The population of Africa is about 1 billion people. Population growth on the continent is the highest in the world in 2004, at 2.3%. Over the past 50 years, the average life expectancy has increased from 39 to 54 years.
The population consists mainly of representatives of two races: the Negroid south of the Sahara, and the Caucasian in northern Africa (Arabs) and South Africa (Boers and Anglo-South Africans). The most numerous people are the Arabs of North Africa.
During the colonial development of the mainland, many state borders were drawn without taking into account ethnic characteristics, which still leads to interethnic conflicts. The average population density in Africa is 22 people / km², which is significantly less than in Europe and Asia.
In terms of urbanization, Africa lags behind other regions - less than 30%, but the rate of urbanization here is the highest in the world, and false urbanization is characteristic of many African countries. The most big cities on the African continent - Cairo and Lagos.
Languages
The autochthonous languages of Africa are divided into 32 families, of which 3 (Semitic, Indo-European
and austronesian
) "Penetrated" to the continent from other regions.
There are also 7 isolated and 9 unclassified languages. The most popular native African languages are Bantu (Swahili, Congo) and Fula.
Indo-European languages became widespread due to the era of colonial rule: English, Portuguese, French are official in many countries. In Namibia since the beginning of the XX century. there is a compact living community that speaks German as the main language. The only language belonging to the Indo-European family that originated on the continent is Afrikaans, one of 11 official languages SOUTH AFRICA. Also, communities of Afrikaans speakers live in other countries of South Africa: Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Zambia. It is worth noting, however, that after the fall of the apartheid regime in South Africa, Afrikaans is being supplanted by other languages (English and local African). The number of its carriers and the scope of its application is decreasing.
The most widespread language of the Afrozian linguistic family - Arabic - is used in North, West and East Africa as the first and second languages. Many African languages (Hausa, Swahili) include a significant amount of borrowings from Arabic (primarily in the layers of political, religious vocabulary, abstract concepts).
The Austronesian languages are represented by the Malagasy language, which is spoken by the population of Madagascan.
The inhabitants of the African continent are characterized by proficiency in several languages at once, which are used in various everyday situations. For example, a representative of a small ethnic group that retains its own language can use the local language in the family circle and in communication with his fellow tribesmen, the regional interethnic language (Lingala in the DRC, Sango in the Central African Republic, Hausa in Nigeria, Bambara in Mali) in communication with representatives of other ethnic groups, and official language(usually European) in dealing with authorities and other similar situations. At the same time, language proficiency can be limited only by the ability to speak (the literacy rate of the population in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2007 was approximately 50% of the total population)
Religion in Africa
Islam and Christianity prevail among the world religions (the most widespread confessions are Catholicism, Protestantism, to a lesser extent Orthodoxy, Monophysitism). East Africa is also home to Buddhists and Hindus (many of them are from India). Also in Africa, there are followers of Judaism and Bahaism. Religions brought to Africa from outside are found both in pure form and syncretized with local traditional religions... Among the "major" traditional African religions are Ifa or Bwiti.
Education
Traditional education in Africa involved preparing children for African religions and life in African society. Education in pre-colonial Africa included games, dancing, singing, painting, ceremonies and rituals. The training was carried out by the elders; each member of the society contributed to the education of the child. Girls and boys were trained separately to learn the system of proper sex-role behavior. The apogee of learning was the rituals of transition, symbolizing the end of a child's life and the beginning of an adult.
Since the beginning of the colonial period, the education system has undergone changes towards the European, so that Africans have the opportunity to compete with Europe and America. Africa tried to establish the cultivation of its own specialists.
Now in terms of education, Africa still lags behind other parts of the world. In 2000, in Black Africa, only 58% of children were in school; these are the lowest rates. There are 40 million children in Africa, half of whom are of school age, who are out of school. Two thirds of them are girls.
In the postcolonial period, African governments placed greater emphasis on education; a large number of universities were established, although there was very little money for their development and support, and in some places it stopped altogether. However, universities are overcrowded, often forcing teachers to lecture in shifts, evenings and weekends. Due to low wages, there is a drain on staff. In addition to the lack of adequate funding, other problems for African universities are the unsettled degree system, as well as inequities in the system of career advancement among the teaching staff, which is not always based on professional merit. This often triggers protests and strikes from teachers.
Ethnic composition of the population of Africa
Ethnic
The composition of the modern population of Africa is very complex. The continent is inhabited by several hundred large and small ethnic groups, 107 of which number more than 1 million people each, and 24 exceed 5 million people. The largest of them are: Egyptian, Algerian, Moroccan, Sudanese Arabs, Hausa, Yoruba, Fulbe, Igbo, Amhara.
Anthropological composition of the population of Africa
V modern population Africa is represented by various anthropological types belonging to different races.
Northern part of the continent up to southern border The Sahara is inhabited by peoples (Arabs, Berbers) belonging to the Indo-Mediterranean race (included in the large Caucasian race). This race is characterized by a dark complexion, dark eyes and hair, wavy hair, a narrow face, and a crooked nose. However, among the Berbers there are both light-eyed and blonde-haired.
To the south of the Sahara, there are peoples belonging to the large Negro-Australoid race, represented by three minor races - Negro, Negrill and Bushman.
Among them, the peoples of the Negro race predominate. These include the population of Western Sudan, the Guinean coast, Central Sudan, the peoples of the Nilot group (upper Nile), and the Bantu peoples. These peoples are characterized by dark skin color, dark hair and eyes, a special structure of hair curling in spirals, thick lips, a wide nose with a low bridge of the nose. A typical feature of the peoples of the Upper Nile is high growth, exceeding 180 cm in some groups (world maximum).
Representatives of the Negrillic race - Negrilli or African pygmies - are undersized (on average 141-142 cm) inhabitants of the tropical forests of the basins of the Congo, Uele, etc. strongly flattened nose, relatively thin lips and lighter skin color.
The Bushmen race includes the Bushmen and Hottentots living in the Kalahari Desert. Their distinctive feature lighter (yellowish-brown) skin, thinner lips, flatter face and specific signs such as wrinkling of the skin and steatopygia (strong development of the subcutaneous fat layer on the thighs and buttocks).
In Northeast Africa (Ethiopia and the Somalia peninsula), there are peoples belonging to the Ethiopian race, which occupies an intermediate position between the Indo-Mediterranean and Negroid races (thick lips, narrow face and nose, wavy hair).
In general, the close ties between the peoples of Africa have led to the absence of sharp boundaries between races. In southern Africa, European (Dutch) colonization led to the formation of a special type of so-called colored people.
The population of Madagascar is heterogeneous, it is dominated by the South Asian (Mongolian) and Negroid types. In general, the Malagasy are characterized by a predominance of a narrow eye section, protruding cheekbones, curly hair, a flattened and rather wide nose.
Natural movement of the population of Africa
The dynamics of the population of Africa, due to the relatively small size of migration, is mainly determined by its natural movement. Africa is an area of high fertility, in some countries it is approaching 50 ppm, that is, approaching biologically possible. On average across the continent, natural growth is about 3% per year, which is higher than in other regions of the Earth. The population of Africa, according to the UN, now exceeds 900 million people.
In general, higher fertility rates are typical for West and East Africa, and lower rates for zones equatorial forests and desert areas.
The mortality rate is gradually decreasing to 15-17 ppm.
Infant mortality (up to 1 year) is quite high - 100-150 ppm.
The age composition of the population of many African countries is characterized by a high proportion of children and a low proportion of the elderly.
The number of men and women is generally the same, with women prevailing in rural areas.
The average life expectancy in Africa is approximately 50 years. Relatively high life expectancy is typical for South Africa and North Africa.
Placement of the population of Africa
The average population density of the continent is low - about 30 people / km / sq. population distribution is influenced not only by natural conditions, but also historical factors, primarily the consequences of the slave trade and colonial rule.
The highest population density is on the island of Mauritius (more than 500 people per square kilometer), as well as on the Reunion, Seychelles, Comoros and East African states - Rwanda and Burundi (within 200 people). The lowest population density is in Botswana, Libya, Namibia, Mauritania, Western Sahara- 1-2 people km / sq.
In general, the Nile valleys are densely populated (1200 people km / sq.), The coastal zone of the Maghreb countries (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia), areas of irrigated agriculture in Sudan, oases of the Sahara, the outskirts of large cities (100-200 people km. Sq. ).
A reduced population density is noted in the Sahara - less than 1, in Tropical Africa - 1-5, in the dry steppes and semi-deserts of Namib and Kalahari - less than 1 person. km. sq.
Urban population of Africa
The annual growth of the city dwellers on the continent exceeds 5%. The share of the urban population now exceeds 40%.
Grow especially fast big cities: Cairo - over 10 million, Alexandria, Casablanca, Algeria - over 2 million.
There are large differences in the level of urbanization of individual countries. The largest share of the urban population (50% or more) is in South Africa, Djibouti, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Mauritius, Reunion. The smallest - less than 5%, in Burundi, Rwanda, Lesotho.
On the continent, there are a number of areas with a cluster of cities: the Nile valley and delta, the coastal strip of the Maghreb, urban agglomerations of South Africa, the Copper Belt region in Zambia and the DRC.
Geographic environment. The geographic conditions of Africa are distinguished by a specific variety of natural elements and their regional combinations, which, in relation to the practical life of the peoples inhabiting Africa, act as necessary environmental conditions, food and technical resources. Coming from the depths of millennia, the process of mastering these natural conditions and forces constitutes the material basis of the entire economic and cultural history of African peoples.
