Dictionary of Meaning
<<Back
Please select a letter:
A |
B |
C |
D |
E |
F |
G |
H |
I |
J |
K |
L |
M |
N |
O |
P |
Q |
R |
S |
T |
U |
V |
W |
X |
Y |
Z |
0-9
Click here for Shopping
Sub-saharan Africa
*** Shopping-Tip: Sub-saharan Africa
{{expert}}
Image:Africa satellite orthographic.jpg thumb|249px|A satellite composite image of Africa showing the ecological break between North and Sub-Saharan regions'''Sub-Saharan Africa''',
Africa south of the
Sahara, is the term used to describe those
country countries of Africa that are not considered part of
North Africa or some areas of
West Africa. In
19th Century Europe and the
Americas, sub-Saharan Africa commonly was known as '''
Black people Black Africa''' or as '''
Dark Africa''', partly due to the
skin color of its
Indigenous peoples of Africa indigenous inhabitants and partly because much of it had not been fully
Cartography mapped or
European exploration of Africa explored by
Western Civilization Westerners (Africa as a whole was sometimes labeled "the dark continent"). These terms are now obsolete and often considered to be offensive. The neutral phrase
African Uplands was preferred by
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel Hegel and some other writers of the time; however, this was primarily intended to refer to the African interior as opposed to
coastal regions.
Since the end of the last
Ice Age, the northern and sub-Saharan regions of Africa have been separated by the extremely harsh climate of the sparsely populated Sahara, forming an effective barrier interrupted by only the
Nile River. The modern term ''sub-Saharan'' corresponds with the standard representation of North as above and South as below. '''Tropical Africa''' is an alternative modern label, related to the word
Afrotropic, used for the distinctive
ecology of the region. However, if strictly applied, this term would exclude
South Africa, most of which lies outside the
Tropics.
With a few exceptions, such as
Mauritius and
South Africa, sub-Saharan Africa is, like the rest of Africa, one of the poorest regions in the world, still suffering from the legacies of colonial conquest and occupation, neocolonialism, inter-ethnic conflict, and political strife. The region contains many of the
least developed countries in the world. (See ''
Economy of Africa''.)
Nations of sub-Saharan Africa
The exact position of the dividing line between the two regions is not clearly defined because of discontinuous and blurred break-points between national boundaries, ecologies and ethnicities. However, according to one classification of the two regions, sub-Saharan Africa includes forty-eight nations. Forty-two of these nations are on the African mainland. In addition, four island nations in the southwest Indian Ocean (Madagascar, The Comoros, Mauritius, and Seychelles) and two island nations in the Atlantic Ocean (Cape Verde and São Tomé and PrÃncipe) are considered part of sub-Saharan Africa. According to this classification scheme, the countries of sub-Saharan Africa are:
Central Africa
*
Angola (also sometimes considered part of Southern Africa)
*
Burundi (also sometimes considered part of East Africa)
*
Cameroon (also sometimes considered part of West Africa)
*
Central African Republic
*
Chad (also sometimes considered part of West Africa)
*
Democratic Republic of the Congo
*
Equatorial Guinea (also sometimes considered part of West Africa)
*
Gabon (also sometimes considered part of West Africa)
*
Rwanda (also sometimes considered part of East Africa)
*
Republic of Congo
*
Zambia (also sometimes considered part of Southern Africa)
East Africa
*
Burundi (also sometimes considered part of Central Africa)
*
Kenya
*
Mozambique (also sometimes considered part of Southern Africa)
*
Rwanda (also sometimes considered part of Central Africa)
*
Tanzania
*
Uganda
North East Africa
*
Djibouti
*
Eritrea
*
Ethiopia
*
Somalia (including Somaliland)
*
Sudan (often also considered part of North Africa)
Southern Africa
*
Angola (also sometimes considered part of Central Africa)
*
Botswana
*
Lesotho
*
Malawi
*
Mozambique (also sometimes considered part of East Africa)
*
Namibia
*
South Africa
*
Swaziland
*
Zambia (also sometimes considered part of Central Africa)
*
Zimbabwe
West Africa
*
Benin
*
Burkina Faso
*
Cameroon (also sometimes considered part of Central Africa)
*
Chad (also sometimes considered part of Central Africa)
*
Côte d'Ivoire
*
Equatorial Guinea (also sometimes considered part of Central Africa)
*
Gabon (also sometimes considered part of Central Africa)
*
The Gambia
*
Ghana
*
Guinea
*
Guinea-Bissau
*
Liberia
*
Mali
*
Mauritania
*
Niger
*
Nigeria
*
Senegal
*
Sierra Leone
*
Togo
African island nations
*
Cape Verde (West Africa)
*
Comoros (Southern Africa)
*
Madagascar (Southern Africa)
*
Mauritius (Southern Africa)
*
São Tomé and PrÃncipe (Central Africa or West Africa)
*
Seychelles (East Africa)
Territories, possessions, départements
*
Mayotte (
France)
*
Réunion (
France)
{{region}}
External links
-
USA State department travel tips
-
Photos and information from Malawi, Kenya, Zambia and Zimbabwe
Category:Africa
Category:Regions of Africa
cs:Subsaharská Afrika
de:Schwarzafrika
eo:Afriko sude de Saharo
fr:Afrique sub-saharienne
hr:Subsaharska Afrika
is:AfrÃka sunnan Sahara
nl:Zwart Afrika
ja:ブラックアフリカ
pl:Czarna Afryka
pt:Ã?frica subsariana
sh:Subsaharska Afrika
see
Sub-Saharan Africa
see
Sub-Saharan Africa
*** Shopping-Tip: Sub-saharan Africa
