151-497: Christianity in Africa arrived in Africa in the 1st century AD, and in the 21st century the majority of Africans are Christians. Several African Christians influenced the early development of Christianity and shaped its doctrines, including Tertullian , Perpetua , Felicity , Clement of Alexandria , Origen of Alexandria , Cyprian , Athanasius and Augustine of Hippo . In the 4th century,
302-736: A confederation of seafaring peoples contributed to the New Kingdom 's collapse in 1069 BC, commencing the Third Intermediate Period . Egypt's collapse liberated the more Egyptianised Kingdom of Kush in Nubia, who manoeuvred into power in Upper Egypt and conquered Lower Egypt in 754 BC to form the Kushite Empire . The Kushites ruled for a century and oversaw a revival in pyramid building , until they were driven out of Egypt by
453-549: A principality into a major power on the trade route between Rome and India through conquering its unfortunately unknown neighbours, gaining a monopoly on Indian Ocean trade in the region. Aksum's rise had them rule over much of the regions from Lake Tana to the valley of the Nile , and they further conquered parts of the ailing Kingdom of Kush , led campaigns against the Noba and Beja peoples, and expanded into South Arabia . This led
604-597: A Berber tribe originally from Yafran (also known as Ifrane ) in northwestern Libya , as well as the city of Ifrane in Morocco . Under Roman rule, Carthage became the capital of the province then named Africa Proconsularis , following its defeat of the Carthaginians in the Third Punic War in 146 BC, which also included the coastal part of modern Libya . The Latin suffix -ica can sometimes be used to denote
755-501: A Muslim background, most of which belonged to some form of Protestantism. Some experts predict the shift of Christianity's center from the European industrialized nations to Africa and Asia in modern times. Yale University historian Lamin Sanneh stated that "African Christianity was not just an exotic, curious phenomenon in an obscure part of the world, but that African Christianity might be
906-700: A former Italian colony, gained independence. In 1956, Tunisia and Morocco won their independence from France. Ghana followed suit the next year (March 1957), becoming the first of the sub-Saharan colonies to be granted independence. Over the next decade, waves of decolonization took place across the continent, culminating in the 1960 Year of Africa and the establishment of the Organisation of African Unity in 1963. Portugal's overseas presence in sub-Saharan Africa (most notably in Angola , Cape Verde, Mozambique , Guinea-Bissau , and São Tomé and Príncipe) lasted from
1057-414: A half) in sub-Saharan Africa. Protestant have grown to 35.9% of the whole population of the continent. Studies have suggested there are an estimated two hundred million evangelicals and charismatics in Africa. The three countries with more Protestant population are: Nigeria with 60 million (37.7% of the population), Kenya with 48 million (84% of the population), and South Africa with 24 million (47.7% of
1208-536: A handful of African countries succeeded in obtaining rapid economic growth prior to 1990. Exceptions include Libya and Equatorial Guinea, both of which possess large oil reserves. Southeast Africa Southeast Africa , or Southeastern Africa , is an African region that is intermediate between East Africa and Southern Africa . It comprises the countries Botswana , Eswatini , Kenya , Lesotho , Malawi , Mozambique , Namibia , Rwanda , South Africa , Tanzania , Uganda , Zambia and Zimbabwe in
1359-550: A land (e.g., in Celtica from Celtae , as used by Julius Caesar ). The later Muslim region of Ifriqiya , following its conquest of the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire's Exarchatus Africae , also preserved a form of the name. According to the Romans, Africa lies to the west of Egypt, while "Asia" was used to refer to Anatolia and lands to the east. A definite line was drawn between
1510-587: A lesser extent of Portuguese, French and Italian ancestry. The U.S. State Department estimates the number of Moroccan Christians as more than 40,000. Pew-Templeton estimates the number of Moroccan Christians at 20,000. Most Christians reside in the Casablanca , Tangier and Rabat urban areas. The majority of Christians in Morocco are foreigners, although some reports states that there is a growing number of native Moroccans (45,000) converting to Christianity, especially in
1661-508: A local church. Jesuit missions functioned similarly in Mozambique and Angola until in 1759 the Society was overcome by Portuguese authority. The Jesuits went largely unchallenged by rival denominational missions in Africa. Other religious congregations did exist who sought to evangelize regions of the continent under Portuguese dominion, however, their influence was far less significant than that of
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#17328554634701812-527: A majority of the population, although scholarly estimates on this issue are tentative and vary between authors. Under the reign of the Fatimid Caliph al-Hakim (r. 96–1021), an exceptional persecution of Christians occurred, This included closing and demolishing churches and forced conversion to Islam, which brought about a wave of conversions. There are reports that the Roman Catholic faith persisted in
1963-677: A millennium. Towards the end of the ancient period, northern Ethiopia and Eritrea bore the Kingdom of D'mt beginning in 980 BC. In modern-day Somalia and Djibouti there was the Macrobian Kingdom , with archaeological discoveries indicating the possibility of other unknown sophisticated civilisations at this time. After D'mt's fall in the 5th century BC the Ethiopian Plateau came to be ruled by numerous smaller unknown kingdoms who experienced strong south Arabian influence , until
2114-625: A monopoly on gold heading north and salt heading south, despite not controlling the gold fields themselves, located in the forest regions . It is probable that Wagadu's dominance on trade allowed for the gradual consolidation of many polities into a confederated state , whose composites stood in varying relations to the core, from fully administered to nominal tribute-paying parity. Based on large tumuli scattered across West Africa dating to this period, it has been stipulated that relative to Wagadu, there were further simultaneous and preceding kingdoms that have unfortunately been lost to time. At
2265-570: A native Libyan tribe, an ancestor of modern Berbers ; see Terence for discussion. The name had usually been connected with the Phoenician word ʿafar meaning "dust", but a 1981 hypothesis has asserted that it stems from the Berber word ifri (plural ifran ) meaning "cave", in reference to cave dwellers. The same word may be found in the name of the Banu Ifran from Algeria and Tripolitania ,
2416-483: A result, the existence of Catholic missions diminished significantly in these regions. The bishopric of Marrakesh continued to exist until the late 16th century and was borne by the suffragans of Seville . Juan de Prado who had attempted to re-establish the mission was killed in 1631. A Franciscan monastery built in 1637 was destroyed in 1659 after the downfall of the Saadi dynasty . A small Franciscan chapel and monastery in
2567-565: A significant event, since this city was founded by Arab Muslims around 680 AD as their administrative center after their conquest. A letter in Catholic Church archives from the 14th century shows that there were still four bishoprics left in North Africa, admittedly a sharp decline from the over four hundred bishoprics in existence at the time of the Arab conquest. The Almohad Abd al-Mu'min forced
2718-649: A title previously held by the archbishop of Carthage, on 19 December 1246 by Innocent IV. The bishopric of Marrakesh continued to exist until the late 16th century. The medieval Moroccan historian Ibn Abi Zar stated that the Almohad caliph Abu al-Ala Idris al-Ma'mun had built a church in Marrakech for the Christians to freely practice their faith at Fernando III 's insistence. Innocent IV asked emirs of Tunis, Ceuta and Bugia to permit Lope and Franciscian friars to look after
2869-415: A transition from " informal imperialism " – military influence and economic dominance – to direct rule. Imperial rule by Europeans continued until after the conclusion of World War II , when almost all remaining colonial territories gradually obtained formal independence. Independence movements in Africa gained momentum following World War II, which left the major European powers weakened. In 1951, Libya,
