AFRICA

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does Africa mean? 

• AFRICA (noun)
  The noun AFRICA has 1 sense:

1. the second largest continent; located to the south of Europe and bordered to the west by the South Atlantic and to the east by the Indian Ocean

  Familiarity information: AFRICA used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• AFRICA (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The second largest continent; located to the south of Europe and bordered to the west by the South Atlantic and to the east by the Indian Ocean

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Instance hypernyms:

continent (one of the large landmasses of the earth)

Meronyms (parts of "Africa"):

Islamic Republic of Mauritania; Mauritania; Mauritanie; Muritaniya (a country in northwestern Africa with a provisional military government; achieved independence from France in 1960; largely western Sahara Desert)

Lake Victoria; Victoria Nyanza (the largest lake in Africa and the 2nd largest fresh water lake in the world; a headwaters reservoir for the Nile River)

Horn of Africa; Somali peninsula (a peninsula of northeastern Africa (the easternmost part of Africa) comprising Somalia and Djibouti and Eritrea and parts of Ethiopia)

Somalia (a republic in extreme eastern Africa on the Somali peninsula; subject to tribal warfare)

Republic of Sierra Leone; Sierra Leone (a republic in West Africa; achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1961)

Republic of Senegal; Senegal (a republic in northwestern Africa on the coast of the Atlantic; formerly a French colony but achieved independence in 1960)

Federal Republic of Nigeria; Nigeria (a republic in West Africa on the Gulf of Guinea; gained independence from Britain in 1960; most populous African country)

Niger; Republic of Niger (a landlocked republic in West Africa; gained independence from France in 1960; most of the country is dominated by the Sahara Desert)

Mocambique; Mozambique; Republic of Mozambique (a republic on the southeastern coast of Africa on the Mozambique Channel; became independent from Portugal in 1975)

Soudan; Sudan (a region of northern Africa to the south of the Sahara and Libyan deserts; extends from the Atlantic to the Red Sea)

French Sudan; Mali; Republic of Mali (a landlocked republic in northwestern Africa; achieved independence from France in 1960; Mali was a center of West African civilization for more than 4,000 years)

Malawi; Nyasaland; Republic of Malawi (a landlocked republic in southern central Africa; achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1964)

Madagascar; Malagasy Republic; Republic of Madagascar (a republic on the island of Madagascar; achieved independence from France in 1960)

Libya; Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (a military dictatorship in northern Africa on the Mediterranean; consists almost entirely of desert; a major exporter of petroleum)

Liberia; Republic of Liberia (a republic in West Africa; established in 1822 by Americans as a way to free negro slaves)

Basutoland; Kingdom of Lesotho; Lesotho (a landlocked constitutional monarchy in southern Africa; achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1966)

Republic of South Africa; South Africa (a republic at the southernmost part of Africa; achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1910; first European settlers were Dutch (known as Boers))

Guine-Bissau; Guinea-Bissau; Portuguese Guinea; Republic of Guinea-Bissau (a republic on the northwestern coast of Africa; recognized as independent by Portugal in 1974)

Republic of the Sudan; Soudan; Sudan (a republic in northeastern Africa on the Red Sea; achieved independence from Egypt and the United Kingdom in 1956)

Kingdom of Swaziland; Swaziland (a landlocked monarchy in southeastern Africa; member of the commonwealth that achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1968)

Tanzania; United Republic of Tanzania (a republic in eastern Africa)

Ottoman Empire; Turkish Empire (a Turkish sultanate of southwestern Asia and northeastern Africa and southeastern Europe; created by the Ottoman Turks in the 13th century and lasted until the end of World War I; although initially small it expanded until it superseded the Byzantine Empire)

Republic of Uganda; Uganda (a landlocked republic in eastern Africa; achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1962)

Northern Rhodesia; Republic of Zambia; Zambia (a republic in central Africa; formerly controlled by Great Britain and called Northern Rhodesia until it gained independence within the commonwealth in 1964)

Republic of Zimbabwe; Rhodesia; Southern Rhodesia; Zimbabwe (a landlocked republic in south central Africa formerly called Rhodesia; achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1980)

Sahara; Sahara Desert (the world's largest desert (3,500,000 square miles) in northern Africa)

Black Africa; Sub-Saharan Africa (the region of Africa to the south of the Sahara Desert)

North Africa (an area of northern Africa between the Sahara and the Mediterranean Sea)

West Africa (an area of western Africa between the Sahara Desert and the Gulf of Guinea)

Great Rift Valley (( geology) a depression in southwestern Asia and eastern Africa; extends from the valley of the Jordan River to Mozambique; marked by geological faults)

Chad; Lake Chad (a lake in north central Africa; fed by the Shari river)

Lake Tanganyika; Tanganyika (the longest lake in the world in central Africa between Tanzania and Congo in the Great Rift Valley)

French Guinea; Guinea; Republic of Guinea (a republic in western Africa on the Atlantic; formerly a French colony; achieved independence from France in 1958)

Barbary (a region of northern Africa on the Mediterranean coast between Egypt and Gibraltar; was used as a base for pirates from the 16th to 19th centuries)

Nubia (an ancient region of northeastern Africa (southern Egypt and northern Sudan) on the Nile; much of Nubia is now under Lake Nasser)

Maghreb; Mahgrib (the region of northwest Africa comprising the Atlas Mountains and the coastlands of Morocco and Algeria and Tunisia)

African country; African nation (any one of the countries occupying the African continent)