Africa - the second largest continent after Eurasia - occupies about a fifth of the earth's land surface (together with the adjacent islands, 30.3 million sq. Km). The African continent is located in almost equal shares both in the northern and southern hemisphere, and most of it is located in the tropical zone. From north to south, the continent stretches for 8000 km, from west to east in its northern part - for 7000 km, and in the southern part - for more than 3000 km. In the north, Africa is washed by the Mediterranean Sea, in the west - Atlantic Ocean, in the east - Indian. Coastline Africa is poorly developed; the largest peninsula is the Horn of Africa; sea areas protrude shallowly into the mainland; many inland regions of the continent are located at a distance of 1000 to 1500 km from the World Ocean. The largest island adjoining the African continent from the southeast is Madagascar.
The five most large rivers- Nile, Congo, Niger, Zambezi and Orange; their basins occupy over a third of the entire territory of Africa. The largest lakes - Victoria, Tanganyika, Nyasa and others - are the natural border between Central and East Africa. In the rest of the territory, the shallow-water lakes with unstable levels of Chad and Ngami stand out for their size. The waters of a number of African rivers (the Nile, partly the Niger, and others) are used for irrigation. Some rivers (for example, the Nile, Niger, Congo, Gambia, etc.) serve as transport routes for a considerable length of their length.
Africa is considered the hottest continent, since most of its territory is located in tropical latitudes and has high average annual temperatures- over 25 ° C. Within the tropical climatic zone in the northern hemisphere are: Western Sahara, central and southern Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, Mauritania, northern parts of the regions of Chad and Niger, Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia. This territory is dominated by an exceptionally dry continental climate. Precipitation has not occurred in places for several years. Tropical zone the southern hemisphere - Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, South Africa, part of Madagascar - is characterized by lower temperatures and less aridity (with the exception of some areas of Namibia and Botswana) than is observed in the Sahara. Narrow strips in the north and south of Africa lie in a more humid and even subtropical climate.
Vegetation in Africa is rich and varied. Forests cover about 16% of the total area of Africa, grass cover of the steppes - 37; the desert area is 39%. In the central and western equatorial parts of Africa, along the northern coast of the Gulf of Guinea and in the Congo Basin, tropical evergreen "rain" forests (giley) grow. In these forests, many plants have an economic and consumer value, especially those giving valuable wood black, red, yellow, ebony, sandalwood, rubber-bearing liana landolphia, cola tree, Liberian coffee tree, oil and wine palms. Many edible fruits and roots grow wild in tropical forests.
To the north and south of the giles, monsoon forests grow in narrow strips, which then turn into the forest-steppe and steppe savannah, which occupies about 30% of the territory of Africa.
Significant areas of savannah are used for pastures and arable land.
Most of North Africa is occupied by the Sahara Desert. V South Africa the desert zone includes the western and southern parts of the Kalahari and the Namib desert. In rare oases of the north, the date palm grows, the fruits of which are of great food value.
Along the coast Mediterranean Sea, on the slopes of the Atlas Mountains, Mediterranean subtropical vegetation is developed - olive trees, palms, myrtles, etc. mountainous areas grow evergreen stone oak, cork oak, Atlas cedar. Up to 50% of the world's area occupied by cork oak is concentrated in this area. In southern Africa, in the Cape region, similar in climatic conditions from the Mediterranean, evergreen shrubs, wild olive, etc.
Animal world Africa, when Arabs and Europeans first met her, was very rich and varied. And now in the subtropical forests of North Africa deer and fallow deer, wild boars and wild rams, leopards and monkeys are found. Antelopes (up to 40 species), zebras, giraffes prevail in the savannas. African elephants and rhinos are also found. Numerous hippos, water boars, crocodiles, freshwater turtles live along the rivers. There are many predators - leopards, cheetahs, steppe lynxes, hyenas, jackals; there are lions. Great disasters for people and animals are caused by tsetse flies, which carry dangerous diseases (sleeping sickness, revolver disease). Of particular interest is the fauna of Madagascar, where many species of small Animals and birds are characteristic only of this island.
Since ancient times, the terrestrial fauna, as well as the wild flora, have served the African peoples as the most important source of food. Hunting and gathering of wild plants did not lose their importance even when agriculture and cattle breeding began to develop in the advanced regions of ancient and medieval Africa. But by now, many species of animals are on the verge of extinction. The preservation of the animal world is becoming an important task for young national governments.
According to natural economic conditions, modern Africa is divided into several belts or zones. In the north and northwest, this is the Atlas with fertile brown soils suitable for grain farming. To the south stretches the vast Sahara - a zone of deserts, semi-deserts and steppes suitable for nomadic and distant pastures. Further south - Sudan, stretching in a strip parallel to the equator from Senegal to the river. The Blue Nile is a savannah zone where the population is engaged in steppe agriculture and cattle breeding. Further south - the North Guinean Upland, or the Guinean coast, overgrown with dense tropical forests in the south and humid savannas in the north, whose inhabitants cultivate various root crops, grow cereals and tree crops, and are engaged in hunting and gathering. Tropical agriculture with crops of millet, sorghum, yams, cassava, oil palm and other plants is also common in Central Africa (Congo Basin). Tropical agriculture is a very laborious activity, requiring constant struggle with the forest and many working hands for hoe cultivation of fields and cultivation of seedlings. In the northeast of the continent, there is a zone of very ancient grain farming and nomadic pastoralism - the Ethiopian Highlands and the steppes of the Horn of Africa. All East Africa from the Ethiopian Highlands to the river. The Zambezi is an area of steppe agriculture with drought-resistant crops and pasture cattle. In South Africa (including the island of Madagascar) with mixed natural conditions - from subtropical to steppe and desert - almost all types of economic activities (including hunting and gathering) typical for Africa as a whole are widespread.
Generally big variety climatic and soil conditions allow modern Africans to grow all agricultural crops known to mankind and raise livestock of various breeds. Subsistence and small-scale agriculture still form the backbone of the economies of many African countries, but this economy is in a difficult or unbalanced state, not fully meeting the food needs of the growing population. The technical and economic upsurge and the development of the marketability of this leading branch of the economy is the most urgent task of the developing countries of Africa. Attempts by the bourgeoisie in a number of countries to solve this problem on a capitalist basis of farming lead to an increase in marketable output and enrichment of entrepreneurs, but they still leave the bulk of the direct producers in poverty. Progressive tendencies for a general rise in agriculture and the well-being of peasants are most clearly seen in countries with a socialist orientation (Ethiopia, Algeria, Angola, etc.).
The bowels of the African continent, which have not yet been sufficiently explored, are fraught with various fossils: the richest deposits of oil in the north and in the regions of the Guinean coast; in the south there are large reserves of gold; uranium in Central Africa; huge reserves of copper in the Shaba province (Zaire) and in the Copper Belt (Zambia); diamonds - throughout South and West Equatorial Africa, but especially in South Africa, Namibia, Zaire, etc .; other minerals - platinum, polymetals, cobalt, manganese, tin, iron ores, coal and etc.
On the basis of these natural resources in a number of regions of Africa (Zaire, Zambia, South Africa, etc.), mining, mining and processing industries are developing, large production centers, industrial cities and urban-type settlements are being created, in which a significant mass of the working class is concentrated and moving to the urban lifestyle of migrants from rural areas.
Countries and states. According to the tradition established in African studies, the peoples of Africa are usually distributed over common large historical and geographical areas: North Africa- the countries of the Maghreb and Egypt; North-East Africa - Ethiopia and Somalia; Western Africa, or Western Tropical Africa - the countries of Western Sudan and the Guinean coast; Central Tropical Africa - Congo Basin and neighboring regions; Eastern Tropical Africa - Inter-lake and coastal regions; South Africa and Madagascar. This division meets the objectives of a general overview of the economic and cultural characteristics of vast regions, but it is insufficient to characterize the political division of modern Africa.
The transformation of most African countries into colonies of European powers refers mainly to the last quarter of the 19th century. - the period of the imperialist division of the world. Colonialism plundered natural resources, mercilessly exploited the indigenous population of Africa. Africans were completely removed from political life, deprived of the most elementary rights. The colonial territories were labeled for a long time: "British", "French", "Belgian", "Spanish", "Portuguese" (for example, "British West Africa", "French Equatorial Africa", "Belgian Congo", etc.) ...
A historical turning point in the destinies of the peoples of Africa took place after the end of the Second World War. The formation of the world socialist system has unusually accelerated the development of the national liberation movement. Since that time, it took only a decade and a half to fundamentally undermine colonial system, evolved over the centuries. If in 1945 there were only three independent states on the African continent - Egypt, Liberia and Ethiopia (now the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Republic of Liberia and Socialist Ethiopia are respectively called), now there are already 50 of them.In the 1950s, independence received Libya (Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya), Democratic Republic Sudan, Kingdom of Morocco, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Ghana, People's Revolutionary Republic of Guinea.
1960 is called the "Year of Africa", when 17 countries gained state independence. These are the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, the Republic of Senegal, Mali, Ivory Coast, People's Republic Benin, Upper Volta, Togo, United Republic of Cameroon, Federal Republic of Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Central African Republic, Gabon; People's Republic of the Congo, Zaire, Somali Democratic Republic, Democratic Republic of Madagascar.
In the 1960s, the Algerian People's Democratic Republic, The Gambia, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Kenya, the United Republic of Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Malawi, Zambia, Botswana, Mauritius, Equatorial Guinea, the Kingdom of Lesotho, and the Kingdom of Swaziland became free. In the 1970s, after years of armed struggle and the overthrow of the fascist dictatorship in Portugal, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, People's Republic of Angola, People's Republic of Mozambique gained independence; Seychelles, Comoros and Djibouti. In 1980, Zimbabwe gained independence. But there is also a state where the racist imperialist elite is in power - the Republic of South Africa, contrary to the decisions of the United Nations, the militaristic South Africa continues to illegally hold onto the country of Namibia. The indigenous African population of these countries is waging a stubborn struggle for freedom and independence.
