally produced in each country, as are a wide variety of canned and processed foods.
Clothing.
Many people in rural northern Africa dress in traditional clothing. The men wear long, loose robes and usually cover their heads with a turban or skullcap. In mountainous regions, where winter weather can be severe, a heavy, hooded woolen cloak called a burnoose provides additional warmth. The women wear long, simple dresses, sometimes with baggy trousers underneath. In public, rural women add a cloak or shawl, cover their heads, and often follow the Islamic tradition of covering the face with a veil. 
Many city dwellers dress in clothing like that worn by Europeans and North Americans, but more traditional forms of apparel have become increasingly popular, especially among women. Women who customarily dress in European or American fashions often wear a head covering in conformity with Muslim principles.
Education.
Traditionally, only religious scholars received more than an elementary school education in northern Africa. During the colonial period, European settlers established schools, but the schools served only their own children and those of a handful of important local leaders. Today, about four-fifths of the people can read and write. The literacy rate (percentage of people who can read and write) is much lower in rural areas than in the cities and much lower among women than among men. 
The nations of northern Africa are working to improve education, especially in rural areas. However, the population is growing faster than new schools can be built, and the costs of education are constantly increasing. Many areas have a shortage of qualified teachers, and many students must leave school to work and help support their families. Rural children often have to travel great distances to attend school. More students, however, are going on to high school and college. A few universities in northern Africa are among the most modern in the Arab world.
Ways of life in sub-Saharan Africa
In general, sub-Saharan Africans follow their traditional ways and observe the customs of their ancestors. Most Africans live in rural areas and make a living by farming the land.
Mineral wealth has brought greater economic development to parts of southern Africa than to any other section of the continent. But much of the wealth from mineral production is held by people of European ancestry, who form a politically and economically powerful minority in parts of southern Africa.
This section mainly describes the ways of life among Africans living south of the Sahara. For additional information, see the separate country articles.
Rural life.
About 60 percent of all Africans south of the Sahara live in rural areas, chiefly in villages. Villages vary considerably in size and population. Whatever its size, each village is a closely knit community of families usually belonging to the same ethnic group and often related through either birth or marriage. 
Among some ethnic groups, kings and chiefs command great respect, though they may have limited political power. In most cases, the position of king or chief is inherited and serves as a means to link villages of the same ethnic group. Among other ethnic groups, village elders may handle matters of local concern.
Many villages are simply a cluster of houses, surrounded by farmland. Larger settlements may have a schoolhouse, a few shops, and perhaps such facilities as a medical dispensary or a courthouse. Most villages also have a central square. The people gather in the central square for visiting, entertainment, and ceremonies.
Rural housing varies from village to village, depending on climate, lifestyle, and tradition. Many Africans live in houses built of sun-dried mud with roofs of straw, grass, or leaves. As villagers become wealthy, they may construct houses of concrete blocks with sheet-metal roofs. Almost all villages have dwellings of this type. In parts of western Africa, some houses are covered with clay and decorated with sculptured designs. The houses of African Muslims may be built around a large courtyard so that the women can go about their tasks without being seen by people outside the family. This custom follows the traditions of Islam. 
In many villages, the way of life has changed little over the years. Most of the people farm the land and raise some livestock. Modern industrial methods of agriculture are used in parts of South Africa, Kenya, and Zimbabwe and in some countries of western Africa, such as Cote d’Ivoire. But the majority of farmers of sub-Saharan Africa use simple hand tools to work the land.
The soil is thin and poor in much of Africa. The people have thus traditionally practiced an agricultural technique called shifting cultivation. A farm community clears the land of trees and bushes and plants crops for several years, until the land wears out. The community then moves to a new location. The abandoned land eventually returns to grass or forest and can be farmed again. Shifting cultivation is still common in certain areas. But in heavily populated regions, resettlement is not possible. As a result, the farmers continue to work land that becomes poorer and poorer.
Most farm families grow food crops for their own use. In the grasslands of eastern and southern Africa, food crops include peanuts and such grains as corn, millet, and sorghum. In wetter areas, food crops include bananas, cassava, plantains, rice, and yams. 
Farmers also grow various cash crops, including coffee; cacao, or cocoa beans; cotton; coconuts; and fruits. The farmers sell their cash crops for money to buy manufactured goods, canned goods, clothing, kerosene, lamps, and batteries. The farmers may also use the money from their cash crops to pay taxes as well as medical expenses and school fees.
In addition to growing crops, almost all farmers raise chickens. Many keep goats and sheep. Farmers may also sell livestock or food crops for needed money.
A typical farm family has several widely scattered plots outside the village. Each plot is planted with a different crop. Families may also rent their land or farm on land that is owned by village elders and chiefs. Some farmers also work part-time on large estates or plantations that produce cash crops. Both men and women work long hours at farming to make a living.
Rural women also spend much time doing such chores as collecting firewood, grinding grain, and obtaining water. In many villages, however, the introduction of such simple machines as water pumps and small hand- or machine-driven flour mills has given women more time to do other things. In most villages, everyone takes part in such major tasks as clearing new land and building new houses. The people work together on such tasks, while sharing food and drink and socializing. 
Some African farmers—for example, those who live along the Nile River—irrigate their crops. But most farmers depend on seasonal rains. Work and other activities therefore follow a seasonal schedule. During the rainy season, farm families work long, hard days planting and tending their crops. Food may be in short supply at that time of year. During the dry season, after the crops have been harvested, food is more plentiful. The people also have more leisure time. They spend the extra hours repairing tools and houses, visiting with friends and relatives, and trading their crops for other goods. In western Africa, women have traditionally controlled trade activities. Some women have become wealthy as a result of their trading skill. In other areas of Africa, trade matters are handled either by men or women.
Community ceremonies, which are often held in the village square, are an important part of rural African life. They mark such occasions as the first rains of the growing season, the planting of crops, and harvesttime. Entire communities, as well as people from neighboring villages, may gather for ceremonies related to births, marriages, funerals, the curing of the sick, and the passage of children into adulthood. These community gatherings strengthen family ties and religious beliefs. 
In many parts of rural Africa, young men leave their villages and work at least a few years as migrant laborers. They travel to cities and towns in hope of earning enough money to get married, to open a small business, or to go to school. In parts of central and southern Africa, many men work temporarily as miners. The women left behind in the villages must do much of the farm work themselves.
Nomadic herding is a way of life for people in parts of Africa, particularly in dry areas near the Sahara and in the highland regions of eastern Africa. Such nomadic peoples as the Dinka, Fulani, Maasai, Toubou, Tuareg, and Turkana follow well-established routes to find grazing land for their herds of cattle, sheep, goats, or, in some cases, camels. Among some groups, including the Dinka, Maasai, and Nuer, cattle herding is an ancient and proud tradition. For these people, cattle are a measure of a person’s wealth and social position as well as a major source of food and other necessities. 
The nomadic herders depend mainly on their livestock for food. They also trade meat and milk for grain from neighboring farming groups. The men and boys tend the herds, and the women care for the household. Some nomadic groups, such as the Maasai of eastern Africa, build huge corrals for their livestock. Within the corrals, the people construct igloo-shaped houses of brush, mud, and dried manure. Other nomads live in tents made of animal skins.
City life.
City dwellers make up only about 40 percent of sub-Saharan Africa’s total population. But the percentage is much higher in some countries, such as Angola, Djibouti, Gabon, Liberia, the Republic of the Congo, and South Africa. Throughout Africa, more and more rural people are moving to the cities to seek work. Lagos, the chief commercial center of Nigeria, is the largest city in sub-Saharan Africa—and the largest city in Africa. About 12 1/2 million people live there. Other cities in sub-Saharan Africa with populations of more than a million include Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Cape Town, South Africa; Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; Johannesburg, South Africa; Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo; and Nairobi, Kenya. 
In most cities of sub-Saharan Africa, the architecture reflects both traditional and modern styles. The newer sections of many cities have parks, hotels, tall office and apartment buildings, and large stores. Many older neighborhoods have houses and shops crowded along narrow streets. Open-air markets, where people buy food, clothing, and a variety of other goods, are common in many cities.
Like city people in northern Africa, most city dwellers in sub-Saharan Africa have a higher standard of living than rural people. The cities provide better schools and medical facilities than the countryside. For people with skills, the cities may offer well-paying job opportunities in government, business, industry, and other fields.
