AFRICA, one of the four great into which the world has been divided ; ranking next alter Asia and America in point of size; but, in political and moral estimation, Inc meanest quarter of the globe. It is bounded on the north by the Mediterranean Sea, which separates it from Europe ; on the west, by the Atlantic Ocean, which divides it from America ; on the south, by the Southern Ocean ; and on the cast, by the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea, and part of Asia; forming thus an immense peninsula, united to the continent of Asia by the isthmus of Suez, a neck of land about 60 miles in breadth, lying between the Mediterranean and thc Ara bian Gulf. In form it resembles a triangle, of which the northern part is the base, and the southern extremi ty the vertex ; but its sides, on the cast and west, are very irregular. From Cape Bona, in the Mediterranean, to the Cape of Good Hope, it comprehends about 70 degrees of latitude, or 4980 miles ; and from Cape Verd, in 17° 33 W. Long., to Cape Guardafui, 51° 20' E. Long., somewhat more than 4790 miles.
Various etymologies have been given of the name Africa, which seems at first to have been confined to that northern province, denominated by the ancients .1frica Propria. According to Bochart, it is derived from feric, a Punic word, which signifies an car of corn ; and this etymology is supposed to refer to the fertility of the country. Dr Hyde deduces it from the Pnt.nician Hava•ca, or .•Iv•eca : the country of Barca, which was one of the most remarkable parts of this continent. But the most plausible etymology seems to be that of Servius, who derives it from a, and coemii, cold ; an appellation exceedingly applicable to its burning climate.
The striking diversity of appearance by which the in habitants of different parts of Africa are distinguished from each other, and the Negroes from all the rest of mankind, would naturally lead us into a discussion con cerning its original population ; but history furnishes no facts sufficient to direct us in this interesting inquiry. The northern and eastern regions probably received their first inhabitants from the adjacent coasts of Asia. A general resemblance in feature, in manners, and in sonic of their religious tenets, seems to indicate an affinity between the Egyptians and the natives of Hindostan. The Abyssinians, as we have already shown, are of Ara bian extraction ; Carthage, or Africa Propria, was peopled by a colony from Tyre ; and Sallust, on the au thority of Punic manuscripts, informs us, that other parts of the African coasts were colonized by Mcdts, Per and Armenians. The Romans, who extended their
conquests in Africa as far as the river Niger, establish. ed in those fertile regions many flourishing colonies, When their empire was subverted by the northern bar barians, the Vandals passed from Spain into Africa ; and, after converting one of the richest and most populous countries in the world into a barren wilderness, erected there a kingdom, which lasted for upwards of a century. The north of Africa was, after that interval, subdued by Mahometan Arabs, who, under the name of Moors, form now a great proportion of its population. Among the mountains of Barbary, there is a race of men, distinct from the Moors in the plains, of a fair complexion, thin, light, and active. Though a pastoral people, their sen timents arc lofty, their manners are more elegant, and their morals less licentious than those of the Moors. Berberia, the ancient name of Barbary, may easily be traced to Breber, the appellation by which these people are still distinguished ; and, from many other circum stances, it is probable, that they are the most ancient in habitants of this part of Africa ; and have mingled so little with foreigners, that they retain much of their original appearance. On the southern frontiers of Mo rocco, there is a tribe, apparently the same with the Brebers, known by the name of Silent', who speak a language of their ow n, which is supposed to be derived from the ancient Punic. They correspond almost ex actly to the description of the Mauritanians, given by the Roman writers ; and are said still to denominate Euro peans by a name that sounds like Roumi. The coun tries south of the Sahara, or Great Desert, are inhabited by the negroes, apparently a distinct and indigenous race. No cause, but an original difference of conforma tion, can well account for that peculiarity of appearance which so remarkably distinguishes them from the inha bitants of every other country, though placed under similar latitudes, and as burning a sun ; and which re mains invariable in the negro race, whatel er may be the change of their situation, or their mode of life. Sonic nations of a copper colour, with lank hair, have recently been discovered in the interior; but so imperfectly is this country known, that scarce a probable conjecture can be given concerning their origin.