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The practice of passing for White

The practice of passing for white is adopted by people in places where colour could mean the difference between success and failure; People who are darker than Caucasian features, especially, in countries such as South Africa, Australia, Europe, and the Americas. People with some African-Ancestry who hid their identity so they would not be typecast; in a white society, people aspiring for success in the so-called white world.

It has been revealed that there are millions of white folks, who are hiding their identity-African ancestry backgrounds.

 Famous stars, such as Mariah Carey, was recently exposed, after passing for years as a white girl who can sing. Investigation carried out by some African -American journalist discovered that the pretty singer’s father was Venezuelan with African-ancestry. President Thomas Jefferson of United States of America had African ancestors.

It has recently revealed by a relatives of former FBI Chief J. Edgar Hoover, that the notorious FBI King, and born again racist had African-ancestry.

In her book " Secrets uncovered, J Edgar Hoover- passing for white? Millie Ghee, a teacher and distant relative of the former FBI King claimed that when she was 10 years-old, her grandmother told her that the father of the former FBI King, Dickenson Hoover was fathered by John Hoover, -an offspring of a what Americans and South Africans called "coloured" couple. J Edgar Hoover, was a former US, FBI King (Federal Bureau of Investigator) from 1935 -1972. He was a born again racist, a repressed homosexual and notorious. He systematically, sent more than 50,000 African-American to death, and relentlessly harassed and tried to repress the civil rights movement.

A recent study into DNA by Bryan Sykes, Professor of human genetics at Oxford University, England found that the DNA originated in Africans brought to Britain as soldiers and slaves by the Romans 1000 years before the infamous transatlantic slave trade. The study, which looked at the DNA of more than 10,000 people found that many who believed their ancestry to be completely British were actually far more diverse.

"This makes nonsense of any biological basis for racial classification", Sykes was quoted as saying. " We are all a complex mixture and, at the same time, we are all related." Among those whom Sykes found with a strong selection of African genes was a dairy farmer from Somerset in Southern England whose British ancestry could be traced back hundreds of years.

Records theft of Nigerian money.

Gen.  Abacha stole US$5billion of oil money.

The negative perceptions of African police

Corruption, inadequate service, lack of motivation and increasing crime, brutality are some of the negative perceptions of the police in many African countries. Cases of police misconduct is rampant. The majority of the cases involved excessive use of force, abuse of power and the unjustified use of weapons. 1 out of 3 Africans hates police; In Nigeria; where corruption reigns supreme, gun battles between police and criminal is common, according to police statistics between July 2000 and May 2001, criminal gangs killed 300 civilians within the same period, they also killed 84 policemen and injured 133 others. More.
 

Burdened on abused children

A child who is denied access to education is an abused child. Those directing child’s depravity seem reluctant to classify work done by children as abuse. The middle class are equally responsible for 75 per cent of child abuse cases in Africa, Asia, and Latin America and even in Europe and North America. They employ children between the ages of 6 and 10 as housemaid, doing adult work, and looking after babies whilst their own children go to school in smartly dressed school uniform. More

Time Line Africa !

AFRICA -THE DAWN OF CIVILIZATION

Area

The area of Africa is 31,400,000 square kilometers and is the second largest continent - a great continent, a land mass which constitutes the first or Old World, a place where society first existed, the root of all rhythms and the dawn of civilization.

Africa is divided by two by the equator, the northern half is dominated by the great Sahara desert, while the southern half is dominated by central plateau comprising a southern table land with a mean altitude of 1,070m (3,000ft) that falls northwards to a lower plain at 400m (1,300ft). The highest peak is Mt. Kilimanjaro 5,895m (19,340ft), and the lowest point is Lake Assal in the Afer Depression of Djibouti (-153m, -502ft).

Present origin

There is something mysterious about the present origin of Africa, according to geologists. Africa, Antarctica, Australia, India, Island of Madagascar, South America and Europe were joined in a super-continent called GONDWANALAND. This was about 135 million years ago before the super-continent broke up as a result of forces from inside the earth which caused the super-continent to split and its various parts began to move away from each other.

Africa drifting from the super-continent (GONDWANALAND) 135 million years ago.

Ethnic groups

People from Africa

People from Africa are classified as "BLACK" people of dark complexion by English people. The first European to come into contacts with Africans were the Spanish and Portuguese. Europeans knew very little about Africa and Africans. In England, prior to the reign of Elizabeth 1, English people never conceived of the economic power and universal recognition that overseas exploration would bring to them. 