3020-573: Is dispersed throughout the country. The Office for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor in the United States also noted the presence of thousands of Tunisians who converted to Christianity. Some scholars and media reports indicate that there been increasing numbers of conversions to Christianity among the Berbers . According to Thomas C. Oden , "Christians of northern Africa—of Coptic , Berber , Ethiopian, Arabic, and Moorish descent—are treasured as part of
3171-761: Is embraced by the majority of the population in most Southern African, Southeast African , and Central African states and in large parts of the Horn of Africa and West Africa , while the Coptic Christians make up a significant minority in Egypt. According to a 2018 study by the Gordon–Conwell Theological Seminary , more Christians live in Africa than any other continent, with Latin America second and Europe third . Christianity reached Africa first in Egypt around
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#17328554634703322-787: Is not always to be taken literally. Africa is considered by most paleoanthropologists to be the oldest inhabited territory on Earth, with the Human species originating from the continent. During the mid-20th century, anthropologists discovered many fossils and evidence of human occupation perhaps as early as seven million years ago ( Before present , BP). Fossil remains of several species of early apelike humans thought to have evolved into modern humans, such as Australopithecus afarensis radiometrically dated to approximately 3.9–3.0 million years BP, Paranthropus boisei (c. 2.3–1.4 million years BP) and Homo ergaster (c. 1.9 million–600,000 years BP) have been discovered. After
3473-793: Is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Arabian Plate and the Gulf of Aqaba to the northeast, the Indian Ocean to the southeast and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. The continent includes Madagascar and various archipelagos . It contains 54 fully recognised sovereign states , eight cities and islands that are part of non-African states , and two de facto independent states with limited or no recognition . This count does not include Malta and Sicily , which are geologically part of
3624-400: Is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia . At about 30.3 million km (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth 's land area and 6% of its total surface area. With nearly 1.4 billion people as of 2021, it accounts for about 18% of the world's human population . Africa's population is the youngest among all
3775-649: The 11th dynasty , based in Thebes , conquered the others to form the Middle Kingdom of Egypt , with the 12th dynasty expanding into Lower Nubia at the expense of Kerma . In 1700 BC, the Middle Kingdom fractured in two, ushering in the Second Intermediate Period . The Hyksos , a militaristic people from Palestine , invaded and conquered Lower Egypt, while Kerma coordinated invasions deep into Egypt to reach its greatest extent. In 1550 BC,
3926-627: The 18th dynasty expelled the Hyksos , and established the New Kingdom of Egypt . Using the advanced military technology the Hyksos had brought, the New Kingdom conquered the Levant from the Canaanites , Mittani , Amorites , and Hittites , and extinguished Kerma , incorporating Nubia into the empire, and sending the Egyptian empire into its golden age. Internal struggles, drought, famine, and invasions by
4077-775: The Aksumite empire in modern-day Ethiopia and Eritrea became one of the first regions in the world to adopt Christianity as its official religion, followed by the Nubian kingdoms of Nobatia , Makuria and Alodia and several Christian Berber kingdoms. The Islamic conquests into North Africa brought pressure on Christians to convert to Islam due to special taxation imposed on non-Muslims and other socio-economic pressures under Muslim rule, although Christians were widely allowed to continue practicing their religion . The Eastern Orthodox Church of Alexandria and Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria (which separated from each other during
4228-659: The Benin Empire . Towards the end of the 3rd century AD, a wet period in the Sahel created areas for human habitation and exploitation that had not been habitable for the best part of a millennium, with the Kingdom of Wagadu , the local name of the Ghana Empire , rising out of the Tichitt culture , growing wealthy following the introduction of the camel to the western Sahel, revolutionising
4379-578: The Chalcedonian Schism ) in Egypt and the Orthodox Tewahedo Church survived Muslim invasion. Islamization of Muslim-ruled territory occurred progressively over the next few centuries, though this process is not fully understood by historians. Restrictions on church building and demolition of churches in Egypt, along with occasional persecutions such as during the reign of al-Hakim (996–1021), put additional pressure on Copts in Egypt . In
4530-521: The Cold War , and neocolonialism . Despite this low concentration of wealth, recent economic expansion and a large and young population make Africa an important economic market in the broader global context. Africa has a large quantity of natural resources and food resources, including diamonds , sugar , salt , gold , iron , cobalt , uranium , copper , bauxite , silver , petroleum , natural gas , cocoa beans , and tropical fruit . The continent
4681-854: The Congo Basin , the Empire of Kitara in the African Great Lakes , the Luba Empire in the Upemba Depression , the Kilwa Sultanate in the Swahili coast by crowding out Azania , with Rhapta being its last stronghold by the 1st century AD, and forming various city states constituting the Swahili civilisation . These migrations also prefaced the Kingdom of Mapungubwe in the Zambezi basin . After reaching
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4832-726: The Ekoi civilisation rose circa 2nd century AD, and are most notable for constructing the Ikom monoliths and developing the Nsibidi script . Pre-colonial Africa possessed as many as 10,000 different states and polities. These included small family groups of hunter-gatherers such as the San people of southern Africa; larger, more structured groups such as the family clan groupings of the Bantu peoples of central, southern, and eastern Africa; heavily structured clan groups in
4983-595: The Fatimids , Almoravids , Almohads , Ayyubids , Mamluks , Kongo , Mwene Muji , Luba , Lunda , Kitara , Aksum , Ethiopia , Adal , Ajuran , Kilwa , Sakalava , Imerina , Maravi , Mutapa , Rozvi , Mthwakazi , and Zulu . Slave trades created various diasporas , especially in the Americas . From the late 19th century to early 20th century, driven by the Second Industrial Revolution , most of Africa
5134-571: The Horn of Africa ; the large Sahelian kingdoms ; and autonomous city-states and kingdoms, such as those of the Akan ; Edo , Yoruba , and Igbo people in West Africa; and the Swahili coastal trading towns of Southeast Africa. By the 9th century AD, a string of dynastic states, including the earliest Hausa states, stretched across the sub-Saharan savannah from the western regions to central Sudan. The most powerful of these states were Ghana , Gao , and
5285-554: The Islamization of these regions, as well as the speed at which conversions happened, is a complex subject. Among other rules, the Muslim rulers imposed a special poll tax, the jizya , on non-Muslims, which acted as an economic pressure to convert alongside other social advantages converts could gain in Muslim society. The Catholic church gradually declined along with local Latin dialect. Historians have considered many theories to explain
5436-670: The Isthmus of Suez in Egypt. Other migrations of modern humans within the African continent have been dated to that time, with evidence of early human settlement found in Southern Africa, Southeast Africa, North Africa, and the Sahara . The size of the Sahara has historically been extremely variable, with its area rapidly fluctuating and at times disappearing depending on global climatic conditions. At
5587-618: The Kanem-Bornu Empire . Ghana declined in the eleventh century, but was succeeded by the Mali Empire , which consolidated much of western Sudan in the thirteenth century. Kanem accepted Islam in the eleventh century. In the forested regions of the West African coast, independent kingdoms grew with little influence from the Muslim north. The Kingdom of Nri , which was ruled by the Eze Nri ,
