Africa

American  

[af-ri-kuh] / ˈæf rɪ kə /

noun

1. a continent south of Europe and between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. About 11,700,000 square miles (30,303,000 square kilometers).

---

Africa British  

/ ˈæfrɪkə /

noun

1. the second largest of the continents, on the Mediterranean in the north, the Atlantic in the west, and the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Indian Ocean in the east. The Sahara desert divides the continent unequally into North Africa (an early centre of civilization, in close contact with Europe and W Asia, now inhabited chiefly by Arabs) and Africa south of the Sahara (relatively isolated from the rest of the world until the 19th century and inhabited chiefly by Negroid peoples). It was colonized mainly in the 18th and 19th centuries by Europeans and now comprises independent nations. The largest lake is Lake Victoria and the chief rivers are the Nile, Niger, Congo, and Zambezi. Pop: 887 964 000 (2005 est). Area: about 30 300 000 sq km (11 700 000 sq miles)

---

Africa Cultural  

1. The second-largest continent, after Asia; located south of Europe and bordered to the west by the Atlantic Ocean and to the east by the Indian Ocean.

---

Discover More

Africa south of the Sahara is sometimes called sub-Saharan Africa.

Africa has been the home of great civilizations, particularly in Egypt (see also Egypt), along the Mediterranean Sea. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, European nations colonized much of the continent (see colonialism). In the twentieth century, the colonies became independent countries.

Sub-Saharan Africa has been hit especially hard by HIV/AIDS, drastically decreasing the life expectancy of much of the population.

Etymology

Origin of Africa

See African ( def. )

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Africa

More than half of Israel’s Jews descend from the countries in the Middle East and North Africa.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026

At the election in Rabat in March, Uefa will have 55 votes, Africa 54, Asia 46, Concacaf 35, Oceania 11 and Conmebol 10.

From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026

The Russian embassy in South Africa said in a post on X on Friday that a tanker with Russian fuel was leaving Primorsk and heading to New York.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026

Ebola, which is transmitted through contact with bodily fluids and can cause severe internal and external bleeding and organ failure, has killed more than 15,000 people in Africa over the last 50 years.

From Barron's ● Oct. 22, 2026

In no time Africa was a hazy line on the horizon behind them.

From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---