Overview
The African continent was the birthplace of the hominin subfamily and the genus Homo, including eight species, of which only Homo sapiens survive. Human culture in Africa is as old as the human race, and includes Neolithic (10,000 BC) rock carvings, the glacial age petroglyphs (a carving or line drawing on rock, especially one made by prehistoric people) of early hunter-gatherers in the dry grasslands of North Africa, the Nomes of Egypt (3100 BC), and ancient Egypt.
Africa is home to innumerable tribes, ethnic and social groups, some representing very large populations consisting of millions of people; others are smaller groups of a few thousand. Most of these are overlapping. The most conventional distinction is between sub-Saharan Africa and the northern countries from Egypt to Morocco, who largely associate themselves with Arabic culture. In this comparison, the nations south of the Sahara are considered to consist of many cultural areas, in particular that of the Bantu language group.
Divisions may also be made between French Africa and the rest of Africa, in particular the former British colonies of southern and East Africa. Another cultural fault-line is between those Africans living traditional lifestyles and those who are essentially modern. The traditionalists practices are sometimes subdivided into pastoralists and agriculturalists.
Africa is a big continent and the food and drink of Africa reflect both local influences and colonial food traditions, including use of food products like peppers, peanuts, and maize introduced by the colonizers. African cuisine is a combination of traditional fruits and vegetables, milk, and meat products. The African village diet is often milk, curds, and whey mixed with game and fish gathered from Africa's vast area.
African art reflects the diversity of African cultures. The oldest existing art from Africa are 6,000-year old carvings found in Niger, while the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt was the world's tallest architectural accomplishment for 4,000 years until the creation of the Eiffel Tower. The Ethiopian complex of monolithic churches at Lalibela, of which the Church of Saint George is representative, is regarded as another marvel of engineering.
The music of Africa is one of its most dynamic art forms. Egypt has long been a cultural focus of the Arab world, while remembrance of the rhythms of sub-Saharan Africa, in particular west Africa, was transmitted through the Atlantic slave trade to modern samba, blues, jazz, reggae, rap, and rock and roll. Modern music of the continent includes the highly complex choral singing of southern Africa and the dance rhythms of soukous, dominated by the music of the Democratic Republic of Congo. A recent development of the twenty-first century is the emergence of African hip hop. In particular, a form from Senegal is blended with traditional mbalax. Recently in South Africa, a form of music related to house music known under the name Kwaito has developed, although the country has been home to its own form of South African jazz for some time, while Afrikaans music is completely distinct and composed mostly of traditional Boere musiek, and forms of folk and rock music.
[edit] Language
The people of Africa speak hundreds of languages and, if dialects spoken by various ethnic groups are also included, the number is much higher. All these languages and dialects are not of the same importance though, as some have only a few hundred speakers while others have millions. Among the most prominent languages are Arabic, Swahili and Hausa. Very few countries of Africa use any single language and this is the reason the several African and European official languages often coexist.
The languages of Africa present a unity of character as well as diversity, as is manifest in all the dimensions of Africa. Four prominent language families of Africa are:
* Afro-Asiatic
* Nilo-Saharan
* Niger-Kordofanian
* Khoisan
The African continent was the birthplace of the hominin subfamily and the genus Homo, including eight species, of which only Homo sapiens survive. Human culture in Africa is as old as the human race, and includes Neolithic (10,000 BC) rock carvings, the glacial age petroglyphs (a carving or line drawing on rock, especially one made by prehistoric people) of early hunter-gatherers in the dry grasslands of North Africa, the Nomes of Egypt (3100 BC), and ancient Egypt.
Africa is home to innumerable tribes, ethnic and social groups, some representing very large populations consisting of millions of people; others are smaller groups of a few thousand. Most of these are overlapping. The most conventional distinction is between sub-Saharan Africa and the northern countries from Egypt to Morocco, who largely associate themselves with Arabic culture. In this comparison, the nations south of the Sahara are considered to consist of many cultural areas, in particular that of the Bantu language group.
Divisions may also be made between French Africa and the rest of Africa, in particular the former British colonies of southern and East Africa. Another cultural fault-line is between those Africans living traditional lifestyles and those who are essentially modern. The traditionalists practices are sometimes subdivided into pastoralists and agriculturalists.
Africa is a big continent and the food and drink of Africa reflect both local influences and colonial food traditions, including use of food products like peppers, peanuts, and maize introduced by the colonizers. African cuisine is a combination of traditional fruits and vegetables, milk, and meat products. The African village diet is often milk, curds, and whey mixed with game and fish gathered from Africa's vast area.
African art reflects the diversity of African cultures. The oldest existing art from Africa are 6,000-year old carvings found in Niger, while the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt was the world's tallest architectural accomplishment for 4,000 years until the creation of the Eiffel Tower. The Ethiopian complex of monolithic churches at Lalibela, of which the Church of Saint George is representative, is regarded as another marvel of engineering.
The music of Africa is one of its most dynamic art forms. Egypt has long been a cultural focus of the Arab world, while remembrance of the rhythms of sub-Saharan Africa, in particular west Africa, was transmitted through the Atlantic slave trade to modern samba, blues, jazz, reggae, rap, and rock and roll. Modern music of the continent includes the highly complex choral singing of southern Africa and the dance rhythms of soukous, dominated by the music of the Democratic Republic of Congo. A recent development of the twenty-first century is the emergence of African hip hop. In particular, a form from Senegal is blended with traditional mbalax. Recently in South Africa, a form of music related to house music known under the name Kwaito has developed, although the country has been home to its own form of South African jazz for some time, while Afrikaans music is completely distinct and composed mostly of traditional Boere musiek, and forms of folk and rock music.
[edit] Language
The people of Africa speak hundreds of languages and, if dialects spoken by various ethnic groups are also included, the number is much higher. All these languages and dialects are not of the same importance though, as some have only a few hundred speakers while others have millions. Among the most prominent languages are Arabic, Swahili and Hausa. Very few countries of Africa use any single language and this is the reason the several African and European official languages often coexist.
The languages of Africa present a unity of character as well as diversity, as is manifest in all the dimensions of Africa. Four prominent language families of Africa are:
* Afro-Asiatic
* Nilo-Saharan
* Niger-Kordofanian
* Khoisan
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