5738-524: The Kingdom of Dahomey , and the Oyo Empire ) adopted different ways of adapting to the shift. Asante and Dahomey concentrated on the development of "legitimate commerce" in the form of palm oil , cocoa , timber and gold, forming the bedrock of West Africa's modern export trade. The Oyo Empire, unable to adapt, collapsed into civil wars. The Scramble for Africa was the conquest and colonisation of most of Africa by seven Western European powers driven by
5889-661: The Mauro-Roman Kingdom and its numerous successor polities in the Maghreb, namely the kingdoms of Ouarsenis , Aurès , and Altava . The Vandals ruled Ifriqiya for a century until Byzantine reconquest in the early 6th century AD. The Byzantines and the Berber kingdoms fought minor inconsequential conflicts, such as in the case of Garmul , however largely coexisted. Further inland to the Byzantine Exarchate of Africa were
6040-430: The Middle Ages , the Ethiopian Empire was the only region of Africa to survive as a Christian state after the expansion of Islam. The Ethiopian church held its own distinct religious customs and a unique canon of the Bible . Therefore, the Ethiopian church community is globally unique in that it wasn't Christianised through European missionaries , but was highly independent and itself spread missionaries throughout
6191-413: The Mozarabs . They were recognised as forming the Moroccan Church by Pope Innocent IV . In June 1225, Honorius III issued the bull Vineae Domini custodes that permitted two friars of the Dominican Order named Dominic and Martin to establish a mission in Morocco and look after the affairs of Christians there. The bishop of Morocco Lope Fernandez de Ain was made the head of the Church of Africa ,
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6342-426: The Muslim conquests , most of the early Muslim caliphs showed little interest in converting the local people to Islam . Christianity continued to exist after the Muslim conquests. Initially, Muslims remained a ruling minority within the conquered territories in the Middle East and North Africa. Overall, the non-Muslim population became a minority in these regions by the 8th century. The factors and processes that led to
6493-512: The Noba caused their disintegration into Makuria , Alodia , and Nobatia in the 5th century AD. The Romans managed to hold on to Egypt for the rest of the ancient period. In the Horn of Africa , there was the Land of Punt , a kingdom on the Red Sea , likely located in modern-day Eritrea or northern Somaliland . The Ancient Egyptians initially traded via middle-men with Punt until in 2350 BC when they established direct relations. They would become close trading partners for over
6644-430: The Nok culture from 1500 BC in modern-day Nigeria , the Daima culture around Lake Chad from 550 BC, Djenné-Djenno from 250 BC in modern-day Mali , and the Serer civilisation in modern-day Senegal , which built the Senegambian stone circles from the 3rd century BC. There is also detailed record of Igodomigodo , a small kingdom founded presumably in 40 BC, which would later go on to form
6795-440: The Old Testament - while it was condemned by European Christianity. Dona Beatriz was a woman from Central Africa known for her controversial views on the acceptance of polygamy – she argued that Jesus never condemned it – and she was burnt at the stake. European missionaries were faced with what they considered an issue in maintaining Victorian values, while still promoting the vernacular and literacy. Missionaries largely condemned
6946-399: The Ovambo kingdoms , most of which were later conquered. The 1884 Berlin Conference regulated European colonisation and trade in Africa, and is seen as emblematic of the "scramble". In the last quarter of the 19th century, there were considerable political rivalries between the European empires , which provided the impetus for the colonisation. The later years of the 19th century saw
7097-404: The Punic Wars against the expansionary Roman Republic , however momentum in these wars was not linear, with Carthage initially experiencing considerable success in the Second Punic War following Hannibal 's infamous crossing of the alps into northern Italy . Their defeat and subsequent collapse of their empire would produce two further polities in the Maghreb; Numidia , which had assisted
7248-447: The Romans in 30 BC. The Crisis of the Third Century in the Roman Empire freed the Levantine city state of Palmyra , which conquered Egypt ; their brief rule ended when they were reconquered by the Romans . In the midst of this, Kush regained independence from Egypt, and they would persist as a major regional power until, having been weakened from internal rebellion amid worsening climatic conditions, invasions by Aksum and
7399-494: The Sanhaja in modern-day Algeria , a broad grouping of three groupings of tribal confederations , one of which is the Masmuda grouping in modern-day Morocco , along with the nomadic Zenata ; their composite tribes would later go onto shape much of North African history . In the western Sahel the rise of settled communities occurred largely as a result of the domestication of millet and of sorghum . Archaeology points to sizable urban populations in West Africa beginning in
7550-488: The Sao civilisation flourished for over a millennium beginning in the 6th century BC, in territory that later became part of present-day Cameroon and Chad . Sao artifacts show that they were skilled workers in bronze , copper , and iron , with finds including bronze sculptures, terracotta statues of human and animal figures, coins, funerary urns, household utensils, jewellery, highly decorated pottery, and spears. Nearby, around Lake Ejagham in south-west Cameroon ,
7701-419: The Sassanid Empire and the Himyarite Kingdom in Arabia. The Maghreb and Ifriqiya were mostly cut off from the cradle of civilisation in Egypt by the Libyan desert , exacerbated by Egyptian boats being tailored to the Nile and not coping well in the open Mediterranean Sea . This caused its societies to develop contiguous to those of Southern Europe , until Phoenician settlements came to dominate
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#17328554634707852-404: The Scramble for Africa in the late 19th century, these Christian communities and others began to flourish up and down the coast, as well as in Central and Southern Africa as new missionary activities from Europe started, (Christian evangelists were intimately involved in the colonial process in southern Africa). In the 21st century, they constitute the bulk of the booming Christian community on
8003-417: The Second Industrial Revolution during the era of " New Imperialism " (1833–1914): Belgium , France , Germany , United Kingdom , Italy , Portugal and Spain . In 1870, 10% of the continent was formally under European control. By 1914, this figure had risen to almost 90%; the only states retaining sovereignty were Liberia , Ethiopia , Egba , Aussa , Senusiyya , Mbunda , the Dervish State , and
8154-498: The Society of Jesus (Jesuits) began as early as 1548 in various regions of Africa. In 1561, Gonçalo da Silveira , a Portuguese missionary, managed to baptize Monomotapa, king of the Shona people in the territory of Zimbabwe. A modest sized group of Jesuits began to establish their presence in the area of Abyssinia, or Ethiopia Superior, around the same time of Silveira's presence in Southern Africa. Although Jesuits regularly confronted persecution and harassment, their mission withstood
8305-409: The UNO counted 45,000 Roman Catholics and 50,000 to 100,000 Protestants in Algeria . Conversions to Christianity have been most common in Kabylie , especially in the wilaya of Tizi Ouzou . In that wilaya, the proportion of Christians has been estimated to be between 1% and 5%. A 2015 study estimates 380,000 Muslims converted to Christianity in Algeria. Before the independence in 1956; Morocco
8456-404: The Zambezi , the Bantu continued southward, with eastern groups continuing to modern-day Mozambique and reaching Maputo in the 2nd century AD. Further to the south, settlements of Bantu peoples who were iron-using agriculturists and herdsmen were well established south of the Limpopo River by the 4th century AD, displacing and absorbing the Khoisan . By the Chari River south of Lake Chad
