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 .

Notes

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

Those highest-risk areas for the four while species included in the study lie largely along coastal areas in the Mediterranean, portions of the Americas, southern Africa and parts of Asia.

From Science Daily

Once the crown prince of Rome, he was forced to flee at age 12 for his safety, and is now a humble farmer in Numidia, North Africa.

From Los Angeles Times

Since the 1500s, only two bird species in the Western Palaearctic, a vast area spanning North Africa to polar regions, were considered to have gone extinct.

From Science Magazine

The erroneous batch has been recalled by Bayer, in consultation with South Africa Health Products Regulatory Agency, with the company stressing the "root cause" of the mix-up had been identified and dealt with.

From BBC

The ICC has been criticised, particularly by the African Union, for its focus on Africa.

From BBC