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The name Africa was originally used by the ancient Romans to refer to the northern part of the continent that corresponds to modern-day Tunisia. There are many theories regarding its origin. Africa terra means "land of the Afri" (plural, or "Afer" singular), referring to the Afri tribe, who dwelt in Northern Africa around the area of Carthage.
The Scramble for Africa [a] was the conquest and colonisation of most of Africa by seven Western European powers driven by the Second Industrial Revolution during the late 19th century and early 20th century in the era of "New Imperialism": Belgium, France, Germany, United Kingdom, Italy, Portugal and Spain.
Spain officially refused to accept the name America for two centuries, saying that Columbus should get credit, and Waldseemüller's later maps, after Ringmann's death, did not include it; in 1513 he labelled it "Terra Incognita" with a note about Columbus's discovery of the land. [20]
The principal powers involved in the modern colonisation of Africa were Britain, France, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Belgium and Italy. European rule had significant impacts on Africa's societies and the suppression of communal autonomy disrupted local customary practices and caused the irreversible transformation of Africa's socioeconomic ...
This name served as the basis for other European colonizers to refer to the region as the Gold Coast. In 1472, Fernão do Pó discovered the island that would bear his name for centuries (now Bioko) and an estuary abundant in shrimp (Portuguese: camarão,), giving its name to Cameroon. Soon after, the equator was crossed by Europeans.
The continent has between 1250 and 2100 languages, [11] and at its peak it is estimated that Africa had around 10,000 polities, with most following traditional religions. [12] From the 7th century CE, Islam spread west amid the Arab conquest of North Africa, and by proselytization to the Horn of Africa.
Africa, Asia, and Europe became collectively called the "Old World" of the Eastern Hemisphere, while the Americas were then referred to as "the fourth part of the world", or the "New World". [ 3 ] Antarctica and Oceania are considered neither Old World nor New World lands, since they were only discovered by Europeans much later.
British East Africa (former name): after its geographical position on the continent of Africa and the former colonial power, . See also Britain, above, and Africa on the Place name etymology page. From the Kikuyu word Kirinyaga a contraction of Kirima nyaga "Ostrich mountain", so called because the dark shadows and snow-capped peak resemble the ...