8607-458: The mellah of the city existed until the 18th century. The Orthodox Tewahedo split into the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church ) in 1993. The P'ent'ay churches are works of a Protestant reformation within Ethiopian Christianity . The growth of Catholicism in the region after the French conquest was built on European colonizers and settlers , and these immigrants and their descendants mostly left when
8758-419: The presidential system of rule. However, few of them have been able to sustain democratic governments on a permanent basis—per the criteria laid out by Lührmann et al. (2018), only Botswana and Mauritius have been consistently democratic for the entirety of their post-colonial history. Most African countries have experienced several coups or periods of military dictatorship . Between 1990 and 2018, though,
8909-780: The trans-Saharan trade that linked their capital and Aoudaghost with Tahert and Sijilmasa in North Africa. Soninke traditions likely contain content from prehistory, mentioning four previous foundings of Wagadu , and holds that the final founding of Wagadu occurred after their first king did a deal with Bida , a serpent deity who was guarding a well, to sacrifice one maiden a year in exchange for assurance regarding plenty of rainfall and gold supply. Wagadu's core traversed modern-day southern Mauritania and western Mali , and Soninke tradition portrays early Ghana as warlike, with horse-mounted warriors key to increasing its territory and population, although details of their expansion are extremely scarce. Wagadu made its profits from maintaining
9060-410: The tropic of Cancer , in the northern temperate zone . In the other extreme of the continent, southern Namibia , southern Botswana , great parts of South Africa , the entire territories of Lesotho and Eswatini and the southern tips of Mozambique and Madagascar are located below the tropic of Capricorn , in the southern temperate zone . Africa is highly biodiverse ; it is the continent with
9211-424: The written word . During the colonial period , oral sources were deprecated by European historians, which gave them the impression Africa had no recorded history. African historiography became organized at the academic level in the mid-20th century, and saw a movement towards utilising oral sources in a multidisciplinary approach, culminating in the General History of Africa , edited by specialists from across
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#17328554634709362-459: The 16th and 19th centuries. In West Africa, the decline of the Atlantic slave trade in the 1820s caused dramatic economic shifts in local polities. The gradual decline of slave-trading, prompted by a lack of demand for slaves in the New World , increasing anti-slavery legislation in Europe and America, and the British Royal Navy's increasing presence off the West African coast, obliged African states to adopt new economies. Between 1808 and 1860,
9513-420: The 16th century to 1975, after the Estado Novo regime was overthrown in a military coup in Lisbon . Rhodesia unilaterally declared independence from the United Kingdom in 1965, under the white minority government of Ian Smith , but was not internationally recognized as an independent state (as Zimbabwe ) until 1980, when black nationalists gained power after a bitter guerrilla war . Although South Africa
9664-423: The 1st and 4th cataracts of the Nile . The 4th dynasty oversaw the height of the Old Kingdom , and constructed many great pyramids . Under the 6th dynasty power gradually decentralised to the nomarchs, culminating in the disintegration of the kingdom, exacerbated by drought and famine, thus commencing the First Intermediate Period in 2200 BC. This shattered state would last until 2055 BC when
9815-406: The 2nd century BC Mauretania fought alongside Numidia's Jugurtha in the Jugurthine War against the Romans after he had usurped the Numidian throne from a Roman ally. Together they inflicted heavy casualties that quaked the Roman Senate , with the war only ending inconclusively when Mauretania's Bocchus I sold out Jugurtha to the Romans. At the turn of the millennium, they both would face
9966-418: The 4th millennium BC the Congo Basin was inhabited by the Bambenga , Bayaka , Bakoya , and Babongo in the west, the Bambuti in the east , and the Batwa who were widely scattered and also present in the Great Lakes region ; together they are grouped as Pygmies . On the later-named Swahili coast there were Cushitic -speaking peoples, and the Khoisan (a neologism for the Khoekhoe and San ) in
10117-416: The 4th millennium BC, which had crucially developed iron metallurgy by 1200 BC, in both smelting and forging for tools and weapons. Extensive east-west belts of deserts , grasslands , and forests from north to south were crucial for the moulding of their respective societies and meant that prior to the accession of trans-Saharan trade routes , symbiotic trade relations developed in response to
10268-452: The 809 million people in Africa. In 2009, when Pope Benedict XVI visited Africa, it was estimated at 158 million. Most belong to the Latin Church , but there are also millions of members of the Eastern Catholic Churches. In 2010, Pew estimated that there were around 300 million Protestants in Sub Saharan Africa. Other estimates range up to four hundred million. Protestantism is the largest Christian group in Africa, with 35.9% (more than
10419-405: The African continent. Algeria is Africa's largest country by area, and Nigeria is its largest by population. African nations cooperate through the establishment of the African Union , which is headquartered in Addis Ababa . Africa straddles the equator and the prime meridian . It is the only continent to stretch from the northern temperate to the southern temperate zones. The majority of
10570-415: The Africanization of Christianity and hence its growth in twentieth century Africa. As many as five million Africans are estimated to have died. European governments, churches and medicine were powerless against the plague, boosting anti-imperial sentiment. This contributed to growth of independent and prophetic Christian mass movements with prophecy, healings, and nationalist church restructuring. For example,
10721-457: The Assyrians in 663 BC in reprisal for their expansion towards the Assyrian Empire . The Assyrians installed a puppet dynasty that later gained independence and once more unified Egypt , until they were conquered by the Achaemenid Empire in 525 BC. Egypt regained independence under the 28th dynasty in 404 BC but they were reconquered by the Achaemenids in 343 BC. The conquest of Achaemenid Egypt by Alexander
10872-453: The Bible that were not overtly condemned, such as polygamy . They also incorporated in their own practices relationships with objects and actions like dancing and chanting. When Africans were able to read in the vernacular , they were able to interpret the Bible in their own light. Polygamy was a topic of debate- many literate Africans interpreted it as acceptable because of information contained in
11023-786: The Blind , Ticonius , Cyprian , Athanasius and Cyril (along with rivals Valentinus , Plotinus , Arius and Donatus Magnus ) influenced the Christian world outside Africa with responses to Gnosticism , Arianism , Montanism , Marcionism , Pelagianism and Manichaeism , and the idea of the university (after the Library of Alexandria ), understanding of the Trinity , Vetus Latina translations, methods of exegesis and biblical interpretation, ecumenical councils , monasticism , Neoplatonism and African literary, dialectical and rhetorical traditions. After
11174-553: The British West Africa Squadron seized approximately 1,600 slave ships and freed 150,000 Africans who were aboard. Action was also taken against African leaders who refused to agree to British treaties to outlaw the trade, for example against "the usurping King of Lagos ", deposed in 1851. Anti-slavery treaties were signed with over 50 African rulers. The largest powers of West Africa (the Asante Confederacy ,
11325-539: The Christian populations living in the lands invaded by the Arab Muslim armies between the 7th and 10th centuries CE suffered religious persecution , religious violence , and martyrdom multiple times at the hands of Arab Muslim officials and rulers. Many were executed under the Islamic death penalty for defending their Christian faith through dramatic acts of resistance such as refusing to convert to Islam, repudiation of
