Portal:Africa

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P:AFRICA

Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km² (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surface area. With nearly 1.4 billion people as of 2021, it accounts for about 18% of the world's human population. Africa's population is the youngest among all the continents; the median age in 2012 was 19.7, when the worldwide median age was 30.4. Based on 2024 projections, Africa's population will exceed 3.8 billion people by 2100. Africa is the least wealthy inhabited continent per capita and second-least wealthy by total wealth, ahead of Oceania. Scholars have attributed this to different factors including geography, climate, corruption, colonialism, the Cold War, and neocolonialism. Despite this low concentration of wealth, recent economic expansion and a large and young population make Africa an important economic market in the broader global context, and Africa has a large quantity of natural resources.

Africa is highly biodiverse; it is the continent with the largest number of megafauna species, as it was least affected by the extinction of the Pleistocene megafauna. However, Africa is also heavily affected by a wide range of environmental issues, including desertification, deforestation, water scarcity, and pollution. These entrenched environmental concerns are expected to worsen as climate change impacts Africa. The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has identified Africa as the continent most vulnerable to climate change.

The history of Africa is long, complex, and varied, and has often been under-appreciated by the global historical community. In African societies the oral word is revered, and they have generally recorded their history via oral tradition, which has led anthropologists to term them "oral civilisations", contrasted with "literate civilisations" which pride the written word. African culture is rich and diverse both within and between the continent's regions, encompassing art, cuisine, music and dance, religion, and dress.

Africa, particularly Eastern Africa, is widely accepted to be the place of origin of humans and the Hominidae clade, also known as the great apes. The earliest hominids and their ancestors have been dated to around 7 million years ago, and Homo sapiens (modern human) are believed to have originated in Africa 350,000 to 260,000 years ago. In the 4th and 3rd millennia BCE Ancient Egypt, Kerma, Punt, and the Tichitt Tradition emerged in North, East and West Africa, while from 3000 BCE to 500 CE the Bantu expansion swept from modern-day Cameroon through Central, East, and Southern Africa, displacing or absorbing groups such as the Khoisan and Pygmies. Some African empires include Wagadu, Mali, Songhai, Sokoto, Ife, Benin, Asante, the Fatimids, Almoravids, Almohads, Ayyubids, Mamluks, Kongo, Mwene Muji, Luba, Lunda, Kitara, Aksum, Ethiopia, Adal, Ajuran, Kilwa, Sakalava, Imerina, Maravi, Mutapa, Rozvi, Mthwakazi, and Zulu. Despite the predominance of states, many societies were heterarchical and stateless. Slave trades created various diasporas, especially in the Americas. From the late 19th century to early 20th century, driven by the Second Industrial Revolution, most of Africa was rapidly conquered and colonised by European nations, save for Ethiopia and Liberia. European rule had significant impacts on Africa's societies, and colonies were maintained for the purpose of economic exploitation and extraction of natural resources. Most present states emerged from a process of decolonisation following World War II, and established the Organisation of African Unity in 1963, the predecessor to the African Union. The nascent countries decided to keep their colonial borders, with traditional power structures used in governance to varying degrees. (Full article...)

For a topic outline, see Outline of Africa.

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Pan-Africanism is a nationalist movement that aims to encourage and strengthen bonds of solidarity between all indigenous peoples and diasporas of African ancestry. Based on a common goal dating back to the Atlantic slave trade, the Trans-Saharan slave trade, the Indian Ocean slave trade, the Red Sea slave trade, along with slavery in the Dutch and British Cape Colony (now South Africa), the movement extends beyond continental Africans with a substantial support base among the African diaspora in the Americas and Europe.

Pan-Africanism is said to have its origins in the struggles of the African people against enslavement and colonization and this struggle may be traced back to the first resistance on slave ships—rebellions and suicides—through the constant plantation and colonial uprisings and the "Back to Africa" movements of the 19th century. Based on the belief that unity is vital to economic, social, and political progress, it aims to "unify and uplift" people of African ancestry. (Full article...)

