Africa
the name given to the continent lying S. of the Mediterranean; probably derived from the Punic Afrygah, a colony, with reference to Carthage, a Phoenician colony. Excepting Asia, Africa is the largest grand division of the world, being three times as large as Europe, and containing one-fifth of all the dry land on the globe. On the N. it is bounded by the Mediterranean, AFRICA S., by the Southern Ocean; on the E., by the Isthmus of Suez, the Red Sea, and the Indian Ocean; and on the W. by the Atlantic.
Physical Features. - Its greatest length is nearly 5,000 miles; its breath, about 4,700 miles, and its area about 11,500,000 square miles. Since 1869, by the construction of the Suez canal, Africa has been an island.
Its coast line is reckoned at more than 20,000 miles, and is marked by few indentations, and is generally characterized by narrow strips of lowlands. The surface is fairly well defined, as consisting of two divisions, the northern table lands of the Sahara, part of which is below sea-level, and the central and southern plateaus, broken plateaus, only by the valley of the Zambezi, beginning in north Abyssinia and extending S. as far as Cape Colony, with an average height of 4,000 feet. In Abyssinia is the main mass of mountains. reaching a maximum height of 15,000 feet. South of the equator are the extinct volcanoes Kilimanjaro (nearly 20,000 feet), and Kenia (18,500 feet), and the Drakenberg mountains of subtropical Africa (11,000). Other ranges of moutains are the Atlas, in Barbary, and the Kameruns, both reaching a maximum of 12,000 feet in height. On the borders of the Kongo Free State and the British and German spheres of influence, there is a line of active volcanoes, one of which, Mfumbiro, reaches 10,000 feet. In the southern plateaus are a number of fresh water lakes, Victoria Nyanza, Tanganyika, Bangweolo, and Nyassa. The first of these, which has an area of 30,000 square miles, is the source of the Nile. Lake Tanganyika, with an area of 16,000 square miles, is the source of the Kongo. Lake Tchad receives the waters of a basin in the central Sudan. Near Tajara, on the Red Sea, is Assal, a salt lake, 750 feet below sea-level. The Nile is the largest river of Africa (3,400 miles long), but the Kongo, 2,900 miles in length drains the larger area of 1,200,000 square miles. Other important rivers are the Niger; the Zambezi, with its great falls; the Shari, emptying into Lake Tchad, and the Limpopo. The Nile, the Kongo, and the Niger are great navigable rivers in most of their lower courses. The Zambezi and Limpopo, together with the Rovuma, Juba, and a few other coast streams, flow to the Indian Ocean; all the others, together with the Cunene, Koanza, Ogoway, Volta, Gambia, Tensift, Muluya, and Mejerdah, to the Atlantic, either directly or through AFRICA the Mediterranean. The Makua-Welle is a tributary of the Kongo.
Climate. The rainfall over most of Africa is very scant, with the exception of the W. equatorial area and parts of the S. and S. E. coasts. It reaches 130 inches annually in Monrovia, and varies from 5 inches to nothing in the Sahara and Somaliland.
Fauna. The continent is rich in animal life, the most common kinds being antelopes, giraffes, zebras, and quaggas.
Elephants, once numerous, have been killed for their tusks, and the species has been well-nigh exterminated. Africa is the home of the lion, and the rhinoceros, hippopotamus, crocodile, and hyena are abundant, as are also monkeys and apes, including the gorilla and the chimpanzee. The birds are remarkable for their brilliant plumage, among which the secretary bird, the sun-birds, parrots and bee-eaters are worthy of notice. The ostrich of south Africa is the largest of living birds. Of the insect world, the most remarkable is the south African tsetse, whose bite is fatal to horses and cattle. White ants are known as a destructive plague.
Flora. In vegetation, the date palm, so useful as food in different ways, is the feature of the N., where a large part of the surface consists of treeless, grassy steppes. In the inland plateaus of the S. are numerous forests of heaths and the plants called Cycadaceæ. Euphorbias, aloes, and similar plants are abundant.
Productions, Industry, and Trade. - Ivory was the principal product of the continent in the past, and it is still brought to the coast in great quantities.
The central regions produce palm oil, palm kernels, caoutchouc, rubber, gums, cloves, sesame seeds, skins, and ebony and other woods. In the S., cattle, hides, wool, and grain are produced. In Liberia, coffee, cocoa, and bananas are grown. The Mediterranean coast supplies wines and olive oil, and Egypt is a large producer of cotton and cottonseed. In most parts of Africa, salt is an active object of internal trade. In the Niger territories and the Guinea coast, several of the tribes manufacture cotton and leather goods. The mineral products of Africa are relatively small, with the exception of diamonds at Kimberley, in Cape Colony, and gold in the Transvaal.
Copper is mined in Cape Colony and coal in the late Boer republics.
History. The history of Africa reaches far back into antiquity. In Egypt, civilization is known to have existed as early as 5000 в. c.; 600 в. c., King Necho sent Phoenician ships on a AFRICA voyage around Africa. Between 1100- 950 в. c. the Phoenicians founded as many as 300 colonies along the W. coast of Morocco. About 470 B. C. the elder Hanno of Carthage went with a fleet to what is now known as Sierra Leone.
Herodotus described "Egypt" and other parts of Africa; Claudius Ptolemæus " Ægypt" and other wrote the most detailed account of the country that has come down to us.
Roman generals penetrated far into the interior through the Sahara, and, in the time of Nero, Roman officers ascended the Nile. The Romans took possession of the whole of north Africa, including Egypt and Nubia. The conquest by the Arabs of the Roman possessions, as well as of Abyssinia, in the 1st century of the Hegira (7th century, A. D.), stimulated the Arab geographers to write about this great continent. Massudi, Ibn Hankal, Obeid el Bekri, who wrote the first geography of the negro country (1067), Ibn Chaldan, Ibn al Wardi, Abulfeda (1273-1332), Leo Africanus (1492-1526), who went to Timbuktu, Ibn Bakuta, who went to Zanzibar, and many others, visited and described Africa. The Church fathers conceived of the central country as a wilderness uninhabitable on account of the heat, and filled with all manner of mystery; but in the 13th and 14th centuries enterprising Italian merchants did much to make known the Nile Valley and Abyssinia; Marino Sanuto, Giovanni Leardo, Fra Mauro and others drew maps of much of north Africa hitherto unknown.
In the 15th century the Portuguese explored the W. coast. By 1434 Cape Bojados had been doubled; in 1456 Cadamosto sailed round Cape Verde and reached Gambia: in 1472 São Thomé, Annobón and Principe were discovered.
In 1848 Diego São reached the Kongo and sailed nearly 1,500 miles S. of the equator, and, in 1486, reached the Cape of Good Hope. Early in the 18th century excursions were made to the E. coast. After the discovery of America a great impetus was given to the slave trade, which had hitherto been carried on chiefly by the Arabs, and this led to the Guinea coast. an acquaintance with Senegambia and Exploration.- Not, however, till the latter part of the 18th century was systematic exploration begun, and since then more than 200 explorers have was penetrated the unknown continent. In 1763-1768 James Bruce traveled from Massowah through Sennar to Egypt. In 1788 the African Association founded in London to undertake the exploration of the Niger. In 1795-1797 Mungo Park reached the upper Niger, International Film Service A BRITISH ENCAMPMENT IN DAKKA, AFGHANISTAN Enc. Vol. 1-p. 58 Photo, Keystone View Company AFRICAN PIGMIES DISCOVERED BY EXPLORERS Photo, Paul Thompson