Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest continent and second most populous after Asia. At about 30,244,050 km² (11,677,240 mi²) including its adjacent islands, it covers 20.3 percent of the total land area on Earth. With over 800 million human inhabitants in 54 countries, it accounts for about one seventh of the world human population.

Demographics

Africans may be conveniently grouped according to whether they live north or south of the Sahara Desert; these groups are called North Africans and Sub-Saharan Africans, respectively. Black Africans are predominant in Sub-Saharan Africa, and Arabic speaking Arab-Berber peoples predominate in North Africa. There is a great diversity of physical types among Sub-Saharan African peoples -- ranging from the Masai and Tutsi, known for their tall stature, to Pygmies who are among the world's shortest adults.

Related Topics:
Sahara Desert - North African - Sub-Saharan Africa - Masai - Tutsi - Pygmies

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Aside from the Nilotic groups of southern Sudan, some Nilotic groups in Ethiopia, and a Bantu African minority in Somalia, Africans from the Northeast parts of the continent typically have a different appearance from those in other regions. Speakers of Bantu languages are the majority in southern, central and east Africa proper; but there are also several Nilotic groups in East Africa, and a few remaining indigenous Khoisan ('San' or 'Busmmen') and Pygmy peoples in southern and central Africa, respectively. Bantu-speaking Africans also predominate in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, and are found in parts of southern Cameroon and southern Somalia. In the Kalahari Desert of Southern Africa, the distinct people known as the Bushmen (also "San", closely related to, but distinct from "Hottentots") have long been present. The San are physically distinct from other Africans and are the indigenous people of southern Africa. "Pygmies" are the indigenous people of central Africa.

Related Topics:
Bantu languages - Kalahari Desert - Bushmen - Hottentots - San

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The peoples of North Africa are primarily Arab-Berber; the Arabs who arrived in the 7th century have basically assimilated the indigenous Berber people. The Semitic Phoenicians, and the European Greeks and Romans settled in North Africa as well. Berber peoples remain a significant minority within Morocco and Algeria, and are also present in Tunisia and Libya. The Tuareg and other often nomadic peoples are the principal inhabitants of the Saharan interior of North Africa. Black Nubians also developed civilizations in North Africa during ancient times.

Related Topics:
North Africa - Phoenicia - Greeks - Romans - Morocco - Algeria - Tunisia - Libya - Tuareg - Nubians

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Some Ethiopian and Eritrean groups (like the Amhara and Tigray, collectively known as "Habesha") have Semitic (Sabaean) ancestry. Ethnic Somalis as a people originated in the Ethiopian highlands, but most Somali clans can trace Arab ancestry as well. Sudan and Mauritania are divided between a mostly Arab north and a black African south (although many of the "Arabs" of Sudan clearly have African ancestry, and are far off in appearance from Arabs in Iraq or Algeria). Some areas of East Africa, particularly the island of Zanzibar and the Kenyan island of Lamu, received Arab and Asian Muslim settlers and merchants throughout the Middle Ages.

Related Topics:
Sudan - Mauritania - Zanzibar - Middle Ages

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Beginning in the 16th century, Europeans such as the Portuguese and Dutch began to establish trading posts and forts along the coasts of western and southern Africa. Eventually, a large number of Dutch, augmented by French Huguenots and Germans settled in what is today South Africa. Their descendants, the Afrikaners, are the largest white group in South Africa today. In the 19th century, a second phase of colonization brought a large number of French and British settlers to Africa. The French settled in large numbers in Algeria, and on a smaller scale in other areas of North and West Africa. The British settled in South Africa as well as the colony of Rhodesia, and in the highlands of what is now Kenya. Smaller numbers of European soldiers, businessmen, and officials also established themselves in administrative centers such as Nairobi and Dakar. Decolonization during the 1960s often resulted in the mass exodus of European-descended settlers out of Africa -- especially in Algeria, Kenya, and Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). However in South Africa, the white minority (10% of the population) has largely remained in the country after the end of white rule in 1994. South Africa also has a community of mixed-race people (Coloured people).

Related Topics:
16th century - Portuguese - Dutch - Trading post - Forts - Huguenots - Germans - South Africa - Afrikaners - 19th century - British - Algeria - Rhodesia - Kenya - Nairobi - Dakar - 1960s - Zimbabwe - 1994 - Coloured

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European colonization also brought sizeable groups of Asians, particularly people from the Indian subcontinent, to British colonies. Large Indian communities are found in South Africa, and smaller ones are present in Kenya and Tanzania and some other southern and east African countries. A fairly large Indian community in Uganda was expelled by the dictator Idi Amin in 1972, though many have since returned.

Related Topics:
Asians - Indian subcontinent - Uganda - Idi Amin - 1972

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