Africa

American

[af-ri-kuh] / ˈæf rɪ kə /

noun

a continent south of Europe and between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. About 11,700,000 square miles (30,303,000 square kilometers).

Africa British

/ ˈæfrɪkə /

noun

the second largest of the continents, on the Mediterranean in the north, the Atlantic in the west, and the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Indian Ocean in the east. The Sahara desert divides the continent unequally into North Africa (an early centre of civilization, in close contact with Europe and W Asia, now inhabited chiefly by Arabs) and Africa south of the Sahara (relatively isolated from the rest of the world until the 19th century and inhabited chiefly by Negroid peoples). It was colonized mainly in the 18th and 19th centuries by Europeans and now comprises independent nations. The largest lake is Lake Victoria and the chief rivers are the Nile, Niger, Congo, and Zambezi. Pop: 887 964 000 (2005 est). Area: about 30 300 000 sq km (11 700 000 sq miles)

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Africa Cultural

The second-largest continent, after Asia; located south of Europe and bordered to the west by the Atlantic Ocean and to the east by the Indian Ocean.

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Africa south of the Sahara is sometimes called sub-Saharan Africa.

Africa has been the home of great civilizations, particularly in Egypt (see also Egypt), along the Mediterranean Sea. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, European nations colonized much of the continent (see colonialism). In the twentieth century, the colonies became independent countries.

Sub-Saharan Africa has been hit especially hard by HIV/AIDS, drastically decreasing the life expectancy of much of the population.

Etymology

Origin of Africa

See African ( def. )

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

It is the main conduit for oil and other energy products like liquefied natural gas as they flow between much of the Persian Gulf and Asia, Africa and beyond.

From MarketWatch

Both states offer large travel hubs which connect the UK with Africa, Asia and Australasia.

From BBC

South Africa produced an unconvincing performance with the bat but beat Zimbabwe by five wickets to set up a semi-final against New Zealand.

From BBC

So in early spring, North Africa and the Mediterranean start to warm up quicker than the rate at which the Arctic gets milder.

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023