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| Afrique | |
|---|---|
| Conventional long name | Afrique |
| Capital | Cairo |
| Largest city | Lagos |
| Official languages | Arabic language, English language, French language |
| Area km2 | 30370000 |
| Population estimate | 1.3 billion |
| Currency | Nigerian naira; South African rand |
| Government | African Union member states |
| Sovereignty type | Continental region |
Afrique Afrique is a transcontinental region encompassing the continent commonly divided into Northern, Western, Central, Eastern, and Southern zones linked by shared histories of trade, migration, and colonization. The region contains diverse physical features such as the Sahara Desert, the Nile River, the Congo Basin, the Great Rift Valley, and the Kalahari Desert, and hosts major urban agglomerations like Cairo, Lagos, Kinshasa, Nairobi, and Johannesburg. Afrique's global significance is reflected in its interactions with entities such as the European Union, the United Nations, the World Bank, and multinational corporations operating in extractive industries.
The name Afrique derives from Latin and European exonyms that appear in works like those by Pliny the Elder and Ptolemy, and was later adopted into languages during the era of Age of Discovery contact with the Ottoman Empire and Kingdom of Portugal. Etymological theories reference the Roman provincial name Africa (Roman province), the Berber word ifri or tribes such as the Aourigha, and medieval Islamic geographers like Ibn Battuta and Al-Bakri. European cartographers including Gerardus Mercator and explorers like Henry Morton Stanley and David Livingstone influenced the modern cartographic use of the name in atlases published by houses such as Hakluyt Society and institutions like the Royal Geographical Society.
Afrique spans major biomes from the Mediterranean forests of the Atlas Mountains to the tropical rainforests of the Congo Basin and the montane regions of the Ethiopian Highlands. Major waterways include the Nile River, the Congo River, and the Niger River, which support systems investigated by organizations like the International Union for Conservation of Nature and projects funded by the African Development Bank. Biodiversity hotspots encompass endemic species studied in institutions such as the Smithsonian Institution, the Zoological Society of London, and universities like University of Cape Town and Makerere University. Environmental challenges include desertification documented by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, deforestation in regions affected by companies like Glencore and Olam International, and climate impacts assessed in reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Human origins research situates early hominins in sites like Olduvai Gorge and Herto Bouri, with paleoanthropology programs at National Museum of Ethiopia and collaborations involving Harvard University and Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. Antiquity saw complex polities such as Ancient Egypt, Carthage, Kingdom of Aksum, and the Mali Empire, linked by trans-Saharan trade networks documented in chronicles by Ibn Khaldun and travelers like Ibn Battuta. The medieval and early modern eras include states like the Songhai Empire, coastal interactions with the Portuguese Empire and Dutch East India Company, and the transatlantic encounters that fed the Atlantic slave trade addressed in archives at Institut fondamental d'Afrique noire and the British Library. Colonial partitioning by the Berlin Conference (1884–85) created borders administered by powers such as France, United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany, Italy, and Portugal, leading to anticolonial movements involving leaders like Kwame Nkrumah, Jomo Kenyatta, Patrice Lumumba, and Nelson Mandela. Postcolonial history includes regional organizations such as the Organisation of African Unity and the African Union, conflicts like the Rwandan Genocide and Second Congo War, and peace processes mediated by actors including the United Nations Security Council and the African Union Commission.
Afrique is home to thousands of ethnic groups such as the Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, Amhara, Oromo, Zulu, Xhosa, Akan, Fulani, Berber people, and Tuareg. Linguistic families include branches represented by languages like Swahili language, Amharic language, Arabic language, Hausa language, Yoruba language, and French language as legacy languages used in state institutions such as University of Ibadan and Cheikh Anta Diop University. Musical traditions feature genres and figures associated with Fela Kuti, Miriam Makeba, Salif Keita, and contemporary artists collaborating with platforms such as MTV Africa and record labels like Sony Music Entertainment. Religious landscapes include communities of Islam, Coptic Orthodox Church, Roman Catholicism, Pentecostalism, and indigenous belief systems documented by scholars at Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana.
Natural-resource sectors include hydrocarbons exploited by firms like Shell, TotalEnergies, and ExxonMobil in basins such as the Niger Delta and Gulf of Guinea, and mineral extraction—gold in Ghana, diamonds in Botswana, and cobalt in the Katanga Province—contracted with corporations including De Beers and Glencore. Agricultural products such as cocoa from Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana, coffee from Ethiopia, and cassava cultivated in regions served by Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa feed commodity markets monitored by the World Trade Organization and International Monetary Fund. Infrastructure projects include transcontinental corridors like the Trans-African Highway initiatives and investments by state actors such as the China Railway Group under frameworks like the Belt and Road Initiative.
Political systems span presidential, parliamentary, constitutional monarchies such as Morocco, and hybrid regimes studied by organizations like Freedom House and International Crisis Group. Regional bodies include the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States, the Southern African Development Community, and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development. Security issues involve peacekeeping missions by the United Nations Mission in South Sudan, counterterrorism operations against groups like Boko Haram and Al-Shabaab, and diplomacy involving powers such as the United States, China, France, and Russia in forums like the United Nations General Assembly.
Population centers include megacities like Lagos, Kinshasa, Cairo, Dar es Salaam, and Casablanca, with urban planning challenges addressed by institutions such as UN-Habitat and projects funded by the African Development Bank. Demographic trends show a youthful population noted in analyses by United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs and rapid urban growth influenced by migration from rural regions including the Sahel and Horn of Africa. Public health initiatives combat diseases in programs run by World Health Organization, Médecins Sans Frontières, and national ministries inspired by campaigns like those of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.
Category:Continents