Curing The Misconceptions About Africa: Revealing The Most Unusual Things
By Okechukwu Okugo
There are a lot of misconceptions about Africa. In fact many people think that there is a country called Africa, such that all Africans come from the same place, with the same way of life.
Africa is not a country, but a continent made up of many different countries.
Some of the important facts about Africa:
1. Name:
The name Africa has a meaning. Many people, outside Africa, have attributed many names to Africa. But it is logical that only Africans can say the true meaning of the name "Africa."
The best description of the meaning of the name comes from the ancient Egyptian language "Afri-uka," which means "Motherland." This is according to Race and History website.
"Afri-uka," which is an ancient Egyptian language that means motherland shows that Africans have a root and come from a land where they love being hospitable, where they love welcoming visitors, where they love displaying their cultures and their peculiar ways of life.
2. Size, the People and the Population:
Africa is the second largest continent of the world after Asia. In land mass it is 30 million, two hundred and forty-four thousand, and forty-nine square-km. That is 20.4% of the Earth's land mass.
In population, Africans are far above 1 billion people.
Africa is not home to only blacks. There are Asian descendants and whites who live in parts of Africa e.g. in Namibia, South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, and other African islands etc.
3. How Many Countries Are in Africa?:
Africa is made up of 54 individual/sovereign countries (see map above.) and 1 "non-sovereign" known as Western Sahara controlled by Morocco that is disputing their statehood.
Though, Western Sahara is recognized by the African Union.
Apart from these "55" countries, there are other places that declared statehood and not recognized either by the UN and/or the AU.
One of such places is the Somaliland which declared independence from Somalia in 1991, instituting their own government, and mapping out a territory they are controlling; with a Capital city at Hargeisa.
Thus it can be hard to say Africa has so, so and so countries, based on recognized and unrecognized states from either the UN or AU.
But this issue of not knowing exactly the number of countries in Africa is not only limited to Africa. It is also the case with Europe and Asia.
In Asia, Taiwan which split off from China in 1949, and has its own government and run its own business as a country, is yet to declare formal independence for fear of retaliation from Beijing.
In Europe, Kosovo which is recognized by many European powers as a country has its powerful neighbor Serbia not recognizing it as an independent state.
4. African Territories Owned By Europeans:
Yes, there are a number of territories and islands which are in Africa but owned and ran by Europeans. They are:
Spain: Spain has three territories in Africa ( Ceuta, Melilla and the Canary Islands.)
France: France owns and controls 2 territories in Africa (The Islands of Mayotte and Reunion.)
Portugal: Portugal owns and control 1 territory in Africa (Madeira Islands.)
The U.K: U.K. own and control 1 territory in Africa (The Atlantic Islands of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan de Cunha.)
These places are called dependent territories or non-sovereign territories (see below):
Non-sovereign territories
There are 10 non-sovereign territories currently located in Africa.
Dependent territories
This list contains territories that are politically administered as external dependencies of other nations.
| Flag | Map | English short and formal names | Status[17] | Domestic short and formal names | Capital | Population | Area[11] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | _(small_islands_magnified).svg) | French Southern and Antarctic Lands[n 10] | French overseas territory | Saint-Pierre[n 11] | No permanent population[18] | 38.60 km2(15 sq mi) | |
 |  | Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha | British overseas territory | Jamestown | 5,661 | 420 km2(162 sq mi) |
Other areas
This list contains territories that are administered as incorporated parts of a primarily non-African state.
| Flag | Map | English short and formal names | Status[17] | Domestic short and formal names | Capital | Population | Area[11] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |  | Canary Islands | Spanish autonomous community | Spanish: Islas Canarias | Santa Cruz and Las Palmas[19] Spanish: Santa Cruz de Tenerifeand Las Palmas de Gran Canaria | 2,205,247 | 7,447 km2(2,875 sq mi) |
 |  | Ceuta Autonomous City of Ceuta | Spanish autonomous city | Spanish: Ceuta — Ciudad autónoma de Ceuta | Ceuta Spanish: Ceuta | 76,861 | 28 km2(11 sq mi) |
 |  | Madeira Autonomous Region of Madeira | Portuguese autonomous region | Portuguese: Madeira — Região Autónoma da Madeira | Funchal Portuguese: Funchal | 267,785 | 828 km2(320 sq mi) |
 |  | Mayotte Department of Mayotte | French overseas department | French: Mayotte — Département de Mayotte | Mamoudzou French: Mamoudzou | 186,452 | 374 km2(144 sq mi) |
 | | Melilla Autonomous City of Melilla | Spanish autonomous city | Spanish: Melilla — Ciudad autónoma de Melilla | Melilla Spanish: Melilla | 72,000 | 20 km2(8 sq mi) |
 |  | Plazas de soberanía | Spanish overseas territory | Spanish: Plazas de soberanía | N/A | 74 | |
|  | Réunion Réunion Island | French overseas region | French: Réunion — Îles Réunion | Saint-Denis French: Saint-Denis | 793,000 | 2,512 km2(970 sq mi) |
 |  | Pelagie Islands | Italian territory | Italian: Isole Pelagie Sicilian: Ìsuli Pilaggî | Lampedusa e Linosa[n 12] Italian: Lampedusa e Linosa Sicilian: Lampidusa e Linusa | 6,304 | 21.4 km2(8 sq mi) |
5. Languages:
The over I billion people in Africa speak, natively, over 3000 languages.