11476-479: The Christians and Jews of Tunis to convert in 1159. Ibn Khaldun hinted at a native Christian community in 14th century in the villages of Nefzaoua , south-west of Tozeur . These paid the jizyah and had some people of Frankish descent among them. Berber Christians continued to live in Tunis and Nefzaoua in the south of Tunisia up until the early 15th century, and in the first quarter of the 15th century texts state that
11627-617: The Christians in those regions. He thanked the Caliph al-Sa'id for granting protection to the Christians and requested to allow them to create fortresses along the shores, but the Caliph rejected this request. Another phase of Christianity in Africa began with the arrival of Portuguese in the 15th century. After the end of Reconquista , the Christian Portuguese and Spanish captured many ports in North Africa. Missionary expeditions undertaken by
11778-531: The Christians. The Jesuit's ascendency to prominence began with the padroado in the fifteenth century and continued until other European countries initiated missions of their own, threatening Portugal's status as sole patron of the continent. The favor of the Jesuits took a negative turn in the mid eighteenth century when Portugal no longer held the same dominion in Africa as it had in the fifteenth century. The Jesuits found themselves expelled from Mozambique and Angola, as
11929-635: The Great in 332 BC marked the beginning of Hellenistic rule and the installation of the Macedonian Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt. The Ptolemaics lost their holdings outside of Africa to the Seleucids in the Syrian Wars , expanded into Cyrenaica and subjugated Kush in the 3rd century BC. In the 1st century BC, Ptolemaic Egypt became entangled in a Roman civil war , leading to its conquest by
12080-564: The Iberian peninsula during the eleventh century. The Banu Hilal and Banu Ma'qil were a collection of Arab Bedouin tribes from the Arabian Peninsula who migrated westwards via Egypt between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries. Their migration resulted in the fusion of the Arabs and Berbers, where the locals were Arabized , and Arab culture absorbed elements of the local culture, under
12231-496: The Islamic religion and subsequent reconversion to Christianity , and blasphemy towards Muslim beliefs . From the Muslim conquest of Egypt onwards, the Coptic Christians were persecuted by different Muslim regimes. Islamization was likely slower in Egypt than in other Muslim-controlled regions. Up until the Fatimid period (10th to 12th centuries), Christians likely still constituted
12382-550: The Persian prophet Mani to consider Aksum as one of the four great powers of the 3rd century AD alongside Persia , Rome , and China . In the 4th century AD Aksum's king converted to Christianity and Aksum's population, who had followed syncretic mixes of local beliefs , slowly followed. The end of the 5th century saw Aksum allied with the Byzantine Empire , who viewed themselves as defenders of Christendom , balanced against
12533-558: The Romans in the Second Punic War, Mauretania , a Mauri tribal kingdom and home of the legendary King Atlas , and various tribes such as Garamantes , Musulamii , and Bavares . The Third Punic War would result in Carthage's total defeat in 146 BC and the Romans established the province of Africa , with Numidia assuming control of many of Carthage's African ports. Towards the end of
12684-804: The Sahara region was becoming increasingly dry and hostile. Around 3500 BC, due to a tilt in the Earth's orbit , the Sahara experienced a period of rapid desertification. The population trekked out of the Sahara region towards the Nile Valley below the Second Cataract where they made permanent or semi-permanent settlements. A major climatic recession occurred, lessening the heavy and persistent rains in Central and Eastern Africa . Since this time, dry conditions have prevailed in Eastern Africa and, increasingly during
12835-517: The Saharan climate started to become drier at an exceedingly fast pace. This climate change caused lakes and rivers to shrink significantly and caused increasing desertification . This, in turn, decreased the amount of land conducive to settlements and encouraged migrations of farming communities to the more tropical climate of West Africa. During the first millennium BC, a reduction in wild grain populations related to changing climate conditions facilitated
12986-513: The Ugandan state with the help of other prophets. According to Paul Kollman, teaching from missionaries was up to the interpretation of each person and took different forms when acted upon. David Adamo, a Nigerian within the Aladura church chose portions of the Bible that closely resembled what his church found important. They read portions of Psalms because of the idea that missionaries were not sharing
13137-583: The West. Much of the recent Christian growth in Africa is now due to indigenous African missionary work and evangelism and high birth rates, rather than European missionaries. Christianity in Africa shows tremendous variety, from the ancient forms of Oriental Orthodox Christianity in Egypt, Ethiopia, and Eritrea to the newest African-Christian denominations of Nigeria , a country that has experienced large conversion to Christianity in recent times. Several syncretistic and messianic sections have formed throughout much of
13288-598: The beginning of the 3rd century the church in Alexandria expanded rapidly, with five new suffragan bishoprics . At this time, the Bishop of Alexandria began to be called Pope, as the senior bishop in Egypt. In the middle of the 3rd century the church in Egypt suffered severely in the persecution under the Emperor Decius . Many Christians fled from the towns into the desert. When the persecution died down, however, some remained in
13439-532: The continent and its countries are in the Northern Hemisphere , with a substantial portion and a number of countries in the Southern Hemisphere . Most of the continent lies in the tropics, except for a large part of Western Sahara , Algeria , Libya and Egypt , the northern tip of Mauritania , and the entire territories of Morocco , Ceuta , Melilla , and Tunisia , which in turn are located above
13590-463: The continent as a whole has trended towards more democratic governance. Upon independence an overwhelming majority of Africans lived in extreme poverty . The continent suffered from the lack of infrastructural or industrial development under colonial rule, along with political instability. With limited financial resources or access to global markets, relatively stable countries such as Kenya still experienced only very slow economic development. Only
13741-424: The continent most vulnerable to climate change . The history of Africa is long, complex, and varied, and has often been under-appreciated by the global historical community . In African societies the oral word is revered, and they have generally recorded their history via oral tradition , which has led anthropologists to term them oral civilisations, contrasted with literate civilisations which pride
13892-481: The continent's population, with Muslims forming 42%. As of 2023, there are an estimated 718 million Christians from all denominations in Africa, and the majority of Africans are Christian. According to a 2006 Pew Forum on Religion and Public life study, 147 million African Christians were "renewalists" ( Pentecostals and Charismatics ). According to David Barrett, most of the 552,000 congregations in 11,500 denominations throughout Africa in 1995 are completely unknown in
14043-457: The continent's south. The Bantu expansion constituted a major series of migrations of Bantu peoples from central Africa to eastern and southern Africa and was substantial in the settling of the continent. Commencing in the 2nd millennium BC, the Bantu began to migrate from Cameroon to central, eastern, and southern Africa, laying the foundations for future states such as the Kingdom of Kongo in
14194-525: The continent, World Methodist Council has 17.08 million members in the whole continent. The population of Pentecostal Christians is around 202.29 million in 2015, being 35.32 percent of the continent's Christian population. A study estimated that there may be up to four hundred million Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians in Africa. There are approximately 97 million Christians in Africa independent from denominations. 60 million people are members of African-initiated churches . Africa Africa
