Anna Grech – Rebecca Attard,

Marta Curmi – Tanisha Vella

Introduction
• Africa is very big and is the second largest
continent and makes up little over a fifth of the
world's land, and is surrounded by large areas of
water. It is made up of 61 countries, and 14% of
the world's population live there. It is thought to
be the continent where the first humans lived.
• It is separated:
• from Europe, to the north, by the
Mediterranean Sea;
• from Asia, to the east, by the Suez Canal and
Red Sea;
Music and Dance
• Common African music is samba, blues, jazz,
reggae, rap, and rock and roll. Later the
introduction of Afrobeat and Highlife music was
introduced. Recently African hip hop has become
popular.
• A variety of musical instruments are used,
including drums (most widely used), bells,
musical bow, lute, flute, and trumpet.
• African dances are important mode of
communication and dancers use gestures, masks,
costumes, body painting and a number of visual
devices. With urbanisation and modernisation,
modern African dance and music exhibit influences
assimilated from several other cultures.
Legends of Africa
• Shaka was a Zulu leader.
• He is widely known for transforming the
Zulu tribe from a small clan into the
beginnings of a nation that held sway over
the large portion of Southern Africa. One
Encyclopædia Britannica article confirms
that he was something of a military genius
for his reforms and innovations. Other
writers take a more limited view of his
achievements.
 Religion
• Africans profess a wide variety of
religious beliefs.The World Book
Encyclopedia claims that there are
150 million African Muslims and 130
million African Christians, while
Encyclopedia Britannica estimates
that approximately 46.5% of all
Africans are Christians and another
40.5% are Muslims. A small number of
Africans are Hindu, Baha'i, or have
beliefs from the Judaic tradition.
Art

• Africa has a rich tradition of arts and crafts.

African arts and crafts find expression in a
variety of woodcarvings, brass and leather art
works. African arts and crafts also include
sculpture, paintings, pottery, ceremonial and
religious headgear and dress.
• African culture has always placed importance on
personal appearance and jewellery. Masks are
made with elaborate designs and are important
part of African culture. Masks are used in various
ceremonies.
Languages
• By most estimates, Africa contains well over a
thousand languages ,most of African origin and a
few of European origin. Africa is the most
continent in the world where different languages
are spoken.
• There are four major language families native to
Africa.
• The Afro-Asiatic language
• The Nilo-Saharan language
• The Niger-Congo language
• The Khoisan languages.
Cuisine
• Africa is a huge continent and the food and drink
of Africa reflect local influences, including use of
food products like peppers, peanuts and maize.
The African cuisine is a combination of traditional
fruits and vegetables, milk and meat products. The
African village diet is often milk, curds and whey.
• Traditional African cuisine is characterized by use
of starch accompanied by stew containing meat or
vegetables. Cassava and yams are the main
root vegetables. Africans also use steamed greens
with hot spices. Dishes of steamed or boiled green
vegetables, peas, beans and cereals, starchy
cassava, yams and sweet potatoes are widely
eaten. Watermelon, banana and plantain are some
of the more familiar fruits.
African People