Africa

[af-ri-kuh]

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

/ 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

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.

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.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Africa¹

See African ( def. )

Example Sentences

Gafcon claims to speak for the majority of the world's Anglicans, although that is contested, and the view across Africa is by no means monolithic.

From BBC

England needed to make a statement in their World Cup opener against South Africa - and they delivered it tenfold.

From BBC

The end of apartheid in South Africa was made possible by consumer pressure from all sectors, from food to music to international sports.

From Salon

They encountered many people there who believed their fathers had served at nearby Batuk, the biggest British army base in Africa.

From BBC

South Africa's highest court has unanimously ruled that all parents of new-borns are entitled to equal parental leave - a landmark judgment hailed as a major victory for gender equality and family rights.

From BBC