English people or voyagers did not touch upon the shores of Africa until after 1550, a century after the Portuguese under the rule of Prince Henry the Navigator, had mounted the sustained Portuguese drive southward for a sea passage to the Far East.

Prince Henry the Navigator (c.1440)

The Englishman's initial experience of Africa was therefore, limited and quite different from that of the Spanish and Portuguese who had for centuries been in contact with Africans of various complexion and had in fact been invaded, conquered and ruled by Africans of a darker complexion and more highly civilized than themselves.

Early English explorers described Africans in strange fashion. "The people of Africa are all black and are called Negroes without apparel saving their privities".  A native African is called a person of dark-skinned race or Negro race, a black American, black Caribbean or black African. Blackness is associated with baseness and evil, a sign of danger and repulsion:  soiled, unfortunate, having dark or deadly purposes, involved in death, deadly, baneful, disastrous, sinister foul, atrocious, sinful, baseness, ugliness, horrible, wicked, indicating disgrace, very bad, threatening or hopeless. The perception of whiteness is the exact opposite: The white is associated with purity, beauty, virginity, virtue, good luck and immaculate.

In the early stages of the European exploration of the New World, Africans came along as porters, servants and slaves. As early as 1501, 49 years before the first English explorer touched upon the shores of West Africa. Spain repealed her earlier proscription and permitted Africans to go into Spanish colonies in the New World. Balboa  travelled, with thirty Africans when he discovered the Pacific Ocean. He was a Spanish explorer who is credited with being the first European to see the eastern shore of the Pacific Ocean. 

Africans were with the French in their exploration during the Canadian expeditions. Africans went with Jesuit Missionaries although Africans were regarded as members of inferior race and mannerisms. The Englishmen were however, not the first to transport Negroes from Africa to the Americas.

THE TREATY OF UTRECHT (1713)

It is on records that Great Britain pioneered the slave trade. In 1713, Great Britain entered into contract with Spain for the sale of slaves from Africa to Spanish American colonies. In the Peace of  UTRECHT (1713) , Spain granted Great Britain a monopoly of the supply of slaves from Africa to Spanish American colonies of  144, 000 slaves at 4,800 a year for thirty years, with other privileges. The treaty of UTRECHT was ended by agreement in 1750, after years of disputes between Great Britain and Spain.

The slave trade depopulated Africa and brought the entire continent to its knees, which subsequently, led to the destruction of Great African Empires and civilizations and, made it possible for Islamic armies from Arabian world to invade Africa and introduce Islam, in the north of the continent.

The population of Africa can be subdivided into the following major groups;-

1. Descendants of the early inhabitants.

2. Negroid people

3. Caucasoid people (Hermitic and Semitic)

4. Hermitic - Negroid people

5. Recent immigrants

Descendants of the early inhabitants

The so-called bushmen and pygmies are believed to be early inhabitants of Africa. The bushmen concentrated in the Kalahari Desert. They are yellow-brown in colour and small in stature. FOOD SUPPLY: hunting and food gathering. The Pygmy people concentrated mainly in the Congo Basin and are also small in stature, but have more Negroid features than the bushmen. FOOD SUPPLY: hunting and food gathering.

Negroid people

The purest Negroid people are the so-called Sudanese Negroes who occupy parts of the zone from the Western Sudan to the Atlantic Coast of West Africa, before some of them were sold into slavery in the Caribbean, Americas, Europe and Arabian deserts. The Negroid people have a very dark brown skin colour, thick lips, a flat broad nose " Woolly hair " and majority of them are 1.65m (5ft.6ins) to 1.73m (5ft.8ins) in height.

The Yoruba people of south-western Nigeria are good examples of the Sudanese Negroes, from where they originated; they had developed quite large urban centers before European influence spread into their area.

Caucasoid people

These Caucasoid people concentrated mainly in Egypt. Northern Sudan and much of the Sahara region and eastern horn of Africa. These people belong to two main ethnic groups. The Hermits and Semites. The hermitic are fairly tall and light skinned with long narrow faces and wavy hair, usually brown or black in colour. They are divided into two.

The northern Hermits; include the Berber, who were the original inhabitants of present day north Africa before the Arabs arrived, the Nomadic Tuaregs of the Sahara, and the Fulani of West Africa.

