Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. 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 1.4 billion people0 as of 2021, it accounts for about 18% of the world's human population. Africa's population is the youngest amongst all the continents; the median age in 2012 was 19.7, when the worldwide median age was 30.4. Despite a wide range of natural resources, Africa is the least wealthy continent per capita and second-least wealthy by total wealth, behind Oceania. Scholars have attributed this to different factors including geography, climate, tribalism, colonialism, the Cold War, neocolonialism, lack of democracy, and corruption. Despite this low concentration of wealth, recent economic expansion and the large and young population make Africa an important economic market in the broader global context.

Africa straddles the equator and the prime meridian. It is the only continent to stretch from the northern temperate to the southern temperate zones. The majority of the continent and its countries are in the Northern Hemisphere, with a substantial portion and number of countries in the Southern Hemisphere. Most of the continent lies in the tropics, except for a large part of Western Sahara, Algeria, Libya and Egypt, the northern tip of Mauritania, and the entire territories of Morocco, Ceuta, Melilla, and Tunisia which in turn are located above the tropic of Cancer, in the northern temperate zone. In the other extreme of the continent, southern Namibia, southern Botswana, great parts of South Africa, the entire territories of Lesotho and Eswatini and the southern tips of Mozambique and Madagascar are located below the tropic of Capricorn, in the southern temperate zone.

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 also is 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 has often been under-appreciated by the global historical community. Africa, particularly Eastern Africa, is widely accepted as the place of origin of humans and the Hominidae clade (great apes). The earliest hominids and their ancestors have been dated to around 7 million years ago, including Sahelanthropus tchadensis, Australopithecus africanus, A. afarensis, Homo erectus, H. habilis and H. ergaster—the earliest Homo sapiens (modern human) remains, found in Ethiopia, South Africa, and Morocco, date to circa 233,000, 259,000, and 300,000 years ago respectively, and Homo sapiens is believed to have originated in Africa around 350,000–260,000 years ago. Africa is also considered by anthropologists to be the most genetically diverse continent as a result of being the longest inhabited. (Full article...)

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The Gambia women's national football team represents the Gambia in international women's football. It is governed by the Gambia Football Federation. As of December 2019, it has only competed in one major international competition, the 2018 Africa Women Cup of Nations qualification. The Gambia has two youth teams, an under-17 side that has competed in FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup qualifiers, and an under-19 side that withdrew from regional qualifiers for an under-19 World Cup. The development of a national team faces challenges similar to those across Africa, although the national football association has four staff members focusing on women's football. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

Ancient Egypt Lion Nafaanra Algerian Civil War Nile Hippopotamus Makuria Saint-Sylvestre coup d'état Maraba coffee Cyclone Elita Pygmy hippopotamus Mozambican War of Independence Cameroon Chad Shangani Patrol Ruins of Gedi Kenya Airways Battle of Kabalo Antemoro people HIV/AIDS in Malawi Royal antelope Malagasy cuisine Zanzibar red colobus Mount Kenya Spotted hyena Igbo people Abir Congo Company Namib Desert Horse Victoria Falls Conference (1975) African humid period French Sudan Nairobi National Park Hammer-headed bat Three Horses Beer Early life of Cleopatra Congo Crisis Senegal at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Libyan–Egyptian War South Kasai Meermin slave mutiny Sitatunga Music in the movement against apartheid Positive Black Soul National Museum of African Art Sophiatown Adar oilfield Nigeria Airways Black-necked spitting cobra Chilembwe uprising Fatimid architecture History of Maputo Siege of Saïo GhanaSat-1 2012 Guinea-Bissau coup d'état Rwandan Civil War Zebra Ethiopian historiography Dodo Rudd Concession Marojejy National Park Giraffe Fall of Kampala Race Against Time: Searching for Hope in AIDS-Ravaged Africa False potto Secretarybird Zanzibar Revolution Saint-Sylvestre coup d'état History of Timbuktu Sahara Lake Chad African Great Lakes North Africa Southern Africa West Africa East Africa Central Africa African Union History of Kenya African philosophy Ruins of Gedi East African campaign (World War I) Cushitic peoples Diani Beach The Kennedy Airlift Table Mountain Berbers Kenya in World War II Timbuktu Manuscripts Black mamba Nubian pyramids Battle of Adwa Congo River Nilotic languages Benin Bronzes Lalibela Battle of Isandlwana Africa International Film Festival Shilluk Kingdom Meroë Lukasa (Luba) Talking drum Amphitheatre of El Jem Saharan rock art Tsodilo Thimlich Ohinga Great Zimbabwe Bokoni Kingdom of Kongo Gobero Fasil Ghebbi Great Rift Valley, Kenya Engaruka Languages of Africa Pan-Africanism Laetoli Rhapta Swahili culture Kilwa Sultanate Tongoni Ruins Recent African origin of modern humans Genetic history of North Africa African admixture in Europe Rozvi Empire Kweneng' Ruins Kingdom of Mapungubwe Kingdom of Benin Bigo bya Mugenyi Kerma Sabu-Jaddi Land of Punt Nobatia Alodia Akrafena African art Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt Apedemak Orisha Dahomey Amazons COVID-19 pandemic in Africa Climate change in Africa Africae Tabula Nova Niger women's national football team October 2021 Sudanese coup d'état Dougga

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  Image 1

  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 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

  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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  Photo credit: Luca Galuzzi
  

  
  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.
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  Image 5

  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 6

  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 fifty-rupie banknote was issued in 1915, and is now part of the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution.
  
