Africa is the world's second largest and second-most populous
continent after
Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of
Earth's land area and 6% of its total surface area. With 1.4 billion people0 as of 2021, it accounts for about 18% of the world's
human population. Africa's population is the youngest amongst all the continents; the
median age in 2012 was 19.7, when the worldwide median age was 30.4. Despite a wide range of
natural resources, Africa is the least wealthy continent
per capita and second-least wealthy by total wealth, ahead of
Oceania. Scholars have attributed this to different factors including geography, climate,
tribalism,
colonialism, the
Cold War,
neocolonialism, lack of
democracy, and
corruption. Despite this low concentration of wealth, recent economic expansion and the large and young population make Africa an important economic market in the broader global context.
A
civil war between two rival factions of the military government of
Sudan, the
Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) under
Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary
Rapid Support Forces (RSF) under the
Janjaweed leader,
Hemedti, began during
Ramadan on 15 April 2023. Fighting has been concentrated around the capital city of
Khartoum and the
Darfur region. As of 21 January 2024, at least 13,000–15,000 people had been killed and 33,000 others were injured. As of 21 March, over 6.5 million were internally displaced and more than two million others had fled the country as refugees, and many civilians in
Darfur have been reported dead as part of the
2023 Masalit massacres.
The war began with attacks by the RSF on government sites as airstrikes, artillery, and gunfire were reported across Sudan. The cities of Khartoum and
Omdurman were divided between the two warring factions, with al-Burhan relocating his government to
Port Sudan as RSF forces captured most of Khartoum's government buildings. Attempts by international powers to negotiate a ceasefire culminated in the
Treaty of Jeddah, which did not stop the fighting and was abandoned as ineffective. (Full article...)
A
composite satellite image of the geography of Africa, the Earth's second-largest continent, and its adjacent islands. Separated from Europe by the
Mediterranean Sea and from much of Asia by the
Red Sea, Africa is joined to Asia at its northeast extremity by the
Isthmus of Suez. For
geopolitical purposes, the
Sinai Peninsula – east of the
Suez Canal – is often considered part of Africa, although geographically it belongs in Asia. Africa can be divided into a number of geographic zones: The
Atlas Mountains in the north, the
Sahara, the coastal plains, and the inner plateaus.
Karnak is a vast conglomeration of ruined temples, chapels, pylons and other buildings near
Luxor,
Egypt. This was ancient Egyptian Ipet-isut ("The Most Selected of Places"), the main place of worship of the
Theban Triad with
Amun as its head, in the monumental city of
Thebes. This tinted lithograph depicts the hypostyle hall of the Precinct of Amun-Re, as it appeared in 1838.
A Tanzanian boy transports fodder on his bicycle, to feed cattle. In
agriculture, fodder or animal feed is any
foodstuff that is used specifically to feed
domesticatedlivestock, such as
cattle,
goats,
sheep,
horses,
chickens and
pigs. Most animal feed is from plants but some is of animal origin. "Fodder" refers particularly to food given to the animals (including plants cut and carried to them), rather than that which they forage for themselves (see
forage). It includes hay, straw, silage, compressed and pelleted feeds, oils and mixed rations, and also sprouted grains and legumes.
Chamaeleo jacksonii (common names Jackson's Chameleon or Three-horned Chameleon) is an African chameleon belonging to the chameleon family (
Chamaeleonidae). It is native to the humid, cooler regions of
Kenya and
Tanzania.
The Larabanga Mosque was built in the
Sudanese architectural style in the village of
Larabanga,
Ghana. It is the oldest mosque in the country and one of the oldest in West Africa, and has been called the "
Mecca of West Africa". It has undergone
restoration several times since it was founded. The
World Monuments Fund has contributed substantially to its restoration, and lists it as one of the 100 most endangered sites.