City lifestyles vary widely. Some people are wealthy and live in luxury apartments or large, modern houses. Most people, however, live in unplanned neighborhoods of small, one-story houses. Many houses are built of wood or concrete blocks with corrugated iron roofs.
Like cities in the north, most cities of sub-Saharan Africa face serious problems. The sharp increase in city populations has made it difficult for governments to provide enough housing and efficient public transportation. The water supply, sewerage, and electrical systems are overloaded. Many cities also have a large number of unemployed workers.
Marriage and the family.
Strong feelings of loyalty and cooperation bind African families together. Such feelings are shared among all family members, not only parents and children but also grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. The family helps its members with business concerns, employment, legal matters, and other affairs. The family also cares for members who are sick or elderly. Most Africans still seek the advice and approval of their relatives before making any important decision. 
According to traditional African beliefs, marriage is more than an agreement between a man and a woman to live together. Marriage is also a way to acquire more relatives, both by gaining in-laws and by having children. In general, the families of the bride and groom must consent to a marriage before it may take place. Among most African peoples, a man or his father or uncles must provide a gift of money, livestock, or other valuables to a woman’s family before the man may marry her. This gift is called the bride price or bridewealth. Africans do not regard the bride price as a payment for the bride but as a way to show her importance and the value they place upon the new ties with her relatives.
Most African ethnic groups permit polygyny (marriage to more than one woman). Many men follow this custom and so have more than one wife. The husband is expected to divide his attention and possessions equally among his various families. Each wife expects to have her own house, livestock, and other goods. Feminists, both inside and outside of Africa, and foreign missionaries have tried to end the bride price and polygyny. But the traditions remain among most sub-Saharan ethnic groups.
Among some African peoples, related families form larger groups called lineages. Related lineages are organized into larger groupings called clans. All the members of a clan consider themselves to be descended from the same ancestor. Clans are usually represented by symbols called totems. Often, members of the same clan are not allowed to marry. Like the family, the clan offers protection, security, and a sense of belonging for its members.
For some sub-Saharan Africans, the strength of family ties has decreased as more and more rural people have moved to the cities. But even in the cities, relatives may live in the same neighborhood, and most city dwellers keep in close touch with relatives in the country.
Food and drink.
South of the Sahara, most Africans in both the cities and the countryside eat one large meal daily, usually in the evening. They have only light snacks at other times of the day. The main meal is a time for socializing with relatives and neighbors. The men and boys generally eat separately from the women and girls. In many households, the people gather around a large bowl of food set on the ground and scoop up the food with their fingers or with pieces of bread.
A typical sub-Saharan African meal consists of a starchy food, such as rice, cassava, or corn cooked into a porridge, or yams. The food is served with a sauce containing vegetables or bits of meat. A common food in tropical areas is the plantain, a large, starchy kind of banana. Plantains may be fried, boiled, baked, or grilled. They may also be dried and ground into flour.
For many African families, meat and fish are expensive and sometimes unavailable. Family members and guests expect such foods on special occasions, however. The people eat chicken, goat, lamb, or beef. Fish are important in the diet of people who live along seacoasts, rivers, and lakes. Africans who keep cattle live largely on milk, cheese, and a thick sour-milk product that resembles yogurt.
Many Africans make beer from honey or from such grains as corn and millet. They also make wine from the sap of certain kinds of palm trees.
In some parts of Africa, the people suffer from malnutrition because of periodic food shortages or the lack of a balanced diet. Long droughts, particularly in regions near the Sahara, sometimes lead to terrible famines, and thousands of people may die of starvation.
Clothing.
In western Africa and regions near the Sahara, many men wear a long flowing robe or baggy trousers and a loose shirt or tunic. A small cap or turban is also customary among many African men. Many African women take a length of cloth and wrap it around themselves into a dress. They may also wrap a cloth around the head in the style of a turban or scarf. Some Muslim women follow Islamic tradition and cover the face with a veil when they go out in public. Many rural men and women tie a piece of fabric around the waist or at the shoulder to form a cloak. Some African herders wear simple garments made of leather. Colorful necklaces, bracelets, anklets, and earrings are part of the everyday clothing of some Africans. Among the Ashanti of Ghana and certain other ethnic groups, kings and their courts dress in gorgeous robes on special occasions. 
Education.
Centuries ago, Muslim scholars established near the edges of the Sahara some of the first schools in Africa. These schools taught Islam, the Arabic language, and science. But for most Africans, education did not involve going to school. Parents taught their children what they needed to know to get along in society and to make a living. Some young people, especially in western Africa, served as apprentices in craft associations, where they were trained in such skills as metalworking, woodcarving, pottery making, or weaving. 
Christian missionaries taught some sub-Saharan Africans how to read and write as early as the 1500’s. But large advances in education did not begin until the 1900’s, when the European colonial powers decided they needed more Africans to fill jobs in government and industry. The United Kingdom, France, and other colonial powers established schools in Africa.
Today, many sub-Saharan African governments strive to build schools and to extend education to as many people as possible. A greater number of Africans than ever are attending elementary school and going on to high school and college.
Despite the progress in education, serious problems remain. A large number of adults in sub-Saharan Africa cannot read and write. However, the literacy rate varies greatly from country to country. In Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe, for example, the literacy rate is higher than 85 percent. But in such countries as Guinea, Mali, and Niger, the literacy rate is less than 40 percent.
In many places, especially rural areas, there is a shortage of schools, educational materials, and qualified teachers. A large number of children do not attend school at all, and many others leave after only a few years to help their families earn a living.
The arts
When one visits a museum to see African art, one often finds masks hanging on a wall or objects placed behind glass cases. Most African art, however, was initially made to be used, whether in a sacred or a secular context. Art in Africa serves an important role as a form of communication.
Ancient art.
The oldest known African artworks are prehistoric engravings and paintings that have been found in southern Africa, in the Sahara, and in other areas on rocks and on the walls of caves and rock shelters. These artworks are between 2,000 and 20,000 years old and usually feature hunting scenes with men and animals.
Some of the oldest African sculptures come from ancient Egypt. These include small female figures made of clay and the gigantic Great Sphinx constructed about 4,500 years ago.
The oldest human sculptures from sub-Saharan Africa are terra-cotta (baked clay) figures created by the Nok culture of present-day Nigeria between 500 B.C. and A.D. 200. The Nok sculptures are human and animal figures. Most stand no more than 1 foot (30 centimeters) high, but some are nearly life-sized. The Nok people were also among the earliest ironworkers in sub-Saharan Africa. The remains of their low, circular iron-smelting furnaces are found in sites in Nigeria and Benin. See Sculpture (African sculpture).
During the 1100’s through the 1400’s, Yoruba craftworkers in west Africa created tools, weapons, and artworks of brass and iron. In the city of Ife, in what is now Nigeria, artists produced lifelike brass heads depicting royalty, who were regarded as gods. Sculptors in the kingdom of Benin, which flourished in western Africa from the early 1400’s to the late 1800’s, produced more stylized brass figures of royalty.
Fine arts.
The human figure is central to many African art forms. Many figures and masks do not depict an exact likeness of a human face or body. Instead, they highlight certain features that may correspond to a particular concept of beauty or to a belief system. Ashanti carvers of Ghana, for example, favor a high, glossy forehead in the sculpting of female figures. The Mende of Sierra Leone believe that women should be reserved and not talkative. Mende masks generally depict females with a small mouth. 
Throughout Africa, the human body itself often becomes a canvas on which to create art. For example, Oromo women in eastern Ethiopia use hairstyle, jewelry, and face paint to communicate their ethnic identity and family to others. Among the Nuba of Sudan, body paintings identify a man’s age group or the clan to which he belongs. Among the Nuer of Sudan, patterns of scars cut into the face indicate courage and maturity in men.
Male artists traditionally work with hard materials, such as wood, stone, metals, and bone. Men also produce most ceremonial items, including masks, figures, and musical instruments. African women traditionally work with soft fibrous materials to create such useful objects as baskets, mats, beadwork, and clothing. Some art-making practices, including sewing, leatherwork, pottery, and weaving, are done by either men or women. Male weavers often use a horizontal loom for weaving cloth, while women use a vertical loom.
Materials used in African art often depend on what is available in the environment. African ethnic groups in desert or grassland areas create artworks using such available materials as stone, bone, clay, leather, and fiber. Woodcarving is most common in west and central Africa where hardwood forests are found. From these materials they make such everyday items as spoons, stools, and headrests.
