Africa
hideAfrica is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² (11.7 million sq mi) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area. With a billion people (as of 2009, see table) in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.8% of the World's human population. The continent is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Suez Canal and the Red Sea to the northeast, the Indian Ocean to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Not counting the disputed territory of Western Sahara, there are 53 countries, including Madagascar and various island groups, associated with the continent.
Africa, particularly central eastern Africa, is widely regarded within the scientific community to be the origin of humans and the Hominidae tree (great apes), as evidenced by the discovery of the earliest hominids and their ancestors, as well as later ones that have been dated to around seven million years ago – including Sahelanthropus tchadensis, Australopithecus africanus, A. afarensis, Homo erectus, H. habilis and H. ergaster – with the earliest Homo sapiens (human) found in Ethiopia being dated to ca. 200,000 years ago.
Africa straddles the equator and encompasses numerous climate areas; it is the only continent to stretch from the northern temperate to southern temperate zones.
For more information about Africa, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with africa
French find puts humans in Europe 200,000 years earlier
Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils
Dec 15, 2009 |
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Experts on prehistoric man are rethinking their dates after a find in a southern French valley suggested our ancestors may have reached Europe 1.57 million years ago: 200,000 years earlier than we thought.
Influenza in Africa should not be ignored
Dec 15, 2009 |
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Influenza is circulating in Africa, but virtually no information or attention is evident, says a new essay in this week's PLoS Medicine. Maria Yazdanbakhsh and Peter Kremsner argue that the lack of adequate surveillance means ...
Japanese researchers film rare baby fish 'fossil'
Nov 17, 2009 |
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Japanese marine researchers said Tuesday they had found and successfully filmed a young coelacanth -- a rare type of fish known as "a living fossil" -- in deep water off Indonesia.
Climate change could boost incidence of civil war in Africa
Other Sciences / Social Sciences
Nov 23, 2009 |
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Climate change could increase the likelihood of civil war in sub-Saharan Africa by over 50 percent within the next two decades, according to a new study led by a team of researchers at University of California, Berkeley, ...
Scientists discover largest orb-weaving spider
Oct 21, 2009 |
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Researchers from the United States and Slovenia have discovered a new, giant Nephila species (golden orb weaver spider) from Africa and Madagascar and have published their findings in the Oct. 21 issue of the ...
Scientists: New dinosaur species found in SAfrica
Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils
Nov 11, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Scientists say they've discovered a new dinosaur species in South Africa that may help explain how the creatures evolved into the largest animals on land.
Scientists report original source of malaria
Aug 03, 2009 |
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Researchers have identified what they believe is the original source of malignant malaria: a parasite found in chimpanzees in equatorial Africa.
Despite their diversity, pygmies of Western Central Africa share recent common ancestors
Biology /
Feb 05, 2009 |
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Despite the great cultural, physical, and genetic diversity found amongst the numerous West Central African human populations that are collectively designated as "Pygmies," a report published online on February 5th in Current Bi ...
Humans spread out of Africa later
Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils
Sep 04, 2009 |
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Modern humans spread out of Africa 20,000 years later than previously thought, according to new genetic research just published.
Carrier Pigeon Faster Than Broadband Internet
Sep 11, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- In South Africa, a carrier pigeon carrying a 4GB memory stick proved to be faster than the ADSL service from the country's biggest web firm, Telkom. Winston the pigeon took one hour and eight ...
Trigger of deadly food toxin discovered
Oct 21, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A toxin produced by mold on nuts and grains can cause liver cancer if consumed in large quantities. UC Irvine researchers for the first time have discovered what triggers the toxin to form, ...
W. Africa's last giraffes make surprising comeback
Nov 08, 2009 |
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(AP) -- A crisp African dawn is breaking overhead, and Zibo Mounkaila is on the back of a pickup truck bounding across a sparse landscape of rocky orange soil.
Researchers complete draft genome sequence for cassava
Nov 09, 2009 |
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A team of academic, government and industry researchers has completed a first draft of the cassava (Manihot esculenta) genome. The project is an important first step in accelerating the pace of research on this subsistence ...
Researcher Nets First Measure of Africa's Coastal Forests
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Aug 20, 2009 |
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Impoverished fishermen along the coast of tropical African countries like Mozambique and Madagascar may have only a few more years to eke out a profit from one of their nations' biggest agricultural exports. ...
With an Eye on Locusts and Vegetation, Scientists Make a Good Tool Better
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Sep 23, 2009 |
5 / 5 (1) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Locusts, the grasshopper-like insects of Biblical lore, are normally docile creatures that prefer solitary lives in the desert, away from other members of their species. But sometimes, when ...