The eastern Hermits

The people include, the Beja from ancient Egypt, Somalis, Nubians and most Ethiopians. The Semites or Arab people moved into North Africa (Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Algeria and Morocco) as invaders 2000 years after the pyramids were built by ancient Africans and effectively introduced the Arabic language and Islam to North Africa. They settled and inter-married with earlier Hermitic settlers.

The Amharic of Ethiopia

They are basically of Hermitic origin, but speak the Semitic language, practice Christianity and frequently have frizzy hair and other Negroid features.

The Hermitic - Negroid People - Bantu

The term "Bantu" simply means people, but is used to describe a very large group of people who speak languages with certain common elements., They are believed to be people of Sudanese Negroid and Hermitic extraction. Bantu people are dark brown in skin colour with the typical Negroid facial features of broad noses and averted lips. They concentrated mainly in the southern part of Africa.

Nilotes and Nilo-Hermits

The Nilotes concentrated mainly around south of Khartoum in the Sudan to east of Lake Victoria. The Dinka, Buer and Shilluk in the north are extremely tall and slender. The shortest Nuer person is 6ft in height. They have broad noses and thick lips. The Acholi people of Uganda and the Luo of eastern Uganda and western Kenya are of Nilote extraction but different in appearance from those in Sudan. The Acholi and Luo are heavily built and more distinctly Negroid in appearance.

The Nilo-Hamites are made up of the Bari of Sudan. The Teso of Uganda, The Urkana and Nandi of Kenya and the Massai of Kenya - Tanzanian borderlands. The majority of these people are tall, slender and dark skinned, but their features are often less Negroid than those of the Nilotes.

Recent Immigrants

The Arabs, Asians and Europeans arrived in Africa more recently, especially during the scramble and partition of Africa. The Arabs concentrated mainly in north Africa, Asians in east Africa while the Europeans concentrated in southern Africa.

Principal physical features

The Great Rift Valley in the east, the Atlas mountains in the north-west, the Kalahari, Namibia and Karoo deserts in the south, the great Sahara deserts in the north central, and the Nile, Congo, Niger, Zambezi, Limpopo, Volta and the Orange Rivers. On either side of the equator - a belt of dry Savannah known as the Sahel which stretches across the entire continent. 

Great Rift Valley

The most extensive system of rift valleys in the World, a geological fault systems running some 4,000 miles from Jordan Valley in Israel along the Red Sea into Ethiopia, and through, Kenya, Tanzania and Malawi, Uganda into Mozambique.

Kalahari Desert

An arid plateau, about 4000ft high between Zambezi and Orange Rivers in southern Africa. It is covered by reddish sand. Kalahari Game Reserve is situated in the south.

THE  GREAT PYRAMIDS OF AFRICA

A Sphinx, guards the ancient royal tombs of the pyramids. The Sphinx is the face of Pharaoh Khufu (cheops) and is the first of the seven wonders of the world.

The Pyramids of Africa in Egypt acknowledged to be the greatest monuments built by man did not originate in Egypt. Pyramids were built 2000 years before the Pharaohs. They were originally built by Nubian people of the Kingdom of Nubia (now known as Sudan). The Kingdom of Nubia reached its peak about 1000 BC and became Kermit territory (now known as Egypt). The Kingdom of Nubia stretches from the Nubia deserts to the Equatorial rain forests of East and Central Africa.

The first Pyramid in today Sudan

The first Pyramids in Africa were built in the town of MEROWE in the Kingdom of  Nubia (Sudan) by slaves labourers from modern day Uganda and Mali (the Dogon tribal people of Mali) who were enslaved by the more powerful Nubian people. The Kingdom of Kush from where the Queen of Sheba travelled to meet King Solomon of Israel grew out of the town of Merowe. Around the 9th Century BC, the rulers of Kush invaded and conquered Kermit, and renamed it Egypt , and Egypt became part of the Kingdom of Kush. The rulers of Kush made Napata, the Capital of the Kingdom of Kush. More slaves were captured and transported to the town of Egypt in the Kingdom of Kush to built more Pyramids. The limestone of Egypt was better than that of the town Merowe. The further north they went the better they became.

The three Giza pyramids are the most famous in the world and were designed to align astronomically with the three stars of Orion's belt. They were built during Egypt's Fourth Pharaonic dynasty which lasted between 2613 - 2494 BC.

The first  Pyramids built for the Pharaohs was the Great Pyramid built for an African Pharaoh called Khufu (corruptly called Cheops) and is the first of the seven wonders of the world. It contains over two million blocks of limestone each weighing at least 2.5 tonnes.

The second Giza pyramid was built for Khufu's successor and relative Khafre (corruptly called Chephren) whose face, with its unmistakable African features, is also said to be depicted on the Sphinx.

The third pyramid of Giza was built for an African Pharaoh called Menkure (corruptly called Mycerinus). When the three great pyramids were originally built they were covered with ivory so that the reflected light from the sun made them appear like stars in their own right.

In 666 BC, the Kingdom of Kush was overrun by Assyrians while Egypt was invaded and captured by the Persians, Macedonians and Romans. After the fall of the Kingdom of Kush, the Nubians were driven out of Egypt and set up their new capital at the town of Merowe in the south, where the first pyramids were built in Africa. The new capital of Nubia Kingdom was invaded and conquered by Christian rulers of Ethiopia. After the destruction of Merowe, a Christian Kingdom emerged in Nubia with its capital at Dongola.

The Christian rulers were able to stop the advance of the Arab armies that seized Egypt in 641 AD, when Egypt came under the rule of the Mama Lukes in 1250, the Arab armies invaded and conquered Nubia and Arab migration to Nubia (modern Sudan and Egypt) grew immediately while Islamic influences were taking place in the north and west of Sudan. The south of Nubia (Sudan) remained an effective barrier against Arab penetration. The war between the Nubians and Arabs which started in 166 BC came to abrupt end in 2005 after the Sudanese Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA) signed a peace deal with the Islamic regime of north Sudan.

THE GREAT RIVERS OF AFRICA

River Congo

The river lies largely within the Democratic Republic of Congo and flows north, west and south-west before emptying into the Atlantic Ocean. It was proved by Henry Stanley, a British explorer that River Lualeba was the source of the mighty Congo and not the Nile.

River Limpopo

It is one of the great rivers of Africa situated in south-east Africa, rises as the Crocodile River near south Africa's capital city - Johannesburg and flows 1,100 miles in a great curve north and west into the Indian Ocean north-east of Maputo, Mozambique. Maputo is the capital city of Mozambique.

River Nile

Uganda, a country in east Africa is regarded as the source of the Nile, the World's longest river, flowing northward from Uganda section of Lake Victoria in east Africa for over 4,000 miles to the Mediterranean Sea. The lower Nile was the centre of Egyptian Civilization, the upper Nile was unknown to European Explorer's before the 19th century.

The Victoria, the Albert, then the mountain Nile flown northward from Lake Victoria and Albert into southern Sudan, where it loses enormous quantities of water through evaporation and from which it emerges calmly; At Khartoum, capital of Sudan, the White Nile is joined by the Blue Nile from the Ethiopian mountains.

River Niger

The largest river in West Africa. It originated from Fatou Djallon highland in Guinea, West Africa and flows north-east border of Sierra Leone for 2,5550 miles to Mali, then south-east through west Niger and Nigeria before turning southwards to empty through a great delta into Bight of Biafra - an eastern bay of the Gulf of Guinea extending from the mouth of River Niger to Gabon.

River Volta

A river formed in central Ghana, West Africa by the junctions of headwaters, the Black Volta, Red Volta and White Volta which rises in Burkina Faso.

Zambezi River

The river rises in north-west Zambia and flows 1,600 miles south through eastern Angola, then generally eastwards along, the Zambia-Zimbabwe frontier, and across central Mozambique into the Mozambique channel of the Indian Ocean.

Orange River

It is South Africa's longest river. It rises in the Drakensberg mountain in north - east Lesotho and flows generally westward for 1,350 miles across the continent into the Atlantic Ocean on the frontier between Namibia and South Africa.

THE GREAT LAKES OF AFRICA

Lake Victoria is the largest lake in Africa (26,820sq miles). It was known as Lake Nyaza before it was explored by European explorers. The lake is the chief reservoir of the Nile. It lies within the boundaries of  Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya.

Lake Chad

A shallow lake on the frontier of Republic of Chad, Niger and Nigeria. It is situated in north - central Africa. It sizes varies seasonally. The lake is full of Crocodiles and hippo and there are plenty of fish, especially tilapias. The lake shores is used to grow rice, cereals, beans, okra and water melon by local local farmers. They also grow cotton and peanuts for export.