In northern Africa, artists create beautiful works in a distinct style called Islamic art. The artists of northern Africa are also known for their superb textiles, metalwork, glassware, and other craftwork.
Colonialism had a profound effect on the arts of Africa. As European colonial powers introduced Christianity, many art practices associated with traditional African religions declined. Manufactured items replaced handmade objects, such as ceramic vessels, hand-dyed cloth, and woven fiber baskets. However, African artists soon began catering to a new market of middle-class urban Africans and foreigners and developed new artistic practices.
Many African artists, either self-taught or educated in art academies or mission schools, began depicting their experiences with colonialism and independence. Many contemporary African artists are also heavily influenced by traditional African art forms.
Architecture.
Women are the homebuilders in many societies throughout Africa. Among north African nomadic groups, such as the Tuareg, women construct temporary tentlike homes from animal skins supported by wooden posts. The Maasai of east Africa make distinctive loaf-shaped homes of mud, branches, and grass, plastered with cow manure. In southern Africa, Ndebele women build traditional homes and courtyards with a mud plaster. The Ndebele paint their buildings with geometric designs as well as symbols of modern technology, such as light bulbs and airplanes. Outstanding examples of Islamic architecture are seen in the many magnificent mosques throughout northern and western Africa.
Dance and music
add to the expressiveness of many visual artworks in Africa. Dance and music often accompany the display of ceremonial art objects in public, such as at a funeral or the installation of a chief. In ceremonies and celebrations throughout Africa, dancers manipulate carved masks to the accompaniment of music. In royal festivals performed by the Kuba people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the beat of the drums is necessary to activate the spirit of the masks worn by dancers. Among the Yoruba, talking drums imitate the sounds of human speech and are used to relay messages from ancestors, who are embodied by masked dancers during a performance.
Music also accompanies many daily events in life in Africa. Singing often sustains the rhythms of manual labor in fields and villages. Traditional African music includes choral singing, music performed for entertainment, and songs and dances for religious events. In Senegal and other parts of west Africa, a professional speaker called a griot plays music while reciting history and praising the sponsor of the performance in song. See Music (African music).
African musicians use a variety of drums, string instruments, and wind instruments, including harps, horns, flutes, pipes, lyres, zithers, and xylophones. Today, the influence of African music can be heard in Western popular music and jazz, West Indian calypso, and Latin American dance music.
Literature.
Africa has a rich tradition of oral literature passed from one generation to the next. This oral literature includes histories of ethnic and kinship groups, legends of heroes, animal fables, proverbs, riddles, and songs in praise of chiefs and kings. Oral literature plays an important role in religious ceremonies. It also serves to record the past, to teach morals and traditions to young people, and to glorify political leaders.
Only a few areas of Africa have developed their own writing system. The ancient Egyptians developed a hieroglyphic writing system, where pictures represent ideas and sounds, nearly 5,000 years ago. Other African written literatures include Ge’ez, a religious script used in Ethiopia since the A.D. 300’s. Muslim scholars in Africa have written works in Arabic since the mid-600’s. They have written Swahili and Hausa works in Arabic script since the 1500’s.
African writers began to produce literature in various sub-Saharan African languages in the 1800’s. Most modern African literature is still written in English, French, or Portuguese, the languages of former colonial powers. The plays, novels, and poetry of modern African writers, such as Chinua Achebe and Chimamanda Adichie of Nigeria, Ama Ata Aidoo of Ghana, and Athol Fugard of South Africa, often deal with issues of modernity, colonialism, and postcolonial conditions in Africa.
The land
Africa is an enormous plateau, most of which is covered by deserts, forests, and grasslands.
Land regions.
Africa can be divided into two major land regions: (1) Low Africa and (2) High Africa.
Low Africa
consists of northern, western, and central Africa. Except for a few coastal plains and mountain ranges, most of the region lies from 500 to 2,000 feet (150 to 610 meters) above sea level. Low Africa can be subdivided into six smaller land regions. They are (1) the Coastal Lowlands, (2) the Northern Highlands, (3) the Saharan Plateau, (4) the Western Plateau, (5) the Nile Basin, and (6) the Congo Basin.
The Coastal Lowlands form a narrow border along most of northern Africa and the bulge of western Africa. The area has fertile farmland, forests, sandy beaches, deserts, and swamps.
The Northern Highlands are a mountainous region that stretches across parts of Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia. The Atlas Mountains in this region have deposits of phosphate rock, iron ore, and manganese.
The Saharan Plateau covers most of northern Africa. The Sahara, in turn, occupies most of the plateau. Isolated clusters of mountains rise from the plateau in places. Valuable deposits of petroleum and other minerals lie beneath the Sahara. The desert merges with a dry grassland called the Sahel at the southern boundary of the Saharan Plateau. 
The Western Plateau lies south of the Saharan Plateau. It consists of forests and grasslands. The Niger and other rivers flow through the region.
The Nile Basin is a flat region that borders the Nile River and its tributaries in northeastern Africa. In addition to fertile farmland along the Nile, the region has deserts in the north and a huge swamp called the Sudd in the south.
The Congo Basin, in west-central Africa, includes the land drained by the Congo River and its tributaries. Tropical rain forests cover much of the Congo Basin.
High Africa
consists of eastern and southern Africa. Most of the region is more than 3,000 feet (910 meters) above sea level. High Africa can be subdivided into five smaller land regions. They are (1) the Rift System, (2) the Eastern Highlands, (3) the Southern Plateau, (4) the Coastal Lowlands, and (5) Madagascar.
The Rift System extends from Eritrea to Mozambique. The region consists of the Great Rift Valley, which is a series of parallel cracks in the earth that form deep, steep-sided valleys. The three main lakes in this valley, Lake Victoria, Lake Tanganyika, and Lake Malawi, have many unique species of fish and add to the region’s beauty. The region also has some of Africa’s best farmland because of its rich volcanic soil.
The Eastern Highlands are grassy plains that provide grazing for livestock and many kinds of wild animals. The Rift System cuts through the Eastern Highlands.
The Southern Plateau covers most of southern Africa. Much of it is flat or rolling grassland used for crops and pasture. The region also has deserts, swamps, and forests. Rugged mountains and cliffs rim the plateau in the south and west. Deposits of diamonds and gold lie in the Southern Plateau.
The Coastal Lowlands border the high plateaus of eastern and southern Africa. The lowlands include productive farmland, sandy beaches, and swamplands.
Madagascar, the world’s fourth largest island, lies about 240 miles (390 kilometers) southeast of the mainland in the Indian Ocean. The island can be divided into two chief land regions. The Coastal Lowlands form a narrow band along the east coast and broaden to a wide fertile plain on the west. The Central Highlands, which run almost the full length of the island, have some peaks over 9,000 feet (2,700 meters) above sea level.
Deserts, grasslands, and forests.
Deserts cover about two-fifths of Africa. The Sahara, the world’s largest desert, stretches across northern Africa from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea. It covers about 31/2 million square miles (9 million square kilometers). The Sahara is a region of bare rock, boulders, gravel, and sand dunes, broken only by a few oases and the fertile Nile Valley. The Namib Desert borders the Atlantic coast of southwestern Africa. The Kalahari Desert lies inland from the Namib.
Grasslands called savannas occupy more than two-fifths of Africa. They form a broad curve that extends from the Atlantic coast just south of the Sahara, across eastern Africa, and back westward to the Atlantic south of the Congo Basin. Tall grasses, thorny bushes, and scattered trees grow in this area. Thicker woodlands cover areas with more rainfall. But closer to the deserts, there are fewer trees and shorter grasses.
Forests cover less than a fifth of Africa. Most of the forests are tropical rain forests. These forests, with many kinds of broadleaf evergreen trees, grow in the Congo Basin and in parts of western Africa and Madagascar. Other forests grow in the highlands of eastern Africa, the mountains of the northwest, and parts of the south.
Woodlands border the rain forests within the tropical region. Most of these woodlands contain patches of grassland. Dense pockets of tangled mangrove swamp, where the spreading roots of mangrove trees catch and hold soil, fringe some coastal areas. These swamps provide important breeding sites for fish, protect the coast from damaging waves, and clean the water by filtering sediment.
Rivers, waterfalls, and deltas.
The Nile River, the world’s longest river, flows 4,160 miles (6,695 kilometers) northward from east-central Africa to the Mediterranean Sea. Most of Africa’s other major rivers, including the Congo and the Niger, empty into the Atlantic. Rivers that flow into the Indian Ocean include the Limpopo and the Zambezi. All of these rivers flow through several countries and serve as major sources of hydroelectric power. They also provide flood control and water for irrigation or industry. The rivers are also major centers of wildlife biodiversity—that is, a variety of plant and animal species—and important sources of fish.
