« 72 Hours In San Diego | Main | New Monkeys! »

May 31, 2005

Some Facts About Africa

I'm always looking for interesting information about Africa. We didn't study much of Africa in school, and I'd be hard-pressed to name all the countries and their capitals (although this is shortly to be remedied).

Fact: Current research has led scientists to believe that the earliest human beings came from Africa. The Olduvai Gorge, located in the eastern Serengeti of northern Tanzania, is a noted archaeological site for human development.

Fact: With the exception of the Mediteranean, Europeans did not begin to explore Africa until about 600 years ago (late 1400's). Before this time, the Arabs were the primary explorers there.

Fact: Northern half of Africa is primarily Muslim.

Fact: The eastern coastline of Africa, as far south as Madagascar, is also Muslim, primarily due to the spread along the Islamic trade routes by sailors and merchants.

Fact: There are about as many Christians as Muslims in the whole of Africa. Christianity was brought by Missionaries in the 1800's.

Fact: Very few people still practice the native religions, about 13%.

Fact: Northeast Africa is refered to as the "Horn of Africa", due to its shape.

Fact: Safari is a Swahili word meaning journey

Source: Cultural Atlas of Africa

Posted by sorsha at May 31, 2005 5:58 PM