Africa is the second largest continent in area and in population. Only Asia covers a larger area and has more people. Africa covers approximately 11,680,000 square miles (30,250,000 square kilometers), about a fifth of the world's land area, and has a population of about 898 million, about one-seventh of the world’s people.
The African continent is an immense plateau, broken by a few mountain ranges and bordered in some areas by a narrow coastal plain. It is a land of striking contrasts and great natural wonders. In the tropical rain forests of western and central Africa, the towering treetops form a thick green canopy. The world's largest desert, the Sahara, stretches across northern Africa. It covers an area almost as large as the United States. Africa also has the world's longest river—the Nile. It flows more than 4,000 miles (6,400 kilometers) through northeastern Africa. Grasslands make up about a third of the continent. Elephants, giraffes, lions, zebras, and many other animals live in the vast grasslands in eastern and southern Africa.
Africa is divided into 53 independent countries and several other political units. The largest country, Sudan, has an area of 967,500 square miles (2,505,813 square kilometers). The smallest, Seychelles, has a land area of only 176 square miles (455 square kilometers). The most heavily populated African nation, Nigeria, has more than 130 million people. However, about one-third of all African countries have fewer than 5 million people each. About 700 million people—about 75 percent of Africa’s total population—live south of the Sahara in the vast region called sub-Saharan Africa.
There are several hundred ethnic groups throughout Africa, each with its own language or dialect and way of life. The large number and various sizes of ethnic groups has made it difficult for some African countries to develop into unified, modern nations. In some African countries, national boundaries cut across traditional ethnic homelands. As a result, people may feel closer ties to neighbors in another country than to other ethnic groups within their own country. Ethnic and religious differences have led to civil wars in several countries.
Africa has great mineral wealth, including huge deposits of copper, diamonds, gold, and petroleum. It also has valuable forests. In addition, many African rivers and waterfalls could be used to produce hydroelectric power. Africa produces most of the world's cassava, cocoa beans, and yams. But Africa has the least developed economy of any continent except Antarctica.
Agriculture is the leading economic activity in Africa, but most farmers use outdated tools and methods to farm thin, poor soil. About two-thirds of all Africans live in rural areas, where they make a living growing crops or raising livestock. Since the mid-1900's, however, millions of rural Africans have flocked to cities and have adopted a more urban lifestyle. The development of manufacturing has been handicapped by a lack of money to build factories, a shortage of skilled workers, and competition from industries on other continents. Many African countries depend on only one or two farm or mineral products for more than half their export earnings. In case of crop failures or drops in world market prices, a country's economy suffers. The majority of African nations rely to some extent on aid from countries outside the continent.
One of the world's first great civilizations—ancient Egypt—arose along the banks of the Nile River more than 5,000 years ago. Later, other powerful and culturally advanced kingdoms and empires developed in Africa. Even so, for many years Westerners referred to Africa as the "Dark Continent." They used this name because they knew little about Africa's interior geography, and they mistakenly believed that the people of the interior had not developed any important cultures.
During the late 1400's and 1500's, Europeans began to establish trading posts in Africa. Gold, ivory, and slaves became the continent's most valuable exports. By the late 1800's, European nations competed fiercely for control of Africa's resources. By the early 1900's, they had carved almost all of Africa into colonial empires. The European colonizers used their colonies as a source of wealth, exporting natural resources while most of the colonized people lived in poor conditions. Colonial rulers often cared little about local customs and ethnic boundaries.
Many Africans resisted colonial rule from the beginning. But the demands for independence did not become a powerful mass movement until the mid-1900's. Between 1950 and 1980, 47 African colonies gained independence. But years of colonial rule had left Africa poorly prepared in some ways to face the modern world. Leaders in many of the new nations managed their national economies poorly and struggled with the ethnic differences and other social challenges facing them. Military officers overthrew the governments of many nations. In a few countries, military dictatorships emerged. In most other countries, a single political party became the ruling power.
Today, ethnic rivalries and territorial disputes among nations continue to threaten the stability of Africa. Such problems as overpopulation, poverty, famine, corruption, and disease remain challenges for African leaders.
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