Africa has a long history and is one of the birthplaces of human civilization. Since19th century, archaeologists have discovered many ancient human fossils in Africa, among which 1974 found a female ape-man 3.2 million years ago in the border area between Kenya and Ethiopia, which is considered to be the remains of the first woman in the world to walk upright out of the tropical forest. Some anthropologists use gene technology to study human genes, and think that the common descent, the nations of the world, was the primitive tribes in Africa 400,000-200,000 years ago. They believe that most primitive people who differentiated from apes 4-6 million years ago left no descendants, and only one tribe in Africa survived. 6.5438 million years ago, this tribe began to move out of Africa, to West Asia, and then to all parts of the world from West Asia. It entered the Asian continent 60,000 years ago, reached Oceania 40,000-60,000 years ago, reached Europe 35,000 years ago, and finally crossed the Bering Strait to America 35,000 years ago. The descendants of these African tribes who migrated to various parts of the world eventually formed modern human beings.

Africa is one of the earliest regions to enter civilized society. In 5000 BC, the ancient Egyptian residents in the lower Nile mastered the techniques of grain planting and water conservancy engineering. In 3500 BC, the ancient Egyptians created the earliest hieroglyphics in the world. In 3200 BC, a unified centralized slavery country appeared in ancient Egypt. In the following nearly 3000 years, the ancient Egyptians created splendid culture and built the pyramids, one of the seven wonders of ancient times. Many kings (pharaohs) in ancient Egypt explored the East and the West and expanded the territory of ancient Egypt. At its peak, Egypt's territory reached Sudan in the south, Libya in the west, Asia Minor in the north and the upper reaches of the two rivers in the east. At the same time of expansion, ancient Egyptian culture also spread around. Egyptian hieroglyphs were introduced into ancient Greece and evolved into Greek letters. The Greek alphabet later evolved into modern western Latin. Powerful ancient Egypt existed for nearly 3000 years. During this period, Egypt expanded outward many times and was invaded by neighboring powers. In 525 BC, the Persians conquered Egypt. Since then, Egypt has lost its independent status and has long been ruled by Macedonians, Romans, Arabs and Ottoman Turks.

Sudan, located in the upper Nile, is one of the main targets of the expansion of ancient Egypt. At that time, Egyptians called Sudan Nubia. In 2000 BC, a country was established in this area. The invasion of Egypt caused great damage to the local area. In the 8th century BC, a large-scale rebellion broke out in Sudan, which drove away the Egyptians and established the Kush Kingdom. In 75 1 year BC, the kingdom of Kush conquered Egypt and established the 25th dynasty of Egypt. The rule of the Kush people in Egypt lasted for 88 years. Later, the kingdom of Kush moved its capital to Meroe and embarked on the road of independent development. Kush Kingdom, which is located in the traffic arteries of West Asia, North Africa and Africa, has become an important trade center of Northeast Africa. Kush people have mastered iron smelting technology and are the largest iron smelting center south of the Mediterranean. Like the Egyptians, they once created a splendid ancient culture. In 350 BC, the emerging kingdom of aksum conquered the kingdom of Kush.

The Kingdom of aksum, located in northern Ethiopia, was founded in 200 BC. 1 century, the kingdom of aksum began to expand outward. By the 4th century, aksum had conquered southern Ethiopia, Kush Kingdom and some kingdoms in southern Arabia, and reached its peak. The national economy has achieved unprecedented development, creating Ethiopian characters that are still in use today. Aksum's prosperity lasted for centuries. In 570 AD, the Persians drove aksum out of the Arabian Peninsula, and then the Arabs cut off aksum's maritime trade routes. In the 7th century, the invasion of powerful nomads made the kingdom of aksum go to ruin. Ethiopians gradually retreated to the central plateau and remained independent.