The political independence won by the majority of African peoples does not in itself mean complete national liberation and establishment on the path of accelerated social economic development, the second, no less important step is the achievement of economic independence and the establishment of equal relations in the world economic and cultural exchange.
It is truly impossible to achieve this without relying on broad strata of the working people in their country, without a strong alliance with the states of the socialist community. That is why many African countries - Algeria, Libya, Guinea, Benin, Congo, Ethiopia, Angola, Mozambique, Madagascar, etc. - have chosen certain orientations of progressive development, which in some cases earlier, and in other cases later are capable of bringing them to the indigenous social transformations, to socialism.
Population. The forced introduction of Africans to the colonial "civilization" had the demographic consequence that if before the arrival of Europeans the population of Africa was about 20% of the world's inhabitants, then by 1960 it was only 8%. Punitive expeditions, epidemics and massive malnutrition during the colonial period claimed many lives. So, during the period of Belgian rule, in less than 80 years, the population of the Congo (now Zaire) decreased by half.
On the contrary, during the period of the beginning of independent development, in the second half of this century, the population of African countries grew faster than in other parts of the world. By the end of the 1970s, it approached 450 million.
However, even now, the average population density on the African continent is more than two times lower than throughout the globe, and is 13-14 people per sq. km. The population is unevenly distributed across the continent. The vast territories of the Sahara and the deserts of South Africa, areas of tropical rainforests are very rarely inhabited. The highlands of Africa are more densely populated, for example: the Ethiopian Highlands, the Atlas, the East African Highlands, and the mountainous regions of Madagascar. The most densely populated area is the Nile Valley (up to 1000 people per sq. Km), of the states - Rwanda, Burundi, Reunion, Mauritius.
Over 75% of Africa's population is rural, the rest urban. Especially intensive growth of the urban population is observed during the period of independent development. In 1965, there were more than 100 cities on the continent with a population of over 100 thousand people in each. In some states, the share of the urban population exceeds a third of the population - in Djibouti (60%), Egypt (44%), Algeria (52%), Morocco (39%), Congo (48%), Tunisia (50%), South Africa ( 48%), BSK (32.4%), Zambia (36.3%), Mauritius (43%), Namibia (37%), Equatorial Guinea (35%). The massive urbanization of African countries is spontaneous and is not always accompanied by an increase in the industrial and economic potential of cities and the rise of the culture of migrants from rural areas. Managing urban development is another major challenge for governments in developing countries in Africa.
Anthropological composition of the population. On the African continent, carriers of the physical traits of three large races - Caucasian, Negroid and partly Mongoloid, as well as mixed and transitional racial types between them - are represented in different versions.
All of North Africa is inhabited by peoples belonging to the Caucasian large race - these are the Arabs and Berbers, which are characterized by dark hair and eyes, dark skin, slightly wavy hair, a narrow face, and a thin straight nose. The same race, more precisely to its Central European type, also belongs to the European population, living mainly in the south of the continent - Afrikaners (descendants of the Dutch), British, French, Germans, etc. - distinguished by light color of hair, eyes and skin, straight or slightly wavy hair, narrow face, thin straight nose.
The vast majority of the population of the country south of the Sahara belongs to the Negroid (or African) large race, represented by three regional types. Carriers of the Negro type are characterized by the following specific features: dark skin of various shades from very dark to light coffee, dark eyes and hair, curly hair, often protruding jaws (prognathism), various lip shapes from medium to very large ("swollen" ), a wide nose with a low nose bridge and wide open nostrils, a tertiary hairline poorly developed on the body. Anthropological differences within this type are quite significant and relate to such characteristics as height, skin color, structure of the face and head, nose and lips, the presence or absence of prognathism,
Bearers of special racial types - Negrillic and Bushman - live in the South of the Sahara. The first are represented by the pygmies of Equatorial Africa, which stand out for their very short stature, lighter skin color, more developed tertiary hair on the body, and thinner lips. The second - the South African Bushmen and Hottentots - are characterized by a yellowish skin color, medium or short stature, a narrow nose with a flattened nose, the frequent presence of epicanthus and steatopygia (protruding fatty formations in the buttocks), early wrinkling of the skin of the face and body.
The Ethiopian type (Ethiopia, Somalia, etc.) is a mixed and transitional form between the Negroid and Caucasian races, which is characterized by: dark hair and eyes, dark or dark skin, wavy hair, narrow face and thin nose, thin or medium lips thickness, higher growth, etc. The Malagasy - the indigenous population of the island of Madagascar - belong to a special mixed racial type (Negroid and Mongoloid races).
Ethno-linguistic composition of the population. Many African languages are poorly studied scientifically, which makes it difficult to classify them. The language families and groups that unite closely related languages are distinguished more thoroughly.
All of North Africa, a significant part of the Northeast, as well as partly Eastern and Western Tropical, is inhabited by peoples speaking the languages of the Semitic-Hamitic, or Afrasian, family (over a third of the continent's population), which in turn is divided into four groups: Semitic, Berber , Kushite and Chadian. Among the Semitic linguistic group, there are two subgroups: Arabic (over 80 million people) and Ethiopian (about 20 million). The dialects of the Arabic language are spoken by the population of Egypt, most of the Maghreb - Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco. In addition, it is common in Mauritania, in most of the Sudan, in part in Mali, Niger, Chad and other countries where nomadic Arab tribes live. The languages of the second subgroup are spoken mainly by the population of Ethiopia - Amhara, Tigers, Tigers, etc.
The languages of the Berber group are spoken by the population mainly of North-West Africa (Maghreb) - Kabila, Reefs, Shlekh, Shaviyya, Tamazigt, Zenaga, etc. In addition, the Tuareg tribes who roam the vast expanses of Central Sahara also belong to it. In total, there are about 9 million Berber-speaking peoples.
Cushite languages are spoken from southeastern Egypt to northern Kenya and Tanzania, but mainly in the south and east of Ethiopia and Somalia. These are the languages of the peoples of Gaul, Somali, Beja, Sidamo, Iraqi, and others - a total of 19.5 million people.
LANGUAGES of the fourth group - Chad - speaks up to 22 million people living in Northern Nigeria (Hausa people - 18 million people) and the neighboring states of Niger, Chad and Northern Cameroon.
Historically, the languages of the tribes belonged to a special group of the Semitic-Hamitic family.
Ancient Egypt AND the written ancient Egyptian language that developed on their basis. The latest stage in the development of the Egyptian language was Coptic, which was spoken by the Christianized population of Egypt starting from the 3rd-4th centuries. By the 161 century. the Arabic language finally replaced the everyday language of the Copts. It is now preserved as the language of worship among Coptic Christians.
In the countries of Tropical South Africa, numerous languages are spoken belonging to three main language families: Niger-Kordofan (or Congo-Kordofan), covering over 244 million people; Nilo-Sahansk more than 25 million people, as well as a small number (less than 250 thousand people) Khoisan.
The Niger-Kordofan family of languages spans from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Indian Ocean in the east, from Senegal and the Central African Republic in the north to the South African Republic in the south. This very large family is subdivided into two ethnolinguistic groups - the Niger-Congo and the Kordofan. The first
of these includes almost all languages of Western Tropical, Central Tropical, Eastern Tropical and South Africa. These include the languages of the following subgroups (starting from the western Atlantic coast and to the east): West Atlantic - 20 million people (Fulbe, Wolof, Serer, etc.); mande - 11 million (bambara, malinke, etc.; volta-12 million (mosi, grusi, senufo, etc.); kwa - 52 million (akan, ewe, Yoruba, for, etc.); adamawa-eastern - about 7 million (azande, ganga, gbaya, etc.); Benue-Congo (including the Bantu peoples) -140 million people, Nigeria (ibibio, tiv, etc.), Cameroon (bamileke, buta, etc. .), the numerous Bantu languages of the southern half of Africa (Fang, Congo, Luba, Mbundu, Bemba, Nyamwezi, Ganda, Malawi, Tonga, Kosa, etc.) The Kordofan (460 thousand people) ethnolinguistic group unites small peoples living mainly v central regions Democratic Republic of the Sudan.
The Nilo-Saharan family is distributed in three massifs from the middle reaches of the river. Niger
in the west and up to the lake. Rudolph in East Africa. Genetically, the languages of this family are combined into several groups. The largest is the Shari-Nil, with 18.5 million people. This is a subgroup of the Eastern Sudanese peoples, formerly called the Nilots, who live in southern Sudan, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania (Dinka, Nuer, Acho-li, Luo, Masai, Nubians, etc.); a subgroup of the Central Sudanese peoples in the south of Chad (bagir-mi, etc.), in Zaire (moru-madi, etc.); and two languages that make up separate subgroups Berta (Sudan) and Kunama (Ethiopia). The Saharan group of languages (about 4 million people) is represented by the tuba of the central Sahara, the Kanuri, inhabiting northeastern Nigeria. The third group is the Songhai (1.8 million people), which includes mainly the Songhai and Jerma peoples who inhabit the middle reaches of the river. Niger - in Mali, Niger, Nigeria and Benin. In addition, this family includes separate languages - Maba, Fur, Coma, which are not included in any of these groups.
Khoisan family of languages in the South West Africa includes Bushmen, Hottentots and Mountain Damars, speaking languages of different origins, but historically close together, which have a specific feature - the use of "clicking" sounds in speech, reproduced with great difficulty by Europeans. This family also includes the Hatsa (Hadzapi or Tindiga) and Sandave languages, two small peoples living in the interior regions of Tanzania.