14345-668: The continent, including the Nazareth Baptist Church in South Africa and the Aladura churches in Nigeria. Some evangelical missions founded in Africa such as the UD-OLGC, founded by Evangelist Dag Heward-Mills , are also quickly spreading in influence all around the world. There are also fairly widespread populations of Seventh-day Adventists and Jehovah's Witnesses . A 2015 study estimated 2.1 million Christians in Africa to be from
14496-473: The continent. Africa, particularly Eastern Africa , is widely accepted to be the place of origin of humans and the Hominidae clade , also known as the great apes . The earliest hominids and their ancestors have been dated to around 7 million years ago, and Homo sapiens (modern human) are believed to have originated in Africa 350,000 to 260,000 years ago. Africa is also considered by anthropologists to be
14647-441: The continent. As of 2024, there are an estimated 734 million Christians from all denominations in Africa, up from about 10 million in 1900. In a relatively short time, Africa has gone from having a majority of followers of indigenous, traditional religions, to being predominantly a continent of Christians and Muslims , even though there is a significant and sustained syncretism with traditional beliefs and practices. Christianity
14798-419: The continents; the median age in 2012 was 19.7, when the worldwide median age was 30.4. Based on 2024 projections, Africa's population will reach 3.8 billion people by 2099. Africa is the least wealthy inhabited continent per capita and second-least wealthy by total wealth, ahead of Oceania . Scholars have attributed this to different factors including geography , climate , corruption , colonialism ,
14949-701: The controversial African views and worked against leaders branching out. Simon Kimbangu became a martyr , put in a cage because of Western missionaries concern, and died there. Within African communities, there were clashes brought on by Christianization. As a religion meant to "colonize the conscience and consciousness of the colonized" Christianity caused disputes even amongst hereditary leaders, such as between Khama III and his father Sekgoma in nineteenth-century Botswana. Young leaders formed ideas based on Christianity and challenged elders. Dona Beatriz, an African prophet, made Christianity political and eventually went on to become an African Nationalist, planning to overthrow
15100-706: The countries of the region became independent. As of the last census in Algeria, taken on 1 June 1960, there were 1,050,000 non-Muslim civilians (mostly Catholic ) in Algeria (10 percent of the total population including 140,000 Algerian Jews ). Under French rule , the Catholic population of Algeria peaked at over one million. Due to the exodus of the pieds-noirs in the 1960s, more North African Christians of Berber or Arab descent now live in France than in Greater Maghreb. In 2009,
15251-495: The decline of Christianity in North Africa, proposing diverse factors such as the recurring internal wars and external invasions in the region during late antiquity , Christian fears of persecution by the invaders, schisms and a lack of leadership within the Christian church in Africa, political pragmatism among the inhabitants under the new regime, and a possible lack of differentiation between early Islamic and local Christian theologies that may have made it easier for laymen to accept
15402-626: The desert as hermits to pray. This was the beginning of Christian monasticism , which over the following years spread from Africa to other parts of the Gohar, and Europe through France and Ireland . The early 4th century in Egypt began with renewed persecution under the Emperor Diocletian . In the Ethiopian / Eritrean Kingdom of Aksum , King Ezana declared Christianity the official religion after having been converted by Frumentius , resulting in
15553-428: The earliest instances of agriculture in human history. Its cultivation would gradually spread across Africa, before spreading to India around 2000 BC. People around modern-day Mauritania started making pottery and built stone settlements (e.g., Tichitt , Oualata ). Fishing, using bone-tipped harpoons , became a major activity in the numerous streams and lakes formed from the increased rains. In West Africa,
15704-472: The earliest modern humans, and suggested that modern humans arose between 350,000 and 260,000 years ago through a merging of populations in South and East Africa. Bantu -speakers traversed from Central Africa into Southeast Africa approximately 3,000 years ago. In the 19th and 20th centuries, David Livingstone and Frederick Courtney Selous visited Southeast Africa. The latter wrote down his experiences in
15855-535: The end of the Ice ages , estimated to have been around 10,500 BC, the Sahara had again become a green fertile valley, and its African populations returned from the interior and coastal highlands in sub-Saharan Africa , with rock art paintings depicting a fertile Sahara and large populations discovered in Tassili n'Ajjer dating back perhaps 10 millennia. However, the warming and drying climate meant that by 5,000 BC,
16006-575: The evolution of Homo sapiens approximately 350,000 to 260,000 years BP in Africa, the continent was mainly populated by groups of hunter-gatherers . These first modern humans left Africa and populated the rest of the globe during the Out of Africa II migration dated to approximately 50,000 years BP, exiting the continent either across Bab-el-Mandeb over the Red Sea , the Strait of Gibraltar in Morocco, or
16157-647: The expansion of farming communities and the rapid adoption of rice cultivation around the Niger River. By the first millennium BC, ironworking had been introduced in Northern Africa. Around that time it also became established in parts of sub-Saharan Africa, either through independent invention there or diffusion from the north and vanished under unknown circumstances around 500 AD, having lasted approximately 2,000 years, and by 500 BC, metalworking began to become commonplace in West Africa. Ironworking
16308-763: The founder of the Ahmadiyya sect, believed that Muhammed was the most important prophet, but not the last- departing from typical Muslim views. Sunni Africans were largely against the Ahmadiyyas; the Ahmadiyyas were the first to translate the Quran into Swahili, and the Sunnis opposed that as well. There was a militarism developed in different groups and movements like the Ahmadiyyas and the Mahdist movement and clashes between groups with opposing views. The influenza pandemic of 1918 accelerated
16459-502: The growth and expansion of Aksum in the 1st century BC. Along the Horn's coast there were many ancient Somali city-states that thrived off of the wider Red Sea trade and transported their cargo via beden , exporting myrrh , frankincense , spices , gum , incense , and ivory , with freedom from Roman interference causing Indians to give the cities a lucrative monopoly on cinnamon from ancient India . The Kingdom of Aksum grew from
16610-443: The historical process is largely a communal one, with eyewitness accounts, hearsay , reminiscences, and occasionally visions , dreams, and hallucinations, crafted into oral traditions . Time is sometimes mythical and social, and truth generally viewed as relativist . Oral tradition can be exoteric or esoteric . It speaks to people according to their understanding, unveiling itself in accordance with their aptitudes, and
16761-604: The inception of the Aladura movement in Nigeria coincided with the pandemic. Evolving into the Christ Apostolic Church, it gave rise to many offshoots, which continued to emerge into the 1950s spreading with migrants around the world. For example, the Redeemed Christian Church of God, founded in 1952, has congregations in a dozen African states, Western Europe and North America. Christian missionaries were compelled to spread an understanding of their gospel in
16912-471: The indigenous Christians of Tunis , which would have not been possible had there been an absence of contact with Rome. Local Christians came under pressure when the Muslim regimes of the Almohads and Almoravids came into power, and the record shows demands made that the local Christians of Tunis convert to Islam. There are reports of Christian inhabitants and a bishop in the city of Kairouan around 1150 AD -
17063-562: The kingdoms of Lower Egypt and Upper Egypt in northeast Africa . Around 3100 BC Upper Egypt conquered Lower Egypt to unify Egypt under the 1st dynasty , with the process of consolidation and assimilation completed by the time of the 3rd dynasty who formed the Old Kingdom of Egypt in 2686 BC. The Kingdom of Kerma emerged around this time to become the dominant force in Nubia , controlling territory as large as Egypt between
