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About Africa:

Politics

Failed government policies and political corruption have resulted in many widespread famines, and significant portions of Africa remain with distribution systems unable to disseminate enough food or water for the population to survive. What had before colonialism been the source for 90% of the world's gold had become the poorest continent on earth, its former riches enjoyed by those on other continents. The spread of disease is also rampant, especially the spread of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and the associated acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), which has become a deadly epidemic on the continent. Despite numerous hardships, there have been some signs the continent has hope for the future. Democratic governments seem to be spreading, though they are not yet the majority (The National Geographic Society claims 13 African nations can be considered truly democratic [citation needed]). As well, many nations have recognized basic human rights for all citizens (though in practice these are not always recognized) and have created reasonably independent judiciaries.

There are clear signs of increased networking among African organisations and states. In the civil war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (former Zaire), rather than rich, non-African countries intervening, about half a dozen neighbouring African countries became involved (see also Second Congo War). Since the conflict began in 1998, the estimated death toll has reached 3.5 million. [citation needed] This might play a role similar to that of World War II for Europe, after which the people in the neighbouring countries decided to integrate their societies in such a way that war between them becomes as unthinkable as a war between, say, France and Germany would be today. Political associations such as the African Union are also offering hope for greater co-operation and peace between the continent's many countries. Extensive human rights abuses still occur in several parts of Africa, often under the oversight of the state. Most of such violations occur for political reasons, often as a side effect of civil war. Countries where major human rights violations have been reported in recent times include the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Sudan, and Cte d'Ivoire.

Economy

Main article: Economy of Africa

Africa is the world's poorest inhabited continent: the United Nations' Human Development Report 2003 (of 175 countries) found that positions 151 (Gambia) to 175 (Sierra Leone) were taken up entirely by African nations.

It has had (and in some ways is still having) a shaky and uncertain transition from colonialism, with increases in corruption and despotism being major contributing factors to its poor economic situation. While rapid growth in China and now India, and moderate growth in Latin America, has lifted millions beyond subsistence living, Africa has gone backwards in terms of foreign trade, investment, and per capita income. This poverty has widespread effects, including lower life expectancy, violence, and instability -- factors intertwined with the continent's poverty.

Major economic successes are Botswana and South Africa, which is developed to the extent that it has its own mature stock exchange. This is partly due to its wealth of natural resources, being the world's leading producer of both gold and diamonds, and partly due to its well-established legal system. South Africa also has access to financial capital, numerous markets and skilled labor. Other African countries are making comparable progress, such as Ghana, and some, like Egypt, have a longer history of commercial and economic success.

Nigeria sits on one of the largest proven oil reserves in the world and has the highest population among nations in Africa, with one of the fastest-growing economies in the world.

From 1995 to 2005, economic growth picked up, averaging 5% in 2005. However some countries experienced much higher growth (10 %) in particular, Angola, Sudan and Equatorial Guinea, all three of which have recently begun extracting their petroleum reserves.

Demographics

Africans may be grouped according to whether they live north or south of the Sahara Desert; these groups are called North Africans and Sub-Saharan Africans, respectively. Afro-Asiatic speaking peoples predominate in North Africa, while Sub-Saharan Africa is dominated by a number of populations grouped according to their language — Niger-Congo predominantly in West Africa, Nilo-Saharan in the Eastern highlands and Khoisan in the south.

Speakers of Bantu languages (part of the Niger-Congo family) 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 'Bushmen') 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 pre-Bantu indigenous peoples of central Africa.

The peoples of North Africa comprise two main groups; Berber and Arabic-speaking peoples in the west, and Egyptians in the east. The Arabs who arrived in the seventh century introduced the Arabic language and Islam to North Africa. The Semitic Phoenicians, the European Greeks and Romans settled in North Africa as well. Berbers still make up the majority in Morocco, while they are a significant minority within Algeria. They 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. Nubians are a Nilo-Saharan-speaking group (though many also speak Arabic), who developed an ancient civilization in northeast Africa.