On the island of Madagascar, the local population speaks dialects and dialects of the Malagasy language, belonging to the Indonesian group of Austronesian language family
8 million people). among the inhabitants of Africa, approximately 11 million people speak the languages of the Indo-European family. Of these, over 7 million people belong to the German-speaking peoples. These are the descendants of the colonists from Western Europe- Afrikaners, British, Germans, etc., as well as "colored" South Africa, American-Liberians (Liberia) and some others. Afrikaans in South Africa use the Afrikaans language, which is based on Old Dutch, influenced by the languages of local Africans. The Romano-speaking groups include the African French, Italians, Spaniards, Portuguese, and others (1.5 million in total). The languages of the Indo-Aryan group (about 2 million people) are spoken by immigrants from North India, Pakistan and Bangladesh - mainly the population of Mauritius and South Africa, partly the countries of East Africa. In addition, Greeks (65 thousand), Jews, Armenians, Dravids, Chinese, etc. live in Africa.
Religions. Until now, various forms of religious beliefs and cults, confessional organizations and unions have played a significant role in the worldview and social and political life of the overwhelming majority of the African population. These are "groups of confessions" closely related to traditional (purely African) religions beliefs and cults, as well as "world religions" brought to Africa - Islam, Christianity and the Christian-African churches and sects created on the basis of the latter.
As for the traditional beliefs and cults of Africans, there is no reason to see them as some kind of a single African religion. On the contrary, these beliefs and cults are a variegated variety of different religious forms in the form of fetishism as the veneration of sacred objects; witchcraft magic; belief in mana - an all-powerful and faceless supernatural power that dominates nature and man; more complex animism, which affirms belief in numerous “spirits and souls” - personified arbiters of the destinies of the world, community and personality, etc. The traditional cult of ancestors, which is most influential in the countries of Tropical and South Africa, plays a significant role in the ideological life of Africans. On the Guinea coast, cults in "esoteric (secret) communities" are equally influential (for example, cults in the Poro men's union, the Sanda women's union, etc.). A number of peoples, who in their time went through the stage of creating a distinctive statehood - Yoruba, Akan, Luba, Zulu and others - have preserved "active" remnants of "state" religions with a developed pantheon of gods. In modern Africa, about 30% of the entire population of the continent adheres to traditional beliefs and cults.
Probably, a much larger (up to 41 - 42% of the population) number of Africans are adherents of Islam, mainly of its Sunni direction. About half of African Muslims are concentrated in North Africa-in Egypt and the Maghreb. In West Tropical Africa, Muslims make up over a third of the population, of which half are in Nigeria. Historically, Islam began to spread in North Africa in connection with the Arab conquest of the 7-9 centuries. Later, he penetrated into the countries of the south of the Sahara.
About a quarter of the African population of different countries of Northeast, Tropical and South Africa now professes the Christian religion of its various sects. The original centers of Christianity (from the 2nd century AD) were formed in Egypt, where this religion, despite the pressure of Islam, is still preserved among a part of the Egyptians (Orthodox Christians, Copts) and among the majority of the Ethiopian population. From the 15th century. on west coast In Africa, Portuguese missionaries began to plant Catholicism. During the period of colonial rule of the European powers, an integral part of their policy was to encourage the missionary activity of the Catholic and Protestant churches. With the fall of colonial rule after World War II, these churches actively supported the creation of self-governing Christian organizations in developing countries in Africa.
The current Christian-African churches and sects in the countries of Tropical and South Africa are religious communities with their own dogma and rituals, combining elements of traditional cults with elements taken from Christianity. At first, these organizations were anti-colonialist ideological and political in nature, now they declare a purely religious nature of their activities, although they often stand in opposition to the governments of their countries. The proportion of adherents of these organizations is small and amounts to approximately 3-5% of the African population.
Ethnic history and social structures of pre-colonial Africa
In order to truly understand the socio-historical reality of African peoples, it is necessary to turn to the richest layers of their ethnocultural traditions, the origins of which go back to the original civilizations of the African Middle Ages and deeper antiquity. Contrary to the assertions of the apologists of European colonialism about the "innate inability" of Africans to high cultures and developed statehood, modern advanced science, step by step, reveals an objective picture of both the reasons for Africa's real lag behind European countries in modern times, and quite independent and peculiar, saturated with many cultural acquisitions historical path accomplished by the African peoples over the millennia in line with the general laws of world human progress.
Ancient history... In the light of the latest scientific discoveries, the African continent, especially its eastern and northern parts, seems to be the oldest "cradle of mankind" - the center of the emergence of the very first proto-people who, more than two million years ago, were able to make the simplest stone tools (Oldowan "pebble culture" in East Africa) ...
In the form of fossil forms in Africa, bone remains of the earliest people of subsequent stages of formation - Pithecanthropus and Neanderthal man - were discovered, as well as the remains of a human species of the species Homo sap1ens, which probably lived in Africa everywhere 35 thousand years ago. This was the time of the Upper Paleolithic, with its rather developed technique for the manufacture of various tools used in the primitive hunting and gathering economy.
Judging by the human bone finds in the town of Meshta al-Arbi (Algeria), Caucasoid people lived in North Africa in the Upper Paleolithic, and Negroid groups probably formed south of them. In any case, in the Neolithic (7-5 millennium BC) Negroid tribes occupied a significant part of the Sahara - then not yet a desert, but a humid forest-steppe (subjected to gradual desiccation and desolation starting from 3-2 millennia BC) ... Perhaps the mixing of Negroid and Caucasian racial types took place in the forest-steppe Sahara-Nile zone many thousands of years ago, in the Mesolithic or even in the Upper Paleolithic.
The economic and cultural history of Africa is best known since the era of the developed Neolithic, when in the north, in the Sahara and the Nile Valley, not only the primordial hunting and gathering was improved, but also new occupations for this period developed - agriculture, cattle breeding, ceramics, higher stone processing, and the art of rock painting (for example, frescoes by Tassili, etc.) reflected the emergence of productive agriculture.
Settlements of early farmers and neolithic technicians are found in West Africa, in the fertile valleys of the Senegal and Niger rivers. The Neolithic culture of farmers, hunters and gatherers of the Guinean coast and the river basin was distinguished by its originality. Congo, which developed in 3-1 millennia BC. e. in a tropical forest. In the savannah, in the steppe and semi-desert regions of East and South Africa, the Stone Age lasted the longest; the inhabitants of the local open spaces until the turn of our era, and in some places later, were exclusively engaged in hunting and gathering (however, in rather developed forms).
Ancient Africa, despite its special geographical position- the remoteness of a significant part of the territory from the Mediterranean and Western Asia, that is, from the ancient centers and civilizations, as evidenced by many scientific facts, maintained certain ties with them. The discovery and use of the skills of a culture of agriculture and pastoralism in Africa as a whole owes to the indigenous tribes of the Sahara-Nile region, who transferred this art to their more southern neighbors. The previous version of Western European scientists that agriculture and cattle breeding were brought to Africa by highly gifted Pered-Asian "Hamites" is completely discredited by modern archaeological finds. As for the origin of the initial centers of metallurgy, they, in all likelihood, arose in Africa under the influence of the advanced countries of the Ancient East.
In the lower reaches of the Nile (Egypt) and the central part of the Sahara (the area of the developed Neolithic Tassili), the culture of bronze casting came from the primary centers of the Middle East and the Mediterranean (the Cretan-Mycenaean civilization). And if the Tassili culture, due to the drying up of the Sahara, died out by the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. e., then the ancient Egyptian civilization that developed on the Nile, enriched with the technical achievements of the Bronze Age, starting from the turn of the 4th and 3rd millennia BC. z., developed more and more rapidly. Being one of the advanced states of the Ancient East, Egypt took a leading role in the history of Africa for several millennia. So, under the influence of Egypt, the culture of bronze metallurgy, and then iron metallurgy (in the 1st millennium BC) spread up the Nile to the south, beyond the first threshold, where the country of Kush began.
In the ancient country of Kush (later Nubia) tribes lived, which the Egyptians depicted in the drawings with black skin, curly hair and thick lips, that is, Negroids; in other drawings from the same time, the Kushites are depicted with brown faces. Thus, Egyptian artists wanted to show that the population of the country of Kush is racially heterogeneous or represents something transitional from Negroids to Caucasians (Ethiopian race). The Egyptians also knew the more southerly country of Punt with dark-skinned inhabitants, which, in all likelihood, should be located within Eastern Sudan and on the coast of Somalia and Eritrea. It is possible that ancient Nilots were represented among the inhabitants of this country.
The ancient Egyptians knew much better their western neighbors - the "Libyans" (lighter in skin color than the Egyptians themselves). The area of their settlement, apparently, extended to the Atlantic coast (modern Morocco and Mauritania). The current peoples of North Africa, speaking both the Berber languages and dialects of the Arabic language, are their descendants. The ancient Libyans are obviously directly related to the history of the formation and subsequent disintegration into independent subdivisions of the Semitohamitic language family. Being Caucasian in their anthropological basis, the earliest representatives of this family originally formed west of the Nile, in the Saharan forest-steppe and Mediterranean zones. As the Sahara dried up, local farmers and pastoralists either left this area, moving east (ancestors of the Semites and ancient Egyptians), south and southeast (ancestors of the Kushites and Chadian Hausa), or, partly shifting to the north, towards the Atlas mountains, adapted to the changed ecological environment (ancestors of numerous earlier Berbers - Libyans).
At the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. e. the Libyan tribes were influenced by the trade and cultural activities of the powerful Center of the Phoenician colonists on the African Mediterranean coast - Carthage. Carthaginian settlements stretch along the chain along the coast of Algeria and Morocco. The Carthaginians made trade expeditions into the interior of the continent, as evidenced by some written reports of ancient authors.
During the struggle between Carthage and Rome (3-2 centuries BC) in North Africa, there were two states with a Libyan-Berber population - Numidia and Mauritania. Numidia occupied the region of eastern Algeria and southern Tunisia, Mauritania-western part of Algeria and northern regions of Morocco. Numidia was of the greatest importance. Therefore, the former Libyans were more often called Numidians. However, after the capture of North Africa by Rome, the mention of the Numidians gradually disappeared, and the local population began to be called the Moors.