Some of these languages include: Arabic, Somali, Berber, Amharic, Oromo, Maasai, Dinka, Luo, Nubian, Songhay, Yoruba, Kanuri, Fur, Igbo, Hausa, Afrikaans, Swahili, Malagasy etc.
It should also be noted that apart from Ethiopia that has their indigenous language, Amharic, as the official language, all other African countries speak any of the following languages as their official language(s): English, French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, and German, which was re-designated as a national language in Namibia.
African Ancient Civilizations:
Far before precolonial times, and even in the B.C's, Africa has had an advanced and complex civilization peculiar to the people.
Some of the many ancient African civilizations are:
1. The Ancient Civilization of Mali:
The Kingdom Of Mali Photo credit: www.youtube.com
Mali in West Africa had become an advanced city as far back as in the 1230's, A.D. In fact Mansa Musa, one of the Malian kings had built a renowned University in Timbuktu in the 1300's.
2. The Zimbabwean Empire:
Ancient Architectural Edifice in Zimbabwe
Built by the Shona (1100-1500 AD), the empire of Great Zimbabwe, one of Africa’s greatest civilizations like Egypt and Meroe, stood between present-day Zimbabwe, eastern Botswana and south-east Mozambique. The empire’s highly developed architecture overwhelmed discoverers. And much in the same manner as German anthropologist Doctor Frobenius ignorantly mistook the Kingdom of Ife in Nigeria for the lost kingdom of Atlantis in 1911, some Europeans blatantly refused to believe that Great Zimbabwe was built by Africans. Dawson Munjeri, former director of Great Zimbabwe, a World Heritage site, discusses the history of the exceptional Zimbabwe empire. - Source: www.afrik-news.com
3. The Ancient Nigerian Civilizations:
The Great Nigerian City Of Eredo:
The Great Wall Of Nigerian City Of Eredo Source: www.afropunk.com
This is a 9th century Nigerian city of Eredo in Benin, surrounded by a wall that was 100 miles long, and seventy feet high. The internal area was a staggering 400 square miles.
It was built by Queen Bilikisu Sungbo to protect the Benin kingdom from invaders. This 9th century structure in Nigeria is the world's largest man-made earthen structure, as well as the oldest.
Kano Ancient Walled Cities:
One of the Many Kano Ancient City Walls and Structures. Photo credit: www.pinterest.com
Lord Lugard, an English official, estimated in 1904 that there were 170 walled cities in the whole of the Kano province alone. And many of these structures are still in existence today.
Also, it is on record that in 1851, Kano produced an estimated 10 million pairs of sandals and 5 million hides for export.
8th and 9th century Iron Age Of The Igbo People
Ancient Iron Works of the Igbo-Ukwu People, South-eastern Nigeria
A Bronze-roped Pot Made by the Igbo-Ukwu People During the Iron Age.
Photo credit: http://catherineonyemelukwe.com/
The Igbos, in their homeland, joined the other western parts of the world, in the 8th and 9th century, in the Iron Age civilization, attested by the numerous ancient Bronze and other iron works discovered in Igbo-Ukwu, a town in the southeastern part of Nigeria.
4. The Ancient Tallest Buildings In The World (The Pyramids in Sudan):
The Pyramids of Sudan. Photo credit: www.specialistafrica.com
Sudan has more pyramids than Egypt. There are roughly 233 ancient pyramids standing this day in the Sudanese cities of Al Kurru, Gebel, Buri, and Meroe, where you will see the Royal Pyramids of the Necropolis.
We can see that, given the great diversity of the continent, it is impossible to generalize a common "African culture" for the people.
The world has become too advanced that any form of misconception about Africa and the people of Africa should not continue to flourish.
It costs nothing knowing this great continent well; but probably visiting the continent would help you see, it is better experienced than read.
Come to Africa, the Motherland. There are many good things in stock for you in Africa.
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