South of Ethiopia is East Africa. The east coast of Africa, which starts from the Somali Peninsula in the north and reaches the north coast of South Africa in the south, is an important area for trade exchanges between the African continent and the outside world. From the end of the 7th century, Arabs who are good at business began to migrate to coastal cities in East Africa. In the long-term contact, Arabs and local Africans intermarried, resulting in a new nation-Swahili. Swahili people absorbed Arabic culture, Persian culture, Indian culture and East and Southeast Asian cultures, and created Swahili culture with distinctive characteristics of commercial city-state civilization on the basis of local culture. 13-15th century, Swahili civilization reached its peak. In the early Ming Dynasty in China, when Zheng He went to the Western Ocean, he visited the east coast of Africa several times to trade with Swahili people.

In the inland areas of East Africa, around Lake Victoria, there have been powerful kingdoms, such as Bugno Luo Kingdom and Buganda Kingdom. They have a history of hundreds or even thousands of years and are centralized countries. In the19th century, with the intensification of internal contradictions and the invasion of western imperialism, these large and small kingdoms withdrew from the historical stage.

The ancient history of southern Africa is basically not recorded in writing. 1868 The ruins of Stone Town discovered by westerners in Zimbabwe today show that there was a splendid civilization here.

The Congo Basin in Central Africa once had several important kingdoms. /kloc-at the end of 0/4, the kingdom of Congo was established in the southwest of Congo (DRC) and the north of Angola. The Kingdom of Congo has obvious characteristics of a tribal country. Residents belong to various tribal communes, and the land belongs to tribal communes and is distributed to commune members for farming. Commune members should contribute part of their harvest to chiefs and chiefs, and chiefs and chiefs should also contribute part to the king. From 65438 to 0483, the Portuguese began to enter the territory of the Kingdom of Congo. They bribed kings and officials at all levels with cheap industrial products such as cloth, silk, knives, mirrors and glass beads to help them plunder slaves in neighboring areas. Congolese officials became accomplices of the colonists. The slave trade aggravated various social contradictions in Congo and eventually led to the collapse of the kingdom. From 65438 to 0665, the kingdom of Congo was divided into several small kingdoms.

West Africa is an area where Africa entered the civilized society earlier. In the north of Guinea and sub-Saharan Africa, many kingdoms, large and small, have experienced ups and downs, the most famous of which are Ghana, Mali and Sang Hai in central West Africa. Ghana has no geographical relationship with today's Republic of Ghana. The ancient kingdom of Ghana appeared in the early AD and reached its peak in 1 1 century. The king of Ghana is famous for his gold. Even the collars worn by dogs in the palace are gold or silver. 1076, Morocco conquered Ghana, and Ghana never recovered. 1200, Suman Gulu, king of the Susu nationality, conquered the remnants of Ghana, and the kingdom of Ghana disappeared from then on. 1235, the 500-year-old kingdom of Mali, under the leadership of Song Di Art, defeated the army of Sumangulu, the king of the Susu nationality. Mali gradually controlled the land of the former kingdom of Ghana and became a stronger and richer country. At the beginning of the 4th century, King Mansa Musa took 60,000 people on a pilgrimage to Mecca, and 84 camels carried Jinsha. For a time, Mali's wealth was famous in the Islamic world. The king also invited many Islamic scholars to give lectures in Mali, making Mali an Islamic academic research center. 1360 years later, the kingdom of Mali began to decline due to the civil war for the throne, and its territory continued to shrink. Sang Hai was established as early as the middle of the 7th century, when it was located in Dundee area in the middle reaches of Niger River. 1 1 At the beginning of the century, it moved its capital to Gaoyi and later changed its name to Gaoyi Kingdom, which was one of the original countries in Mali. The decline of Mali created conditions for the rise of Sang Hai. By the second half of the15th century, Sang Hai had become a powerful empire. However, the Sanghai Empire only lasted 100 years. Internal disputes have given external forces an opportunity. 159 1 year, Moroccan troops occupied Timbuktu, the capital of Sang Hai. The Sanghai Empire ceased to exist.