  
  Other denominations:
  '"`UNIQ--templatestyles-00000010-QINU`"'
  

  
  * 1 rupie
  * 5 rupie
  * 10 rupie
  * 20 rupie
  * 200 rupie
  

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  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.
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  Image 8

  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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  Credit: Muhammad Mahdi Karim
  

  
  Dar es Salaam is the largest city in Tanzania. It is also the country's richest city and a regionally important economic centre. Dar es Salaam is actually an administrative province within Tanzania, and consists of three local government areas or administrative districts: Kinondoni to the north, Ilala in the center of the region, and Temeke to the south. The Dar es Salaam Region had a population of 2,497,940 as of the official 2002 census. Though Dar es Salaam lost its official status as capital city to Dodoma in 1974, it remains the center of the permanent central government bureaucracy and continues to serve as the capital for the Dar es Salaam Region.
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  Photo credit: American Colony (Jerusalem). Photo Dept., photographer
  

  
  Haile Selassie I (July 23, 1892 – August 27, 1975), born Tafari Makonnen, was Ethiopia's regent from 1916 to 1930 and Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. The heir to a dynasty that traced its origins to the 13th century, and from there by tradition back to King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, Haile Selassie is a defining figure in Ethiopian and African history.
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  Photo credit: User:Movingsaletoday
  

  
  Chamaeleo jacksonii (common names Jackson's Chameleon or Three-horned Chameleon) is an African chameleon belonging to the chameleon family (Chamaeleonidae). It is native to the humid, cooler regions of Kenya and Tanzania.
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  Image 12

  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 13

  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 14

  

  
  

  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.
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  Image 15

  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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  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.
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  Image 17

  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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  Image 18

  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 19

  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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Did you know – show different entries

• ...that Rukwanzi Island, an island in Lake Albert, one of the African Great Lakes, is the subject of a territorial dispute between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda?
• ...that Oumarou Sidikou, vice-governor of the Central Bank of West African States from 1988 to 1993, was a minister in the government of Nigerien Prime Minister Hama Amadou, which was ousted by a military coup in 1996?
• ...that Jason Dunford, an All-Africa Games gold medalist and runner-up for the 2006 Kenyan Sportsman of the Year award, has a younger brother who was selected "most promising sportsman" at the same awards?
• ...that Sam Mbakwe, governor of Imo State from 1979 to 1983, served in the army of the Republic of Biafra, an Igbo secessionist state in southeastern Nigeria, during the Nigerian Civil War?

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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...)

List of selected biographies

Ahmose I P. K. van der Byl Yoweri Museveni Roy Welensky Frederick Russell Burnham Alexandre Banza Barthélemy Boganda Charles Atangana Chinua Achebe List of international goals scored by Didier Drogba Abebe Bikila Isaac Folorunso Adewole Fatima Massaquoi Hakeem Olajuwon Desmond Tutu Nelson Mandela Didier Drogba Albert Camus Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti Félix Houphouët-Boigny Gamal Abdel Nasser Francis Bok Zersenay Tadese Abd al-Rahman al-Mahdi Muammar Gaddafi Richard Goldstone Jean-Chrysostome Weregemere Dox (poet) Judith Kanakuze Karamokho Alfa John Harrison Clark Mido (footballer) Naledi Pandor Paul Gondjout Hugh Beadle Sol Bamba Solomon (magister militum) William Henry Sheppard Évariste Kimba Alex Owumi Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo Edson Chagas Mbaye Diagne Omar Derdour Jason Sendwe Samia Yusuf Omar Miriam Makeba Steve Biko Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo Paul Kagame Ranavalona III Jomo Kenyatta Rémy Mwamba Evelyn Mase Rakoto Frah Paul Kruger Jean Bolikango Marcel Lihau Ibn Battuta Julius Nyerere Haile Selassie Wole Soyinka Anwar Sadat Wangari Maathai Christiaan Barnard Thabo Mbeki Rainilaiarivony Nnamdi Azikiwe Kofi Annan Kwame Nkrumah Cleopatra Andriantsimitoviaminiandriana Andriandrazaka Eusèbe Jaojoby Tom Mboya Ahmad Baba al-Timbukti Zara Yaqob Tippu Tip Imhotep Ptahhotep Thomas R. Odhiambo Mansa Musa Usman dan Fodio Mahmood Mamdani Okot p'Bitek Anton Wilhelm Amo Dutty Boukman Richard Leakey Dedan Kimathi Wole Soyinka Augustine of Hippo Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Lupita Nyong'o Juba II Kocc Barma Fall Cheikh Anta Diop Patrice Lumumba Léopold Sédar Senghor Amanirenas Ali Mazrui Barack Obama Sr. Bethwell Allan Ogot Ochola Ogaye Mak'Anyengo Daniel arap Moi Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Mwai Kibaki Mahmood Mamdani Reuben Olembo David Rudisha Max Theiler Albert Luthuli Aaron Klug Naguib Mahfouz Nadine Gordimer Ahmed Zewail Sydney Brenner J. M. Coetzee Denis Mukwege Taharqa Shabaka Pope Miltiades Pope Victor I Pope Gelasius I Saint Maurice Lusius Quietus

