Many people have false ideas about the continent of Africa.  Among the false ideas is that Africa is one united country.  In fact, the continent of Africa contains 54 countries.  Among these are such well known giants as Nigeria, Kenya, and Egypt.  There are also tiny countries, such as the Canary Islands and Djibouti (jee boot tee). 

Within these 54 countries live many nations of people.  Nations are separate ethnic groups.  In Africa these groups are sometimes known as tribes.  A tribe is a group of people who have a common ancestry and share a common culture and language.  In some places in Africa, the tribe is still very important.  It may be headed by a chief who is born into a family of rulers.  In other places, however, the tribe is not important at all.  In these areas people see themselves as members of the political country before they see themselves as members of an ethnic group. 

Carving up Africa 

The way the 54 countries of Africa were formed is very important to the history of the area.  From the 1500s to the 1800s, the European countries traded with many of the African tribal nations.  During the 1800s, the European countries began to send explorers to Africa who claimed great areas of land for their homeland.  The European countries began to send settlers to these areas to set up governments.  This was known as colonization.  It is similar to what took place in North and South America. 

The European countries then began to fight among themselves over parts of Africa.  To solve this problem, they all met in Berlin, Germany in 1884.  Not a single African leader was present at this meeting.  The European leaders took a map of Africa and carved the continent up among themselves.  They paid no attention to the borders which the African nations had already set. 

The borders set by Europe in 1884 are, for the most part, the borders of modern day African nations.  Many of them enclose nations of people who have great cultural differences.  For this reason, most African countries are a mixture of ethnic groups.  Often these ethnic groups have gone to war, just as many ethnic groups in Eastern Europe are at war now.  They fight for the right to rule themselves as separate people. 

North and Sub-Sahara Africa 

Africa is sometimes divided into North Africa and Sub-Sahara Africa.  This is because the people and history of these two areas are very different. 

North Africa has had contact with Asia and Eastern Europe as far back as 2000 B.C.  This is the time of the great Egyptian culture.  North Africa contains cities which have been there for centuries.  It is considered one of the places where modern civilization began. 

The great Sahara Desert lies across northern Africa.  Here people still live as nomads in the desert.  They ride camels and live in tents as they have done for hundreds of years. 

Countries south of the desert are called Sub-Sahara.  The earliest signs of human life have been found in this area.  It also had great civilizations, but there are no pyramids or other great monuments remaining. 
 
The west coast of Africa is tropical.  Rain forests exist in countries such as the Congo and Equatorial Guinea.  This is what most people think of when they picture Africa.  Very little of Africa, however, is actually jungle.  Most of Sub-Sahara Africa is savanna with thin forests. 

Developing countries 

Most of the countries in Africa have economies which are developing; they are moving toward industrialization.  In such countries you often find a mixture of rich and poor, modern and traditional. 

Some people in Africa live in modern cities with color television and air conditioning.  Others live in mud huts, hunt for food, and use donkey carts to get around.  How Africans live depends on how educated they are, what kind of work they do, and how strong the economy of their country is. 
 

Nation - a group of people which shares customs, history, and language.  A nation may also have a government. 

Tribe - a nation or ethnic group.  Leadership often is handed down within a family. 

Colonize - taking over a country or territory and setting up a government which is run by an outside power. 

Nomads - people who move from place to place. 

Savanna - a grassy area.  
 
European leaders took a map of Africa and carved the continent up among themselves.  They paid no attention to the borders which the African nations had already set.