Rapids and waterfalls make navigation difficult on many African rivers. Hydroelectric power projects have been built on a number of rivers. Scientists estimate that the Congo River has the potential to generate enough hydropower for all of Africa’s energy needs. Several waterfalls, including spectacular Victoria Falls on the Zambezi, are popular tourist attractions. 
Large deltas where the major rivers enter the ocean along the coasts of Africa are important sites for fishing and shrimp farming, as well as critical centers of biodiversity. Major river deltas include the Congo, Niger, Nile, and Zambezi deltas. The Niger Delta in Nigeria is also an important region for its oil deposits.
Lakes.
Most of Africa’s large lakes lie in the east, where chains of long, deep lakes have formed in the bottoms of the rift valleys. One of these lakes, Tanganyika, is the longest freshwater lake in the world. It is 420 miles (680 kilometers) long and more than 4,700 feet (1,430 meters) deep. Other large rift lakes include Albert, Malawi, and Turkana. Africa’s largest lake, Victoria, lies in a shallow basin between two chains of rift valleys. It covers 26,800 square miles (69,500 square kilometers) and is second in size only to Lake Superior in North America among the world’s freshwater lakes. The rift valley lakes are centers of biodiversity and support many unique fish species. 
Mountains.
Volcanic activity created most of Africa’s highest mountains. The two tallest peaks—19,340-foot (5,895-meter) Kilimanjaro and 17,058-foot (5,199-meter) Mount Kenya—were formed in this way. Although they rise near the equator in eastern Africa, both mountains have glaciers and are covered with snow much of the year. Volcanic activity also produced the Ethiopian Highlands; the isolated Tibesti Mountains in the Sahara; and Mount Cameroon, the highest peak in western Africa. Volcanic rock covers the Drakensberg, a mountainous region where the plateau of southeastern Africa drops sharply to the sea.
Two major nonvolcanic mountain ranges of Africa are the Ruwenzori Range and the Atlas Mountains. The Ruwenzori Range rises on the border of Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Atlas Mountains extend from Morocco to Tunisia and form Africa’s longest mountain chain. The Atlas Mountains are part of the same mountain system as the European Alps.
Climate
Most of Africa has a warm or hot climate, but the humidity and amount of rainfall vary dramatically from area to area. The maps in this section illustrate Africa’s climate patterns, the average January and July temperatures, and the average yearly precipitation (rain, melted snow, and other forms of moisture).
Africa has the largest tropical area of any continent. The equator runs through the middle of Africa, and about 90 percent of the continent lies within the tropics. Temperatures are high the year around almost everywhere. The variations between summer and winter temperatures are slight. In fact, the difference between daytime and nighttime temperatures in most of the continent is greater than the difference in the average temperatures between the coldest and warmest months.
Africa’s highest temperatures occur in the Sahara and in parts of Somalia. At I-n-Salah, Algeria, and along the north coast of Somalia, July temperatures soar to 115 °F (46 °C) or higher most days. Nighttime temperatures, however, may drop sharply. The Sahara also has the greatest seasonal range of temperatures in Africa. Winter temperatures in the Sahara average from 50 to 60 °F (10 to 16 °C). Near the equator, temperatures may average 75 °F (24 °C) or more the year around. But temperatures of more than 100 °F (38 °C) are rare.
The coolest regions in Africa are the northwest, the eastern highlands, and parts of the south. In Johannesburg, South Africa, for example, the average temperature in January, the warmest month, is 68 °F (20 °C). Frost and snowfall are common in the mountains of Africa.
Rainfall is distributed unevenly in Africa, and most areas receive either too much rain or too little. In parts of the west coast, for example, annual rainfall averages more than 100 inches (250 centimeters). In Monrovia, Liberia, an average of more than 40 inches (100 centimeters) of rain falls during the month of June alone. In contrast, more than half of Africa receives less than 20 inches (50 centimeters) of rainfall yearly. The Sahara and the Namib Desert receive an average of less than 10 inches (25 centimeters) a year.
Rain falls all year in the forests of the Congo Basin and the coastal regions of western Africa. But almost all the rest of Africa has one or two seasons of heavy rainfall separated by dry periods. In some regions, the amount of rainfall varies sharply from year to year rather than from season to season. Since the late 1960’s, droughts have caused much suffering in Africa. Millions of Africans have died of starvation and related causes. The hardest-hit areas include Ethiopia, the Sahel region on the southern edge of the Sahara, and southern Africa.
Africa’s climate has made agricultural improvement difficult. In areas with limited and unreliable rainfall, farmers may be uncertain of what crops to plant. Some farmers grow a number of crops with different moisture needs in the hope of having at least one successful harvest. Other farmers may grow only one or two kinds of crops and risk starvation if not enough rain falls. In areas with too much rainfall, heavy downpours wash away nourishing substances in the soil. The hot, wet climate in parts of Africa encourages the spread of insects that destroy livestock and cause diseases in people.
Many scientists suspect that global warming is responsible for an increasing occurrence of extremes in the weather and changes in seasonal patterns of rainfall in Africa. Signs of global warming in Africa include the melting of glaciers on Mount Kilimanjaro, the shrinking of Lake Chad, increased droughts and flooding in different regions, and fluctuations in temperature extremes.
Technology is playing an important role in helping people deal with Africa’s climate in an effort to increase agricultural output and food supply on the continent. Scientists use weather satellites to monitor climate and vegetation growth. They can then predict weather conditions and advise farmers when to plant their crops.
Animals and plants
Native animals.
Africa’s wild animals are world famous. The continent has thousands of species of mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fishes, birds, and insects. The kinds of animals found in any region depend largely on the climate and habitat of that region. In the east and south, huge herds of wildebeest and other species of antelope, buffaloes, giraffes, and zebras roam the grasslands. They are preyed on by such animals as cheetahs, hyenas, jackals, leopards, African wild dogs, and lions. A few remaining large herds of elephants live in the east and the southeast. Baboons and other monkeys are common in many parts of Africa. Chimpanzees and gorillas dwell in the forests of central Africa. Crocodiles and hippopotamuses live in tropical rivers and swamps. Large water birds, including flamingos, pelicans, and storks, can be found in eastern and southern Africa. Ostriches live in the south and east parts of Africa and in the western Sahara. Many bird species migrate from Europe in winter to warmer regions of Africa.
Africa once had many more wild animals than it has today, and they were more widespread. Ancient paintings on rocks show that hippopotamuses and giraffes once lived in regions that are now deserts. Gradual changes in climate partly reduced the number and range of Africa’s animals. But in many regions, people have overhunted the animals and destroyed much of their natural environment to make room for farms and cities. Intensive conservation efforts are necessary for many species. Some African animals, including the black rhinoceros, gorilla, and elephant, are in danger of becoming extinct and must now be protected.
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African countries have taken steps to save their rich wildlife heritage. Each country has established game reserves and national parks. Hunting is forbidden in these areas, and modern methods of wildlife conservation are practiced to protect the animals. Tourists come to view wildlife in these protected areas and are an important source of income to help in conservation efforts. In some cases, hunters can go on regulated safaris (hunting expeditions). However, poaching (illegal hunting) continues to be a problem.
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Some rural Africans have opposed wildlife conservation efforts. In some areas, for example, wild animals compete with farmers and herders for scarce land. Meat from hunted wild animals, called bush meat, is important in the diet of some Africans. Some rare animals, including gorillas, elephants, and rhinoceroses, are poached to sell certain body parts that are valued in some countries for supposed healing powers or other special qualities. International laws have been created to end the illegal trade in endangered animals.
Native plants.
Across Africa, the overall distribution of plants is determined largely by temperature and rainfall. At local levels, plant variety is determined by many factors, including soil type, local climate, and habitat disturbances, such as wildfires. The spectacular rain forests of western and central Africa have hundreds of kinds of trees. They include oil palms; fruit trees; valuable timber trees, such as ebony, mahogany, and other hardwood trees; and softwood okoume trees, which are used to make furniture, plywood, and veneers. Mangrove trees stand on stiltlike roots in swampy areas along tropical coasts. Olive and oak trees and such evergreen bushes as myrtle grow in the northwestern parts of Africa and at the southern tip of the continent. 
In the mountainous highlands of Africa, bamboo thickets, podocarpus trees, tree ferns, and cedar trees grow on the lower slopes. On the upper slopes, meadows are covered with grasses, buttercups, and violets. Mosses and lichens grow near the mountaintops.
Land cleared for agriculture has destroyed portions of Africa’s natural plant life. People use fire to clear land and to encourage grass growth for livestock. These fires suppress forest growth and maintain large areas as grasslands. Overgrazing by livestock has turned portions of the Sahel and other steppes into semidesert.
Introduced species.
Some plants and animals that are common in Africa were introduced from other parts of the world by traders and colonists. These include some of Africa’s most important food crops, including bananas, cassava, and corn, as well as such cash crops as cacao (cocoa) beans and tea. Eucalyptus trees, which originated in Australia, now grow in many parts of Africa and are widely used for firewood and construction. Pine trees, introduced from Mexico and other regions, are important for timber and paper. Camels, which provide food and other necessities in much of northern Africa, were domesticated in Asia.
Some introduced species have become pests. For example, eucalyptus trees use more water than native trees, reducing water available for other uses. Other species, called invasive species, have been introduced by accident and have spread quickly, destroying local habitats and species. For example, the water hyacinth was introduced from South America as a pond plant. However, it soon spread into rivers and lakes. The plant can cover entire lakes and rivers, choking out fish, limiting fishing, and making boating impossible. Nile perch were introduced into Lake Victoria to provide a new source of food fish for local people. However, this fish, which can grow to more than 200 pounds (91 kilograms), feeds on other fish. Since its introduction, the Nile perch has contributed to the loss of several fish species unique to Lake Victoria. Today, the fish are carefully monitored to prevent further destruction of native species.
Economy
African countries vary considerably in size, levels of economic development, rates of economic growth, economic development policies, and amounts of international trade. This variation is a result of unequal distribution of natural resources, variation in political and economic systems, colonialism, and various other historical factors in countries across the continent.
Economic development in Africa can be measured by gross domestic product (GDP). GDP is the value of all goods and services produced in a country. In the late 2010’s, the GDP for all of Africa was about one-eighth the GDP of the United States. Egypt, Nigeria, and South Africa have Africa’s largest economies. Other countries with large economies include Algeria, Angola, Kenya, and Morocco.
African countries vary considerably in annual per capita (per person) GDP. The per capita GDP of a country is determined by dividing the total GDP of all people by the population. In the late 2010’s, the average annual per capita GDP in Africa was about $2,000. At that time, more than 20 African countries each had an annual per capita GDP of less than $1,000. In comparison, the annual per capita GDP of the United States was about $60,000.
Agriculture.
Production of agricultural crops and livestock employs more workers than any other economic activity in Africa. The countries with the largest areas of land under cultivation include Egypt, Ethiopia, Nigeria, South Africa, and Sudan.
African crop production is divided between staple food crops and export crops. Staple food crops produced in Africa include such grains as corn, millet, rice, sorghum, and wheat. Important root crops include cassava, potatoes, and yams. Other important staple crops include various legumes (peas, peanuts, and beans), fruits, and vegetables. Africa’s leading export crops include cacao (cocoa), cashews, coffee, cotton, palm oil, sugar, and tobacco. 
Most staple crops in Africa are produced for local consumption by farmers working on family-owned or family-rented farms. There are also large plantations owned by companies, wealthy individuals, or governments. These plantations are usually used for production of export crops, such as palm oil and cocoa.
Different crops are grown in various regions of Africa depending on the environmental conditions and historical preferences. Yams and cassava are more common in the wet tropical areas of western Africa, but corn is more common in the grasslands of eastern and southern Africa. Wheat is the major staple crop in northern Africa, where irrigation is also more commonly used. In the highlands of Ethiopia and other parts of eastern Africa, a plant called khat (also spelled kat or qat) has been an important crop for centuries. The leaves of this plant contain a stimulant and they produce a mild euphoria (feeling of well-being) when chewed. Khat is grown for local use and export to the Arabian Peninsula, Europe, and North America.
In many African countries, food production has grown more slowly than the population. This situation leads to food shortages that must be offset by food imports. However, some countries lack the economic resources necessary to purchase food from abroad, and hunger or famine has sometimes resulted. In these countries, foreign food contributions and aid are essential. Periodic droughts also contribute to poor agricultural production and hunger in Africa.
In Africa, most fertile lands and resources, such as fertilizer, are used for production of cash crops grown for export rather than food crops. This is partly a continuation of colonial practices, when African farmers were forced to cultivate export crops demanded in Europe. However, the production of cash crops also reflects the policies of African governments. They use export crops to obtain foreign income to purchase imported goods and materials essential for economic development.
Livestock production is an important branch of the agricultural economy, mostly in the grassland regions. The main livestock raised in Africa include camels, cattle, chickens, goats, horses, pigs, and sheep. Some regions of Africa are not suitable for livestock due to infestation with tsetse flies. Tsetse flies transmit African sleeping sickness, a disease that is fatal for many species of domestic livestock.
Mining.
Africa is richly endowed with mineral resources and has a large mining industry. The continent has among the world’s largest reserves of chromium, cobalt, gold, manganese, phosphates, platinum, and uranium. Substantial quantities of other metals, including bauxite (aluminum ore), copper, nickel, and vanadium, are also found throughout Africa. Africa is also a major producer of oil and natural gas. 
Africa’s most developed mining industry is in the Republic of South Africa. Angola, Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe also have large mining industries. South Africa is one of the world’s largest gold producers, and Botswana is one of the world’s leading producers of diamonds. The Democratic Republic of the Congo has a large copper industry, while Guinea and Morocco are Africa’s leading producers of bauxite and phosphates. Algeria, Angola, Libya, and Nigeria are major petroleum-producing countries.
However, much of Africa has not benefited from its vast mineral resources. African countries have no control over prices of minerals on the global market, and many mining companies are foreign-owned. In addition, mining employs fewer workers than either agriculture or services, and is more expensive to operate.
In some instances, Africa’s mineral wealth has contributed to environmental destruction and helped fuel political conflicts. Nigeria’s large petroleum industry has contributed to pollution in the Niger River Delta. Money from illegal trade in diamonds helped finance a brutal civil war in Sierra Leone during the 1990’s. Since the early 2000’s, United Nations embargoes have tried to prevent trade in diamonds called conflict diamonds or blood diamonds, which are sold to fund the illegal operations of rebel, military, and terrorist groups.
Manufacturing.
In much of Africa, the growth in the manufacturing industry occurred only after independence. By the 1960’s, significant manufacturing industries had developed only in former colonies that had large European populations, such as Algeria, Kenya, Zimbabwe, and South Africa, or in countries that attained independence early, such as Egypt. Many African countries have since developed small manufacturing sectors mainly to produce consumer goods that they previously imported, such as beverages, processed foods, and textiles. Large-scale industrial manufacturing has proved more difficult and costly to implement. Currently, Africa produces only a small percentage of the total world manufacturing output. 
Service industries
in Africa include transactions conducted by the government, called the public sector, and by nongovernment businesses, the private sector. The private sector is further divided into formal and informal sectors based on their structure and size. Informal enterprises include small-scale businesses that provide goods and services but are not accurately recorded in government figures or properly taxed as are businesses in the formal sector. The informal sector is large in many African countries.
Government spending plays a major role in all African economies. Education, health care, and other social services account for much of the expenditure of many governments.
Private service industries, including financial services, retail, and tourism, have grown in Africa since the mid-1900’s. Retail services range from small roadside vendors to large stores and shopping malls.
Tourism is the leading source of income in many African nations, including Egypt, Gambia, Kenya, Mauritius, Morocco, Tanzania, and Uganda. To accommodate the tourists, these countries have constructed an extensive array of hotels and other facilities. Many foreign tourists come to visit the famous historic sites of Egypt or the game reserves of Botswana, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda.
Transportation.
The transportation system is poorly developed in many African countries. Only about one-quarter of Africa’s roads are paved. More than a third of the total roads are in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, and South Africa. Automobile ownership is limited to the middle and upper classes in most nations. The vast majority of Africans depend on public transportation, such as buses, minivans, and taxis. Many people rely on bicycles or walking. In some parts of Africa, camels and donkeys are still widely used to transport goods.
