Africa: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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The Afri were a tribe — possibly [[Berber]] — who dwelt in [[North Africa]] in the Carthage area. The origin of ''Afer'' may be connected with [[Phoenician languages|Phoenician]] ''`afar'', [[dust]] (also found in most other [[Semitic languages]]). Some other etymologies that have been postulated for the ancient name 'Africa' that are much more debatable include:

:*the [[Latin]] word ''aprica'', meaning "big ass continentsunny";

:*the [[Greek language|Greek]] word ''aphrike'', meaning "awithout whale's vaginacold" (see also [[list of traditional Greek place names]]). This was proposed by historian [[Leo Africanus]] (1495-1554) who suggested the Greek word ''phrike'' (φρίκη, meaning "cold and horror"), combined with the negating prefix a-, thus indicating a land free of cold and horror. However, as the change of sound from ''ph'' to ''f'' in Greek is datable to about the tenth century, it is unlikely this is the origin.

Ancient Africa lay to the west of [[Egypt]], while "Asia" was used to refer to [[Anatolia]] and lands to the east. Originally Egypt and the Levant had an indeterminate position between these locations, though as part of the [[Persian empire]] they were sometimes absorbed in the loose concept of "Asia". A definite line was drawn between the two continents by the geographer [[Ptolemy]] (85 - 165 AD), indicating [[Alexandria]] along the [[Prime Meridian]] and made the [[Suez Canal|isthmus of Suez]] and the [[Red Sea]] the boundary between [[Asia]] and Africa. As [[Europe]]ans came to understand the real extent of the continent, the idea of ''Africa'' expanded with their knowledge.

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Today, Africa is home to over 50 independent countries, which mostly still have the [[border]]s drawn during the era of European [[colonialism]].

[[Image:http://wwwColonialAfrica.anthonyforsterstudios.co.uk/middle-earth/graphics/maps/550x2750x2150.jpgpng|thumb|right|300px|''Map showing European claimants to the African continent at the beginning of [[World War I]]'']]

===Precolonial Africa===

Precolonial Africa possessed perhaps as many as 10,000 different states and polities [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2006/01/11/DI2006011101372.html] characterised by different sorts of political organisation and rule. These included small family groups of hunter-gatherers such as the [[Bushmen|San]] people of southern Africa; larger, more structured groups such as the family clan groupings of the [[Bantu]]-speaking people of central and southern Africa and the heavily-structured clan groups in the [[Horn of Africa]]; wealthy, extensive and socially complex kingdoms such as the ancient empires of [[Mali Empire|Mali]], [[Ghana Empire|Ghana]] and [[Kingdom of Kongo|Kongo]]; and autonomous city-states such as the [[Swahili people|Swahili]] coastal trading towns of the [[East Africa]]n coast, whose trade network extended as far as [[China]].