17214-507: The largest number of megafauna species, as it was least affected by the extinction of the Pleistocene megafauna . However, Africa also is heavily affected by a wide range of environmental issues , including desertification, deforestation, water scarcity , and pollution . These entrenched environmental concerns are expected to worsen as climate change impacts Africa . The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has identified Africa as
17365-544: The last 200 years, in Ethiopia . The domestication of cattle in Africa preceded agriculture and seems to have existed alongside hunter-gatherer cultures. It is speculated that by 6,000 BC, cattle were domesticated in North Africa. In the Sahara-Nile complex, people domesticated many animals, including the donkey and a small screw-horned goat that was common from Algeria to Nubia . Between 10,000 and 9,000 BC, pottery
17516-465: The mainland, with the island-nations of Madagascar , Mauritius , Comoros , and Seychelles also included. East and southern Africa are among the earliest regions where modern humans ( Homo sapiens ) and their predecessors are believed to have lived. In September 2019, scientists reported the computerized determination, based on 260 CT scans , of a virtual skull shape of the last common human ancestor to modern humans / H. sapiens , representative of
17667-643: The most genetically diverse continent as a result of being the longest inhabited. In the 4th and 3rd millennia BC Ancient Egypt , Kerma , Punt , and the Tichitt Tradition emerged in North , East and West Africa , while from 4000 BC until 1000 AD the Bantu expansion was substantial in laying the foundations for societies and states in Central , East , and Southern Africa . Some African empires include Wagadu , Mali , Songhai , Sokoto , Ife , Benin , Asante ,
17818-399: The most lucrative trading locations in the Gulf of Tunis . Phoenician settlements subsequently grew into Ancient Carthage after gaining independence from Phoenicia in the 6th century BC, and they would build an extensive empire and a strict mercantile network, all secured by one of the largest and most powerful navies in the ancient Mediterranean . Carthage would meet its demise in
17969-423: The native Christians of Tunis, though much assimilated, extended their church, perhaps because the last Christians from all over the Maghreb had gathered there. However, they were not in communion with the Catholic Church. The community of Tunisian Christians existed in the town of Tozeur up to the 18th century. Another group of Christians who came to North Africa after being deported from Islamic Spain were called
18120-489: The native language of the indigenous people they sought to convert. The Bible was then translated and communicated in these native languages. Christian schools did teach English, as well as mathematics, philosophy, and values inherent to Western culture and civilization. The conflicting branches of secularism and religiosity within the Christian schools represents a divergence between the various goals of educational institutions within Africa. There has been tremendous growth in
18271-520: The new religion. Some Christians, especially those with financial means, also left for Europe. In the lands west of Egypt, the Church at that time lacked the backbone of a monastic tradition and was still suffering from the aftermath of heresies including the so-called Donatist heresy, and one theory proposes this as a factor that contributed to the early obliteration of the Church in the present day Maghreb. Proponents of this theory compare this situation with
18422-434: The number of Christians in Africa - coupled by a relative decline in adherence to traditional African religions. In 1900, there were only nine million Christians in Africa, but by the year 2000, there were an estimated 380 million Christians. In 2020, there were nearly 658 million Christians in Africa, with 760 million expected by 2025, surpassing earlier estimates of 630 to 700 million for 2025. In 2020, Christians formed 49% of
18573-439: The official religion, built mosques, and brought to Gao Muslim scholars, including al-Maghili (d.1504), the founder of an important tradition of Sudanic African Muslim scholarship. By the eleventh century, some Hausa states – such as Kano , Jigawa , Katsina , and Gobir – had developed into walled towns engaging in trade, servicing caravans , and the manufacture of goods. Until the fifteenth century, these small states were on
18724-460: The opportunities afforded by north–south diversity in ecosystems. Various civilisations prospered in this period. From 4000 BC, the Tichitt culture in modern-day Mauritania and Mali was the oldest known complexly organised society in West Africa, with a four tiered hierarchical social structure. Other civilisations include the Kintampo culture from 2500 BC in modern-day Ghana ,
18875-524: The periphery of the major Sudanic empires of the era, paying tribute to Songhai to the west and Kanem-Borno to the east. Slavery had long been practiced in Africa. Between the 15th and the 19th centuries, the Atlantic slave trade took an estimated 7–12 million slaves to the New World. In addition, more than 1 million Europeans were captured by Barbary pirates and sold as slaves in North Africa between
19026-425: The population), these three countries add up to around 121 million Protestants. There are an estimated 60 million Anglicans and 23 million Lutherans in Africa. There are also approximately 10 million Baptists and another 25 million Methodists on the continent. Presbyterians in Africa are estimated to number more than twenty million. Lutheranism in Africa represent 24.13 million people. With over 20 denominations in
19177-482: The power of their faith. They found power in reading these verses and put them into the context of their lives. In addition to Africanizing Christianity, there were movements to Africanize Islam. In Nigeria , movements were created to arouse Muslims to de-Arabize Islam. There were clashes between people who accepted the de-Arabization and those who did not. These movements took place around 1980, resulting in violent behavior and clashes with police. Mirza Ghulam Ahmed ,
19328-585: The predecessor to the African Union. The nascent countries decided to keep their colonial borders, with traditional power structures used in governance to varying degrees. Afri was a Latin name used to refer to the inhabitants of what was then known as northern Africa , located west of the Nile river, and in its widest sense referring to all lands south of the Mediterranean , also known as Ancient Libya . This name seems to have originally referred to
19479-716: The promotion of Christianity in Ethiopia (eventually leading to the foundation of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church ). At the beginning of the fifth century, no other region of the Roman Empire had as many bishoprics as Northern Africa; when the Vandal king summoned a synod in Carthage, 460 Catholic bishops attended. In these first few centuries, African Christian leaders such as Origen , Lactantius , Augustine , Tertullian , Marius Victorinus , Pachomius , Didymus
19630-597: The region from Tripolitania (present-day western Libya ) to present-day Morocco for several centuries after the completion of the Arab conquest by 700. A Christian community is recorded in 1114 in Qal'a in central Algeria . There is also evidence of religious pilgrimages after 850 to tombs of Catholic saints outside the city of Carthage, and evidence of religious contacts with Christians of Muslim Spain. In addition, calendar reforms adopted in Europe at this time were disseminated amongst
19781-561: The rest of Africa prior to the contact of European Christians with the continent. In the late 15th century, Portuguese traders and missionaries began arriving in West Africa , first in Guinea , Mauritania , the Gambia , Ghana , and Sierra Leone , then Nigeria and later in the Kingdom of Kongo , where they would find success in converting prominent local leaders to Catholicism . During and after
19932-514: The rural areas. Many of the converts are baptized secretly in Morocco's churches. Since 1960 a growing number of Moroccan Muslims are converting to Christianity. Before the independence in 1956; Tunisia was home to 255,000 Europeans , mostly Christians. The Christian community in Tunisia , composed of indigenous residents, Tunisians of Italian and French descent , and a large group of native-born citizens of Berber and Arab descent, numbers 50,000 and
