Flora.—In vegetation, the date palm, so useful as food in different ways, is the feature of the N., where a large part of the surface consists of treeless, grassy steppes. In the inland plateaus of the S. are numerous forests of heaths and the plants called Cycadace.T. Eu phorbias, aloes, and similar plants are abundant.
Productions, Industry, and Trade.— Ivory was the principal product of the continent in the past, and it is still brought to the coast in great quantities. The central regions produce palm oil, palm kernels, caoutchouc, rubber, gums, cloves, sesame seeds, skins, and ebony and other woods. In the S., cattle, hides, wool, and grain are produced. In Liberia, coffee, cocoa, and bananas are grown. The Mediterranean coast supplies wines and olive oil, and Egypt is a large producer of cotton and cottonseed. In most parts of Africa, salt is an active object of internal trade. In the Niger territories and the Guinea coast, several of the tribes manufacture cotton and leather goods. The mineral products of Africa are relatively small, with the exception of diamonds at Kimberley, in Cape Colony, and gold in the Transvaal. Copper is mined in Cape Colony and coal in the late Boer republics.
History.—The history of Africa reaches far back into antiquity. In Egypt, civilization is known to have existed as early as 5000 B. C.; 600 B. C. King Necho sent Phoenician ships on a voyage around Africa. Between 1100 950 B. C. the Phoenicians founded as many as 300 colonies along the W. coast of ,Morocco. About 470 D. C. the elder Hanno of Carthage went with a fleet to what is now known as Sierra Leone. Herodotus described "'Egypt" and other parts of Africa; Claudius Ptolemwus wrote the most detailed account of the country that has come down to us. The Roman generals penetrated far into the interior through the Sahara, and, in the time of Nero, Roman officers ascended the Nile. The Romans took possession of the whole of north Africa, including Egypt and Nubia. The conquest oy the Arabs of the Roman possessions, as well as of Abyssinia, in the 1st century of the Hegira (7th century, A. D.), stimulated the Arab geographers to write about this great continent. Mas sudi, Ibn Hankal, Obeid el Bekri, who wrote the first geography of the negro country (1067), Ibn Chaldan, Ibn al Wardi, Abulfeda (1273-1332), Leo Afri canus (1492-1526), who went to Tim buktu, Ibn Bakuta, who went to Zanzibar, and many others, visited and described Africa. The Church fathers conceived of the central country as a wilderness uninhabitable on account of the heat, and filled with all manner of mystery; but in the 13th and 14th centuries enter prising Italian merchants did much to make known the Nile Valley and Abys sinia; Marino Sanuto, Giovanni Leardo, Fra Mauro and others drew maps of much of north Africa hitherto unknown.
In the 15th century the Portuguese explored the W. coast. By 1434 Cape Bojados had been doubled; in 1456 Ca damosto sailed round Cape Verde and reached Gambia; in 1472 Sao Thome, Annobon and Principe were discovered. In 1848 Diego Sao reached the Kongo and sailed nearly 1,500 miles S. of the equator, and, in 1486, reached the Cape of Good Hope. Early in the 18th century excursions were made to the E. coast. After the discovery of America a great impetus was given to the slave trade, which had hitherto been carried on chiefly by the Arabs, and this led to an acquaintance with Senegambia and the Guinea coast.
Exploration.—Not, however, till the latter part of the 18th century was systematic exploration begun, and since then more than 200 explorers have penetrated the unknown continent. In 1763-1768 James Bruce traveled from Massowah through Sennar to Egypt. In 1788 the African Association was founded in London to undertake the ex ploration of the Niger. In 1795-1797 Mungo Park reached the upper Niger, but not until 1830 was knowledge of the river completed by the brothers Lander. Its sources were discovered in 1897 by Moustier and Zweifel. In 1830 the French began the conquest of Algeria, and began to colonize it, especially since the Franco-Prussian War, and they have gradually pushed its boundary S. into the Sahara. In 1850-1855, Barth, who was followed by many other travelers, explored the Sudan, especially the neigh borhood of Lake Tchad, and reached Timbuktu. Napoleon's expedition had given a great impulse to scientific ex pkfration, which was encouraged later by the khedives and led to the conquest of Nubia and Sennar by Mehemet Ali (1805-1848), and, with the additional object of suppressing the slave trade, to the annexation of the east Sudan by Ismail Pasha (1863-1879). The Nile has been an object of active interest since 1810, when Salt reached its Abys sinian branches. In 1840-1841, Mehemet Ali sent two expeditions to discover the sources of the main river, and, in 1860, Miani reached as far as 3° 34' N. lati tude. Further exploration was from the S. The existence of great lakes in cen tral Africa had been known at Mozam bique from an early date, and, attention being called to this fact, led to the discovery, in 1849, of the extinct vol canoes, Kilimanjaro and Kenia, by Reb mann and Krapf respectively.