Archaeological finds of recent years on a wide territory of North and North-East Africa testify to the deep penetration of ancient culture into the local environment. There is every reason to consider this region a base of high economic development and independent statehood. Such are the kingdoms of Napata (12th-6th centuries BC) and Meroe (6th century BC - 4th century AD), located to the north and south of the confluence of the White and Blue Nile; ancient Aksum (2-8 centuries AD) - in the north of modern Ethiopia. In the depths of East Africa (on the territory of Kenya and Tanzania), the ties of ancient culture are much weaker traced.
Western Tropical Africa, Central Africa and South Africa were practically completely outside the ancient ecumene. At the same time, it is important to note that the drying and desolation of the Sahara, which began in the late Neolithic and continued during the Bronze and Early Iron periods, led to the migration of the bulk of the local farmers and pastoralists to the south, to the Sudanese savanna and tropical forest. This process raised the level of economic development in West and Central Africa. The peculiarity of the material culture of the Negroid population of this region lies in the fact that it did not know its own Copper-Bronze Age and passed to iron directly from the prolonged Stone Age. There is a scientific opinion about the independent discovery by the population of the Sudanese belt of the art of smelting and forging iron. In fact, the recently discovered Nok culture of the early Iron Age, which existed in the 5th century. BC. - 3 c. AD in the interfluve of the Niger-Benue (Central Nigeria), having a local basis, it was clearly formed under the strong influence and influence of the developed metallurgy of the Meroe state on the upper Nile, where iron-smelting furnaces operated already in the 6th century. BC e. The Iron Age in South Africa really begins only in the 1st millennium AD. e.
The historical continuation of the outflow of the Negroid population from the Central and then Southern Sahara was the migration of the Bantu-speaking tribes, originally formed in the Sudan zone, to the central and southern parts of the continent. The initial area of migration of the Bantu ancestors was the plateau of central Cameroon, from where they began to move through a tropical forest or the sea coast to the south, into the basin of the river. Congo, towards the plateau of northern Shaba (south of Zaire). Here the Bantu settlers met natural conditions favorable for economic and cultural development: wooded savannah with abundant hunting fauna and places convenient for agriculture, as well as easily accessible deposits iron ore... It was on the Shaba plateau that the core of the Bantu peoples was formed, which served as the ethnic basis for further migrations of the Bantu-speaking groups throughout Equatorial Africa... These large Bantu migrations began at the end of the 2nd millennium BC. e., continued later, and the Bantu emergence into the Mezhlakee and East Africa with the subsequent spread to South Africa dates back to a total of 1 millennium AD. e. According to Arab sources, already in the 9-10th centuries. on the east coast In Africa, there were extensive political associations - the Bantu "kingdoms", which were under the rule of the "king of the Zinja" ("black", Africans).
The widespread settlement of the Bantu-speaking tribes made great changes in the primordially formed ethnic composition of the population of Tropical Africa and South Africa. So, having penetrated the tropical equatorial forests Basin of the Congo from the north, the Bantu pushed aside or assimilated the local pygmies, who spoke some of their, now unknown, languages. The Bantu, moving across the savannah of East Africa, had a strong impact on the Nilots and Kushites, passing on some of them their language. The East African Khoisan tribes suffered roughly the same fate. Under pressure from the Bantu, the eastern Kokisan tribes, reaching southern Kenya, retreated far to the south and, apparently, began to mix with each other linguistically. Currently, in mainland Tanzania, only one Hottentot tribe of the Sandaw and one Bushman tribe of the Hadzapi survives.
Moving south following the Khoisan groups, the Bantu occupied the convenient forest-steppes of South Africa, where, engaged in cattle breeding and agriculture, they transferred their type of economy to the Hottentots, and the Bushmen - gatherers and hunters - were pushed back to the desert Kalahari,
Medieval history... A noticeable stage in the ethnocultural and socio-political history of Africa is associated with the Arab conquests of the 7th-8th centuries, as a result of which for a whole thousand years Africa found itself isolated from European civilization and to a greater extent connected with the cultural world of the medieval East. But it must be borne in mind that the Eastern civilization that came with the Arab conquerors was layered on the rich cultural traditions Aborigines of North Africa, influenced the coastal part of East Africa (involved through the Arab-African cities on the coast in the international trade of the Indian Ocean countries) and penetrated into the Sudan zone in several streams, but it touched Tropical Africa to a weak extent. As in ancient and early medieval times, this important area of indigenous Africa remained outside the world economic and cultural ties until the appearance of Europeans on its coast.
From the time of Arab conquest North Africa received the name of the Maghreb countries in the East. At first, this conquest did not cause major changes in ethnic composition. local population- in Arabic "Berbers" (instead of the former Libyans, Numidians, Moors). The widespread migration of the nomadic Arab tribes of Asia Minor in the 11th century had more serious consequences. Alien nomads partly survived as Arab groups proper, partly dissolved in the bulk of the same pastoralists - Berbers, but at the same time Arabized them in language and cultural terms. Currently, the majority of the North African population speaks Arabic, professes Islam and considers themselves to be Arabs. Only about a fifth of the inhabitants of the Maghreb countries, settled in small groups in mountainous regions and some oases, still retain the Berber dialects.
A certain ethnocultural impact of the medieval East on the indigenous peoples of the Sahara-Nile and partly the Sudanese regions of the northern half of Africa is beyond doubt. At the same time, this ethnocultural penetration and direct political impact Arab world superimposed on the fully matured prerequisites for the original development of peoples south of the Sahara. Scientists have long drawn attention to the quite mature forms of stable military-tribal and state formations, which, of course, did not arise from scratch and existed for hundreds of years in the most developed and advanced countries of the African continent.
The state of Ghana belonged to the number of such socio-political entities. In the 13th century. it gives way to another Negro state - Mali, which has developed in the valley of the river. Niger. By the beginning of the 15th century. political predominance passed to the Songhai people, who created the state of the same name. A century later, the rule of the Songhai rulers spread deep into Africa, up to the borders of Tripoli and Morocco. Another ancient center of the peoples of Western Sudan lay on the shores of Lake Chad, where the states of Kanem, Bornu and others rose in the Middle Ages. Here and to the south, in the Congo basin, there were cultures of the developed Iron Age, as well as massive copper casting from mined raw materials delivered from rich deposits Shaba. The most important cities of medieval Sudan had lively ties with the countries of the Maghreb. In the 11th century. Islam penetrated Sudan, and with it the Arabic script and teaching it.
There were several state associations on the Guinean coast - Ife, Oyo, Yoruba, Ashanti, Dahomey, etc. Some of them arose no later than the 15-16th centuries. Benin was a powerful state on the islands of the Niger Delta; its heyday dates back to the 16th and 17th centuries.
In the same centuries, the states of the southern half of Africa ascended - Congo, Angola, Mono-motapa (in the valley of the Zambezi River); the Bantu-speaking peoples that make up them have created a vibrant and distinctive culture.
Socio-economic structures. The eloquent facts of the long existence in many countries of pre-colonial Africa of an original statehood, based on social and property relations of inequality, direct domination and subordination between the local nobility and the common people, require a clear answer to the question regarding the specific historical type and level of development of these social structures. The answer turns out to be not simple, for the observations of historians reveal the complex and contradictory nature of the simultaneous existence and mutual influence in individual regions and countries of pre-colonial Africa of various socio-economic structures, specific forms of class formation, exploitation, and the political system. First of all, it is obvious that the deep reason for such a variety of social forms is the unevenness of the processes of socio-historical development of African peoples, especially the unequal, often slower growth rate. productive forces and in this regard, the evolutionary protracted replacement of archaic socio-economic structures with new, historically more mature relations.
In the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa, historians have found especially many stagnant forms of social organization - family-patronymic (family-communal), tribal, military-despotic, caste and other nature. All these forms were economically associated with low-productivity subsistence agriculture and were built on the traditional cooperation of labor forces of narrow-local associations of close relatives and neighbors. Of course, even in these conditions, relations of property and social inequality were ripening, but on the whole, especially favorable circumstances of economic development (economic growth, regular exchange and the accumulation of surplus goods in life) were required for the relations of embryonic inequality to develop into socially expressed forms of dependence and exploitation. Despite the overall slowness historical development and long-term preservation of the living remnants of archaic pre-class relations, in many African countries in different time estate-class social structures arose.
The presence in the ancient state formations of North Africa and Ethiopia of a slave-owning system, enslaving property and tributary relations, and later, in the Middle Ages, and relations of feudal dependence, does not cause any special doubts in science. But regarding the concrete historical type of medieval socio-economic structures in sub-Saharan countries, scientific opinions were divided among the supporters of recognizing them as typically slave-owning or feudal, but in a specific "African" expression. It was even proposed to consider these structures as generated by a special "African mode of production" - patriarchal-communal in their production basis, with the property dominance of the ruling social elite.
In modern Marxist-Leninist African studies, a more detailed concept of the variety of ways and features of the transition of most African peoples from pre-class relations to early feudal ones is being developed, expressed in the peculiarities of the political system - from the simplest pre-state military alliances of many communities and tribal groups, in solidarity opposing the surrounding world, to built on the internal contradictions of state formations with the ruling exploitative corporation of feudal lords at the head.