During the past century or so, small but economically important colonies of Lebanese and Chinese have also developed in the larger coastal cities of West and East Africa, respectively.

Some Ethiopian and Eritrean groups (like the Amhara and Tigrayans, collectively known as "Habesha") speak Semitic languages. The Oromo and Somali peoples speak Cushitic languages, but most Somali clans can trace some Arab ancestry as well. Sudan and Mauritania are divided between a mostly Arabized north and a native African south (although the "Arabs" of Sudan clearly have a predominantly native African ancestry themselves). Some areas of East Africa, particularly the island of Zanzibar and the Kenyan island of Lamu, received Arab Muslim and Southwest Asian settlers and merchants throughout the Middle Ages and in antiquity.

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 and the Coloureds, are the largest European-descended groups in Africa today. In the 19th century, a second phase of colonization brought a large number of French and British settlers to Africa. The Portuguese settled mainly in Angola, but also in Mozambique. The French settled in large numbers in Algeria where they became known collectively as pieds-noirs, and on a smaller scale in other areas of North and West Africa as well as in Madagascar. The British settled chiefly in South Africa as well as the colony of Rhodesia, and in the highlands of what is now Kenya. Germans settled in what is now Tanzania and Namibia, and there is still a population of German-speaking white Namibians. 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 emigration of European-descended settlers out of Africa — especially from Algeria, Angola, Kenya and Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). However, in South Africa and Namibia, the white minority remained politically dominant after independence from Europe, and a significant population of white Africans remained in these two countries even after democracy was finally instituted at the end of the Cold War. South Africa has also become the preferred destination of white Anglo-Zimbabweans, and of migrants from all over southern Africa.

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, Tanzania, and some other southern and east African countries. The large Indian community in Uganda was expelled by the dictator Idi Amin in 1972, though many have since returned. The islands in the Indian Ocean are also populated primarily by people of Asian origin, often mixed with Africans and Europeans. The Malagasy people of Madagascar are a Malay people, but those along the coast are generally mixed with Bantu, Arab, Indian and European origins. Malay and Indian ancestries are also important components in the group of people known in South Africa as Cape Coloureds (people with origins in two or more races and continents).

Languages

Main article: African languages

Map showing the distribution of African language families and some major African languages. Afro-Asiatic extends from the Sahel to Southwest Asia. Niger-Congo is divided to show the size of the Bantu sub-family.

By most estimates, Africa contains well over a thousand languages. There are four major language families native to Africa.

• The Afro-Asiatic languages are a language family of about 240 languages and 285 million people widespread throughout East Africa, North Africa, the Sahel, and Southwest Asia.
• The Nilo-Saharan language family consists of more than a hundred languages spoken by 30 million people. Nilo-Saharan languages are mainly spoken in Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, Uganda, and northern Tanzania.
• The Niger-Congo language family covers much of Sub-Saharan Africa and is probably the largest language family in the world in terms of different languages. A substantial number of them are the Bantu languages spoken in much of sub-Saharan Africa.
• The Khoisan languages number about 50 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.

With a few notable exceptions in East Africa, nearly all African countries have adopted official languages that originated outside the continent and spread through colonialism or human migration. For example, in numerous countries English and French are used for communication in the public sphere such as government, commerce, education and the media. Arabic, Portuguese, Afrikaans and Malagasy are other examples of originally non-African languages that are used by millions of Africans today, both in the public and private spheres.

Culture

Africa has a number of overlapping cultures. The most conventional distinction is that between sub-Saharan Africa and the northern countries from Egypt to Morocco, who largely associate themselves with Arabic culture. In this comparison, the nations to the south of the Sahara are considered to consist of many cultural areas, in particular that of the Bantu language group.

Divisions may also be made between French Africa and the rest of Africa, in particular the former British colonies of southern and East Africa. Another cultural fault-line is that between those Africans living traditional lifestyles and those who are essentially modern. The traditionalists are sometimes subdivided into pastoralists and agriculturalists.