Major railroads are concentrated in only a few countries, chiefly Algeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, South Africa, Sudan, and Tanzania. Africa’s air transportation industry is well developed mainly in Algeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Morocco, and South Africa, though all African countries have large airports. The African coasts have few good natural harbors. But, almost every coastal country has at least one harbor, and engineers are working to equip them with modern shipping facilities. Many harbors have been constructed along Africa’s extensive rivers and lakes.
Communication.
Africa’s communication systems, despite some rapid expansion in the late 1900’s and early 2000’s, remain underdeveloped compared to non-African countries. The number of newspapers published in Africa has increased significantly since the 1990’s. However, radio remains a popular form of mass communication. The number of public, private, and community radio stations has also grown dramatically since the 1990’s. Television access is expanding on the continent. Motion-picture theaters are found only in cities, and few African countries have even small motion-picture industries.
Telephone service throughout Africa has improved greatly since the 1990’s. Telephone ownership remains largely concentrated in major urban centers. However, cellular telephones are increasingly common in smaller towns and villages. Both cell phone and internet usage has increased rapidly since the early 2000’s. However, Africa still lags behind other regions in the development of this technology. Computer and internet access and usage is concentrated in South Africa and urban areas of western and northern Africa.
International trade.
Africa’s leading merchandise exporters include Algeria, Angola, and South Africa. Petroleum ranks as Africa’s major merchandise export. Other important exports include agricultural products, minerals, and manufactured products.
Africa’s merchandise imports have also grown since the 1980’s. Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Somalia, and South Africa are among Africa’s leading importing countries. Food imports are increasingly important as agricultural output has failed to keep up with population growth in many countries. Other key imports include fuel and manufactured goods.
Terms of trade refers to the relationship between the prices of imports and those of exports. Declining terms of trade occur when import prices rise faster than export prices. Rising terms of trade occur when export prices grow faster. Africa’s terms of trade have tended to decline since the 1970’s because Africa’s exports consist of mainly agricultural products and minerals that are subject to frequent price fluctuations. Many African countries are also economically vulnerable because they depend on one or two major exports. As a result, African nations have been active in international efforts to control price changes and improve trade terms. For example, the African oil-producing countries belong to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), a group of nations that seeks to regulate the world market for oil.
Foreign aid, debt, and investment.
Foreign aid to Africa includes grants, loans, and technical assistance in such areas as agriculture, education, and health care. The grants and loans come from a variety of international sources and are usually referred to as official development assistance (ODA). This aid is important for many African countries as they attempt to face their economic difficulties due in part to declining terms of trade.
Foreign aid has helped African countries to promote economic and social development. But it has also had some harmful effects. The loans have left many African countries with large debt and crippling interest payments. The bulk of Africa’s debt is held by the larger countries, including Egypt and South Africa. But in smaller, poorer African countries, the debt load has the most severe impact. These countries must reduce investment in education, health care, and other economic development to repay debt.
In the 1980’s and 1990’s, international lending institutions, led by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, imposed strict conditions on African debtor nations. For example, they required borrowing countries to devalue (lower the value of) their currencies to promote exports and to reduce their budget deficits by cutting government funding of health care and education. Many experts believe that these strict conditions, called structural adjustment programs (SAP’s), hurt a number of African economies. Today, lenders have relaxed the policy of SAP’s, with the hope that African countries will return to economic growth.
History
Africa has been called the “cradle of humanity.” Fossils discovered at sites in northern, eastern, and southern Africa provide the oldest evidence of humanlike creatures and people found anywhere in the world. From this evidence, most scientists have concluded that the earliest human beings lived about 2 million years ago in Africa. In time, human beings spread to other continents. For detailed information on the earliest human beings, see the article Prehistoric people.
This section discusses the broad outlines of African history. For the history of a particular country, see the World Book article on that country. See also the articles listed under “History” and “People” in the Related articles at the end of this article.
The development of agriculture.
Africa played an important role in the development of agriculture in the world. Previously, people obtained food by hunting, fishing, and gathering wild plant foods. The transition from food gathering to agriculture in Africa was a long process that took place over many centuries. Archaeologists and historians have identified five major centers of development of African agriculture: the Nile Valley, Ethiopia, west Africa, central Africa, and east Africa.
In each of the regions of Africa, the domestication of native plants developed independently between about 7,000 and 2,000 years ago. In the Nile Valley, farmers domesticated sorghum. In Ethiopia, coffee, noog (an oil plant), ensete (a bananalike plant), millet, sorghum, and teff (a type of grain) were domesticated. In east Africa, farmers also grew varieties of sorghum and millet. In the savanna areas of west Africa, people cultivated varieties of African peanuts, African rice, cotton, millet, and sorghum. Crops that originated in the forest zones of central Africa include kola nuts, oil palm, and yams.
Some crops were introduced to Africa from other regions. Early farmers of western Asia probably introduced some domestic crops, such as barley and wheat, to the Nile Valley by about 7,000 years ago. Bananas were introduced to Africa from Southeast Asia more than 2,000 years ago. By the late 1400’s, agricultural exchanges between Africa and the Americas became important. Corn and cassava were introduced to Africa from the Americas and have since become important food crops.
In several regions of Africa, pastoralism (raising of livestock) began before farming. Domesticated cattle, sheep, and goats were raised by about 8,000 years ago in the northern Sahara region of Africa. At the time, the Sahara region was moist grassland and the center of thriving pastoral and farming communities. These communities migrated to the Nile Valley, the Mediterranean coast, and west African grasslands as the Sahara began to dry about 6,000 years ago. Pastoralism also developed before farming in east and southern Africa. Early Khoisan-speaking peoples of southern Africa were raising domestic cattle and sheep by about 2,500 years ago.
The development of agriculture had enormous consequences for Africa. Greater and more secure access to food contributed to population growth. The development and spread of agriculture was made possible and accompanied by technological developments, including the production and use of metal tools. Agriculture also led to the establishment of permanent settlements.
Early civilizations.
Africa’s earliest civilizations emerged in the fertile plains of the Nile Valley, where thriving agricultural communities grew into small states. These states gradually developed into larger states, the most powerful of which emerged in what later became known as Egypt and Nubia. 
Several small states had emerged in various parts of Egypt by about 4000 B.C. By 3500 B.C., two kingdoms called Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt were dominant. Menes, king of Upper Egypt, unified the kingdoms about 3100 B.C. Menes was given the title pharaoh and established the first dynasty (family of rulers) of ancient Egypt. Pharaohs from 30 dynasties ruled Egypt for the next 3,000 years.
Beginning around 1085 B.C., Egypt experienced a series of revolts, invasions, and foreign rule by Assyrians, Libyans, Nubians, and Persians lasting nearly 700 years. In 332 B.C., Alexander the Great of Macedonia conquered Egypt. Ptolemy, one of Alexander’s generals, later took the title of king of Egypt and founded a dynasty that ruled until 30 B.C., when the Roman Empire conquered Egypt. Roman rule lasted in Egypt until A.D. 639.
The Kush civilization arose after 1000 B.C. in Nubia, south of Egypt. The Kush maintained close relations with Egypt. Kush culture, architecture, and writing both resembled and differed from Egyptian styles. At times, Egypt extended its rule over Kush, but Kush also conquered and ruled Egypt from about 750 to 660 B.C. The civilization eventually declined due to environmental destruction, falling trade, and competition from neighbors. Around A.D. 350, Kush was invaded by Aksum, marking the end of this ancient civilization.
The kingdom of Aksum was in the Ethiopian highlands (now part of Ethiopia and Eritrea), a fertile region that was easy to defend from invasion. Aksum grew into a powerful kingdom by about A.D. 100, largely through control of trade on the Red Sea. The kingdom began to decline in the 600’s due to environmental destruction and economic competition from Muslim traders.
The rise of Christianity.
Egypt, Ethiopia, and Nubia were among the earliest centers of Christianity in Africa. Christianity was introduced to Egypt from western Asia sometime before A.D. 100. Over the next few hundred years, the religion spread throughout Egypt and parts of north Africa from Libya to Morocco. Historians believe Christianity was introduced in Ethiopia from Egypt in the 300’s. Ezana, the king of Aksum, converted to Christianity around 333 and established it as the state religion. Christianity, however, did not spread to sub-Saharan Africa until the late 1400’s, when missionaries introduced it from Europe.
North Africa produced many of early Christianity’s most influential thinkers and writers. These include Saint Augustine and the early Christian philosopher Origen. Egyptian Christians, known as Copts, emphasized the practices of solitude and monasticism. Three popes in the early church were Africans. The last African pope was Saint Gelasius I, elected in 492.