By analyzing the relationship between actual land ownership and the resulting distribution of the main and surplus product among the already socially unequal population of pre-colonial states south of the Sahara, Soviet Africanists revealed the existence of such a widespread order in which a consanguineous or neighboring community owning land transferred to the ruling and managing all public affairs the hierarchical top (headed by the king and his entourage) a certain share of the surplus product. The ruling elite could also have their own economy using the forced labor of prisoners of war and criminals in it, but they did not at all monopolize the main means of production - tribal lands, forests, water and pastures. The latter were in full economic use by the forces of agricultural communities. At the same time, the traditional (tribal) and serving (under the tsar) nobility, which had long since risen above the communal and took the political reins, clearly monopolized in their hands the main economic, organizational, foreign trade and military functions of the established state formations (local "empires", "kingdoms "," Principalities "in the terminology of European written sources). The rulers of the states of the Yoruba country, Benin, Dahomey also received income from military production, the slave trade, various tributes, duties and court fees. Accordingly, the public administrative power of the ruling class was elevated to the possible limit and illuminated by the tradition coming from the cult of ancestors, and the power of the kings was directly deified.
It is widely believed among Soviet Africanists that the systems of direct domination and subordination described above were early class in nature, but to consider these relations as feudal proper would be a simplification of reality. In the pre-colonial period, African societies south of the Sahara underwent a kind of socio-economic evolution from typically communal-class structures to multi-structured, socially and property-differentiated structures. The relationship of domination and exploitation imposed on the traditional community has not yet taken shape in the economic order of the feudal system of society. In the structures of state-organized social organisms, the tendency for the development of early class pre-feudal and pre-feudal relations into relations of actually early feudal ones gradually made its way.
However, the overall picture of the socio-economic state and development of pre-colonial Africa south of the Sahara was much more complex than the situation just outlined in the historically distinguished state formations. Science has long noted in the countries of the Sudanese and Guinean regions. Central, Eastern and Southern Africa has an amazing vitality of social forms inherent in the tribal system and not overcome either by early class structures or by systems of colonial rule. According to the latest data, various peoples of the countries south of the Sahara experienced three main stages of social evolution: a) the stage of decomposition of the primitive communal system; b) various stages of the transition to early class relations; c) the stage of early class society. At all these levels, a prominent role was played by the traditional agricultural community as the main economic and social organization of direct producers of material goods.
With an exceptional variety of specific forms and variants of the African community, this stable social organism in the form of a "collective that produces and reproduces itself in living labor" (K. Marx) passes through the entire history of the peoples of Africa known to us, constituting an important structural link in the process of changing all stages their social development in the broadest sense. The community as a socio-economic organization naturally arises from the pre-capitalist modes of production characteristic of Africans (and not only them), associated with a low level of productive forces, with the dominance of natural objects and tools of labor, manual technology, and hence the predominance of living labor over materialized. The community with its collective labor acts in the conditions of these modes of production as the main and main production collective and at the same time as a production environment. It is also the only microenvironment for human reproduction, ensuring its existence and safety.
In the pre-colonial period, the African agricultural community was characterized by a genealogical (family-clan) and heterogeneous (at the same time consanguineous and, neighboring-corporate) structure. The lower economic units of the community consisted of undivided large-family collectives (numbering several dozen, even up to a hundred people). The core of a heterogeneous community was more often made up of some kind of consanguineous collective (patronymia or a separate large family), which, however, acted primarily as a local unit of society and with other similar units was more connected by neighboring corporate rather than clan bonds. The dualism of consanguineous and territorially neighboring principles in the organization of labor and consumption was here as a merged social-production basis, defining a single system of social relations. The heterogeneous form of the community was most characteristic of transitional socio-economic structures, directly combining elements of pre-class and early class relations.
Having emerged at the stage of the primitive communal system, the African community has not only survived to the present day, but also - in altered, of course, varieties - continues to remain one of the main forms of social organization of the local population. In the conditions of colonial and post-colonial societies, some traditional forms of communal organization were modified, such archaic institutions as the system of age and gender groups and ranks, tribal communities with maternal account of kinship, etc., emerged, new forms of communal organization, generated by colonialism, appeared in the form of a professional - land unions, craft and trade guilds, tribal associations adapted to market conditions. The traditional connections of the accomplices were weakening due to the beginning of the migration of part of the population to new cities, to mining and construction of highways.
Being a modified, but still versatile in terms of social purpose, form of organization of the indigenous population, the agricultural community has by no means exhausted itself as a social-production collective in the conditions of modern Africa. Suffice it to say that today up to 60-80% of the population of sub-Saharan Africa are still members of territorial-neighboring communities that impose certain economic and social obligations on their natives.
Historical and cultural features of the peoples of Africa
When studying the ethnography of the peoples of Africa, several large historical and geographical regions can be distinguished, each of which is characterized by the similarity of ethnographic features over a vast territory, with, however, more or less noticeable local differences.
Peoples of North Africa. Northern and part of Northeast Africa are often called Arab Africa since most of its inhabitants speak Arabic.
These are the Maghreb countries, Egypt and the northern part of the Democratic Republic of Sudan; these often include Western Sahara and Mauritania.
The rallying of Arabs and Berbers, accelerated by the National Liberation Movement against European colonialists, promotes the formation of large nations in the Maghreb countries - Egyptian, Libyan, Tunisian, Algerian, Moroccan. In the Democratic Republic of Sudan, with its complex ethnic composition, the Arab-speaking population is consolidating into the Sudanese nation, but there are also separate Negroid peoples of various origins.
In all these countries, the population is mainly engaged in agriculture, but the ratio of agriculture and livestock raising in different areas is not the same. The agricultural population is the population of Egypt and partly of the Sudan, living in the fertile Nile Valley. In the southern Democratic Republic of Sudan, hoe farming is combined with livestock and fishing. In the Maghreb countries, in the coastal zone and in the mountainous regions of the Atlas, agriculture dominates in combination with dairy farming. But the farther from the coast, the more significant is the role of cattle breeding. The interior of the Maghreb is dominated by pastoralists.
Of great interest is Egyptian agriculture, the study of which makes it possible to reconstruct the picture of the origin and development of agriculture in general.
The Nile Valley has inexhaustible fertility, for every year during the flood period it is fertilized and irrigated by the waters of the river, which carry a huge amount of silt. Water softens the soil, making pre-sowing treatment unnecessary. Agriculture in this area began in ancient times when people simply threw seeds of cereals into wet silt, and then, leaving the plants to themselves, waited for the harvest. Even in the last century, the Egyptian peasants sowed in this way - fellah - in the event of a delay in the Nile flood. Such a primitive system was called estuary (swamp) agriculture. She, apparently, was already known by the carriers of the Neolithic Badarian culture of the 5th millennium BC. e. (Middle Egypt).
From the 4th millennium BC. e. the ancient Egyptians began to practice the simplest artificial irrigation and hoe cultivation of fields. The first evidence of the introduction of a light footless plow dates back to the 3rd millennium BC. e. In the next millennium, a stable plantar (skid) plow appears, which is necessary for processing swampy areas. At the same time, an irrigation system was created - a dense network of canals that irrigate "high fields".
The modern agricultural economy of the Egyptian peasants largely repeats this ancient system field cultivation. The agricultural year in Egypt is divided into three seasons - winter, summer and autumn. In the first season (November - March), wheat, barley, onions, legumes, etc. are sown; in the next season (April - August) they sow cotton, flax, hemp, sugar cane, rice, corn; and, finally, in autumn (September - November), during the period of the highest rise of the Nile waters, - rice, corn, millet.
The Fellahs use a plow that is not much different from the ancient Egyptian. The hoe is still in use, especially when cultivating vegetable gardens, sowing cotton and corn, and digging canals. Ripe cereals are harvested with sickles or uprooted. For threshing, flails or nureg are used - a threshing board with metal discs or stone teeth, into which a couple of bulls are harnessed.
In Egypt, modern methods of irrigation are used, but a significant part of the poor peasants, as in old times, are forced to raise water to their fields by primitive means: this is a shaduf, which resembles a crane well in structure, and a sakiye is a vertical water-lifting wheel with jugs fixed on it.
Cattle breeding in Egypt, due to the lack of pastures, did not receive sufficient development. Mainly working cattle are bred, but there are not many of them, since with the simplest technique of tillage, caring for crops and harvesting, the need for working cattle is relatively small.
The Arab-Berber agricultural economy of the Maghreb has its own characteristics. The main areas of agriculture here are the coastal strip and the mountain valleys of the Atlas. The abundance of water sources, frequent rains and a mild climate favor agriculture and animal husbandry. But in arid areas, it is necessary to resort to artificial irrigation of fields.
The main food crops are wheat and barley, and there is also corn in Morocco. The indigenous population prefers durum wheat, from which semolina is prepared in large quantities.
Arab-Berber farmers are experienced gardeners. On the seashore, they cultivate grapes, citrus fruits, figs, almonds, etc. Olive culture is widespread in Tunisia. Various vegetables are grown off the coast. In the southern part of the Maghreb, one of the main types of food is the fruit of the date palm.
Despite the significant development of agriculture, its technique remains very backward. A wooden plow with an iron ploughshare, a hoe, and a hand grater for grinding grain have been preserved from ancient times to the present day.
In the north of the Maghreb, especially in the mountain valleys, agriculture is combined with animal husbandry, mainly dairy farming. But in the deep arid regions, nomadic or semi-nomadic pastoralism predominates. The inhabitants of these places mainly breed small cattle (sheep, goats). The draft animals are horses, mules, donkeys and camels.
The rural population of North Africa is engaged in various types of home processing of raw materials and small crafts - making pottery by hand and pottery wheel, weaving mats, etc. Cattle breeders are engaged in the processing of wool and leather, carpet weaving, the manufacture of woolen fabrics and covers for tents, saddles and harnesses, leather shoes. There has long been an exchange of home-made products between farmers and pastoralists.
In the cities of Egypt and the Maghreb, a specialized craft is developed - blacksmithing, jewelry, leather (for example, working morocco), pottery, etc. The industry was poorly developed. Mainly mining industries developed, providing various valuable raw materials (phosphates, ores, mercury, oil) mainly for export. During the years of independence, Modern industrial enterprises have entered or are coming into operation.