Dallol is a
cinder-cone volcano in the
Danakil Depression, northeast of the
Erta Ale Range in Ethiopia. The area lies up to 120 m (390 ft) below sea level, and has been repeatedly flooded in the past when waters from the Red Sea have inundated it. The Danakil Depression is one of the hottest places on Earth, and the evaporation of seawater after these flooding episodes produced thick deposits of
salt, as seen in this landscape. The deposits at Dallol include significant quantities of the carbonate, sulfate and chloride salts of sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium. Hot springs discharge brine to form the blueish ponds, and small, temporary
geysers produce cones of salt.
Adansonia digitata is a sub-Saharan African species of baobab tree. The genus, scientifically known as Adansonia, consists of nine species native to Madagascar, Africa, Arabia and Australia, and can reach heights of 5 to 30 m (16 to 98 ft) with trunk diameters of 7 to 11 m (23 to 36 ft).
The dromedarycamel (Camelus dromedarius) is a large
even-toed ungulate native to northern
Africa and western
Asia. It is often referred to as the one-humped camel, Arabian camel, or simply as the "dromedary".
The roan antelope (Hippotragus equinus) is a species of
savanna antelope found in western, central and southern Africa. Named for its reddish-brown coat, it has a black face with white patches around the eyes and the mouth, and a short erect mane of greyish brown hair extending from the back of the neck to the rump. This roan antelope, of the
subspeciesH. e. koba, was photographed in Senegal; the subspecies's range extends from Senegal to Benin in western Africa.
Eswatini, formerly known as Swaziland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The government is an
absolute monarchy, the last of its kind in Africa, and the country has been ruled by King
Mswati III since 1986. One of the country's important cultural events is
Umhlanga, the reed-dance festival, held in August or September each year. This photograph shows Princess
Sikhanyiso Dlamini, the eldest daughter of Mswati III, at the 2006 festival.
Snake charming is the practice of apparently
hypnotising a
snake by simply playing an instrument. A typical performance may also include handling the snakes or performing other seemingly dangerous acts. The practice is most common in India, though it is also practiced in the North African countries of
Egypt,
Morocco, and
Tunisia. This photo depicts snake charmers in late 19th-century Morocco.
The sable antelope (Hippotragus niger) is an
antelope which inhabits wooded
savanna in
eastern and
southern Africa, from the south of Kenya to South Africa, with a separate population in Angola. The species is
sexually dimorphic, with the male heavier and about one-fifth taller than the female. It has a compact and robust build, characterized by a thick neck and tough skin, and both sexes have ringed horns which arch backward. The sable antelope has four subspecies.
This picture shows an adult male common sable antelope (H. n. niger) in the
Tswalu Kalahari Reserve, South Africa.
Panoramic view of the Amphitheatre of El Jem, an archeological site in the city of
El Djem, Tunisia. The amphitheatre, one of the best-preserved Roman ruins and a UNESCO
World Heritage Site since 1979, was built around 238 AD, when modern Tunisia belonged to the Roman province of
Africa. It is the third-biggest amphitheatre in the world, with axes of 148 m (486 ft) and 122 m (400 ft) and a seating capacity of 35,000, unique in Africa.
Portrait of a Maasai woman, with shaved head, stretched earlobes, and beaded adornments, typical of the Maasai culture. The Maasai are a
Niloticethnic group of semi-
nomadic people located in Kenya and northern Tanzania. They are among the best known of African ethnic groups, due to their distinctive customs and dress and residence near the many game parks of East Africa. Their primary language
Maa (ɔl Maa) is a member of the
Nilo-Saharan language family that is related to
Dinka and
Nuer.
Banknote design credit: Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Bank; photographed by
Andrew Shiva
The rupie was the unit of currency of
German East Africa between 1890 and 1916. During
World War I, the colony was cut off from Germany as a result of a wartime
blockade and the colonial government needed to create an emergency issue of banknotes. Paper made from
linen or
jute was initially used, but because of wartime shortages, the notes were later printed on commercial paper in a variety of colours, wrapping paper, and in one instance, wallpaper. This twenty-rupie banknote was issued in 1915, and is now part of the
National Numismatic Collection at the
Smithsonian Institution.
