Africa
From CreationWiki, the encyclopedia of creation science
Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² (11.7 million sq mi) including its adjacent islands, it covers 20.4% of the total land area on Earth, and with over a billion human inhabitants in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.72% of Earth's human population. The continent is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Suez Canal and the Red Sea to the northeast, the Indian Ocean to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. There are 46 countries including Madagascar, and 53 including all the island groups. Africa straddles the equator and encompasses numerous climate areas; it is the only continent to stretch from the northern temperate to southern temperate zones. Because of the lack of natural regular precipitation and irrigation as well as glaciers or mountain aquifer systems, there is no natural moderating effect on the climate except near the coasts.
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Etymology
The ancient Romans used the name Africa terra — "land of the Afri" (plural, or the singular Afer) — for the northern part of the continent, corresponding to modern-day Tunisia, where the Roman province of Africa was located. The origin of Afer may be the Phoenician 'afar, meaning "dust"; the Afridi tribe, a Berber tribe who dwelt in Northern Africa around the area of Carthage; the Greek Αφρική, meaning "without cold"; or the Latin aprica, meaning "sunny." Jewish historian Flavius Josephus asserted that Africa was named for Epher, a grandson of Abraham through his son Midian (Genesis 25:4 ), whose descendants, he says, had invaded Libya.
History
Evolution vs. Creation
Africa is widely regarded in the evolutionist community to be the origin of humans. However, the Biblical account shows that after the global flood, mankind repopulated the earth from the region of the mountains of Ararat.
Christianity in Africa
Christianity is no stranger to Africa, having been visited by Jesus himself when his parents fled to Egypt (a North African country) to hide from the persecution of Herod. Peter the Apostle baptized an Ethiopian eunuch, who may have returned to Africa to spread the Gospel. According to tradition, Christianity began in Africa in the 1st century when Mark the Evangelist planted the church in Alexandria, Egypt around 43 AD.
Little is known of the first couple of centuries, beyond the list of bishops of Alexandria. At first the church in Alexandria was mainly Greek-speaking, but by the end of the 2nd century the scriptures and Liturgy had been translated into three local languages. At the beginning of the 21st century Christianity is probably the main religion in most of sub-Saharan Africa, while in the northern part of the continent it is a minority religion, where the majority of the population are Muslims. There has been tremendous growth of Christians in Africa. For example only nine million Christians were in Africa in 1900. By the year 2000, there were an estimated 380 million Christians, out pacing the African Muslim population. Much of the Christian growth in Africa is now due to African evangelism rather than Western missionaries. In South Africa (a Southern African country), it is rare to find a person with no religious beliefs.
| Region | Total Population | Christians | % Christian | % of Christian total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central Africa | 91,561,875 | 55,668,811 | 60.8% | 2.56% |
| East Africa | 225,488,566 | 105,851,560 | 46.94% | 4.87% |
| North Africa | 161,963,837 | 10,358,490 | 6.4% | 0.48% |
| Southern Africa | 137,092,019 | 80,278,746 | 58.56% | 3.7% |
| West Africa | 269,935,590 | 85,383,474 | 31.63% | 3.93% |
| Total | 886,041,887 | 337,541,081 | 38.1% | 5.25% |
References
- Africa by Wikipedia
- Christianity in Africa by Wikipedia
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