Dark Continent, The

noun

1. Africa: so called, especially during the 19th century, because little was known about it.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Dark Continent, The¹

First recorded in 1875–80

Example Sentences

Mazower is professor of history at Columbia and author of Dark Continent, the acclaimed study of the forces that shaped 20th century Europe.

From The Guardian

In those days, Africa was the "Dark Continent"; the source of the Nile and the Great Lakes were undiscovered, of the Congo nothing was known.

From Project Gutenberg

In Africa—the Dark Continent—the author follows in exciting detail his young heroes, their voyage in the first aeroplane to fly above the mysterious forests and unexplored ranges of the mystic land.

From Project Gutenberg

If inferior in breadth to the mighty Amazon, if it lacks the length of the Mississippi, if without the stupendous gorges and cataracts of the Yang-tse-Kiang of China, if missing the ancient castles of the Rhine, if wanting the lonely grandeur that still overhangs the Congo of the Dark Continent, the Great River of Canada has features as remarkable as any of these.

From Project Gutenberg

Isolated in the heartland of the Dark Continent, the Afrikaners were relatively untouched by the liberalizing forces that swept Europe and America in the 19th century.

From Time Magazine Archive