Other denominations: '"`UNIQ--templatestyles-00000018-QINU`"'
The Rose Geranium (Pelargonium graveolens) is a plant indigenous to various parts of southern Africa, and in particular
South Africa. This specific species has great importance in the
perfume industry. Its
cultivars have a wide variety of smells, including
rose,
citrus,
mint,
coconut and
nutmeg, as well as various
fruits.
David Lekuta Rudisha,
MBS (born 17 December 1988) is a Kenyan
middle-distance runner who specialized in the
800 metres. He is a two-time back-to-back Olympic champion from the
2012 London and
2016 Rio Olympics, a two-time World champion from the
2011 and
2015 World Championships in Athletics, and a
world record holder at the event with a time of 1:40.91, set at the 2012 London Games on 9 August 2012. Rudisha is the first and only person to ever run 800 metres under 1:41, and he holds the three fastest, six of the eight fastest, and half of the twenty fastest times ever run in this event.
The Comoros (
Arabic: جزر القمر, Ğuzur al-Qamar), officially the Union of the Comoros (
French: 'Union des Comores',
Arabic: الإتّحاد القمريّ, Al-Ittiḥād al-Qamariyy) is an island nation in the
Indian Ocean, located off the eastern coast of
Africa on the northern end of the
Mozambique Channel between northern
Madagascar and northeastern
Mozambique. Prior to 2002, it was known officially as the Islamic Federal Republic of the Comoros. At 2,235 km² and with a population estimated at 798,000, the Comoros is the third smallest African nation by area and the sixth smallest by population.
Image 8Areas controlled by European powers in 1939. British (red) and Belgian (marroon) colonies fought with the Allies. Italian (light green) with the Axis. French colonies (dark blue) fought alongside the Allies until the Fall of France in June 1940. Vichy was in control until the Free French prevailed in late 1942. Portuguese (dark green) and Spanish (yellow) colonies remained neutral. (from History of Africa)
Image 11Sudan basket-tray, tabar of weaved natural plant fiber, in different colors (from Culture of Africa)
Image 12A terra-cotta head sculpture (1100-1500) of the
Yoruba, showing extraordinary naturalism. This head represents the oni or king of
Ife. (from Culture of Africa)
Image 19Traditional male dancers from Northern Nigeria (from Culture of Africa)
Image 20Map showing the states, people, and material cultures of the African continent, but missing the
Kintampo civilisation in West Africa, c.1800 BC (from History of Africa)
Image 21Pre-Neolithic and Neolithic migration events in Africa. (from History of Africa)
Image 249th-century bronze staff head in form of a coiled snake,
Igbo-Ukwu, Nigeria (from History of Africa)
Image 25An Ethiopian woman preparing Ethiopian coffee at a
traditional ceremony. She roasts, crushes, and brews the coffee on the spot. (from Culture of Africa)
Image 26Terracotta sculpture, 13th c.; the raised marks and indentations on the back of this hunched
Djenné figure may represent disease or, more likely,
scarification patterns. The facial expression and pose could depict an individual in mourning or in pain (from History of Africa)
Image 29Contemporary political map of Africa (Includes Sub-Saharan Africa and North Africa) (from History of Africa)
Image 30Dates of independence of African countries (from History of Africa)
Image 311 = 2000–1500 BC origin 2 =
c. 1500 BC first dispersal 2.a = Eastern Bantu,2.b = Western Bantu 3 = 1000–500 BC
Urewe nucleus of Eastern Bantu 4–7 = southward advance 9 = 500 BC–0 Congo nucleus 10 = 0–1000 AD last phase (from History of Africa)
Image 32Kenyan boys and girls performing a traditional folklore dance (from Culture of Africa)