20083-475: The same fate as Carthage and be conquered by the Romans who established Mauretania and Numidia as provinces of their empire, while Musulamii , led by Tacfarinas , and Garamantes were eventually defeated in war in the 1st century AD however weren't conquered. In the 5th century AD the Vandals conquered north Africa precipitating the fall of Rome . Swathes of indigenous peoples would regain self-governance in
20234-619: The shape of things to come." The statistics from the World Christian Encyclopedia (David Barrett) illustrate the emerging trend of dramatic Christian growth on the continent and supposes, that in 2025 there will be 633 million Christians in Africa. Megachurches (defined as churches with weekend attendances of at least 2,000) are found in many countries of Sub-Saharan Africa, including Tanzania , Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda. They are mostly of Pentecostal denominations. The largest church auditorium, Glory Dome,
20385-567: The sixth century within the kingdoms of Nobatia , Makuria and Alodia were linked to those of Egypt . Christianity also grew in northwestern Africa (today known as the Maghreb ), reaching the region around Carthage by the end of the 2nd century. The churches there were linked to the Church of Rome and provided Pope Gelasius I , Pope Miltiades and Pope Victor I , all of them Christian Berbers like Saint Augustine and his mother Saint Monica . At
20536-412: The strong monastic tradition in Egypt and Syria, where Christianity remained more vigorous. In addition, the Romans and the Byzantines were unable to completely assimilate the indigenous people like the Berbers. Some historians remark how the Umayyad Caliphate persecuted many Berber Christians in the 7th and 8th centuries CE, who slowly converted to Islam. Other modern historians further recognize that
20687-405: The test of time for nearly a century. Despite this confrontation, they found success in instituting Catholic doctrine in a region that, prior to the existence of their vocation, maintained strictly established orthodoxies. During the sixteenth century, Jesuits extended their mission into the old Kongo Kingdom , developing upon a preexisting Catholic mission which had culminated in the construction of
20838-425: The two continents by the geographer Ptolemy (85–165 CE), indicating Alexandria along the Prime Meridian and making the isthmus of Suez and the Red Sea the boundary between Asia and Africa. As Europeans came to understand the real extent of the continent, the idea of "Africa" expanded with their knowledge. Other etymological hypotheses have been postulated for the ancient name "Africa": In African societies,
20989-433: The unifying framework of Islam. Following the breakup of Mali, a local leader named Sonni Ali (1464–1492) founded the Songhai Empire in the region of middle Niger and the western Sudan and took control of the trans-Saharan trade. Sonni Ali seized Timbuktu in 1468 and Jenne in 1473, building his regime on trade revenues and the cooperation of Muslim merchants. His successor Askia Mohammad I (1493–1528) made Islam
21140-462: The wet phase ushered in an expanding rainforest and wooded savanna from Senegal to Cameroon . Between 9,000 and 5,000 BC, Niger–Congo speakers domesticated the oil palm and raffia palm . Black-eyed peas and voandzeia (African groundnuts), were domesticated, followed by okra and kola nuts . Since most of the plants grew in the forest, the Niger–Congo speakers invented polished stone axes for clearing forest. Around 4,000 BC,
21291-456: The whole multicultural matrix of African Christianity". Within different geographical areas, Africans searched for aspects of Christianity that could more closely resemble their religious and personal practices. Adaptations of Protestantism, such as the Kimbanguist church emerged. Within the Kimbanguist church, Simon Kimbangu questioned the order of religious deliverance- would God send a white man to preach? The Kimbanguist church believed Jesus
21442-406: The year 50 AD. Mark the Evangelist became the first bishop of the Alexandrian Patriarchate in about the year 43. At first the church in Alexandria was mainly Greek -speaking. By the end of the 2nd century the scriptures and liturgy had been translated into three local languages. Christianity in Sudan also spread in the early 1st century, and the Nubian churches, which were established in
21593-418: Was rapidly conquered and colonised by European nations , save for Ethiopia and Liberia . European rule had significant impacts on Africa's societies , and colonies were maintained for the purpose of economic exploitation and extraction of natural resources. Most present states emerged from a process of decolonisation following World War II , and established the Organisation of African Unity in 1963,
21744-442: Was black and regarded symbols with different weight than the Catholic and Protestant Europeans. The common practice of placing crosses and crucifixes in churches was viewed as a graven image in their eyes or a form of idolatry. Also, according to Mazrui, Kimbanguists respected the roles of women in church more than orthodox churches; they gave women the roles of priests and preachers. Members within these churches looked for practices in
21895-401: Was established around the ninth century, making it one of the oldest kingdoms in present-day Nigeri. The Nri kingdom is famous for its elaborate bronzes , found at the town of Igbo-Ukwu . The Kingdom of Ife , historically the first of these Yoruba city-states or kingdoms, established government under a priestly oba ('king' or 'ruler' in the Yoruba language ), called the Ooni of Ife . Ife
22046-450: Was fully established by roughly 500 BC in many areas of East and West Africa, although other regions did not begin ironworking until the early centuries AD. Copper objects from Egypt , North Africa, Nubia, and Ethiopia dating from around 500 BC have been excavated in West Africa, suggesting that Trans-Saharan trade networks had been established by this date. From 3500 BC, nomes (ruled by nomarchs ) coalesced to form
22197-431: Was home to half a million Europeans , mostly Christians. The numbers of the Catholics in French Morocco reached about 360,000 or about 4.1% of the population. In 1950, Catholics in Spanish protectorate in Morocco and Tangier constitute 14.5% of the population, and the Spanish Morocco was home to 113,000 Catholic settlers. Catholics in Spanish protectorate in Morocco and Tangier were mostly of Spanish descent, and to
22348-423: Was inaugurated in 2018 with 100,000 seats, in Abuja , Nigeria . Pew projected that 53% of Africa's population would be Christian in 2020. Estimates of Christians on the continent range up to eight hundred million. Catholic Church membership rose from 2 million in 1900 to 140 million in 2000. In 2005, the Catholic Church in Africa, including Eastern Catholic Churches , was followed by approximately 135 million of
22499-474: Was independently invented in the region of Mali in the savannah of West Africa. In the steppes and savannahs of the Sahara and Sahel in Northern West Africa, people possibly ancestral to modern Nilo-Saharan and Mandé cultures started to collect wild millet , around 8,000 to 6,000 BC. Later, gourds , watermelons , castor beans , and cotton were also collected. Sorghum was first domesticated in Eastern Sudan around 4,000 BC, in one of
22650-444: Was noted as a major religious and cultural centre in West Africa and for its unique naturalistic tradition of bronze sculpture. The Ife model of government was adapted by the Oyo Empire , whose obas, called the Alaafins of Oyo , controlled many other Yoruba and non-Yoruba city-states and kingdoms including the Fon Kingdom of Dahomey . The Almoravids were a Berber dynasty from the Sahara that spread over northwestern Africa and
22801-514: Was one of the first African countries to gain independence, the state remained under the control of the country's white minority, initially through qualified voting rights and from 1956 by a system of racial segregation known as apartheid , until 1994. Today, Africa contains 54 sovereign countries. Since independence, African states have frequently been hampered by instability, corruption, violence, and authoritarianism. The vast majority of African states are republics that operate under some form of
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