Lake Tanganyika

The deepest and second largest lake in Africa (12,650 sq miles). It is on the frontier between Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia and Burundi. The chief towns of its shores are Bujumbura, capital of Burundi, Kigoma, Ujiji in Tanzania and Kalemie.

Lake Nyasa

A lake in Malawi, east-central Africa and the third largest lake in Africa (11,150 sq miles) about 360 miles long. It forms most of the eastern border of Malawi with Mozambique and Tanzania. It name means " Lake "

Lake Kivu

A lake on the border between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda in central Africa; area 1,042 sq miles. It is the highest lake in Africa at 4,788ft.

Lake Turkana

A salt lake with no outlet set in a barren landscape in north - west Kenya and Ethiopia; area 2,474 sq miles.

TIME LINE AFRICA

40,000 BCE : First early Homo-sapiens ventured from Africa.

4241 BCE: First fixed calendar invented in Egypt by the Nubians.

2500 BCE: The rise of Hebrew nation.

1370-1370 BCE: Pharaoh Amenhotep and Queen Nefertiti introduce the sun God called RA.

1-1349 BCE: King Tutankhamen became King of Egypt.

1050 BCE: The Queen of Sheba traveled from Cush in Sudan to visit King Solomon.

712 BCE: An Ethiopian called Piankhi became Pharaoh of Egypt.

332-283 BCE: Alexander the Great invaded and conquered Egypt.

247-183 BCE: General Hannibal from Berber tribe rules Carthage in present day Tunisia and invades Italy.

47-30 BCE: Cleopatra VIII, Queen of the Nile, rules Egypt.

1-33 CE: Life and Times of Jesus Christ.

36 BCE: Cleopatra married Mark Anthony and bore him three mixed race sons.

48 BCE: Cleopatra met Julius Caesar in Egypt.

31 BCE: Augustus Caesar defeated Mark Anthony and Cleopatra.

189-199 CE: An African from Berber tribe in Libya became POPE VICTOR 1 and unifies the Catholic Church.

640 AD: Islamic Armies invaded and conquered Egypt, and Cairo became one of the greatest centers of Islam.

666 AD: Assyrians invaded and conquered Kush (present day) Sudan

1250: The Mamaelukes (Christian rulers of Ethiopia) takes control of Egypt.

1250: Arab migration to Sudan grew while Islamic influences were taking place in the north and west of Sudan. The south remained an effective barrier against Arab penetration.

1822: Turkish Viceroy of Egypt called Mohammed Ali invaded and conquered northern Sudan.

1881: British invaded and conquered Egypt.

1898: Anglo-Egyptian armies invaded and conquered Sudan.

700-1076 CE: Ancient empire of Ghana rises under King Tenhkhamenin.

1100 CE: The Kingdom of Monotomotapa reaches its peak (present day Zimbabwe)

1230-1255: The rise of Sundiata of Mali to power.

1324: Mansa Musa of Mali made a holy pilgrimage to Mecca.

1490: One of the oldest universities in the world was built by Askia Mohammed at Timbuktu in present day Mali.

1506: King Alfonso of Congo ascended to the throne.

1590: Arab armies from Morocco invaded the Great Kingdom of Songhay in West Africa and destroyed its civilisation.

1630: A powerful African Queen called Queen Nkinga organises the state of Matamba.

1650: Oyo empire in present day western Nigeria reaches its peak.

1695: Ashanti nation Ghana) established by Osei Tutu.

1562: The first Englishman visited Africa to obtain slaves, Ivory, Gold and Diamonds.

1562: The first Africans arrived in England as slaves.

1787: The descendants of first group of poor Africans arrived in Sierra Leone from England as freed slaves. They were accompanied by their white girl friends numbered about 411.

1815: Napoleon Bonaparte was exiled in St. Helena, West Africa.

1821: Napoleon Bonaparte dies in St. Helena, West Africa.

1821: The descendants of first group of Africans arrived in Providence Island, Liberia from USA as freed slaves.

1847: Liberia, West Africa was declared Independent.

In the 5th Century: Carthage (Tunisia) became the greatest of Christian centers after Alexandria, Egypt and produced one of the greatest writers and thinkers of Christianity, St. Augustine, A Libyan, from Berber tribe. St. Augustine was an African from Berber tribe in Libya. He was educated in Carthage (Tunisia). He brought fame to the city of Annaba in present day Algeria where he served as a Bishop and wrote a book "The City of God".

