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).

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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)

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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.

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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

X user @itsJquan posted: "No Grammy award -South africa won it No Afcon trophy - Ivory Coast won it. Just bunch of tears and running your mouth endlessly".

From BBC • Feb. 12, 2024

Perhaps the roman empire, with its network of roads and canals all over europe and the near east and northern africa, comes to mind.

From New York Times • Jan. 30, 2019

I suppose their might be a risk of some of the potential GB players competing for their home countries - tonga, samoa, south africa, new zealand, holland etc. but i'm sure it'll be good.

From The Guardian • Aug. 7, 2012

Given the multitude of human disasters in africa, is it an indulgence to lose yourself in pictures that carry no hint of the wars and famines outside the frame?

From Time Magazine Archive

No matter how much one has read about africa beforehand, one’s first impressions from actually being there are overwhelming.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond