世界第二大洲。以地中海、大西洋、紅海和印度洋為界；大陸幾乎被赤道一切為二。陸地總面積近11,724,300平方哩（30,365,700平方公里），人口約683,021,000（1994）。非洲大多以堅硬的古老岩石臺地為基底，形成內陸大片高原區。非洲大陸平均海拔約2,200尺（670公尺），最高點為坦尚尼亞的吉力馬札羅山（Mount Kilimaniaro），高5,895公尺，最低點是吉布地的阿薩勒湖（Lake Assal），低於海平面515尺（157公尺）。世界最大的撒哈拉沙漠佔有非洲大陸1/4以上的面積。非洲水系以北部尼羅河和中部剛果河（Congo River）兩河系為主。可耕地面積僅佔6%左右，近1/4的土地是森林或林地。非洲民族所講的語言堪稱是世界最多樣的，從埃及到茅利塔尼亞（Mauritania）和蘇丹主要通行的是阿拉伯語，撒哈拉沙漠以南的居民大致講班圖語（Bantu），而有一小部分民族操來自西南非的科伊桑語語系（Khoisan language）的語言。歐洲人後裔集中於非洲南部，荷蘭移民（布林人）始自17世紀，19世紀英國人最先定居在現今的尚比亞和辛巴威。整個非洲屬開發中地區，在多數國家，農業是最重要的經濟部門。鑽石和黃金的開採在南部特別重要，其他地區則生產石油和天然氣。大部分的非洲政府是由單一黨派控制，許多立法制度植基於殖民時期歐洲強權所引進的法律，雖然北非國家的法律多衍生於伊斯蘭教。非洲領袖已透過非洲統一組織發展一個泛非體系來協調非洲大陸的政治、軍事事務。
一般認為人類起源於非洲，已知最原始的人類是南猿屬（Australopithecus）的成員，其年代可追溯至八百萬年前。巧人（Homo habilis）和直立人（Homo erectus）在更新世（距今約一百六十萬～一萬年前）之前和期間已定居非洲。智人（Homo sapiens）在距今五十萬～三十萬年前出現。到了更新世末期，屬現代人類的不同非洲種族已然出現。非洲第一大文明古國埃及約在西元前3000年崛起於尼羅河，之後繁榮了將近3,000年。腓尼基人在迦太基建立了殖民地，並控制地中海西部將近六百年。在北部非洲由羅馬人統治幾個世紀的同時，西非第一個已知帝國是迦納帝國（5～11世紀）。穆斯林帝國包括馬利帝國（1250年～1400）和桑海帝國（Songhai, 1400年～1591）。東部、中部非洲當時則與阿拉伯人發展了貿易關係，形成一些有勢力的城邦，如摩加迪休（Mogadishu）和蒙巴薩（Mombasa）。15世紀時，葡萄牙人探勘了海岸地區。一直到19世紀末之前，歐洲人對殖民非洲沒什麼興趣。直至1884年，歐洲國家才爭先恐後搶著瓜分這塊大陸，到1920年大部分非洲土地落入殖民者手中。反殖民的情緒發展緩慢，在1950年後才變得較廣泛，殖民地一個接著一個獨立。
Africa
Second-largest continent on earth. It is bounded by the Mediterranean Sea, the Atlantic Ocean, the Red Sea, and the Indian Ocean; it is divided almost equally by the equator. Area: 11,724,300 sq mi (30,365,700 sq km). Population (1994 est.): 683,000,000. Africa is composed largely of a rigid platform of ancient rocks that underlies vast plateau regions in the interior. Its average elevation is about 2,200 ft (670 m), but elevations range from 19,340 ft (5,895 m) at Mount Kilimanjaro to 515 ft (157 m) below sea level at Lake Assal. The Sahara, the world's largest contiguous desert, occupies more than one-fourth of the total land area. The continent's hydrology is dominated by the Nile River in the north and the Congo in central Africa. Only about 6% of the continent is arable, while nearly one-fourth is forested or wooded. The peoples of Africa probably speak more languages than those of any other continent. Arabic is predominant from Egypt to Mauritania and in the Sudan. The sub-Sahara is inhabited by peoples speaking a number of languages known collectively as Bantu, while a smaller number use languages from the Khoisan language family of southwestern Africa. Peoples of European descent are found in the south; Dutch (Boer) migrations began in the 17th century, and the English first settled in what is now Zambia and Zimbabwe in the 19th century. Africa as a whole is a developing region. Agriculture is the most important sector of the economy in most countries. Diamond and gold mining are especially important in the south, while other areas produce petroleum and natural gas. Most African governments are controlled by a single clique. Many legal systems are based on laws introduced by European powers during the colonial era, though North African countries derive many laws from Islam. African leaders have sought to develop a pan-African approach to the continent's political and military affairs through the Organization of African Unity. Human beings are widely thought to have originated in Africa. The oldest known hominids, members of the genus Australopithecus, date from about 8 million years ago. Homo habilis and Homo erectus inhabited Africa before and during the Pleistocene epoch (1.6 million-10,000 years ago), and forms of Homo sapiens began appearing 500,000-300,000 years ago. By the end of the Pleistocene, distinct African races of modern humans had emerged. Africa's first great historical kingdom, Egypt, arose along the Nile c. 3000 BC and flourished for nearly 3,000 years. The Phoenicians established a colony at Carthage and controlled the western Mediterranean for nearly 600 years. While northern Africa was dominated by the Romans for several centuries, the first known empire in western Africa was Ghana (5th-11th century AD). Muslim empires included those of Mali (c. 1250-1400) and the Songhai of Gao (c. 1400-1591). In eastern and central Africa the emphasis was on trade with Arabia, and several powerful city-states, including Mogadishu and Mombasa, were established. The Portuguese explored the coast in the 15th century. Before the late 19th century, Europe showed little interest in colonizing Africa, but by 1884 European countries had begun a scramble to partition the continent, and by 1920 much of it was under colonial rule. Anticolonial sentiment developed gradually, becoming widespread after 1950, and one by one the colonies became independent.
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