Africa

Africa is the third largest continent, after Asia and America. It is located between the Atlantic oceans to the west and the Indian oceans to the east. The Mediterranean Sea separates it to the north from the European continent; The point where the two continents are closest is the 14.4 km wide Strait of Gibraltar. The Red Sea separates it to the east from the Arabian peninsula and is linked to Asia through the Suez isthmus, in Egyptian territory. Africa is believed to be the cradle of humanity and the successive species of hominids and anthropoids that gave rise to humans originate from there. The theory explains that Homo sapiens originated there about 300,000 years ago and then spread to the rest of the continents.

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Three successive climatic strips are repeated to the north and south of the equator, encompassing the Mediterranean, desert, subtropical and intertropical rainy climates, the latter in its two main types, both savanna and jungle. Africa is the continent with the highest annual insolation rate.

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During the colonial regime, Europeans exploited the easiest and most profitable products to extract, such as gold, ivory, wood and textile fibers. After the emancipation of the colonies, the most coveted became oil, diamonds and mining in general, but these products mentioned are found in few countries. In addition to non-native languages ​​such as Arabic, French or English (among others) whose presence in Africa is due to processes of conquest and political domination. It is estimated that there are currently around 1,700 indigenous languages ​​in Africa.