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Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in southern Africa on the Atlantic coast. It shares borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east, and South Africa to the south. It gained independence from South Africa in 1990 and its capital city is Windhoek (German: Windhuk). It is divided into 13 regions and subdivided into 102 constituencies. Namibia is a member state of the United Nations (UN), the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the African Union (AU), and the Commonwealth of Nations.

The politics of Namibia takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Namibia is elected to a five year term and is both the head of state and the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of parliament. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. (Read more...)

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Kano (Ajami: كانو) is a city in northern Nigeria and the capital of Kano State. It is the second largest city in Nigeria after Lagos, with over four million citizens living within 449 km² (173 sq mi); located in the Savanna, south of the Sahel, Kano is a major route of the trans-Saharan trade. The city has been a trade and human settlement for millennia. It is the traditional state of the Dabo dynasty who since the 19th century have ruled as emirs over the city-state. Kano Emirate Council is the current traditional institution inside the city boundaries of Kano, and under the authority of the Government of Kano State.

The city is one of the medieval Hausa seven kingdoms. The principal inhabitants of the city are the Hausa people. Centuries before British colonization, Kano was strongly cosmopolitan with settled populations of Arab, Berber, Tuareg, Kanuri and Fula and remains so with the Hausa language spoken as a lingua-franca by over 70 million speakers in the region. Islam arrived in the city in the 11th century or earlier primarily through the trans-Saharan trade and as a result became wealthy and the commercial nerve centre of the region and Northern Nigeria, and is still associated as the "centre of commerce". (Full article...)

List of selected cities

Lagos Kinshasa Cairo Johannesburg Nairobi Abidjan Cape Town Alexandria Casablanca Accra Dar es Salaam Giza Addis Ababa Kumasi Algiers Luanda Ibadan Douala Omdurman Yaoundé Bamako Kampala Mombasa Mogadishu Conakry Pretoria Lusaka Benin City Fez, Morocco Dakar Asmara Port Said Beira, Mozambique Rabat Cotonou Suez Enugu Pointe-Noire Libreville Tunis Brazzaville Bouaké Lomé Monrovia Lilongwe Kisangani Port Harcourt Freetown Nouakchott Djibouti (city) Malabo Berbera Laayoune Tripoli, Libya Constantine, Algeria Giza Cabinda (city) Niamey Windhoek Gaborone Lubumbashi Bangui Bissau Cape Coast Ouagadougou Harare Port Elizabeth N'Djamena Tindouf Benghazi Port Said Safi, Morocco Tangier Timbuktu Bujumbura Porto-Novo Juba Khartoum Francistown Kisumu Eldoret Thika Lamu town

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In the news

19 March 2022 – Politics of Australia

Preliminary election results show Peter Malinauskas and his Labor Party winning a majority. (ABC News Australia)

15 March 2022 –

Burkinabè architect Diébédo Francis Kéré wins the 2022 Pritzker Architecture Prize, becoming the first African and black person to do so. (The Guardian)

15 March 2022 – COVID-19 pandemic

COVID-19 pandemic in Namibia

Namibia drops its requirement of face mask and mandatory PCR COVID-19 test for vaccinated visitors as the number of cases falls. (Reuters)

14 March 2022 –

Cameroon bans shisha smoking, becoming the sixth African country to do so. (Africanews)

13 March 2022 – Insurgency in Northern Chad; aftermath of the 2021 Northern Chad offensive

The Transitional Military Council of Chad meets with 44 different armed rebel and opposition groups, including the Front for Change and Concord in Chad, Movement for Democracy and Justice in Chad, and the Union of Forces for Democracy and Development in Doha, Qatar for peace talks. The President of Chad, Mahamat Déby, hopes that the talks will be the first step towards agreeing on a new constitution and holding free elections. (ABC News) (France24)

Updated: 7:33, 20 March 2022