Africa
From MST
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Africa is the world's second-largest and second most populated continent. The etymology of the name 'Africa' is uncertain, but could have been a Latin word meaning 'Land of the Afri,' a tribe inhabiting Africa during the Roman Empire. Alternatively, the Greek word 'aphrike' means 'without horror or cold,' and is another theory - that Africa was seen by the Greeks as warm and welcoming.
Many of the world's first civilizations were born in and around Africa. Most notable is of course Egypt, but many cities and empires have been long lost to the jungles of the Congo. The famous city of Carthage was in Northern Africa.
During the colonial period, every African state except for Ethiopia was parceled out to European nations. After World War II, the colonial period ended and the African nations were left to self-rule. Though it has largely succeeded, many nations have experienced periods of social upheaval and civil war as rival warlords attempt to seize control - making Africa a magnet for supernatural creatures who thrive on chaos and bloodshed.
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Eastern Africa
Eastern African includes the territories of modern Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mozambique, Réunion, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
The Portuguese were the first Europeans to explore this part of Africa, looking for trade routes to India and the Far East that were not controlled by Venice. The Portuguese began taking political control of the area early in the 16th Century, establishing a strong hold on sea-routes between Europe and India which passed through their territories. During the 17th Century, Europeans and Arabs began to make incursions into the Portuguese control. Many areas in the region were taken over by the Omani Arabs, who would eventually lose them to Europeans. When Africa was partitioned into colonies, Mozambique and parts of Kenya remained in Portuguese control; the British acquired the rest of Kenya, along with Zanzibar and Uganda; the French were given Djibouti as well as the islands of Madagascar, Reunion and Comoros; the Germans controlled Burundi, Rwanda and the majority of Tanzania; and the Italians gained Somalia and Eritrea. Ethiopia remained free.
Major Cities of Eastern Africa
Nairobi - The Capital of Kenya
Addis Ababa - The Capital of Ethiopia
Other Areas of Eastern Africa
The Sudan - Wikipedia
Masailand
Middle Africa
Middle Africa includes the territories of modern Angola, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and São Tomé and Príncipe. It is bounded to the north by the Sahara Desert and to the west by the Great Rift Valley. It may also be considered to be part of Sub-Saharan Africa. Most of Middle Africa is jungle, though it also has a large swath of savannah. By and large, the native inhabitants of Middle Africa are descendants of the dark-skinned Bantu.
Middle Africa is one of the poorest cities in the world. Many of the areas were crippled by European colonization, and today grapple with rampant disease and famine.
By and large, Christianity and shamanistic tribal religions are the dominant faiths of Middle Africa.
Major Cities of Middle Africa
Other Areas of Middle Africa
Northern Africa
Northern Africa includes the territories of modern Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia, and the Western Sahara. The original inhabitants of Northern Africa were the seafaring Phoenicians, the mythic Carthaginians and the empire-building Egyptians. The Romans eventually swept through the region, conquering first Carthage and then Egypt. Centuries later, Rome lost Northern Africa (which had been it's primary source of grain), an event which many historians point to as the beginning of the end for the Roman Empire.
The Arabs swept through the region in the 7th century C.E., conquering nearly all of northern Africa. Though Christianity had managed to make a few incursions, Islam quickly became the dominant religion. During the Middle Ages, the region was mostly under the control of the Ottoman Empire. During the 19th century, though, most of the region was divided up between the various European countries and handed out as colonies, a state which persisted until after World War II.
Today, the region is working to establish themselves as post-colonial powers. By and large, they are more stable than their southern neighbors - though many of the highly Arab nations are involved in the Middle East conflict to a certain degree.
Major Cities of Northern Africa
- Alexandria
- Cairo
- Tangier natively known as Tanjah
- Thebes -
Other Areas of Northern Africa
1300-1350: Daeva Invictus Amani bint Fahad bin Khalif Al Shanfari travels North Africa to support/defend the Mamluks. [R]
1939-1943: Daeva Dragon Steffen Haar serves in the LRDG during WWII. (As a mortal)
Southern Africa
Southern Africa includes the territories of modern Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland. It was originally populated by various tribal identities, including the Pygmies, though they were eventually subsumed by the Bantu expansion. This persisted for several thousand years until the arrival of Bartolomeu Dias in 1487.
The Zulu Kingdom was a short-lived nation in Southern Africa.
Christianity is largely the dominant religion of Southern Africa. There is a community of Africans who practice Christianity yet also identify as Jewish - a claim which genetic testing has been able to verify. There is also a significant population of European Jews who have found a home in the region.
Major Cities of Southern Africa
- Johannesburg - Wikipedia information for Johannesburg
Other Areas of Southern Africa
Western Africa
Western Africa includes the territories of modern Benin,Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire (the Ivory Coast), Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.
Most of Western Africa was decimated in past centuries by slavery. Most of the coastal tribal cultures were raided repeatedly for slaves to be shipped to Europe and the eastern plantations. The religion of the region is split between Christian and Islam, with a few small Jewish communities.
Prehistoric West Africa had trade with the northern nations - great caravans would cross the Sahara to sell gold, cotton, cloth, metal objects and leather goods for salt, horses and textiles.
There were several great empires during the Middle Ages - the Ghana Empire, the Mali Empire and the Sosso Empire, though all were eventually defeated. The Almoravids came in the 11th century C.E., and were followed by the Europeans a few centuries later.
Liberia is a unique nation in that it was founded by white Americans who populated it with freed African slaves, believing that free blacks would be unable to integrate into white society. However, Liberia was one of the only African nations, along with Ethiopia, to retain its sovereignty during the colonial period.
After the Second World War, the nations of West Africa managed to successfully throw off their colonial rulers and establish self-rule. Some nations have been more successful than others in establishing stable governments - there have been many civil wars throughout the region. As with their southern neighbors, AIDS and other diseases have become a crisis in the region.
Major Cities of Western Africa
Other Areas of Western Africa
- Nigeria - Wikipedia information for Nigeria
- Monrovia
- Accra
- The Ivory Coast
Map
Related Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africa - Wikipedia entry on Africa
