Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest continent (after Asia), containing around one-fifth of the planet's total land area.

The Genesis Of Humans In Africa
Enormous numbers of human-like fossils (found nowhere else) dating back 3.5 million years were unearthed across the continent, leading scientists to the conclusion that Africa was the cradle of mankind. Early man migrated across Africa some 1.75 million years ago. They evolved into fierce hunters, lived in caves, and relied on fire and their ability to produce stone tools to survive.

Around 200,000 years ago, the Neanderthals arose and colonized territories in northern Africa and southern Europe. There is also evidence that they controlled fire and lived in caves as well as open-air stone and plant structures.

One of prehistoric man's most significant achievements was the invention of stone tools. Humans were producing crops and herding livestock by 5000 BC in northern Africa, and farming was becoming increasingly prevalent. At the time, the Sahara Desert was a fruitful zone.

The History of Ancient Africa
In 3200 BC, the Egyptian civilization formed near the lower reaches of the Nile River; It was one of the first civilizations, with bronze tools and weapons. They also laid the groundwork for the construction of massive pyramids and temples. In addition, the Egyptians developed mathematics, a revolutionary medical system, irrigation and agricultural production techniques, writing, and the first ships. In a nutshell, the Egyptians left their imprint on the world.

Around 600 BC, little population bases and farming groups in North Africa began to use metal implements, which gradually spread south into what is now known as South Africa.

The Phoenicians were an entrepreneurial maritime commercial civilisation from Lebanon that spread across the Mediterranean from 1550 BC to 300 BC. Carthage was built in 814 BC in what is now Tunisia, North Africa, only to be destroyed by the Romans in 146 BC.

Meanwhile, the Egyptians spread their culture over Northern Africa, creating kingdoms in Ethiopia and Sudan. Egypt became a province of Rome in 30 BC, and Morocco did the same in 42 AD, when the Roman Empire expanded its control.

Before the Middle Ages began, the Roman Empire had disintegrated, and the Arabs had quickly taken control of the continent. In 698-700, they invaded Tunis and Carthage, seizing control of all of coastal North Africa. The Arabs were Muslims, and much of North Africa converted to Islam with the exception of Ethiopia.

Soon after, kingdoms developed in Africa, and they fought the Arabs with gold and a valuable commodity: slaves. One of the early kingdoms was Ghana, which is now located in southern Mauritania and western Mali. The empire thrived thanks to trans-Saharan gold and salt trade, but it fell out of power in the 11th century.

Additional kingdoms, such as those in Benin and Mali, arose across the continent. Gold, horse salt, and, of course, slaves were used to make both of them wealthy. They were conquered and eventually destroyed, much as other kingdoms on every continent before them.

Arabs who traveled and traded on Africa's east coast founded Mogadishu, Somalia's current capital. The Arabs' influence extended to Zanzibar, which served as a stopping point for ships sailing between the Middle East and India.

The Portuguese began to explore the western coast of Africa as other organized kingdoms in central and southern Africa arose.

In 1445, they arrived at the Cape Verde Islands and the Senegalese coast, and in 1482, they arrived at the mouth of the Congo River. They even completed a Cape of Good Hope circumnavigation.

The Slave Trade and the Colonization of Africa
In the 16th century, Europeans began transporting African slaves to the Americas for commercial purposes, altering the continent. A slave purchased for 14 English pounds in bartered commodities on the African coast might sell for 45 pounds on the American market.