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Ghana, former empire, Africa

(Encyclopedia)Ghana gäˈnə [key], ancient empire, W Africa, in the savanna region of what is now E Senegal, SW Mali, and S Mauritania. The empire was founded c.6th cent. by Soninke peoples and lay astride the tra...

Utica , ancient city, N Africa

(Encyclopedia)Utica yo͞oˈtĭkə [key], ancient N African city, c.25 mi (40 km) NW of Carthage. According to tradition, it was founded by Phoenicians from Tyre c.1100 b.c. Second in importance to Carthage, Utica u...

Benoni, city, South Africa

(Encyclopedia)Benoni bənōˈnē [key], city, Gauteng prov., NE South Africa, on the Witwatersrand, now administratively part of the Ekurhuleni metropolitan municipality. It is the distribution center for a gold-mi...

African languages

(Encyclopedia)African languages, geographic rather than linguistic classification of languages spoken on the African continent. Historically the term refers to the languages of sub-Saharan Africa, which do not belo...

Benin, Bight of

(Encyclopedia)Benin, Bight of, northern arm of the Gulf of Guinea, c.550 mi (885 km) wide, W Africa, between Cape Three Points, S Ghana, and the Niger River delta, SW Nigeria. The bight was an important area for sl...

Guinea, archaic term for Africa's west coast

(Encyclopedia)Guinea gĭnˈē [key], an archaic term for the west coast of Africa. In its widest sense it has been applied to the region from Angola to Senegal. Parts of the region bore names originating in early c...

Kimberley, city, South Africa

(Encyclopedia)Kimberley kĭmˈbərlē [key], city, now part and seat of Sol Plaatje local municipality, Northern Cape prov., South Africa. Since the 19th cent. the city has been primarily a diamond-mining center, b...

Fouta Djallon

(Encyclopedia)Fouta Djallon or Futa Jallon both: fo͞oˈtä jälôNˈ [key], highland region, c.30,000 sq mi (77,700 sq km), central Guinea, W Africa. Largely a rolling grassland (average alt. c.3,000 ft/910 m), th...

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