The material culture of the Arabic-speaking population of North Africa has a lot of similarities, but nevertheless, each country has its own characteristics.
Egyptian fellahi peasants live in small villages located in the irrigated area of the Nile Valley. Houses are built of mud bricks, one-story, with a flat roof. The dwelling is usually single-chamber, without windows. Half of the room is occupied by an adobe oven, on which people sleep in cold weather.
In the summertime, food is cooked in small ovens around the house. Meat and wheat bread (flat cakes) are a rarity in the diet of ordinary fellahs. Usually they are content with cereals made of millet, corn or beans, oat cakes, sour milk, dates, vegetables. Favorite drinks - black coffee without sugar, tea, barley beer, sour milk.
The traditional fellah costume consists of cotton pants and a long-sleeved shirt; in cold weather, a camel-wool cloak is thrown over the shoulders.
The townspeople complement this clothing with caftans and robes, tied with wide sashes. However, European costume is common in cities.
Egyptian women wear shirts and long dresses that are traditionally black. Shawls and scarves, metal jewelry, cosmetics are in great demand. Peasant women do not cover their faces in front of strangers, but in cities women occasionally use a veil.
The sedentary population of the Maghreb lives in large villages stretching along the road. The old type of dwelling is the gurbi - a primitive hut, the walls of which are made of clay mixed with straw, and the roof is thatched or thatched. However, houses of the Arab type are more common: adobe, rectangular in shape, mostly one-story, with flat roofs.
The Berbers in the Atlas Mountains, who have preserved an ancient rural community, have houses in the villages built of stone and molded around the rocks so that the roof of one house serves as the courtyard of another. In the center of the settlement there is often a tower - once a refuge from warlike neighbors. The population of each village consists of several large-family groups.
The nomads of the steppes do not have a stable dwelling. From the scorching heat and sandstorms they are sheltered by a felidge - a tent made of camel or goat hair, spread wide on stakes.
More than a third of the Maghreb population lives in cities. In the inner districts, there are still cities with features of medieval Muslim cities with their narrow crooked streets, one- and two-story houses, the façade of which faces the courtyard, and only a blank wall faces the street. There is a bazaar in the center of the city, it is also the center of handicraft production.
On the contrary, seaside towns have a modern look. From the sea side, powerful port facilities, wide straight streets with multi-storey buildings and well-developed transport open up. Small huts of the urban poor are crowded on the outskirts.
The basis of the national dress of the Maghreb people is made up of cotton trousers and shirts, over which a spacious burnus is worn - a cape. Burnuses come in a variety of colors and qualities: from coarse woolen to fine woolen ones with rich embroidery or colored silk.
The diet of most Maghrebians consists mainly of barley or corn stew, small amounts of bread, potatoes, vegetables and fruits. Nomads eat dates and livestock products - sour milk, cheese, and not always meat.
Elements of various socio-economic structures coexist in the social structure of the peoples of North Africa. Historically, these peoples experienced in antiquity various stages of early class society, and since the Arab conquest, feudal relations have developed in all countries of North Africa. However, the nomads of the Maghreb and East Sudan for a long time
More than 812 million people live in Africa, or 13% of the total. In the second half of the XX century. the continent's population began to grow rapidly, and in the 1980s its growth rates were one of the highest in the world - 2.9-3.0% per year. African countries differ markedly in terms of population: Egypt, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo each have a population of over 40 million, and Nigeria - nearly 120 million.
Africa is characterized by a high birth rate. Thanks to improved socio-economic conditions and medical care, mortality, especially among children, has decreased. A decrease in mortality and a high birth rate give high rates of population growth in most countries. The average population density on the continent is small and amounts to about 22 people. per 1 km2. She is the highest on about. Mauritius (about 500 people per 1 km2), the lowest is in the Sahara and the countries of the Sahel zone. A significant concentration of the population remains in areas of developed agriculture (Nile River valley, northern coast, Nigeria) or industrial activities ("copper belt", industrial areas of the PAR). Despite the predominance of the rural population, Africa is characterized by high growth rates of the urban population - over 5% per year. There are 22 millionaire cities on the continent. Factors associated with the uneven socio-economic development of individual countries have an important influence on population migration. Industrial areas accept emigrants from neighboring countries looking for work.
Military coups, constant struggle between ethnic and religious groups, military conflicts between countries lead to the emergence of different areas mainland a significant number of refugees: at the end of XX century. there were from 7 to 9 million people.
Thus, the current demographic situation in African countries is very contradictory. The dynamics of population growth on the mainland is mainly determined by its natural movement. V different countries the population is growing unevenly, the characteristics of the age-sex structure from an economic point of view remain unfavorable: an insufficient number of able-bodied population, especially males, a high proportion of children and young people, a short life expectancy (for men it is 49 years, for women - 52 years). V last years deaths from AIDS have reached catastrophic proportions in a number of countries.
The population of Africa is about 1 billion people. Population growth on the continent is the highest in the world in 2004, at 2.3%. Over the past 50 years, the average life expectancy has increased from 39 to 54 years.
The population consists mainly of representatives of two races: the Negroid south of the Sahara, and the Caucasian in northern Africa (Arabs) and South Africa (Boers and Anglo-South Africans). The most numerous people are the Arabs of North Africa.
During the colonial development of the mainland, many state borders were drawn without taking into account ethnic characteristics, which still leads to interethnic conflicts. The average population density in Africa is 22 people / km², which is significantly less than in Europe and Asia.
In terms of urbanization, Africa lags behind other regions - less than 30%, but the rate of urbanization here is the highest in the world, and false urbanization is characteristic of many African countries. The largest cities on the African continent are Cairo and Lagos.
Languages
The autochthonous languages of Africa are divided into 32 families, of which 3 (Semitic, Indo-European and austronesian) "Penetrated" to the continent from other regions.
There are also 7 isolated and 9 unclassified languages. The most popular native African languages are Bantu (Swahili, Congo) and Fula.
Indo-European languages became widespread due to the era of colonial rule: English, Portuguese, French are official in many countries. In Namibia since the beginning of the XX century. there is a compact living community that speaks German as the main language. The only language belonging to the Indo-European family that originated on the continent is Afrikaans, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa. Also, communities of Afrikaans speakers live in other countries of South Africa: Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Zambia. It is worth noting, however, that after the fall of the apartheid regime in South Africa, Afrikaans is being supplanted by other languages (English and local African). The number of its carriers and the scope of its application is decreasing.
The most widespread language of the Afrozian linguistic family - Arabic - is used in North, West and East Africa as the first and second languages. Many African languages (Hausa, Swahili) include a significant amount of borrowings from Arabic (primarily in the layers of political, religious vocabulary, abstract concepts).
The Austronesian languages are represented by the Malagasy language, which is spoken by the population of Madagascan.
The inhabitants of the African continent are characterized by proficiency in several languages at once, which are used in various everyday situations. For example, a representative of a small ethnic group that retains its own language can use the local language in the family circle and in communication with their fellow tribesmen, the regional interethnic language (Lingala in the DRC, Sango in the CAR, Hausa in Nigeria, Bambara in Mali) in communication with representatives of other ethnic groups, and the state language (usually European) in communication with the authorities and other similar situations. At the same time, language proficiency can be limited only by the ability to speak (the literacy rate of the population in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2007 was approximately 50% of the total population)
Religion in Africa
Islam and Christianity prevail among the world religions (the most widespread confessions are Catholicism, Protestantism, to a lesser extent Orthodoxy, Monophysitism). East Africa is also home to Buddhists and Hindus (many of them are from India). Also in Africa, there are followers of Judaism and Bahaism. Religions brought to Africa from outside are found both in pure form and syncretized with local traditional religions. Among the "major" traditional African religions are Ifa or Bwiti.
Education
Traditional education in Africa involved preparing children for African religions and life in African society. Education in pre-colonial Africa included games, dancing, singing, painting, ceremonies and rituals. The training was carried out by the elders; each member of the society contributed to the education of the child. Girls and boys were trained separately to learn the system of proper sex-role behavior. The apogee of learning was the rituals of transition, symbolizing the end of a child's life and the beginning of an adult.
Since the beginning of the colonial period, the education system has undergone changes towards the European, so that Africans have the opportunity to compete with Europe and America. Africa tried to establish the cultivation of its own specialists.
Now in terms of education, Africa still lags behind other parts of the world. In 2000, in Black Africa, only 58% of children were in school; these are the lowest rates. There are 40 million children in Africa, half of whom are of school age, who are out of school. Two thirds of them are girls.
In the postcolonial period, African governments placed greater emphasis on education; a large number of universities were established, although there was very little money for their development and support, and in some places it stopped altogether. However, universities are overcrowded, often forcing teachers to lecture in shifts, evenings and weekends. Due to low wages, there is a drain on staff. In addition to the lack of adequate funding, other problems for African universities are the unsettled degree system, as well as inequities in the system of career advancement among the teaching staff, which is not always based on professional merit. This often triggers protests and strikes from teachers.
Ethnic composition of the population of Africa
The ethnic composition of the modern population of Africa is very complex. The continent is inhabited by several hundred large and small ethnic groups, 107 of which number more than 1 million people each, and 24 exceed 5 million people. The largest of them are: Egyptian, Algerian, Moroccan, Sudanese Arabs, Hausa, Yoruba, Fulbe, Igbo, Amhara.
Anthropological composition of the population of Africa
In the modern population of Africa, various anthropological types are represented, belonging to different races.
The northern part of the continent up to the southern border of the Sahara is inhabited by peoples (Arabs, Berbers) belonging to the Indo-Mediterranean race (included in the large Caucasoid race). This race is characterized by a dark complexion, dark eyes and hair, wavy hair, a narrow face, and a crooked nose. However, among the Berbers there are both light-eyed and blonde-haired.