African art reflects the diversity of African cultures. The oldest existing art from Africa are 6,000-year old carvings found in Niger, while the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt was the world's tallest architectural accomplishment for 4,000 years until the creation of the Eiffel Tower. The Ethiopian complex of monolithic churches at Lalibela, of which the Church of St. George is representative, is regarded as another marvel of engineering.

The music of Africa is one of its most dynamic art forms. Egypt has long been a cultural focus of the Arab world, while remembrance of the rhythms of sub-Saharan Africa, in particular west Africa, was transmitted through the Atlantic slave trade to modern samba, blues, jazz, reggae, rap, and rock and roll. Modern music of the continent includes the highly complex choral singing of southern Africa and the dance rhythms of soukous, dominated by the music of the Democratic Republic of Congo. A recent development of the 21st century is the emergence of African hip hop. In particular, a form from Senegal is blended with traditional mbalax. Recently in South Africa, a form of music related to house music known under the name Kwaito has developed, although the country has been home to its own form of South African jazz for some time, while Afrikaans music is completely distinct and composed mostly of traditional Boere musiek, and forms of folk and rock music.

Religion

Africans profess a wide variety of religious beliefs, with Christianity and Islam being the most widespread. Approximately 40% of all Africans are Christians and another 40% are Muslims. Roughly 20 percent of Africans primarily follow indigenous African religions. A small number of Africans also have beliefs from the Judaic tradition, such as the Beta Israel and Lemba tribes.

The indigenous African religions tend to revolve around animism and ancestor worship. A common thread in traditional belief systems was the division of the spiritual world into "helpful" and "harmful". Helpful spirits are usually deemed to include ancestor spirits that help their descendants, and powerful spirits that protect entire communities from natural disaster or attacks from enemies; whereas harmful spirits include the souls of murdered victims who were buried without the proper funeral rites, and spirits used by hostile spirit mediums to cause illness among their enemies. While the effect of these early forms of worship continues to have a profound influence, belief systems have evolved as they interact with other religions.

The formation of the Old Kingdom of Egypt in the third millennium BCE marked the first known complex religious system on the continent. Around the ninth century BCE, Carthage (in present-day Tunisia) was founded by the Phoenicians, and went on to become a major cosmopolitan center where deities from neighboring Egypt, Rome and the Etruscan city-states were worshipped.

The Ethiopian Orthodox Church officially dates from the fourth century, and is thus one of the first established Christian churches anywhere. At first, Christian Orthodoxy made gains in modern-day Sudan and other neighbouring regions. However, after the spread of Islam, growth was slow and restricted to the highlands.

Islam entered Africa as Muslims conquered North Africa between 640 and 710, beginning with Egypt. They established Mogadishu, Melinde, Mombasa, Kilwa, and Sofala, following the sea trade down the coast of East Africa, and diffusing through the Sahara desert into the interior of Africa -- following in particular the paths of Muslim traders. Muslims were also among the Asian peoples who later settled in British-ruled Africa.

Many Africans were converted to West European forms of Christianity during the colonial period. In the last decades of the 20th century, various sects of Charismatic Christianity rapidly grew. A number of Roman Catholic African bishops were even mentioned as possible papal candidates in 2005. African Christians appear to be more socially conservative than their co-religionists in much of the industrialized world, which has quite recently led to tension within denominations such as the Anglican and Methodist Churches.

The African Initiated Churches have experienced significant growth in the 20th and 21st centuries.

Territories and regions

Regions of Africa:

 

██ Northern Africa

 

██ Western Africa

 

██ Middle Africa

 

██ Eastern Africa

 

██ Southern Africa

Political Map of Africa.

Physical map of Africa.

