NORTH OR NORTH AFRICA: CHARACTERISTICS, SUBREGIONS, ECONOMY - GEOGRAPHY - 2024

North or North Africa is made up of a set of countries and territories located in the northern part of the African continent. It usually refers to the portion that borders the Red Sea, the Suez Canal and the Atlantic coast of Morocco to the west. Through the southern zone it crosses the Sahara Desert, serving as a separation between the North and the other nations.

Africa is second only to Asia in land area and population size, making it the second largest and most populous continent in the world. The United Nations Statistics Division has subdivided the African continent into five regions; North Africa, Central or Middle Africa, South Africa, East Africa, and West Africa.

Oil regions of North Africa. By Ahabvader

The United Nations subregion of North Africa is made up of six countries in the northernmost part of the continent: Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria (the trio is also known as the Maghreb), Egypt, Libya, Sudan and Western Sahara, which is a territory disputed by Morocco and the Republic of Saharawi.

The countries of North Africa differ significantly geographically, politically, socially, economically and culturally. Geographically, the region includes the Arab world and Africa.

The people of North Africa are predominantly Muslim and their main language is Arabic. With a strong Islamic population, North Africa was the center of the 2011 Arab uprising.

General characteristics

By May 2019 the population of North Africa is more than 241 million, according to the latest United Nations estimates. This is equivalent to 3.14% of the total world population and being the third subregion in Africa with the largest population. In North Africa 50.3% of the population is urban and the median age is 25.2 years.

It is an area of ​​stark contrast, with the hospitable Mediterranean coastline to the north and the vast, harsh Sahara to the south. In fact, the majority of the population in this region lives within 50 miles of the Atlantic or Mediterranean coasts.

Subregions and countries

It includes the nations of Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan and Tunisia, but there are also other territories that are considered part of North Africa. Western Sahara, the Canary Islands, the Pelagie Islands (Lampedusa, Linosa, Lampione), Madeira, Spanish sovereign regions such as Ceuta and Melilla, of which Morocco claims sovereignty, and the Sahrawi Arab Republic, a state with partial recognition, are part.

Algeria, by extension, is the largest country on the continent and has more than 40 million inhabitants. Its capital is Algiers and it is estimated that 99% of the Algerian population are Arab-Berbers. As official languages ​​are Arabic and Berber.

Morocco's capital is the city of Rabat, but its largest city is Casablanca. The King of Morocco is the one who has the majority of the legislative and judicial power of the country, especially when it comes to military, foreign and religious affairs. It also has Arabic and Berber as official languages.

Tunisia is located in the northwest sector of the continent, whose borders it shares with Algeria, Libya and the Mediterranean Sea. Tunisia is also the name of its capital and its most populous city. Arabic and French are its official languages.

Among the largest nations in Africa is Libya in fourth position. Tripoli was established as its administrative capital. Arabic is the official language and Islam is the state religion.

Egypt is located on the other side of the continent, in the northeast. It is the country with the largest population in North Africa and the third largest on the African continent, behind only Nigeria and Ethiopia. It is considered a power in the North African region and in the Muslim world. It has a relevant role in history since it is considered that the birth of civilization occurred in ancient Egypt.

Sudan borders Egypt, the Red Sea, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Chad, Eritrea, and the Central African Republic. They speak English and Arabic.

Economy

North Africa is an economically prosperous area, generating a third of Africa's total GDP. Algeria, Libya, Tunisia and Egypt belong to the group of middle income oil exporting nations. According to OPEC, the 10th largest reserve is Libya.

The energy industry is Algeria's main source of income, earning a medium to high income from its export. While in Tunisia tourism produces a third of its income.

For its part, Morocco has an economy that is considered liberal. Tourism is one of its most important sectors but it also cultivates, for export, different vegetables, wine grapes and cork oaks.

Culture

Over the years, the Berber peoples have been influenced by other cultures with which they came into contact: Nubians, Greeks, Phoenicians, Egyptians, Ethiopians, Romans, Vandals, Arabs, and lately Europeans.

The cultures of the Maghreb and the Sahara, therefore, combine indigenous Berbers, Arabs, and elements from neighboring regions of Africa and beyond. In the Sahara, the distinction between sedentary oasis dwellers and nomadic Bedouin and Tuareg is particularly sharp.

The various peoples of the Sahara are generally classified along ethno-linguistic lines. In the Maghreb, where Arab and Berber identities are often integrated, these lines can be blurred.

Arabic-speaking Northwest Africans, regardless of ethnicity, often identify with Arab history and culture and may share a common vision with other Arabs.

For its part, the Nile Valley through northern Sudan dates back to the ancient civilizations of Egypt and Kush. Over the centuries, Egyptians have changed their language from Egyptian to Modern Egyptian Arabic (both Afro-Asian), while retaining a sense of national identity that has historically set them apart from other people in the region.

Religions

The majority of Egyptians are Sunni Muslims and a significant minority adhere to Coptic Christianity which has strong historical ties to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. In Nubia, between Egypt and Sudan, a significant population retains the ancient Nubian language but has adopted Islam.

The northern part of Sudan is home, in large part, to the Arab Muslim population but further down in the Nile Valley, the culturally distinct world of the Nilotic and Muslim peoples, mostly non-Muslim, begins. Sudan is the most diverse of all the North African countries.

Previously, North Africa had a large Jewish population, many of whom immigrated to France or Israel when the North African nations gained independence.

A smaller number went to Canada. Today, fewer than 15,000 Jews remain in the region, almost all in Morocco and Tunisia, and they are mostly part of a French-speaking urban elite.

North Africa has also contributed to popular music, especially Egyptian classical. Andalusian music is particularly influential and is played throughout the region. The art is distinguished by the use of symbols and signs of the region that originate in pre-Islamic motifs.

North Africans consider it impolite to converse while eating. Wheat is the basis of two staple foods (bread and couscous), a clear example of Roman influence.

Characteristic flora and fauna

The Atlas Mountains, which stretch across much of Morocco, through northern Algeria and Tunisia, are part of the fold mountain system that also runs through much of southern Europe. They retreat to the south and east, becoming a steppe landscape before encountering the Sahara Desert, which covers more than 90% of the region.

The sediments of the Sahara cover an ancient plateau of crystalline rock, some of which are more than four billion years old.

The sheltered valleys in the Atlas Mountains, the Nile Valley and Delta, and the Mediterranean coast are the main sources of good agricultural land. A wide variety of valuable crops are grown including cereals, rice and cotton, and woods such as cedar and cork.

Typical Mediterranean crops like olive, fig, date, and citrus trees also thrive in these areas. The Nile Valley is particularly fertile and the majority of Egypt's population lives near the river. In other places, irrigation is essential to improve crop yields on the desert fringes.

Many nomads of North Africa, such as the Bedouins, maintain a traditional pastoral lifestyle in the fringes of the desert, moving their flocks of sheep, goats and camels from one place to another, crossing the borders of the country to find enough grazing land..

References

1. BMS-Verlage GmbH, w. (2019). Maps - Northern Africa - Economy - Diercke International Atlas. Recovered from diercke.com
2. McKenna, A. (2011). The history of northern Africa.: Britannica Digital Learning.
3. Mikdadi, S. (2004). The Magic of Signs and Patterns in North African Art. Recovered from metmuseum.org
4. Naylor, P. (2009). North Africa. Austin: University of Texas Press.
5. Skreslet, P. (2000). Northern Africa: A Guide to Reference and Information Sources (Reference sources in the social sciences series). Colorado: Libraries Unlimited Incorporated.