To the south of the Sahara, there are peoples belonging to the large Negro-Australoid race, represented by three minor races - Negro, Negrill and Bushman.
Among them, the peoples of the Negro race predominate. These include the population of Western Sudan, the Guinean coast, Central Sudan, the peoples of the Nilot group (upper Nile), and the Bantu peoples. These peoples are characterized by dark skin color, dark hair and eyes, a special structure of hair curling in spirals, thick lips, a wide nose with a low bridge of the nose. A typical feature of the peoples of the Upper Nile is high growth, exceeding 180 cm in some groups (world maximum).
Representatives of the Negrillic race - Negrilli or African pygmies - are undersized (on average 141-142 cm) inhabitants of the tropical forests of the basins of the Congo, Uele, etc. strongly flattened nose, relatively thin lips and lighter skin color.
The Bushmen race includes the Bushmen and Hottentots living in the Kalahari Desert. They are characterized by lighter (yellowish-brown) skin, thinner lips, flatter face and specific features such as wrinkled skin and steatopygia (strong development of the subcutaneous fat layer on the thighs and buttocks).
In Northeast Africa (Ethiopia and the Somalia peninsula), there are peoples belonging to the Ethiopian race, which occupies an intermediate position between the Indo-Mediterranean and Negroid races (thick lips, narrow face and nose, wavy hair).
In general, the close ties between the peoples of Africa have led to the absence of sharp boundaries between races. In southern Africa, European (Dutch) colonization led to the formation of a special type of so-called colored people.
The population of Madagascar is heterogeneous, it is dominated by the South Asian (Mongolian) and Negroid types. In general, the Malagasy are characterized by a predominance of a narrow eye section, protruding cheekbones, curly hair, a flattened and rather wide nose.
Natural movement of the population of Africa
The dynamics of the population of Africa, due to the relatively small size of migration, is mainly determined by its natural movement. Africa is an area of high fertility, in some countries it is approaching 50 ppm, that is, approaching biologically possible. On average across the continent, natural growth is about 3% per year, which is higher than in other regions of the Earth. The population of Africa, according to the UN, now exceeds 900 million people.
In general, increased fertility rates are typical for West and East Africa, and lower rates for zones of equatorial forests and desert regions.
The mortality rate is gradually decreasing to 15-17 ppm.
Infant mortality (up to 1 year) is quite high - 100-150 ppm.
The age composition of the population of many African countries is characterized by a high proportion of children and a low proportion of the elderly.
The number of men and women is generally the same, with women prevailing in rural areas.
The average life expectancy in Africa is approximately 50 years. Relatively high life expectancy is typical for South Africa and North Africa.
Placement of the population of Africa
The average population density of the continent is low - about 30 people / km / sq. the distribution of the population is influenced not only by natural conditions, but also by historical factors, primarily the consequences of the slave trade and colonial rule.
The highest population density is on the island of Mauritius (more than 500 people per square kilometer), as well as on the Reunion, Seychelles, Comoros and East African states - Rwanda and Burundi (within 200 people). The lowest population density is in Botswana, Libya, Namibia, Mauritania, Western Sahara - 1-2 people. km / sq.
In general, the Nile valleys are densely populated (1200 people km / sq.), The coastal zone of the Maghreb countries (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia), areas of irrigated agriculture in Sudan, oases of the Sahara, the outskirts of large cities (100-200 people km. Sq. ).
A reduced population density is noted in the Sahara - less than 1, in Tropical Africa - 1-5, in the dry steppes and semi-deserts of Namib and Kalahari - less than 1 person. km. sq.
Urban population of Africa
The annual growth of the city dwellers on the continent exceeds 5%. The share of the urban population now exceeds 40%.
Large cities are growing especially rapidly: Cairo - over 10 million, Alexandria, Casablanca, Algeria - over 2 million.
There are large differences in the level of urbanization of individual countries. The largest share of the urban population (50% or more) is in South Africa, Djibouti, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Mauritius, Reunion. The smallest - less than 5%, in Burundi, Rwanda, Lesotho.
On the continent, there are a number of areas with a cluster of cities: the Nile valley and delta, the coastal strip of the Maghreb, urban agglomerations of South Africa, the Copper Belt region in Zambia and the DRC.
About a third of Africa is an area of internal flow, mainly temporary streams. The rivers of Africa are rapids, so even the largest of them are not navigable throughout.
The three largest lakes in Africa - Victoria, Tanganyika, Nyasu - are called the Great African Lakes. Lake Victoria is one of the largest on Earth and the most large lake in Africa. It is so great that for many years Europeans heard rumors about it as a sea in the depths of the African continent. The largest land mammals live in Africa - elephants, hippos, rhinos, giraffes.
Back in the middle of the last century on political map Africa was dominated by the colonies of European powers: France, Great Britain, Belgium, Portugal, Germany, Spain, Italy. After the Second World War, the rise of the national liberation struggle began. The first to achieve independence are a number of North African countries, among them Tunisia, Morocco and Sudan (Egypt formally gained independence in 1922). A few years later - in 1960 - 14 former colonies and the Trust Territories of France, as well as Nigeria, Belgian Congo and Somalia. This year has gone down in history as the "Year of Africa". Gradually, the process of decolonization covers the entire "Black" continent, the last colony, Namibia, became independent in 1990.
Africa remains the most economically backward continent.
Of the 25 countries with the lowest GDP per capita, 20 are African countries. All these countries are characterized by a very low level of economic development and a rapidly growing population: for example, in Eritrea, Somalia, Burundi, Burkino Faso, Mali, Niger, natural growth is 3 percent or more per year. Many countries are characterized by an unstable political situation, which is often aggravated and takes on the most tragic form for the population and economy of the country - the form of a military conflict.
Poverty is concentrated in "Black Africa", mainly between 20 ° N. sh. and 10 ° S. sh. (incl. natural area Sahel, characterized by progressive desertification and periodic catastrophic droughts). This "poverty belt" includes Guinea, Bissau, Sierra Leone, Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin, the Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Niger, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Burundi, Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia. Poverty is also typical for the southeastern "corner" of Africa (including islands off the coast of the mainland), here are Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, the Comoros and Madagascar.
Africa is very variegated ethnic composition population, there are more than 200 peoples. Therefore, the region is dominated by multinational states. The largest peoples (groups of peoples) are Arabs, Bantu, Congo, Yoruba, Fulbe, Somali, for, Nilots, Shona, Bushmen.
Average population density in Africa
The average population density in Africa is 28 people / km2. More populated Western part mainland and individual countries of Central and South Africa, less population density in North Africa. Areas with a higher concentration of population are coastal areas where large cities and large plantations are concentrated, among them the Mediterranean regions of the Maghreb, the coast of the Gulf of Guinea and the adjacent plains of Nigeria.
Africa has the highest rates natural growth population - 2.2% per year. The "champion" looks like Niger, where this figure reaches 3.6%, the population of this African country is expected to increase 4.45 times over the next fifty years. At the same time, Africa ranks first in the world in child mortality, with the lowest life expectancy. The average life expectancy in Africa is 49 years. This is the only region where life expectancy is below the world average, with a gap of “a quarter of a life”: 49 years versus 65 years on average in the world. There are significant differences in life expectancy on the continent: the situation is more prosperous in North Africa - 66 years, the leaders are Tunisia and Libya (73 years). The least of all live in East and Central Africa - 43 years, this is about half the life of a Japanese or a Swede. The lowest in life expectancy are Zambia and Zimbabwe - 32 and 33 years, respectively. This is due to AIDS, these countries are in the "epicenter" of the spread of this "plague of the XX-XXI centuries." Many African countries are involved in the circle of “AIDS-bewitched” states, primarily in the southern part of the continent (Swaziland, Lesotho, Botswana, as well as South Africa).
Share of urban population in Africa
Africa is inferior to other regions of the world in terms of the share of urban population, 38.7% of Africans live in cities. Only South Africa has passed the 50% threshold of the share of urban population (the average in this part of Africa is 53.8%, from 17.9% in Lesotho to 56.9% in South Africa). North Africa is literally one step up to 50% of the mark - 49.6%. East Africa has the least impact on urbanization, with an average of 26% (from 9.9% in Burundi to 83.7% in Djibouti). At the same time, Africa holds the world leadership in terms of urban population growth.
The economy of African countries is characterized by the predominance of agriculture, food, light (textile) and mining industries. Where there are forest resources, the forestry and woodworking industries are developing (the initial stages of processing). In recent years, the importance of metallurgy, oil refining and chemical industries, mechanical engineering and power engineering has increased somewhat. However, in general, the manufacturing industry is poorly developed, with the exception of South Africa and certain regions of North Africa.
African development
V territorial structure farms with a higher level of development, few territories are allocated, as a rule, this is the capital, areas of production and processing mineral resources, as well as ports of export of raw materials and certain types of agricultural products. The rest of the regions are regions with a predominance of subsistence and semi-subsistence agriculture. The development of this industry is characterized by low growth rates, and in a number of countries they lag behind population growth rates. The leading branch of agriculture is crop production, many countries specialize in one or two crops. For example, Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana specialize in cocoa beans and coffee, Senegal - on peanuts, Tunisia - on olives, Egypt - on oranges and cotton, Kenya - on sisal, Tanzania - on sisal and tea. Of the food crops, cassava (a variety of cassava), corn, and yams are of great importance. Livestock production plays an important role only in areas where crop production is limited due to the arid climate. Mainly zebu, sheep, pigs and camels are raised; the largest livestock in Ethiopia, Sudan, Nigeria, Somalia, South Africa. Most countries cannot provide their population with the necessary foodstuffs and are forced to import them, some receive foreign aid.