Christianity in north Africa declined sharply following the rise of Islam and Arab conquests of the region in the 600’s. In Egypt, the Coptic Church declined and survived only among a minority of the population. Arab invasions between 1050 and 1056 completed the conversion of northern Africa to Islam. Only in Ethiopia did Christianity survive as the official religion of the state and the majority of the population.
The rise of Islam.
The development of Islam had a profound impact on African history. Islam emerged in Arabia during the early 600’s inspired by the teaching of the Prophet Muhammad. Within years of Muhammad’s death, Arab followers began a rapid campaign of conquest and conversion. By the late 700’s, Arab and Arabized Muslims had built an empire that stretched from Central Asia to northern Africa to Spain.
In northern Africa, Islam spread through Arab conquests and settlement. This spread was accompanied by the conversion of the Berbers, who also adopted many other elements of Arab culture. In west Africa, Islam was introduced in the 800’s. The Berbers introduced Islam by way of trade routes that crossed the Sahara. The new religion appealed to sub-Saharan rulers. Islam spread throughout Ghana, Mali, and Songhai, and farther south.
In Sudan, Islam spread from Egypt along the Nile and through trade with Arab Muslims across the Red Sea. In Somalia, Eritrea, and Ethiopia, Muslim Arabs and Persians established coastal settlements from the 700’s to the 900’s. In eastern Africa, the spread of Islam was aided by Arab settlement in the region during the late 700’s. Intermarriage between the Arab settlers and local Africans eventually gave rise to the Swahili culture of east Africa.
Islam strengthened Africa’s contacts with the outside world. Africa became a key part of the Islamic Empire stretching from Spain to Indonesia. The first Islamic universities were established in northern Africa beginning around 970. These universities taught religion, science, mathematics, philosophy, geography, medicine, and history. African scholars made important contributions to Islamic thought. Similarly, Islam transformed African cultural practices, ideas, and values. In addition, it promoted long-distance trade by providing a common culture and language throughout much of Africa.
The empires of west Africa
emerged in the savanna zone below the Sahara beginning somewhat before about A.D. 1000. Ghana, the first great empire to emerge, was founded by the Soninke people around A.D. 700. Soninke agricultural and iron-producing communities gradually expanded political control over neighboring regions and united them into a single empire. Ghana traded grain and iron with gold-producing states farther south. They then traded the gold with Arab merchants for other goods, developing enormous wealth. However, Ghana went into a period of decline from about 1000 due to attacks from external enemies, internal revolts, and climate change.
Mali, founded around 1000, rose as nearby Ghana declined. By the 1200’s, Mali was the largest, wealthiest empire in all of Africa. The capital city of Niani was a major center of trade. Timbuktu, Mali’s largest city, had a population of about 50,000 by the 1300’s. Scholars from many parts of the Islamic world came to study at the university there. Mali began to decline in the 1400’s, due to political conflicts and raids from outside enemies. The empire had disappeared by the early 1600’s.
Songhai formed as part of the Mali empire. Songhai first rose to prominence during the 1300’s as Mali declined. Songhai’s capital was Gao, a major trading city on the banks of the Niger River. At Songhai’s height in the 1500’s, trade and learning flourished. Invasion from Morocco in 1591, however, greatly weakened the empire. By the early 1600’s, Songhai and the other great empires of west Africa had all but disappeared.
States and kingdoms.
The east African coast saw the rise of several city-states, independent states that consisted of a city and the region surrounding it. The city-states arose from settlements that existed sometime after about A.D. 100. The communities prospered for centuries through trade of materials from the African interior with merchants sailing from China, India, Indonesia, the Red Sea, and the Persian Gulf. East coast ports exported gold, copper, ivory, grain, iron, timber, and other products in exchange for such goods as silk, cotton cloth, glass, and porcelain. The people came to be known as Swahili, a word that comes from an Arabic word meaning coast.
By 1000, the Swahili city-states dominated trade along the east African coast. The largest cities included Manda, Mogadishu, Mombasa, Kilwa, Pate, and Zanzibar. The city-states were all independent, but rivalries sometimes led to conflicts and war. The Portuguese, attempting to gain control of the Indian Ocean trade, attacked Zanzibar in 1503 and destroyed Kilwa in 1505. These European invasions began the decline of the Swahili civilization.
Other states and kingdoms developed in southern Africa and central Africa. Great Zimbabwe was built around the 1100’s in the fertile plains of southern Africa. The region was rich in gold, iron, tin, copper, and granite. The granite was used to construct the spectacular walls and buildings of the capital and many smaller sites across the region. Great Zimbabwe declined toward the end of the 1400’s due to environmental destruction, overpopulation, and a decline in trade. 
The Kongo kingdom was one of a series of kingdoms that emerged in central Africa in the 1400’s. It had a highly centralized government with its capital at Mbanza Kongo, in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kongo was among the first African states in the region to have contact with European countries. During the 1400’s, the Portuguese began to explore the west coast of Africa. They were interested in Africa’s gold trade. By the end of the 1400’s, Portugal had established trading posts at Sao Jorge da Mina (now called Elmina, in modern-day Ghana) and in the Kongo kingdom. However, Portuguese merchants, seeking to monopolize trade, increasingly turned to trading in enslaved people instead of gold. The effects of the buying and selling of enslaved people, internal conflicts, and wars with neighbors weakened the Kongo kingdom and led to its eventual collapse in the early 1700’s.
The Atlantic slave trade.
Soon after the Portuguese arrived in western Africa, they began to ship Africans to Europe as enslaved people, beginning what is known as the Atlantic slave trade. Africa had sent enslaved people to Asia and Europe long before the Portuguese arrived, but the Atlantic slave trade was vastly larger in scale than any buying and selling of enslaved people that preceded it. Portugal, Britain (now the United Kingdom), the Netherlands, the United States, and other countries all participated in the Atlantic slave trade. Today, many scholars recognize it as the largest forced migration of people in history. They estimate that between 10 and 12 million people were sent as enslaved people to the Americas between the mid-1400’s and mid-1800’s. See African Americans (Beginning of the slave trade) ; Slavery . 
African merchants and rulers were actively involved in the Atlantic slave trade. The trade in gold and enslaved people brought wealth and power to some African kingdoms, such as Ashanti in what is now Ghana. However, it was Europeans who came to purchase the enslaved people, transported them in ships to the Americas, and sold them to work on plantations and mines. Europe and the Americas were the greatest beneficiaries of the Atlantic slave trade.
The effects of the Atlantic slave trade on Africa were disastrous. Depopulation from raiding and warfare disrupted economic activities and development throughout much of Africa. The Atlantic slave trade also contributed to the growth of racist stereotypes against Africans, which were used to justify their enslavement and eventual colonization by European powers.
African societies in the 1800’s.
The 1800’s were a period of revolutionary changes across Africa. In west Africa, Islamic reformist movements led to the establishment of Islamic states. In southern Africa, political upheavals generated the rise of the Zulu empire. In north Africa, there was a drive toward modernization.
In west Africa, Muslim religious reformers accused local rulers of undermining or corrupting Islam. The reformers sought to purify and spread Islam and establish a new government based on Islamic principles and law (Sharī`a, also spelled Sharī`ah). In 1804, Muslim reformers declared jihad (holy war) that led to the establishment of the Sokoto Caliphate, the largest state in west Africa at the time. The movement spawned other jihads in the region that led to the creation of other Islamic states in west Africa.
Societies in southern Africa also underwent revolutionary changes. A period of upheaval there between 1819 and 1838 is known to historians as the Mfecane (also called Difaqane). One center of conflict was Zululand, in what is now the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal. Competition for trade, grazing land, and water led to the emergence of several kingdoms in the region. Raids by European settlers and an increase in the trade of enslaved people and ivory heightened the struggle for resources and forced local people to seek the protection of African military leaders ruling the kingdoms.
At the beginning of the 1800’s, the Arab states of north Africa were struggling to rid themselves of foreign rule by the Ottoman Empire and to resist European intrusion. In Egypt, the government of Muhammad Ali began an ambitious program to modernize Egypt and to increase its wealth and power. This modernization program included political, military, economic, educational, and social reforms. However, heavy debt and internal disagreement over foreign involvement would eventually lead to the country’s occupation by the British in 1882.
European colonization in Africa.
European interest in Africa began growing from the 1400’s as European nations acquired the military and technological capacities for overseas voyages and conquest. Merchant companies were the first Europeans to come to Africa, followed by explorers and missionaries. European intervention culminated in the late 1800’s in colonial invasions by European governments. 