Things introduced by Nubians (ancient Egyptians) that we take for granted today.

The art of shaving, the donning of such apparel as tunics, sandals, kilts. The wearing of amulets, wigs, perfumed oils and makeup. The use of dyes and the invention of board games, fixed calendar, mathematics and musical instruments. It was also a period of great literary activity, when poetry, fables and legal writings were widely spread.

MOUNTAINS OF AFRICA

Atlas Mountains

A range of mountains in north Africa extending from Morocco to Tunisia in a series of folded mountain chains which include the Anti- Atlas, High Atlas, Middle Atlas, Rif Mountain, Tell Atlas and Sahara Atlas. The highest peak in the Atlas mountains and in north Africa is Djebel Toubkal (13,664ft) in south of Marrakech.

Mt. Kilimanjaro

Africa's highest mountain. An extinct Volcano in northern Tanzania. It has twin peaks, the higher which is Kibo (19,340ft).

Mt. Kenya

The mountain is situated south the equator, central Kenya and 17,058ft in height. It is the second highest mountain n Africa. It gave its name to the country Kenya (Kirinyaga). A mountain of Volcanic origin.

AFRICAN LANGUAGES

Berber, Chadic, Cushitic, Khoisan, Niger-Congo, Nilo-Sahara and Semitic Languages.

Berber Languages is a group of 30 languages spoken by about 15 million Berbers in scattered groups across Morocco, northern Algeria, Libya and western Egypt and central Sahara. The Berbers were the original inhabitants of the whole of north Africa before they were driven out or assimilated by more powerful Islamic invaders. Arabic features prominently in Berber language as well as Phoenician and Latin words.

The Numidian languages spoken by Ancient Numidian - ancient people of Libya. The language is still in use by Tuaregs. The Tuaregs live mainly in the Sahara Desert. The Berber languages are written in the Arabic script because nobody has time to invent the script. There is virtually no literature. Scholars are yet to decide the interior sub-groupings of the Berber languages.

The Berbers of North of Africa include the following important groups; Tuaregs, Kabyle (now Algeria), Rift (Morocco) and Mauritania. Berber languages are part of African-Asiatic, all the groups mentioned above were the ancient African and natives of North Africa before the Arab/Islamic invasions of 7th century.

Chadic Languages: The most important of all Chadic languages is the Hausa spoken widely in the region of Lake Chad in north-central Africa-Niger and some part of northern Nigeria.

Cushitic Languages; A Hermitic type of group of languages spoken widely in Ethiopia and Somalia; The Somali is spoken mainly in Somalia. The two languages are Cushitic group of languages.

Khoisan languages or Click languages spoken by the so-called Bushmen and Hottentots in southern and eastern Africa.

Niger-Congo Languages is the largest group of languages in Africa; it derived its name from Rivers Niger and Congo. It is a group of languages spoken by native people of western central and southern Africa. The group of languages includes the Mwande group (West Africa), the Voltaic group (Burkina) and the Kwa group (Nigeria) which includes Yoruba and Ibo.

Nilo-Sahara; A group of languages spoken by a small group of people in Nile, Chad and Niger Rivers. The eastern Sudanic are the largest. The Nilotic languages are spoken in southern Sudan, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania. Nubian, the native languages of Egypt before Arabic was introduced as also an eastern Sudanic language. Speakers of Nubian can be found along the Nile south of Aswan.

Semitic Languages; is a group of languages spoken throughout north Africa; the Arabian Peninsula and the Middle East;-

1. Akkadian; an eastern group of Semitic languages spoken by ancient Babylonian and Assyrian was the language of Mesopotamia.

2. Trgrinya; a southern group of Semitic languages spoken in Tigre and Eritrea and Amharic, the official language of Ethiopia.

3. Arabic; Hebrew and Phoenician Languages;-

Arabic is the largest Semitic languages spoken by over 100 million people. Classical Arabic, the language of Islam has remained unchanged since the 7th century AD and is Arab LINGUA FRANCA.

Hebrew, the biblical language used for Jewish scriptures declined by the end of 6th century; The language was maintained by Jews down the centuries as a religious language. Language resurrected at the beginning of the 20th Century and is now spoken by 4 million Israelis.

Phoenician is now extinct. Semitic is part of African-Asiatic, a larger group which includes, Berbers, Chadic and Cushitic Languages.

