Africa: position, population and economy

Africa is second to Asia in population: about 1.5 billion people, nearly 18 % of the world’s population. The most populous states are Nigeria (over 200 million, first in Africa), Ethiopia, Egypt and DR Congo. People are unevenly spread: dense in the Nile valley and delta, the Mediterranean coast, the Gulf of Guinea coast, the East African highlands and South Africa’s industrial areas, extremely sparse in the Sahara, Kalahari and Namib deserts. Africa is the fastest-growing continent: about 2.3–2.5 % a year, well above the world average. In many states a woman has 4–7 children, a large share of people (about 40 %) are children and teenagers, and life expectancy is fairly short; this puts great pressure on education, health care and jobs. Urbanisation is about 45 % and rising fast; big cities are Cairo, Lagos and Kinshasa. By race, ethnicity and religion the continent splits in two: North Africa (Arabs and Berbers, mostly Muslims) and Tropical Africa (hundreds of peoples and tribes; Islam, Christianity and local beliefs). Its economy is dominated by raw-material suppliers – mining and tropical farming – shaped in colonial times. Oil and gas: Nigeria, Algeria, Angola; gold: Ghana, Tanzania, South Africa; copper: Zambia, DR Congo; diamonds: Botswana, DR Congo; phosphates: Morocco. In many states one crop dominates: cocoa in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, coffee in Ethiopia and Uganda, tea in Kenya, groundnuts in Senegal, cotton in Mali and Chad. When prices fall, state income drops sharply. By level of development Africa divides into three parts: South Africa (the strongest economy), North Africa (fairly developed) and Tropical Africa, many of whose states are classed by the UN as least developed.