Name of region[1] and territory, with flag	Area (km)	Population (1 July 2002 est.)	Population density (per km)	Capital
Eastern Africa:
Burundi	27,830	6,373,002	229.0	Bujumbura
Comoros	2,170	614,382	283.1	Moroni
Djibouti	23,000	472,810	20.6	Djibouti
Eritrea	121,320	4,465,651	36.8	Asmara
Ethiopia	1,127,127	67,673,031	60.0	Addis Ababa
Kenya	582,650	31,138,735	53.4	Nairobi
Madagascar	587,040	16,473,477	28.1	Antananarivo
Malawi	118,480	10,701,824	90.3	Lilongwe
Mauritius	2,040	1,200,206	588.3	Port Louis
Mayotte (France)	374	170,879	456.9	Mamoudzou
Mozambique	801,590	19,607,519	24.5	Maputo
Runion (France)	2,512	743,981	296.2	Saint-Denis
Rwanda	26,338	7,398,074	280.9	Kigali
Seychelles	455	80,098	176.0	Victoria
Somalia	637,657	7,753,310	12.2	Mogadishu
Tanzania	945,087	37,187,939	39.3	Dodoma
Uganda	236,040	24,699,073	104.6	Kampala
Zambia	752,614	9,959,037	13.2	Lusaka
Zimbabwe	390,580	11,376,676	29.1	Harare
Middle Africa:
Angola	1,246,700	10,593,171	8.5	Luanda
Cameroon	475,440	16,184,748	34.0	Yaound
Central African Republic	622,984	3,642,739	5.8	Bangui
Chad	1,284,000	8,997,237	7.0	N'Djamena
Congo	342,000	2,958,448	8.7	Brazzaville
Democratic Republic of the Congo	2,345,410	55,225,478	23.5	Kinshasa
Equatorial Guinea	28,051	498,144	17.8	Malabo
Gabon	267,667	1,233,353	4.6	Libreville
So Tom and Prncipe	1,001	170,372	170.2	So Tom
Northern Africa:
Algeria	2,381,740	32,277,942	13.6	Algiers
Egypt[2]	1,001,450	70,712,345	70.6	Cairo
Libya	1,759,540	5,368,585	3.1	Tripoli
Morocco	446,550	31,167,783	69.8	Rabat
Sudan	2,505,810	37,090,298	14.8	Khartoum
Tunisia	163,610	9,815,644	60.0	Tunis
Western Sahara (Morocco)[3]	266,000	256,177	1.0	El Aain
Southern Europe dependencies in Northern Africa:
Canary Islands (Spain)[4]	7,492	1,694,477	226.2	Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Santa Cruz de Tenerife
Ceuta (Spain)[5]	20	71,505	3,575.2	—
Madeira Islands (Portugal)[6]	797	245,000	307.4	Funchal
Melilla (Spain)[7]	12	66,411	5,534.2	—
Southern Africa:
Botswana	600,370	1,591,232	2.7	Gaborone
Lesotho	30,355	2,207,954	72.7	Maseru
Namibia	825,418	1,820,916	2.2	Windhoek
South Africa	1,219,912	43,647,658	35.8	Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Pretoria[8]
Swaziland	17,363	1,123,605	64.7	Mbabane
Western Africa:
Benin	112,620	6,787,625	60.3	Porto-Novo
Burkina Faso	274,200	12,603,185	46.0	Ouagadougou
Cape Verde	4,033	408,760	101.4	Praia
Cte d'Ivoire	322,460	16,804,784	52.1	Abidjan, Yamoussoukro[9]
Gambia	11,300	1,455,842	128.8	Banjul
Ghana	239,460	20,244,154	84.5	Accra
Guinea	245,857	7,775,065	31.6	Conakry
Guinea-Bissau	36,120	1,345,479	37.3	Bissau
Liberia	111,370	3,288,198	29.5	Monrovia
Mali	1,240,000	11,340,480	9.1	Bamako
Mauritania	1,030,700	2,828,858	2.7	Nouakchott
Niger	1,267,000	10,639,744	8.4	Niamey
Nigeria	923,768	129,934,911	140.7	Abuja
Saint Helena (UK)	410	7,317	17.8	Jamestown
Senegal	196,190	10,589,571	54.0	Dakar
Sierra Leone	71,740	5,614,743	78.3	Freetown
Togo	56,785	5,285,501	93.1	Lom
Total	30,305,053	842,326,984	27

Intra-COMESA Trade 2000 to 2004 Value US$ (Millions)

Extra-COMESA Trade 2000 to 2004 Value US$ (Millions)