Portal:Africa
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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 around 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surface area. With nearly 1.4 billion 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 various factors including geography, climate, corruption, colonialism, the Cold War, and neocolonialism. Despite this low concentration of wealth, the African economy is home to many of the world's fastest-growing economies.
The continent includes Madagascar and various archipelagos. It contains 54 fully recognised sovereign states, eight cities and islands that are part of non-African states, and two de facto independent states with limited or no recognition. This count does not include Malta and Sicily, which are geologically part of the African continent. Algeria is Africa's largest country by area, and Nigeria is its largest by population. African nations cooperate through the establishment of the African Union, which is headquartered in Addis Ababa.
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. (Full article...)
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The Kingdom of Mapungubwe (pronounced /mɑːˈpuːnɡuːbweɪ/ mah-POON-goob-weh) was an ancient state located at the confluence of the Shashe and Limpopo rivers in present day South Africa, south of Great Zimbabwe. The capital's population was 5,000 by 1250, and the state likely covered 30,000 km2 (12,000 sq mi).
Around 1000 CE, some Leopard's Kopje people moved across the Limpopo to Bambandyanalo where they practiced agropastoralism, moving large cattle herds to other communities' grazing land which fostered socio-political relations, while also engaging in the Indian Ocean trade via Swahili city-states on the East African coast. Over the centuries, increased wealth among the growing population produced inequalities for which Bambandyanalo's spatial arrangement was unsuited. (Full article...)
Featured pictures –
Photograph credit: Alexander SavinDallol 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.
Bird of paradise flower Strelitzia is a genus of five species of perennial plants, native to South Africa. It belongs to the plant family Strelitziaceae. The genus is named after Queen Charlotte of the United Kingdom. A common name of the genus is bird of paradise flower, because of a resemblance of its flowers to birds-of-paradise. In South Africa, it is commonly known as a crane flower and is featured on the reverse of the 50 cent coin.
Photo: William WarbyPortrait 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.
Hippopotamus skull at Disney's Animal Kingdom Photo credit: Mark Pellegrini
The hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius), from the Greek ‘ιπποπόταμος (hippopotamos, hippos meaning "horse" and potamos meaning "river"), is a large, mostly plant-eating African mammal, one of only two extant and three or four extinct species in the family Hippopotamidae.
Photograph credit: Charles James SharpThe 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.
Photograph: Sathyan VelumaniThe 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.
Ancient Egypt Photo credit: Jeff Dahl
Ancient Egypt was a civilization in northeastern Africa concentrated along the middle to lower reaches of the Nile River, reaching its greatest extent in the second millennium BC, during the New Kingdom. It stretched from the Nile Delta in the north as far south as Jebel Barkal at the Fourth Cataract of the Nile, in modern-day Sudan.
Idi Amin Credit: Edmund S. Valtman
Idi Amin (c. 1925 – 16 August 2003) was President of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. While President, Amin committed acts of violence against the people of his country; an estimated 300,000, possibly 500,000 civilians may have been killed under his regime. In this caricature by Edmund S. Valtman, Amin is depicted as a bloated, powerful figure in military dress covered with medals and insignia, holding a scepter, and crowned by a small head with heavy features.
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.
Photo credit: LaitcheThe 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.
A lioness in Ishasha Southern sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park in southwestern Uganda) Photo credit: Cody Pope
The lion (Panthera leo) is a mammal of the family Felidae and one of four "big cats" in the genus Panthera. The lion is the second largest feline species, after the tiger. The male lion, easily recognized by his mane, weighs between 150 and 250 kg (330–500 lb). Females range 120–150 kg (260–330 lb). In the wild, lions live for around 10–14 years, while in captivity they can live over 20 years. Though they were once found throughout much of Africa, Asia and Europe, lions presently exist in the wild only in Africa and India. They enjoy hot climates, and hunt in groups.
Photo: NASAA 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.
Mikumi National Park Credit: Muhammad Mahdi Karim
Moshi is a Tanzanian town with a population of 144,739 (2002 census) in Kilimanjaro Region. The town is situated on the lower slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, a volcanic mountain that is the highest mountain in Africa. Moshi is home to the Chagga and Maasai tribes and lies on the A 23 Arusha-Himo east-west road connecting Arusha and Mombasa, Kenya. Just to the east of Moshi is the intersection with the B 1 north-south road eventually connecting with Tanga and Dar es Salaam.
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.
Shanty town housing in Soweto, South Africa Soweto (/səˈwɛtoʊ, -ˈweɪt-, -ˈwiːt-/) is a township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for South Western Townships. Formerly a separate municipality, it is now incorporated in the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality, Suburbs of Johannesburg.
Photograph credit: Charles J. SharpThe 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.
Photograph: Muhammad Mahdi KarimAdansonia 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).
Banknote design credit: Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Bank; photographed by Andrew ShivaThe 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:
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Photograph: Poco a pocoPanoramic 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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Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... that one of the first naval engagements of World War I took place in Africa?
- ... that François-Edmond Fortier published more than 3,300 postcards of French West Africa between 1901 and 1920?
- ... that young male African bush elephants in musth killed about 49 white rhinoceros
- ... that the MPLA launched the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Angola in 1963 hoping to secure support from the Organisation of African Unity, but the move had the opposite effect?
- ... that weightlifter Oun Yao-ling was asked to compete in the South African Games, but the invitation was swiftly rescinded once the organisers learned that he was Chinese, not white?
- ... that Pocatello mayor Les Purce was the first African-American political officeholder in Idaho?
Categories
Selected biography –
Charles Atangana (c. 1880 – 1 September 1943), also known by his birth name, Ntsama, and his German name, Karl, was the paramount chief of the Ewondo people. (Full article...)