Swahili spoken in East Africa and Creole spoken in Sierra Leone and Liberia are not African languages and does not fall into African group of languages. Swahili was invented by Arab Slave traders in East Africa at the beginning of 18th century. Swahili is a mixture of words derived primarily from Arabic and Bantu but its structures and intonations are based on Bantu language.

MINERALS OF AFRICA

50 percent of the world's minerals, including 75 percent of the world's diamond and 60 percent of its gold, are mined in Africa.

Diamonds; Some of the world's largest diamonds are found in Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Namibia, Sierra Leone and South Africa.

Gemstones; such as garnets, tourmaline and zirconium are found in Madagascar.

Platinum, uranium and antimony, gold and Iron Ore are found in South Africa and Zimbabwe.

Zambia; in south central Africa lies in the Copper Belt.

Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone has a large number of mined sites which includes diamonds, gold, iron ore, bauxite, rutile. It is the world's largest producer of gem diamond. There are two types of diamonds mined in Sierra Leone. The Gem and Industrial Stones.

The Gem; It is clear and colourless and used in making jewellery, such as earrings, necklace, wedding and engagement rings. The industrial diamonds are not good for making jewellery but useful as cutting and polishing tools, such as drilling tools which surface is made up of industrial diamonds. The world's largest diamonds was found in Sierra Leone.

Rutile mined in Sierra Leone is used to produce two types of products, metal titanium and titanium oxide. Metal titanium is used in manufacturing of spacecraft and supersonic aero planes for example the fast Concorde plane. Titanium oxide is used in whitening paints and paper.

Iron Ore; It is used in the manufacture of metal iron and steel which is used in the making of cars, bicycles etc.

Bauxite; It is melted into alumina and used in producing aluminium, which is used for making aero planes, pots, pans and spoons. Aluminium is strong and light in weight. The process from bauxite to aluminium needs large quantities of electricity.

Nigeria

Mined minerals are tin, columbite, gold, coal, mineral oil (petrol), limestone, lead zinc and salt. Nigeria is the largest producer of petrol in Africa.

Togo

Mined minerals are phosphate which is the only mined mineral in Togo.

Ghana

Mined minerals are gold, diamonds and manganese. Ghana is third world's largest producer of manganese after Russia and India.

Liberia

Mined minerals are iron ore, gold and diamonds. Liberia is Africa's chief iron ore producer and exporter and the world's third largest exporter of iron ore.

Guinea

Mined minerals are bauxite, iron ore, diamonds and gold.

Senegal

Mined minerals are limestone, phosphates and ilemite. Limestone is used in the local manufacture of cement. Fertilisers for groundnut farms are made from these rocks. Ilemite contains titanium oxide and is used in making paint and bright surfaces.

REGIONS OF AFRICA

Africa is today made up of 52 independent countries. The shortest lived republic was the Republic of Biafra established by the Ibo people of south-eastern Nigeria in 1967.

Population

Africa's population increased by 89 per cent from 360 million in 1970 to 800 million in mid- 1995. Nigeria is the largest concentration of African people with a population of 150 million whilst Brazil, South America has the second largest concentration of Africa people. 85 per cent of the entire Brazilian population of 160 million people originated in Angola, Benin Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria and Togo.

Africa is corruptly divided into 5 regions; Central Africa, East Africa, North Africa, South Africa and West Africa. There are 23 French speaking states, 17 English speaking states, 5 Portuguese speaking states, 2 Spanish speaking states and 3 states with largely African languages and 2 Arab speaking states in Africa.

CENTRAL AFRICA

Central Africa is part of the continent of Africa with great lakes and wildlife.

Chimpanzee in the forests of Central and East Africa

EAST AFRICA

East Africa is part of the continent of Africa with great wildlife and national parks which continues to attract tourists from all over the world. It is heaven for visitors to Africa who are interested in wildlife.

NORTH AFRICA

North Africa is part of the continent of Africa. The whole of present day North Africa which includes Western Sahara, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt was the land of native Berbers and Nubians for centuries before they were displaced by Ottoman Turks and Arab Armies who invaded and occupied the region at different times in history.

Pyramids of Africa built by the Nubians

SOUTH AFRICA

South Africa is part of the continent of Africa with large deposit of minerals.

The Victoria Falls

The World's largest church, Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast

Traditional dancers from Togo, West Africa. African music, drumming and dance has influenced the popular music of the Americas.