North Africa and West Asia are closely linked. In the 9th century BC, the Phoenicians of West Asia, who were good at business, came to the coastal area of the Gulf of Tunisia to set up commercial places and began to colonize North Africa. After a long period of development, here gradually formed a powerful slave country-Carthage. Carthage became the commercial center of the Mediterranean region. In order to compete with Rome for the hegemony of the Mediterranean, Carthage and Rome fought a war of 100 years. Finally, Carthage was defeated and incorporated into the Roman territory. Around AD, the whole of North Africa was incorporated into the territory of Rome. In the 7th century, Arabs occupied North Africa, and North Africa became a part of the Arab world. Since then, the destinies of several countries in North Africa (except Sudan) have been linked together and have an inseparable bond with West Asia. /kloc-became a part of the Ottoman Turkish Empire in the 0/6th century, and it was always the sphere of influence of the Turks before the western colonists entered North Africa.

/kloc-In the 5th century, Spaniards and Portuguese who just got rid of Arab rule began to land on the African continent, seeking new development space. They walked south along the west coast of Africa, trying to find a new passage to the east. While Spain sent people to the Western Ocean, the Portuguese were constantly looking for routes to the East. 1487, Portuguese Diaz, encouraged by the king, organized ships to sail south along the African coast and reached the Cape of Good Hope at the southernmost tip of Africa. Then, the Portuguese da Gama organized a larger fleet, set off from Lisbon on July 8, 497, first along the route discovered by Diaz, arrived at the Cape of Good Hope on June, the same year, and sailed north from there. 1498 In March, da Gama arrived in Mozambique and established a stronghold under the leadership of an Arab guide. Because of the resistance of the local people, he bought a lot of oriental specialties such as spices, silk and precious stones, and then hurried back. The net profit of the goods he brought back this time is 60 times of the total sailing cost. In the later voyage, the Portuguese brought more horses and cannons, defeated organized resistance in various parts of the Indian Ocean, established many commercial and military strongholds, and finally controlled this route to the East. The discovery of new routes has brought wealth to Europe, but disaster to Africa. After the discovery of the "New World", the development of the United States needs more and more labor. In order to make huge profits, European colonists such as Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, France and Britain began to sell African blacks to America. During the period from 1502 to 1808, 6 million slaves were sold to the United States alone. The evil and cruel slave trade has seriously damaged Africa's productive forces, hindered Africa's development and brought profound disasters to the African people.

/kloc-in the middle and late 20th century, western countries that have completed or are undergoing industrial revolution need a lot of industrial raw materials and a broad market. They stepped up their aggression against Africa, went deep into the interior of Africa from the coast, and set off a frenzy to carve up Africa. In order to coordinate the interests of all countries, from1October18841to February 1885, 15 countries including Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, Portugal and Italy held a meeting in Berlin. Until the First World War, only Liberia and Ethiopia remained independent in the whole African continent, and all other countries and regions became colonies or semi-colonies of western powers.

After World War II, people's movements for national independence and liberation in Africa flourished. Since the 1950s, African countries have gained independence. From 65438 to 0974, Angola, Mozambique and other countries declared their independence, and the whole African colonial system disintegrated. 1April 1980 18, Zimbabwe declared its independence, and the colonial rule of western countries completely disappeared from Africa. There are 50 independent countries in Africa. African countries that have just gained independence realize the importance of unity and cooperation. 1958 In April, the first meeting of independent African countries was held, and eight countries including Egypt, Liberia and Ghana participated in the meeting. The participating countries unanimously agreed to strengthen unity and cooperation. The movement of African unity began. In May, 1963, 3 1 African independent countries gathered in Addis Ababa and held an unprecedented summit of African independent countries. The meeting signed the Charter of the Organization of African Unity and announced the formal establishment of the Organization of African Unity.

An independent and unified Africa is playing an increasingly important role in the world political arena. With the support of the international community and the joint efforts of African countries, many problems in Africa have been solved. 1990 In March, Namibia, the last colony in Africa, got rid of the rule of South Africa and declared its independence. The white regime in South Africa, which practiced apartheid policy, gradually abandoned the policy of racial discrimination. From 65438 to 0994, South Africa held the first non-racial national election in history. Nelson mandela, the black leader, was elected president. 12 In April, Mandela was sworn in as the President of South Africa, announcing the birth of a new South Africa.

The establishment of the Republic of Namibia and the birth of New South Africa declared the successful completion of the historical task of African people's struggle for national independence and political liberation, and ancient Africa entered a brand-new historical period.