Africa

Africa (Africa, 阿ﾌ��ﾘｶ) is a general term for the region including the African continent and the surrounding islands and sea areas such as Madagascar, and is one of the six major continents. It is located south of Europe across the Mediterranean Sea. In the narrow sense, it often refers to Sub-Saharan Africa, and is often called Black Africa. Its area is 30.3 million square kilometers, accounting for 22.3% of the world's total, but its population is 850 million, accounting for only 13.7% of the world's population. It is currently made up of 53 independent countries.

Africa is said to be the birthplace of mankind. Sub-Saharan Africa was once called the "dark continent" by European countries as if it were an unexplored land, but in fact there have been civilizations there since ancient times, and they were simply unknown to Europe (or they were unwilling to acknowledge their existence).

The Sahara Desert is a major dividing line, and some people call the northern part of this vast desert "White Africa" ​​and the southern part "Black Africa" ​​or "Sub-Saharan."

Africa is divided into North Africa, Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, and West Africa. Its abbreviation is A.