Portugal led the European expansion into Africa, capturing Ceuta in Morocco (now a Spanish city at the Strait of Gibraltar) in 1415. Early in the 1500’s, Portugal established trading posts along the east and west coasts. The Portuguese destroyed Kilwa in 1505 and seized other Swahili city-states on the east African coast.
Dutch ships began visiting west Africa toward the end of the 1500’s. The Netherlands soon challenged Portugal over the African trade in enslaved people, gold, ivory, and other goods. The Dutch East India Company was a powerful trading company that the Dutch government had granted broad governmental and military powers. In 1652, the company set up a station at the Cape of Good Hope in what is today South Africa. The station was to supply Dutch ships on their voyages to and from Asia. The station quickly expanded into the colony of Cape Town. Settlers from the Netherlands and other parts of Europe, who became known as Boers or Afrikaners, populated the town.
The United Kingdom took over the Cape from the Dutch in 1814. The discovery of diamonds in the late 1860’s and gold in 1886 intensified the rivalries between the Afrikaners and British colonists in South Africa.
In 1787, the United Kingdom founded the colony of Sierra Leone in west Africa. In the early 1800’s, the British established a presence in Zanzibar on the east coast. A profitable trade in ivory and spices attracted British merchants there. The British also wanted to halt the trade in enslaved people between east Africa and Asia. The United Kingdom had outlawed such trading in 1807.
France established a trading post at the mouth of the Senegal River in 1638 and captured the west Africa slave depot of Goree from the Dutch in 1677. In east Africa, French colonization efforts were concentrated in the Indian Ocean islands of Mauritius and Reunion. There, the French established plantations using enslaved laborers from east Africa. In 1830, the French colonized Algeria.
Colonial rule.
As trade between Africa and Europe expanded, European merchants called upon their governments to establish political control in the regions where they were operating. By the 1880’s, there were intense rivalries among the European nations as they staked claims to parts of Africa. This race to expand European colonial influence is often referred to by historians as the “scramble for Africa.” In 1884, European powers convened the Berlin Conference to draw up rules among the nations establishing colonies and to prevent war over claims to African lands. No Africans were invited to attend the conference.
The Berlin Conference adopted a number of provisions. For example, it ruled that European nations had to actually occupy and administer African lands that they claimed. It also declared that a nation already holding colonies on the African coast would have first claim on the neighboring interior. The colonial borders that were established paid little attention to previous national, ethnic, and religious boundaries. By 1914, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom had divided almost all Africa among themselves. Only Ethiopia and Liberia remained independent. 
African societies responded to colonial conquest in a variety of ways. In some parts of Africa, colonial rule was established peacefully by treaties between the Europeans and African chiefs. But others resisted European control. For example, Africans staged violent uprisings against the British in Nigeria and what is now Ghana, against the French in western and northern Africa, and against the Germans in what are now Tanzania and Namibia. Ethiopians defeated Italian forces and retained their independence. By the mid-1920’s, however, Europeans strongly controlled most of Africa.
The European colonization of Africa exacted a heavy cost in African lives. Millions were killed directly in wars of conquest and indirectly through the demands imposed upon them in colonial plantations. For example, historians estimate that the brutal regime of King Leopold II of Belgium in Congo Free State, now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), caused the death of several million Africans.
The colonial period also witnessed social transformations that included changes in the patterns of urbanization, education, and religious practice. New urban centers emerged, and many old cities expanded. In these cities, Africans created new forms of social life and leisure activities. Many Africans educated by missionaries opposed colonialism and demanded higher education or pursued it abroad. During colonial rule, both Christianity and Islam expanded.
Struggles for independence.
Organized groups in some African colonies began to demand self-government in the early 1900’s. But not until after World War II (1939-1945) did the demands for independence become a powerful mass movement. Some colonies achieved their independence through largely peaceful means, while for others it came after lengthy armed struggles.
In 1951, with the aid of the United Nations, Libya became the first country in Africa to gain independence. Morocco, Sudan, and Tunisia also gained their independence relatively peacefully in 1956. A revolt against the French in Algeria broke out in 1954. The bloody revolt lasted eight years and cost about 1 million Algerian lives before the country won independence in 1962 after 132 years of colonial rule.
In 1957, the Gold Coast became the first western African colony to gain independence. It won independence from the United Kingdom and took the name Ghana. In Kenya, a secret movement called Mau Mau began a revolt against British control in 1952. Although it failed, the revolt contributed to the country’s eventual decolonization in 1963. By the mid-1960’s, the United Kingdom, Belgium, and France had freed most of their African colonies in east and west Africa. One exception was Guinea-Bissau, where Africans waged war against the Portuguese until independence in 1974. 
The most difficult wars of liberation were fought in southern Africa. Portugal fought costly wars in Angola and Mozambique before granting them freedom in 1975. In Rhodesia, Black people fought for years against white-minority rule. A government with a majority of Black people was finally elected in 1979. The following year, the United Kingdom recognized Rhodesia’s independence, and the country was renamed Zimbabwe. South Africa’s control over the territory of Namibia (called South West Africa until 1968) became an international issue during the mid-1900’s. Most nations considered South Africa’s control of Namibia to be illegal. In 1990, Namibia became an independent country. Finally, South Africa made the transition from apartheid (strict racial segregation) to a multiracial democracy under Black-majority rule in 1994. This transition marked the end of European colonialism in Africa.
Africa since independence.
African countries were confronted with many serious challenges inherited from colonialism and brought by independence. Military officers overthrew civilian governments in many countries. In a few countries, military dictatorships emerged. Civil wars broke out in Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, and other countries. During the 1990’s, struggles for democracy intensified across Africa. Today, the majority of African countries are democratic. However, the effectiveness of several African states in promoting good government and ending corruption remains an issue of concern. In some regions, ethnic or religious loyalties often clash with national loyalties.
At independence, most African economies were small and underdeveloped. In the 1960’s and 1970’s, various African countries pursued different development strategies. Some opted for capitalism and free enterprise, while others pursued socialist strategies of state ownership. Most countries experienced economic growth. However, this changed in the late 1970’s as prices for African goods, such as coffee and cocoa, fell in world markets. National debt rose in most nations.
Other challenges to African stability include disease and warfare. Since the 1970’s, outbreaks of the Ebola virus have killed thousands of people. In the 1990’s and early 2000’s, the AIDS epidemic reached disastrous levels in several parts of Africa. Internal conflicts and regional wars have devastated several countries in Africa since the 1990’s. In 1994, Hutu militias massacred hundreds of thousands of Tutsi and moderate Hutu in Rwanda. Civil war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo broke out in 1998 and involved several other countries. Even after the war ended in 2003, ethnic clashes continued. Since 1998, conflict in Congo has claimed more than 5 million lives, mostly from disease and malnutrition. 
Cooperation is the ideal behind the movement of pan-Africanism, which promotes the unity of African countries. The 1990’s saw the strengthening of regional economic blocs, including the Economic Community of West African States, the Southern African Development Community, and the Arab Maghreb Union. These organizations will help determine how effectively Africa will compete in the world economy.
The drive for regional and continental integration has continued into the 2000’s. The African Union (AU), an association of African states, was formed in 2002. It replaced a previous organization, the Organization of African Unity (OAU). The AU works to promote economic and political cooperation in the continent. The AU has several administrative bodies, including a Pan-African Parliament and a Peace and Security Council. These bodies are set up to promote good government, justice, and peace across Africa. In 2019, the countries of the AU established an African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which went into effect in 2021. The AfCFTA was designed to boost economic growth by making trade easier between African nations. These developments have given Africans hope that they can successfully overcome the challenges that face the continent. 
Beginning in 2020, Africa faced a public health emergency as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic (global epidemic). COVID-19 is a sometimes-fatal respiratory disease caused by a type of coronavirus. It first broke out in China in late 2019. By late March 2020, most African countries had reported cases of COVID-19.
To control the spread of the disease, many governments in Africa imposed restrictions on international travel. Authorities in some countries issued lockdown orders, shutting down nonessential businesses and encouraging workers to work from home. Some African countries began a vaccination program in February 2021. But a shortage of vaccines and the spread of new, more infectious variants of the virus caused sharp increases in infections and deaths in a number of countries. By early 2023, more than 12 million Africans had been infected, and more than 250,000 had died from COVID-19.