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Image 1
Mikumi National Park

Credit: Muhammad Mahdi Karim

Mikumi National Park is a national park in Mikumi, near Morogoro, Tanzania. The park was established in 1964, currently covers an area of 3230 km² and is the fourth largest in the country. The landscape of Mikumi is often compared to that of the Serengeti. The road that crosses the park divides it into two areas with partially distinct environments. The area north-west is characterized by the alluvial plain of the river basin Mkata. The vegetation of this area consists of savannah dotted with acacia, baobab, tamarinds, and some rare palm. In this area, at the furthest from the road, there are spectacular rock formations of the mountains Rubeho and Uluguru. The southeast part of the park is less rich in wildlife, and not very accessible.
Image 2
Roan antelope
Photograph credit: Charles James Sharp
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 subspecies H. e. koba, was photographed in Senegal; the subspecies's range extends from Senegal to Benin in western Africa.
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Image 3
South-West African mark
Banknote: Swakopmund Bookshop (courtesy of the National Numismatic Collection, National Museum of American History)
The South West African mark was a temporary currency issued in South West Africa between 1916 and 1918 as part of the South West Africa campaign. Issued after the conquest of German South West Africa by South Africa, notes were denominated in marks and pfennig, as with the withdrawn German South West African Mark. Many institutions issued banknotes; this two-mark note was issued by the Swakopmund Bookshop. The South-West African mark was replaced in 1918 by the South African pound.
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Image 4
Pelargonium graveolens
Photo credit: Laitche
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.
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Image 5
A Senegal Wattled Plover in Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya

Photo credit: John O'Neill

The dromedary camel (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".
Image 6
Nautical chart of Portuguese cartographer Fernão Vaz Dourado (c. 1520 - c. 1580), part of a nautical atlas drawn in 1571 and now kept in the Portuguese National Archives of Torre do Tombo, Lisbon.

Photo credit: Portuguse National Archives of Torre do Tombo, Lisbon

A pre-Mercator nautical chart of 1571, from Portuguese cartographer Fernão Vaz Dourado (c. 1520 – c.1580). It belongs to the so-called plane chart model, where observed latitudes and magnetic directions are plotted directly into the plane, with a constant scale, as if the Earth were plane. The Moors from Spain had maps of the known world, and had been traveling to and from Mecca, Arabia for many years. In 1492, Christopher Columbus had possession of the Maps of the Moors, which had been confiscated from Andalusia and were now in service to Portuguese and Spanish Explorers. The African Moors already knew at that time, well into the 1500's, that the world was round.
Image 7
Bareina

Credit: Ferdinand Reus

Bareina is a Bedouin village and rural commune in the Trarza region of south-western Mauritania. As of 2000 it had a population of 14,987. This photo is a view of the village just minutes before rain started.
Image 8
Sable antelope
Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp
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.
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Image 9
Tanzanians in Dar es Salaam protesting the 2008-2009 Gaza bombardment by Israel.

Credit: Muhammad Mahdi Karim

Tanzanians in Dar es Salaam protesting the 2008-2009 Gaza bombardment by Israel. International reaction to the conflict was also notable in the level of civilian demonstrations all around the world, which in many cases displayed sentiment significantly different from the official government line.
Image 10
Baobab
Photograph: Muhammad Mahdi Karim
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).
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Image 11
Geography of Africa
Photo: NASA
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.
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Image 12
Eswatini
Photograph credit: Amada44
Eswatini, formerly known as Swaziland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The government is an absolute monarchy, the last of its kind in Africa, and the country has been ruled by King Mswati III since 1986. One of the country's important cultural events is Umhlanga, the reed-dance festival, held in August or September each year. This photograph shows Princess Sikhanyiso Dlamini, the eldest daughter of Mswati III, at the 2006 festival.
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Image 13
Larabanga Mosque
Photograph: Sathyan Velumani
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.
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Image 14
Maasai people
Photo: William Warby
Portrait of a Maasai woman, with shaved head, stretched earlobes, and beaded adornments, typical of the Maasai culture. The Maasai are a Nilotic ethnic group of semi-nomadic people located in Kenya and northern Tanzania. They are among the best known of African ethnic groups, due to their distinctive customs and dress and residence near the many game parks of East Africa. Their primary language Maa (ɔl Maa) is a member of the Nilo-Saharan language family that is related to Dinka and Nuer.
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Image 15
Amphitheatre of El Jem
Photograph: Poco a poco
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.
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Image 16
German East African rupie
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 one-rupie banknote was issued in 1915, and is now part of the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution.

Other denominations:
'"`UNIQ--templatestyles-00000015-QINU`"'

* 5 rupie
* 10 rupie
* 20 rupie
* 50 rupie
* 200 rupie
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Image 17
Snake charmers

Credit: Tancrède Dumas

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.
Image 18
Boy with fodder on bicycle

Credit: Muhammad Mahdi Karim

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 domesticated livestock, 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.
Image 19
Dallol
Photograph credit: Alexander Savin
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.
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... that Mackay Davashe wrote "Lakutshona Ilanga", the English version of which, sung by Miriam Makeba, became the first South African piece to chart on the Billboard Hot 100?
... that Patrick Pillay negotiated Seychelles' re-entry into the Southern African Development Community with a reduced membership fee?
... that the South Australian Labor politician Ernest Roberts served two tours in South Africa during the Second Boer War?
... that land for a library built for African Americans in Virginia was donated by Pope Pius XII?
... that during the First World War the East African Mounted Rifles sometimes painted stripes on their horses to camouflage them as zebras?
... that Their Highest Potential shows the positive side of segregated schools, as written by a student who was taught in one?

