At c. 30,244,050 km (11,677,240 mi) including the islands, it covers 20.3% of the total land area on Earth, and with over 800 million human inhabitants it accounts for around one seventh of Earth’s human population. The ancient Romans used the name Africa terra — “land of the Afri” (plural, or “Afer” singular) — for the northern part of the continent, corresponding to modern-day Tunisia, where the Roman province of Africa was located. The origin of Afer may be the Phoenician `afar, dust; the Afridi tribe, who dwelt in Northern Africa around the area of Carthage; Greek aphrike, without cold; or Latin aprica, sunny.

History

Africa is home to the oldest inhabited territory on earth, and it is believed the human race originated from what is now this continent.

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For most of humanity’s history, Africa (and all other continents) had no nation states, and was instead inhabited by many small, loosely associated tribal groups, kingdoms, and families; while Egypt was probably the first nation state ever formed, much of sub-Saharan Africa, with the exception of Ethiopia and the Nubian kingdom, remained effectively nation-state-less until quite recently. In the 14th century European explorers arrived in Africa. By bargaining with some local tribal leaders, Europeans were able to capture millions of Africans, and export them for labour around the world in what became known as the global slave trade. In the early 19th century the European imperial powers staged a massive “scramble for Africa” and occupied most of the continent, creating many colonial states. This occupation continued until the conclusion of the Second World War, after which all colonial states gradually obtained formal independence. Today, Africa is home to over 50 independent countries, many of which still have borders drawn during the era of European colonialism.

Religion

Africans profess a wide variety of religious beliefs. The two most widespread religious communities of Africa, Christianity and Islam, have their roots in Southwest Asia, and approximately 40% of all Africans are Christians and another 40% Muslims. Some Africans (in Ethiopia and Egypt) adopted Christianity in the early centuries of the Christian Era – before most of Europe. However, Christianity was introduced to most of western and southern Africa by European missionaries or settlers during the colonial period.

Islam largely arrived in Africa through the Arab conquest of the north, and later diffusion through the Sahara desert into the interior of Africa. Some Muslim communities were also established by seafarers on the eastern coast of Africa. Muslims were also among the Asian peoples who settled in British-ruled Africa.

Roughly 20% of Africans follow indigenous African religions. A small number of Africans also have beliefs from the Judaic tradition (Falashas, Lemba).

Languages

There are four major language families native to Africa:

• Afro-Asiatic languages such as Berber and the Semitic languages
• Niger-Congo languages such as Swahili and other Bantu languages
• The Khoisan languages number about fifty and are spoken in Southern Africa by approximately 120,000 people. Many of the Khoisan languages are endangered. The Khoi and San peoples are considered the original inhabitants of this part of Africa.
• Nilo-Saharan languages

Culture

Most northern countries, from Egypt to Morocco, have people who largely associate themselves as part of the Arabic culture. To the south of the Sahara, there are many distinct cultural areas, sometimes quite small; a large part of those can be associated to the Bantu linguistic group.