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| Africa
(af'riku) [key], second largest continent, c.11,677,240
sq mi (30,244,050 sq km) including adjacent islands;
1997 est. pop. 743,000,000. Broad to the north
(c.4,600 mi/7,400 km wide), Africa straddles the
equator and stretches c.5,000 mi (8,050 km) from
Cape Blanc (Tunisia) in the north to Cape Agulhas
(South Africa) in the south. It is connected with
Asia by the Sinai Peninsula (from which it is
separated by the Suez Canal) and is bounded on
the N by the Mediterranean Sea, on the W and S
by the Atlantic Ocean, and on the E and S by the
Indian Ocean. The largest offshore island is Madagascar;
other islands include St. Helena and Ascension
in the S Atlantic Ocean; São Tomé,
Príncipe, Annobón, and Bioko in
the Gulf of Guinea; the Cape Verde, Canary, and
Madeira islands in the N Atlantic Ocean; and Mauritius,
Réunion, Zanzibar, Pemba, and the Comoros
and Seychelles in the Indian Ocean. |
| People:
African peoples, who account for over 12% of the
world's population, are distributed among 54 nations
and are further distinguishable in terms of linguistic
(see African languages) and cultural groups, which
number around 1,000. The Sahara forms a great ethnic
divide. North of it, mostly Arabs predominate along
the coast and Berbers (including the Tuareg) and
Tibbu in the interior regions. Sub-Saharan Africa
is occupied by a diverse variety of peoples including,
among others, the Amhara, Mossi, Fulani, Yoruba,
Igbo, Kongo (see Kongo, kingdom of), Zulu (see Zululand),
Akan, Oromo, Masai, and Hausa. Europeans are concentrated
in areas with subtropical climates or tropical climates
modified by altitude; in the south are persons of
Dutch and British descent, and in the northwest
are persons of French, Italian, and Spanish descent.
Lebanese make up an important minority community
throughout W Africa, as do Indians in many coastal
towns of S and E Africa. There are also significant
Arab populations both in E Africa and more recently
in W Africa. As a whole, Africa is sparsely populated;
the highest densities are found in Nigeria, the
Ethiopian highlands, the Nile valley, and around
the Great Lakes (which include Victoria and Tanganyika).
The principal cities of Africa are usually the national
capitals and the major ports, and they usually contain
a disproportionately large percentage of the national
populations; Cairo, Lagos (Nigeria), Kinshasa (Democratic
Republic of the Congo), Alexandria (Egypt), and
Casablanca (Morocco) are the largest cities of Africa. |
| Economy:
Most of Africa's population is rural, but, except
for cash crops, such as cacao and peanuts, agricultural
production is low by world standards; Africa produces
three quarters of the world's cocoa beans and about
one third of its peanuts. Rare and precious minerals
(including much of the world's diamonds) are abundant
in the continent's ancient crystalline rocks, which
are found mostly to the south and east of a line
from the Gulf of Guinea to the Sinai Peninsula;
extensive oil, gas, and phosphate deposits occur
in sedimentary rocks to the north and west of this
general line. Manufacturing is concentrated in the
Republic of South Africa and in N Africa (especially
Egypt and Algeria). Despite Africa's enormous potential
for hydroelectric power production, only a small
percentage of it has been developed. Africa's fairly
regular coastline affords few natural harbors, and
the shallowness of coastal waters makes it difficult
for large ships to approach the shore; deepwater
ports, protected by breakwaters, have been built
offshore to facilitate commerce and trade. Major
fishing grounds are found over the wider sections
of the continental shelf as off NW, SW, and S Africa
and NW Madagascar. |
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