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Hamidou Maiga (born 1932) is a Malian studio photographer among the region's pioneers in the craft during the postcolonial period. His work was largely unknown in the West prior to his discovery and display in the early 2010s. Maiga's early outdoor portraits from the Niger River region in the late 1950s reflect Mali's period of societal transition from colony to sovereignty. He has exhibited in solo shows in London and Lima, Peru. (Full article...)

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Flag of the Gabonese Republic	Coat of Arms of the Gabonese Republic

Gabon, or the Gabonese Republic, is a country in west central Africa. It borders on Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, the Republic of the Congo and the Gulf of Guinea. Since its independence from France on August 17, 1960, the Republic has been ruled by only two autocratic presidents; the incumbent El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba has been in power since 1967 and is currently Africa's longest-serving head of state. Gabon introduced a multiparty system and a new democratic constitution in the early 1990s that allowed for a more transparent electoral process and for reforms of governmental institutions.

Gabon has at least forty ethnic groups with separate languages and cultures, of which the Fang are generally thought to be the largest. A small population, abundant natural resources (including offshore petroleum reserves), and foreign private investment have helped make Gabon one of the most prosperous countries in the region, with a per capita income of four times the average for Sub-Saharan Africa, although the distribution of income from this industry is extremely unequal. (Read more...)

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Arial view of the National Museum of Unity, Aleshinloye.

Ibadan (UK: /ɪˈbædən/, US: /ɪˈbɑːdən/; Yoruba: Ìbàdàn) is the capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano, with a total population of 3,649,000 as of 2021, and nearly 4 million within its metropolitan area. At 3,080 square kilometres it is the country's largest city by land area. At the time of Nigeria's independence in 1960, Ibadan was the largest and most populous city in the country, and the second-most populous in Africa behind Cairo. Ibadan is ranked one of the fastest-growing cities in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the UN Human Settlements Program (2022). It is also ranked third in West Africa in the tech startups index. Ibadan joined the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities in 2016.

Ibadan is located in south-western Nigeria, 120 kilometres (75 mi) inland northeast of Lagos and 440 kilometres (270 mi) southwest of Abuja, the federal capital. It is a prominent transit point between the coastal region and areas in the hinterland of the country as well as one of Nigeria's most important commercial and research centres. Ibadan was the administrative centre of the old Western Region since the early days of British colonial rule, and parts of the city's ancient protective walls still stand to this day. The principal inhabitants of the city are the Yoruba people, as well as various communities (notably Igbo, Hausa, Edo, Ebira, Igede, Igala, Ibibio etc.) from other parts of the country. (Full article...)

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In the news

4 May 2025 – Sudanese Civil War: The Rapid Support Forces launch drone attacks on Port Sudan's international civilian and military airport. Drones also hit an ammunition depot at Osman Digna Air Base, causing damage but no casualties. (Al Jazeera)
3 May 2025 – South Sudanese Civil War: At least seven people are killed and 25 others are injured in an airstrike on a hospital run by Médecins Sans Frontières in Old Fangak, Fangak County, South Sudan. (Al Jazeera English) (CTV News) (BBC News)
3 May 2025 –: Togolese President Faure Gnassingbé is sworn-in as President of the Council of Ministers. Following constitutional reform that introduced a parliamentary system, this new post becomes the highest office in the government's executive branch. (BBC)
1 May 2025 –: The bodies of three South African police officers who had been missing for six days are found in the Hennops River. (BBC News)
1 May 2025 – M23 campaign (2022–present): Authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo request the Senate to lift the immunity of former President Joseph Kabila to face trial on charges of supporting a rebel uprising. The Justice Minister alleged that there is was evidence implicating him in war crimes, crimes against humanity, and massacres of peaceful civilians and military personnel. (BBC News)
1 May 2025 –: Kenyan parliament member Charles Ong'ondo is shot to death in Nairobi by unknown gunmen on a motorcycle in an apparent assassination. (BBC News)

