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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.
This shift did not seem to happen in most other cultural hemispheres on Earth, such as Romance-speaking (including France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Romania, Switzerland, Latin America, and the postcolonial Romance-speaking countries of Africa), Germanic (but excluding English) speaking (including Germany, Austria ...
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.
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.
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 ...
Spanish and French protectorates in Morocco and Spanish Sahara, 1935 Villa Cisneros fortress and aircraft booth, 1930 or 1931 Spanish barracks in El Aaiún, 1972. At the Berlin Conference (1884–1885), the European powers were establishing the rules for setting up zones of influence or protection in Africa, and Spain declared 'a protectorate of the African coast' from Cape Blanc to Cape ...
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 ...
Africa is named for the Afri people who settled in the area of current-day Tunisia. The Roman province of Africa spanned the Mediterranean coast of what is now Libya, Tunisia, and Algeria. The parts of North Africa north of the Sahara were well known in antiquity. However, the Romans never seem to have explored the Sahara itself, or the lands ...