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Chad (Arabic: تشاد; French: Tchad), officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in central Africa. It borders Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west.
Chad has three major geographical regions: a desert zone in the north, an arid Sahelian belt in the centre and a more fertile Sudanian savanna zone in the south. Lake Chad, after which the country is named, is the largest wetland in Chad and the second largest in Africa. Chad's highest peak is the Emi Koussi in the Sahara, and the largest city is N'Djamena, the capital. Chad is home to over 200 different ethnic and linguistic groups.
While many political parties are active, power lies firmly in the hands of President Idriss Déby and his Patriotic Salvation Movement. Chad remains plagued by political violence and recurrent attempted coups d'état. Recently, the Darfur conflict in Sudan has spilt over the border and destabilised the nation. (Read more...)
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Abidjan (/ˌæbɪˈdʒɑːn/ AB-ih-JAHN, French: [abidʒɑ̃] ⓘ; N'ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the largest city and the former capital of Ivory Coast. As of the 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of the overall population of the country, making it the sixth most populous city proper in Africa, after Lagos, Cairo, Kinshasa, Dar es Salaam, and Johannesburg. A cultural crossroads of West Africa, Abidjan is characterised by a high level of industrialisation and urbanisation. It is the most populous French-speaking city in West Africa.
The city expanded quickly after the construction of a new wharf in 1931, followed by its designation as the capital city of the then-French colony in 1933. The completion of the Vridi Canal in 1951 enabled Abidjan to become an important sea port. Abidjan remained the capital of Ivory Coast after its independence from France in 1960. In 1983, the city of Yamoussoukro was designated as the official political capital of Ivory Coast. However, Abidjan has officially been designated as the "economic capital" of the country, because it is the largest city in the country and the centre of its economic activity. Many political institutions and all foreign embassies continue to be located in Abidjan as well. The Abidjan Autonomous District, which encompasses the city and some of its suburbs, is one of the 14 districts of Ivory Coast. (Full article...)
In the news
- 2 August 2026 – Ethiopian civil conflict
- Ethiopia-TPLF clashes
- New clashes are reported across the Tigray Region in northern Ethiopia between the Ethiopian federal army and Tigray People's Liberation Front, four years after the previous war in the region ended, prompting hundreds to flee to war-torn Sudan amidst fears of a new civil war. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
- Several Ethiopian refugees are reportedly killed after projectiles have hit refugee camps across the Ethiopia–Sudan border. (Sudan Tribune)
- 2 August 2026 – Sudanese civil war
- Darfur campaign, Darfur genocide
- A drone strike hits a customary court in Kabkabiya District, North Darfur, Sudan, killing at least 37 people. (Al Jazeera)
- 2 August 2026 – Mali War, Mali–Russia relations
- The BBC reports that Russia has shipped military equipment on the sanctioned cargo vessel Mikhail Britnev last month to the Malian government. (BBC News) (RBC-Ukraine)
Updated: 4:05, 4 August 2026
General images -
Map of Ancient Egypt, showing its major cities and sites, c. 3150 BC to 30 BC (from History of Africa)
Map of trade centres and routes on the Zimbabwean Plateau (from History of Africa)
States of the western Congo Basin, c. 1350 (from History of Africa)
The Great Pyramids of Giza, Egypt (from Culture of Africa)
An Ethiopian woman preparing Ethiopian coffee at a traditional ceremony. She roasts, crushes, and brews the coffee on the spot. (from Culture of Africa)
Potjiekos is a traditional Afrikaner stew made with meat and vegetables and cooked over coals in cast-iron pots. (from Culture of Africa)
Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum, one of the most iconic singers in African history (from Culture of Africa)
Traditional male dancers from Northern Nigeria (from Culture of Africa)
Kenyan boys and girls performing a traditional folklore dance (from Culture of Africa)
Gateway to the Castle of Good Hope in South Africa (from Culture of Africa)
Fufu (right) is a staple meal in West Africa and Central Africa. It is usually served with some peanut soup. (from Culture of Africa)
Tingatinga is one of the most widely represented forms of paintings in Tanzania, Kenya and neighbouring countries. (from Culture of Africa)
Territory of the Mali Empire (from History of Africa)
Ruby, Egyptian singer performing (from Culture of Africa)
Order of independence of African nations, 1950–2011
A realistic terracotta head sculpture (1100–1500) of the Yoruba representing the oni or king of Ife (from Culture of Africa)
Sudan basket-tray, tabar of weaved natural plant fiber, in different colors (from Culture of Africa)
Areas 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)
A Yombe sculpture (Louvre, Paris) (from Culture of Africa)
One of the Rock-Hewn Churches of Lalibela, constructed during the Zagwe dynasty (from History of Africa)
Maasai wearing traditional clothes named Matavuvale while performing Adumu, a traditional dance (from Culture of Africa)
Display of African cultural apparel (smock) (from Culture of Africa)
Ancient Kano City Walls, Nigeria (from Culture of Africa)
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Africa topics
More did you know –
- ... that at approximately 5,000 years old, the Lothagam North Pillar Site is thought to be the earliest and largest monumental cemetery in eastern Africa?
- ... that a 2020 study found that African countries which allowed foreign funding of NGOs had a higher voter turnout?
- ... that Essop Moosa, who was of Indian origin, became the first non-white player to play for an all-white soccer team in South Africa, appearing under a pseudonym?
- ... that the Seventh German Inner Africa Research Expedition served as cover for a secret First World War espionage mission?
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Major Religions in Africa
North Africa
West Africa
Central Africa
East Africa
Southern Africa
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