Updated: 13:05, 5 May 2025

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The following are images from various Africa-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Evolution of the Fatimid Caliphate (from History of Africa)
Image 2A Yombe sculpture (Louvre, Paris) (from Culture of Africa)
Image 3Sudan basket-tray, tabar of weaved natural plant fiber, in different colors (from Culture of Africa)
Image 4Map of the western Sahel and Sudan (northern West Africa) c. 1200. (Songhai is Gao)
Kingdoms in this era were centred around cities and cores, with variations of influence radiating out from these points, borders here are estimates. (from History of Africa)
Image 59th-century bronze staff head in form of a coiled snake, Igbo-Ukwu, Nigeria (from History of Africa)
Image 6The Mali Empire in 1337 CE, with major gold fields, of Bambuk, Bure, Lobi (tended by the Gan and later Lobi people), and Akan, and trade routes, outlined. The desert should extend further south to Koumbi. The Mossi Kingdoms are located north of Lobi. (from History of Africa)
Image 7Traditional pearl using for differents pearl in the religion (from Culture of Africa)
Image 8Side view of cast of "Lucy" in the Naturmuseum Senckenberg (from History of Africa)
Image 9Map of ancient Egypt, showing major cities and sites of the Dynastic period (c. 3150 BC to 30 BC) (from History of Africa)
Image 10Tingatinga is one of the most widely represented forms of paintings in Tanzania, Kenya and neighbouring countries. (from Culture of Africa)
Image 11Areas 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 12Traditional male dancers from Northern Nigeria (from Culture of Africa)
Image 13Pre-Neolithic and Neolithic migration events in Africa. (from History of Africa)
Image 14Display of African cultural apparel (smock) (from Culture of Africa)
Image 15Fufu (right) is a staple meal in West Africa and Central Africa. It is usually served with some peanut soup. (from Culture of Africa)
Image 16Ruby, Egyptian singer performing (from Culture of Africa)
Image 17The Marinids, Zayyanids, and Hafsids c. 1360 (from History of Africa)
Image 18Ashanti Kente cloth patterns (from Culture of Africa)
Image 19The Kilwa Sultanate in 1310 (from History of Africa)
Image 20
1 = 2000–1500 BC origin

2 = c. 1500 BC first dispersal
2.a = Eastern Bantu
2.b = Western Bantu

3 = 1000–500 BC Urewe nucleus of Eastern Bantu

4–7 = southward advance

9 = 500–1 BC Congo nucleus

10 = AD 1–1000 last phase (from History of Africa)
Image 21The Great Pyramids of Giza, Egypt (from Culture of Africa)
Image 22Yoruba drummers at celebration in Ojumo Oro, Kwara State, Nigeria (from Culture of Africa)
Image 23Nok sculpture (from History of Africa)
Image 24Order of independence of African nations, 1950–2011
Image 25Fresh Moroccan couscous with vegetables and chickpeas (from Culture of Africa)
Image 26The Ghana Empire at its greatest extent (from History of Africa)
Image 27Ancient Kano City Walls, Nigeria (from Culture of Africa)
Image 28Romanised-Berber kingdoms: Altava, Ouarsenis, Hodna, Aures, Nemencha, Capsus, Dorsale, Cabaon. (from History of Africa)
Image 29The Kingdom of Aksum in the 6th century AD. (from History of Africa)
Image 30Extent of the Mamluk Sultanate under Sultan Al-Nasir Muhammad (from History of Africa)
Image 31Maasai wearing traditional clothes named Matavuvale while performing Adumu, a traditional dance (from Culture of Africa)
Image 32An Ethiopian woman preparing Ethiopian coffee at a traditional ceremony. She roasts, crushes, and brews the coffee on the spot. (from Culture of Africa)
Image 33Potjiekos is a traditional Afrikaner stew made with meat and vegetables and cooked over coals in cast-iron pots. (from Culture of Africa)
Image 34A 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 35The Almoravid empire in the 12th century. (from History of Africa)
Image 36Map of trade centres and routes in precolonial Zimbabwe. (from History of Africa)
Image 37Carthaginian Empire in 323 BC (from History of Africa)
Image 38Central mosque in Nouakchott, Mauritania (from Culture of Africa)
Image 39Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum, one of the most iconic singers in African history (from Culture of Africa)
Image 40BaKongo masks from the Kongo Central region (from Culture of Africa)
Image 41The Umayyad Caliphate at its greatest extent, under Caliph Umar II, c. 720 (from History of Africa)
Image 42Mapungubwe Hill, which features some ancient San art in a rock shelter on the east side. (from History of Africa)
Image 43Gateway to the Castle of Good Hope in South Africa (from Culture of Africa)
Image 44Aerial view of the Great Enclosure and Valley Complex at Great Zimbabwe, looking west (from History of Africa)
Image 45Kenyan boys and girls performing a traditional folklore dance (from Culture of Africa)
Image 46Sample of the Egyptian Book of the Dead of the scribe Nebqed, c. 1300 BC (from Culture of Africa)
Image 47A woman in Kenya wearing kanga (from Culture of Africa)