East Africa (a geographical area in eastern Africa)

Namibia; Republic of Namibia; South West Africa (a republic in southwestern Africa on the south Atlantic coast (formerly called South West Africa); achieved independence from South Africa in 1990; the greater part of Namibia forms part of the high Namibian plateau of South Africa)

Chari; Chari River; Shari; Shari River (an African river that flows northwest into Lake Chad)

Angola; Republic of Angola (a republic in southwestern Africa on the Atlantic Ocean; achieved independence from Portugal in 1975 and was the scene of civil war until 1990)

Burundi; Republic of Burundi (a landlocked republic in east central Africa on the northeastern shore of Lake Tanganyika)

Cameroon; Cameroun; Republic of Cameroon (a republic on the western coast of central Africa; was under French and British control until 1960)

Central Africa; Central African Republic (a landlocked country in central Africa; formerly under French control; became independent in 1960)

Chad; Republic of Chad; Tchad (a landlocked desert republic in north-central Africa; was under French control until 1960)

Congo; French Congo; Republic of the Congo (a republic in west-central Africa; achieved independence from France in 1960)

Belgian Congo; Congo; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Zaire (a republic in central Africa; achieved independence from Belgium in 1960)

Benin; Dahomey; Republic of Benin (a country on western coast of Africa; formerly under French control)

Ghana; Gold Coast; Republic of Ghana (a republic in West Africa on the Gulf of Guinea)

Gambia; Republic of The Gambia; The Gambia (a narrow republic surrounded by Senegal in West Africa)

Gabon; Gabonese Republic; Gabun (a republic on the west coast of Africa)

Kenya; Republic of Kenya (a republic in eastern Africa; achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1963; major archeological discoveries have been made in the Great Rift Valley in Kenya)

Arab Republic of Egypt; Egypt; United Arab Republic (a republic in northeastern Africa known as the United Arab Republic until 1971; site of an ancient civilization that flourished from 2600 to 30 BC)

Botswana; Republic of Botswana (a landlocked republic in south-central Africa that became independent from British control in the 1960s)

Ruanda; Rwanda; Rwandese Republic (a landlocked republic in central Africa; formerly a German colony)

Roman Empire (an empire established by Augustus in 27 BC and divided in AD 395 into the Western Roman Empire and the eastern or Byzantine Empire; at its peak lands in Europe and Africa and Asia were ruled by ancient Rome)

Abyssinia; Ethiopia; Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia; Yaltopya (Ethiopia is a republic in northeastern Africa on the Red Sea; formerly called Abyssinia)

Equatorial Guinea; Republic of Equatorial Guinea; Spanish Guinea (a country of west central Africa (including islands in the Gulf of Guinea); became independent from Spain in 1968)

Afars and Issas; Djibouti; Republic of Djibouti (a country in northeastern Africa on the Somali peninsula; formerly under French control but became independent in 1997)

Togo; Togolese Republic (a republic on the western coast of Africa on the Gulf of Guinea; formerly under French control)

Cote d'Ivoire; Ivory Coast; Republic of Cote d'Ivoire (a republic in western Africa on the Gulf of Guinea; one of the most prosperous and politically stable countries in Africa)

Domain member region:

ameer; amir; emeer; emir (an independent ruler or chieftain (especially in Africa or Arabia))

campaign; hunting expedition; safari (an overland journey by hunters (especially in Africa))

Horn of Africa; Somali peninsula (a peninsula of northeastern Africa (the easternmost part of Africa) comprising Somalia and Djibouti and Eritrea and parts of Ethiopia)

Namibia; Republic of Namibia; South West Africa (a republic in southwestern Africa on the south Atlantic coast (formerly called South West Africa); achieved independence from South Africa in 1990; the greater part of Namibia forms part of the high Namibian plateau of South Africa)

Boer War (either of two wars: the first when the Boers fought England in order to regain the independence they had given up to obtain British help against the Zulus (1880-1881); the second when the Orange Free State and Transvaal declared war on Britain (1899-1902))

Holonyms ("Africa" is a part of...):

eastern hemisphere; orient (the hemisphere that includes Eurasia and Africa and Australia)

Derivation:

African (of or relating to the nations of Africa or their peoples)

 Context examples 

An archipelago in the Indian Ocean, south of Africa, about one-half the way from Africa to Indonesia and south of the Maldives.

(British Indian Ocean Territory, NCI Thesaurus)

B. serrata is a tree from the Burseraceae family commonly found in India, northern Africa and the Middle East.

(Boswellia serrata, NCI Thesaurus)

It is endemic in Africa and parts of the Middle East, and affects the urinary tract.

(Bladder Schistosomiasis, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

Denotes a person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa whose family settled in a South or Central American country such as Argentina, Brazil, or Mexico.

(Black South or Central American, NCI Thesaurus)

An archipelago in the Indian Ocean, about one-half the way from Africa to Indonesia.

(British Indian Ocean Territory, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

A country in western Africa, between Mali and Ghana.

(Burkina Faso, NCI Thesaurus)

The domestic cat is descended primarily from the wild cat of Africa and extreme southwestern Asia.

(Cat, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

Sporadic Burkitt lymphoma occurs throughout the world, and endemic Burkitt lymphoma occurs in Africa.

(Burkitt lymphoma, NCI Dictionary)

A country in Western Africa, north of Ghana.

(Burkina Faso, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

Since then, the bird flu virus has spread to birds in countries in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Europe.

(Bird Flu, NIH)