Africa, the earth's third largest continent is widely regarded as the cradle of mankind. Africa boasts of the largest desert on earth in the Sahara as well as the famous River Nile, this makes Africa something of a geographical wonder. Around 885 million people live in 53 African countries, most of them in Nigeria, Egypt and Ethiopia. There are more 3,000 different ethnic groups in Africa.

The concept of an African culture in a narrow context is untenable. The continent can culturally be divided in the North African region and the trans-Saharan black Africa. Egypt, Algeria, Libya, Morocco as well as Tunisia regard themselves culturally as a part of the Arab world. In contrast to this, the cultural classification of countries such as Mauritania, Sudan, Madagascar, Eritrea and Ethiopia is debatable.

The concept of a pan-African culture in the Saharan part of the continent, home to dark skinned Africans, was an important topic of discussion in the sixties and seventies. The catalyst for the discussion was the achievement of independence by some African states. The concept of an African culture became very popular especially in connection with Negritude. The bloody ethnic conflicts of the eighties and nineties and the political fallouts thereof gradually put paid to the concept of the pan-African vision.

More information about African culture: