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117-514: BTR-152s were available in several marks, and were manufactured in large numbers for the Soviet military and export. Late production models utilized automotive components from the more reliable ZIL-157 truck. Three primary variants of the BTR-152 appeared between 1950 and 1959: the base armored personnel carrier with a single pintle-mounted 7.62mm or 12.7mm machine gun, an unarmed command vehicle with

234-770: A confederation of seafaring peoples contributed to the New Kingdom 's collapse in 1069   BC, commencing the Third Intermediate Period . Egypt's collapse liberated the more Egyptianised Kingdom of Kush in Nubia, who manoeuvred into power in Upper Egypt and conquered Lower Egypt in 754   BC to form the Kushite Empire . The Kushites ruled for a century and oversaw a revival in pyramid building , until they were driven out of Egypt by

351-557: A principality into a major power on the trade route between Rome and India through conquering its unfortunately unknown neighbours, gaining a monopoly on Indian Ocean trade in the region. Aksum's rise had them rule over much of the regions from Lake Tana to the valley of the Nile , and they further conquered parts of the ailing Kingdom of Kush , led campaigns against the Noba and Beja peoples, and expanded into South Arabia . This led

468-616: A Berber tribe originally from Yafran (also known as Ifrane ) in northwestern Libya , as well as the city of Ifrane in Morocco . Under Roman rule, Carthage became the capital of the province then named Africa Proconsularis , following its defeat of the Carthaginians in the Third Punic War in 146 BC, which also included the coastal part of modern Libya . The Latin suffix -ica can sometimes be used to denote

585-710: A former Italian colony, gained independence. In 1956, Tunisia and Morocco won their independence from France. Ghana followed suit the next year (March 1957), becoming the first of the sub-Saharan colonies to be granted independence. Over the next decade, waves of decolonization took place across the continent, culminating in the 1960 Year of Africa and the establishment of the Organisation of African Unity in 1963. Portugal's overseas presence in sub-Saharan Africa (most notably in Angola , Cape Verde, Mozambique , Guinea-Bissau , and São Tomé and Príncipe) lasted from

702-441: A higher roofline, and an anti-aircraft variant armed with a ZPU-2 mount. BTR-152s could carry a single infantry squad each, or specialist weapons teams along with their mortars and anti-tank equipment. In Soviet service, a number were also deployed as artillery tractors . During World War II , Red Army tacticians favored combined arms offensives, which emphasized the deployment of light infantry in concert with tanks. However,

819-564: A land (e.g., in Celtica from Celtae , as used by Julius Caesar ). The later Muslim region of Ifriqiya , following its conquest of the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire's Exarchatus Africae , also preserved a form of the name. According to the Romans, Africa lies to the west of Egypt, while "Asia" was used to refer to Anatolia and lands to the east. A definite line was drawn between

936-528: A low-cost option that allowed the Soviets to rapidly motorize their existing infantry divisions. A program in the late 1950s looked at ways to replace the BTR-152 with a more sophisticated APC utilizing a purpose-designed, amphibious chassis. As the BTR-152's six-wheeled configuration was deemed insufficient to reduce ground pressure on the tires and produce optimal cross-country performance, Soviet engineers embarked on an eight-wheeled APC program, which resulted in

1053-698: A millennium. Towards the end of the ancient period, northern Ethiopia and Eritrea bore the Kingdom of D'mt beginning in 980   BC. In modern-day Somalia and Djibouti there was the Macrobian Kingdom , with archaeological discoveries indicating the possibility of other unknown sophisticated civilisations at this time. After D'mt's fall in the 5th century BC the Ethiopian Plateau came to be ruled by numerous smaller unknown kingdoms who experienced strong south Arabian influence , until

1170-625: A monopoly on gold heading north and salt heading south, despite not controlling the gold fields themselves, located in the forest regions . It is probable that Wagadu's dominance on trade allowed for the gradual consolidation of many polities into a confederated state , whose composites stood in varying relations to the core, from fully administered to nominal tribute-paying parity. Based on large tumuli scattered across West Africa dating to this period, it has been stipulated that relative to Wagadu, there were further simultaneous and preceding kingdoms that have unfortunately been lost to time. At

1287-586: A native Libyan tribe, an ancestor of modern Berbers ; see Terence for discussion. The name had usually been connected with the Phoenician word ʿafar meaning "dust", but a 1981 hypothesis has asserted that it stems from the Berber word ifri (plural ifran ) meaning "cave", in reference to cave dwellers. The same word may be found in the name of the Banu Ifran from Algeria and Tripolitania ,

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1404-537: A new doctrine in which armored vehicles capable of keeping pace with tanks brought infantry to an engagement. The infantrymen would then disembark and enter combat on foot. Wartime experiences demonstrated that the Red Army had an urgent postwar requirement for more wheeled armored vehicles, and the general staff specified a new reconnaissance vehicle and armored personnel carrier (APC). The APC had to be capable of transporting at least eight troops. A new design bureau at

1521-426: A thickness of up to 15 mm (0.59 in). The vehicle is sometimes fitted with a winch that has a maximum capacity of 5 tonnes and a 70m cable. Depending on the variant, BTR-152s can tow field artillery, transport 1.9 tonnes of cargo, or carry a half platoon of infantry. Most Soviet BTR-152s were powered by a six-cylinder ZIL-123 in-line water-cooled petrol engine developing 110 hp at 2,900 rpm. Those based on

1638-468: A transition from " informal imperialism " – military influence and economic dominance – to direct rule. Imperial rule by Europeans continued until after the conclusion of World War II , when almost all remaining colonial territories gradually obtained formal independence. Independence movements in Africa gained momentum following World War II, which left the major European powers weakened. In 1951, Libya,

1755-406: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia . At about 30.3 million km (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth 's land area and 6% of its total surface area. With nearly 1.4 billion people as of 2021, it accounts for about 18% of

1872-817: Is a general-purpose 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 -ton 6×6 truck, produced at the Likhachev plant in the Soviet Union from 1958 to 1977, when production was transferred to the Amur plant, since the Likhachev plant wanted to focus more on modern trucks, such as the ZIL-131 range. Nevertheless, production of the ZIL-157 trucks continued even after the fall of the Soviet Union , but eventually ended in 1994. Some time after

1989-441: Is a modified truck chassis with an armored hull and an open-topped troop compartment. The sides and rear of the troop compartment are vertical, with corners sloping inwards to deflect shell fragments. There are firing ports on each side of the troop compartment and two rear doors for rapid debarking. Infantrymen can fire their individual weapons from the relative protection of the vehicle, and exit through these doors or by jumping over

2106-630: Is likely that all Mozambique's BTR-152s were eliminated by land mines or Rhodesian air strikes; they were not in service long before being superseded by the BTR-60. A second shipment of BTR-152s was delivered to the People's Forces of Liberation of Mozambique (FPLM) in 1983, but it remains unclear whether these were deployed in front-line service. During the Lebanese Civil War , both Lebanese militias and Syrian Army used BTR-152s. The BTR-152

2223-791: Is not always to be taken literally. Africa is considered by most paleoanthropologists to be the oldest inhabited territory on Earth, with the Human species originating from the continent. During the mid-20th century, anthropologists discovered many fossils and evidence of human occupation perhaps as early as seven million years ago ( Before present , BP). Fossil remains of several species of early apelike humans thought to have evolved into modern humans, such as Australopithecus afarensis radiometrically dated to approximately 3.9–3.0 million years BP, Paranthropus boisei (c. 2.3–1.4 million years BP) and Homo ergaster (c. 1.9 million–600,000 years BP) have been discovered. After

2340-825: Is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Arabian Plate and the Gulf of Aqaba to the northeast, the Indian Ocean to the southeast and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. The continent includes Madagascar and various archipelagos . It contains 54 fully recognised sovereign states , eight cities and islands that are part of non-African states , and two de facto independent states with limited or no recognition . This count does not include Malta and Sicily , which are geologically part of

2457-671: The 11th dynasty , based in Thebes , conquered the others to form the Middle Kingdom of Egypt , with the 12th dynasty expanding into Lower Nubia at the expense of Kerma . In 1700   BC, the Middle Kingdom fractured in two, ushering in the Second Intermediate Period . The Hyksos , a militaristic people from Palestine , invaded and conquered Lower Egypt, while Kerma coordinated invasions deep into Egypt to reach its greatest extent. In 1550   BC,

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2574-646: The 18th dynasty expelled the Hyksos , and established the New Kingdom of Egypt . Using the advanced military technology the Hyksos had brought, the New Kingdom conquered the Levant from the Canaanites , Mittani , Amorites , and Hittites , and extinguished Kerma , incorporating Nubia into the empire, and sending the Egyptian empire into its golden age. Internal struggles, drought, famine, and invasions by

2691-554: The BTR-60 . Approximately 8,600 BTR-152s of all variants were manufactured in the Soviet Union, with some unlicensed copies being produced in the People's Republic of China as the Type 56 . Soviet BTR-152s were produced between 1950 and 1959, being supplemented by the BTR-60 from 1960 onwards. As they became increasingly obsolescent, many were shipped to Soviet client states in Africa and

2808-685: The Benin Empire . Towards the end of the 3rd century AD, a wet period in the Sahel created areas for human habitation and exploitation that had not been habitable for the best part of a millennium, with the Kingdom of Wagadu , the local name of the Ghana Empire , rising out of the Tichitt culture , growing wealthy following the introduction of the camel to the western Sahel, revolutionising

2925-526: The Cold War , and neocolonialism . Despite this low concentration of wealth, recent economic expansion and a large and young population make Africa an important economic market in the broader global context. Africa has a large quantity of natural resources and food resources, including diamonds , sugar , salt , gold , iron , cobalt , uranium , copper , bauxite , silver , petroleum , natural gas , cocoa beans , and tropical fruit . The continent

3042-904: The Congo Basin , the Empire of Kitara in the African Great Lakes , the Luba Empire in the Upemba Depression , the Kilwa Sultanate in the Swahili coast by crowding out Azania , with Rhapta being its last stronghold by the 1st century AD, and forming various city states constituting the Swahili civilisation . These migrations also prefaced the Kingdom of Mapungubwe in the Zambezi basin . After reaching

3159-746: The Ekoi civilisation rose circa 2nd century AD, and are most notable for constructing the Ikom monoliths and developing the Nsibidi script . Pre-colonial Africa possessed as many as 10,000 different states and polities. These included small family groups of hunter-gatherers such as the San people of southern Africa; larger, more structured groups such as the family clan groupings of the Bantu peoples of central, southern, and eastern Africa; heavily structured clan groups in

3276-617: The Fatimids , Almoravids , Almohads , Ayyubids , Mamluks , Kongo , Mwene Muji , Luba , Lunda , Kitara , Aksum , Ethiopia , Adal , Ajuran , Kilwa , Sakalava , Imerina , Maravi , Mutapa , Rozvi , Mthwakazi , and Zulu . Slave trades created various diasporas , especially in the Americas . From the late 19th century to early 20th century, driven by the Second Industrial Revolution , most of Africa

3393-615: The Gorkovsky Avtomobilny Zavod (GAZ) was set up to study potential concepts accordingly; their final prototype, the Izdeliye 141 ( BTR-40 ), was accepted into service but was regarded as too small to be used in an APC role. Meanwhile, specifications for another APC had been issued, capable of seating 15 to 20 additional passengers and armed with a single heavy machine gun. Existing M3 half-tracks and captured German Sd.Kfz. 251s were studied as potential references for

3510-631: The Horn of Africa ; the large Sahelian kingdoms ; and autonomous city-states and kingdoms, such as those of the Akan ; Edo , Yoruba , and Igbo people in West Africa; and the Swahili coastal trading towns of Southeast Africa. By the 9th century AD, a string of dynastic states, including the earliest Hausa states, stretched across the sub-Saharan savannah from the western regions to central Sudan. The most powerful of these states were Ghana , Gao , and

3627-747: The Isthmus of Suez in Egypt. Other migrations of modern humans within the African continent have been dated to that time, with evidence of early human settlement found in Southern Africa, Southeast Africa, North Africa, and the Sahara . The size of the Sahara has historically been extremely variable, with its area rapidly fluctuating and at times disappearing depending on global climatic conditions. At

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3744-696: The Kanem-Bornu Empire . Ghana declined in the eleventh century, but was succeeded by the Mali Empire , which consolidated much of western Sudan in the thirteenth century. Kanem accepted Islam in the eleventh century. In the forested regions of the West African coast, independent kingdoms grew with little influence from the Muslim north. The Kingdom of Nri , which was ruled by the Eze Nri ,

3861-530: The Kingdom of Dahomey , and the Oyo Empire ) adopted different ways of adapting to the shift. Asante and Dahomey concentrated on the development of "legitimate commerce" in the form of palm oil , cocoa , timber and gold, forming the bedrock of West Africa's modern export trade. The Oyo Empire, unable to adapt, collapsed into civil wars. The Scramble for Africa was the conquest and colonisation of most of Africa by seven Western European powers driven by

3978-688: The Mauro-Roman Kingdom and its numerous successor polities in the Maghreb, namely the kingdoms of Ouarsenis , Aurès , and Altava . The Vandals ruled Ifriqiya for a century until Byzantine reconquest in the early 6th century AD. The Byzantines and the Berber kingdoms fought minor inconsequential conflicts, such as in the case of Garmul , however largely coexisted. Further inland to the Byzantine Exarchate of Africa were

4095-618: The Middle East ; the largest quantity of second-hand BTR-152s were accepted by Arab nations such as Libya , Iraq , Syria , and Egypt . Small quantities were also converted to armored ambulances and combat engineering vehicles for the Soviet Army; these remained in service as late as the 1980s. BTR-152s first saw combat during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 , when they were deployed by the 12th Motorized Brigade of

4212-918: The National Liberation Front of Chad (FROLINAT) during the First Chadian Civil War , and were instrumental in a motorized assault on Salal in April 1978. The BTRs were knocked out by Panhard AML-90 armored cars of the French Foreign Legion . Libyan mechanized battalions also deployed BTR-152s in Chad during the Chadian-Libyan conflict , often in concert with tank companies or EE-9 Cascavels . Several were destroyed after taking direct hits from AML-90 cannon fire or SS.11 anti-tank missiles. BTR-152s formed

4329-512: The Noba caused their disintegration into Makuria , Alodia , and Nobatia in the 5th century   AD. The Romans managed to hold on to Egypt for the rest of the ancient period. In the Horn of Africa , there was the Land of Punt , a kingdom on the Red Sea , likely located in modern-day Eritrea or northern Somaliland . The Ancient Egyptians initially traded via middle-men with Punt until in 2350   BC when they established direct relations. They would become close trading partners for over

4446-430: The Nok culture from 1500 BC in modern-day Nigeria , the Daima culture around Lake Chad from 550   BC, Djenné-Djenno from 250   BC in modern-day Mali , and the Serer civilisation in modern-day Senegal , which built the Senegambian stone circles from the 3rd century BC. There is also detailed record of Igodomigodo , a small kingdom founded presumably in 40   BC, which would later go on to form

4563-399: The Ovambo kingdoms , most of which were later conquered. The 1884 Berlin Conference regulated European colonisation and trade in Africa, and is seen as emblematic of the "scramble". In the last quarter of the 19th century, there were considerable political rivalries between the European empires , which provided the impetus for the colonisation. The later years of the 19th century saw

4680-474: The Palestine Liberation Organization to accept 23mm ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft guns. Because the original BTR-152 utilized the chassis and engine of the ZIS-151 , it shared that truck's maintenance problems and poor cross-country mobility. Later variants, using ZIL-157 components, had more power and larger, single tires that reduced the vehicle's shortcomings but did not eliminate them. Serviceability and reliability remained low. ZIL-157 The ZIL-157

4797-404: The Punic Wars against the expansionary Roman Republic , however momentum in these wars was not linear, with Carthage initially experiencing considerable success in the Second Punic War following Hannibal 's infamous crossing of the alps into northern Italy . Their defeat and subsequent collapse of their empire would produce two further polities in the Maghreb; Numidia , which had assisted

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4914-447: The Romans in 30   BC. The Crisis of the Third Century in the Roman Empire freed the Levantine city state of Palmyra , which conquered Egypt ; their brief rule ended when they were reconquered by the Romans . In the midst of this, Kush regained independence from Egypt, and they would persist as a major regional power until, having been weakened from internal rebellion amid worsening climatic conditions, invasions by Aksum and

5031-494: The Sanhaja in modern-day Algeria , a broad grouping of three groupings of tribal confederations , one of which is the Masmuda grouping in modern-day Morocco , along with the nomadic Zenata ; their composite tribes would later go onto shape much of North African history . In the western Sahel the rise of settled communities occurred largely as a result of the domestication of millet and of sorghum . Archaeology points to sizable urban populations in West Africa beginning in

5148-488: The Sao civilisation flourished for over a millennium beginning in the 6th century BC, in territory that later became part of present-day Cameroon and Chad . Sao artifacts show that they were skilled workers in bronze , copper , and iron , with finds including bronze sculptures, terracotta statues of human and animal figures, coins, funerary urns, household utensils, jewellery, highly decorated pottery, and spears. Nearby, around Lake Ejagham in south-west Cameroon ,

5265-419: The Sassanid Empire and the Himyarite Kingdom in Arabia. The Maghreb and Ifriqiya were mostly cut off from the cradle of civilisation in Egypt by the Libyan desert , exacerbated by Egyptian boats being tailored to the Nile and not coping well in the open Mediterranean Sea . This caused its societies to develop contiguous to those of Southern Europe , until Phoenician settlements came to dominate

5382-417: The Second Industrial Revolution during the era of " New Imperialism " (1833–1914): Belgium , France , Germany , United Kingdom , Italy , Portugal and Spain . In 1870, 10% of the continent was formally under European control. By 1914, this figure had risen to almost 90%; the only states retaining sovereignty were Liberia , Ethiopia , Egba , Aussa , Senusiyya , Mbunda , the Dervish State , and

5499-404: The Zambezi , the Bantu continued southward, with eastern groups continuing to modern-day Mozambique and reaching Maputo in the 2nd century AD. Further to the south, settlements of Bantu peoples who were iron-using agriculturists and herdsmen were well established south of the Limpopo River by the 4th century AD, displacing and absorbing the Khoisan . By the Chari River south of Lake Chad

5616-419: The presidential system of rule. However, few of them have been able to sustain democratic governments on a permanent basis—per the criteria laid out by Lührmann et al. (2018), only Botswana and Mauritius have been consistently democratic for the entirety of their post-colonial history. Most African countries have experienced several coups or periods of military dictatorship . Between 1990 and 2018, though,

5733-780: The trans-Saharan trade that linked their capital and Aoudaghost with Tahert and Sijilmasa in North Africa. Soninke traditions likely contain content from prehistory, mentioning four previous foundings of Wagadu , and holds that the final founding of Wagadu occurred after their first king did a deal with Bida , a serpent deity who was guarding a well, to sacrifice one maiden a year in exchange for assurance regarding plenty of rainfall and gold supply. Wagadu's core traversed modern-day southern Mauritania and western Mali , and Soninke tradition portrays early Ghana as warlike, with horse-mounted warriors key to increasing its territory and population, although details of their expansion are extremely scarce. Wagadu made its profits from maintaining

5850-410: The tropic of Cancer , in the northern temperate zone . In the other extreme of the continent, southern Namibia , southern Botswana , great parts of South Africa , the entire territories of Lesotho and Eswatini and the southern tips of Mozambique and Madagascar are located below the tropic of Capricorn , in the southern temperate zone . Africa is highly biodiverse ; it is the continent with

5967-424: The written word . During the colonial period , oral sources were deprecated by European historians, which gave them the impression Africa had no recorded history. African historiography became organized at the academic level in the mid-20th century, and saw a movement towards utilising oral sources in a multidisciplinary approach, culminating in the General History of Africa , edited by specialists from across

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6084-459: The 16th and 19th centuries. In West Africa, the decline of the Atlantic slave trade in the 1820s caused dramatic economic shifts in local polities. The gradual decline of slave-trading, prompted by a lack of demand for slaves in the New World , increasing anti-slavery legislation in Europe and America, and the British Royal Navy's increasing presence off the West African coast, obliged African states to adopt new economies. Between 1808 and 1860,

6201-420: The 16th century to 1975, after the Estado Novo regime was overthrown in a military coup in Lisbon . Rhodesia unilaterally declared independence from the United Kingdom in 1965, under the white minority government of Ian Smith , but was not internationally recognized as an independent state (as Zimbabwe ) until 1980, when black nationalists gained power after a bitter guerrilla war . Although South Africa

6318-423: The 1st and 4th cataracts of the Nile . The 4th dynasty oversaw the height of the Old Kingdom , and constructed many great pyramids . Under the 6th dynasty power gradually decentralised to the nomarchs, culminating in the disintegration of the kingdom, exacerbated by drought and famine, thus commencing the First Intermediate Period in 2200   BC. This shattered state would last until 2055   BC when

6435-406: The 2nd century BC Mauretania fought alongside Numidia's Jugurtha in the Jugurthine War against the Romans after he had usurped the Numidian throne from a Roman ally. Together they inflicted heavy casualties that quaked the Roman Senate , with the war only ending inconclusively when Mauretania's Bocchus I sold out Jugurtha to the Romans. At the turn of the millennium, they both would face

6552-418: The 4th millennium BC the Congo Basin was inhabited by the Bambenga , Bayaka , Bakoya , and Babongo in the west, the Bambuti in the east , and the Batwa who were widely scattered and also present in the Great Lakes region ; together they are grouped as Pygmies . On the later-named Swahili coast there were Cushitic -speaking peoples, and the Khoisan (a neologism for the Khoekhoe and San ) in

6669-416: The 4th millennium BC, which had crucially developed iron metallurgy by 1200   BC, in both smelting and forging for tools and weapons. Extensive east-west belts of deserts , grasslands , and forests from north to south were crucial for the moulding of their respective societies and meant that prior to the accession of trans-Saharan trade routes , symbiotic trade relations developed in response to

6786-405: The African continent. Algeria is Africa's largest country by area, and Nigeria is its largest by population. African nations cooperate through the establishment of the African Union , which is headquartered in Addis Ababa . Africa straddles the equator and the prime meridian . It is the only continent to stretch from the northern temperate to the southern temperate zones. The majority of

6903-457: The Assyrians in 663   BC in reprisal for their expansion towards the Assyrian Empire . The Assyrians installed a puppet dynasty that later gained independence and once more unified Egypt , until they were conquered by the Achaemenid Empire in 525   BC. Egypt regained independence under the 28th dynasty in 404   BC but they were reconquered by the Achaemenids in 343   BC. The conquest of Achaemenid Egypt by Alexander

7020-402: The BTR-152 as a firing platform rather than disembark and fight on foot. Nevertheless, failure to coordinate combined arms maneuvers often left the Syrian motorized infantry separated from their supporting tank formations and vulnerable to Israeli heavy armor. Israel captured over 1,000 BTR-152s from Arab armies during the Six-Day War and the subsequent Yom Kippur War . BTR-152s were deployed by

7137-427: The BTRs were fitted with single 12.7mm DShK or 14.5mm KPV heavy machine guns in place of the SGMB. Vehicles designated BTR-152A were ground support vehicles with limited air defense capability. BTR-152As carried twin KPVs in a ZPU-2 anti-aircraft mount. Variations included an Egyptian model with a Czechoslovak M53 Quad mounting for four DShKs, which were normally towed on a two-wheeled trailer, and some modified by

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7254-422: The British West Africa Squadron seized approximately 1,600 slave ships and freed 150,000 Africans who were aboard. Action was also taken against African leaders who refused to agree to British treaties to outlaw the trade, for example against "the usurping King of Lagos ", deposed in 1851. Anti-slavery treaties were signed with over 50 African rulers. The largest powers of West Africa (the Asante Confederacy ,

7371-421: The Great in 332   BC marked the beginning of Hellenistic rule and the installation of the Macedonian Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt. The Ptolemaics lost their holdings outside of Africa to the Seleucids in the Syrian Wars , expanded into Cyrenaica and subjugated Kush in the 3rd century BC. In the 1st century BC, Ptolemaic Egypt became entangled in a Roman civil war , leading to its conquest by

7488-407: The Iberian peninsula during the eleventh century. The Banu Hilal and Banu Ma'qil were a collection of Arab Bedouin tribes from the Arabian Peninsula who migrated westwards via Egypt between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries. Their migration resulted in the fusion of the Arabs and Berbers, where the locals were Arabized , and Arab culture absorbed elements of the local culture, under

7605-442: The Persian prophet Mani to consider Aksum as one of the four great powers of the 3rd century AD alongside Persia , Rome , and China . In the 4th century AD Aksum's king converted to Christianity and Aksum's population, who had followed syncretic mixes of local beliefs , slowly followed. The end of the 5th century saw Aksum allied with the Byzantine Empire , who viewed themselves as defenders of Christendom , balanced against

7722-400: The Romans in the Second Punic War, Mauretania , a Mauri tribal kingdom and home of the legendary King Atlas , and various tribes such as Garamantes , Musulamii , and Bavares . The Third Punic War would result in Carthage's total defeat in 146 BC and the Romans established the province of Africa , with Numidia assuming control of many of Carthage's African ports. Towards the end of

7839-538: The Sahara region was becoming increasingly dry and hostile. Around 3500   BC, due to a tilt in the Earth's orbit , the Sahara experienced a period of rapid desertification. The population trekked out of the Sahara region towards the Nile Valley below the Second Cataract where they made permanent or semi-permanent settlements. A major climatic recession occurred, lessening the heavy and persistent rains in Central and Eastern Africa . Since this time, dry conditions have prevailed in Eastern Africa and, increasingly during

7956-467: The Saharan climate started to become drier at an exceedingly fast pace. This climate change caused lakes and rivers to shrink significantly and caused increasing desertification . This, in turn, decreased the amount of land conducive to settlements and encouraged migrations of farming communities to the more tropical climate of West Africa. During the first millennium BC, a reduction in wild grain populations related to changing climate conditions facilitated

8073-486: The Soviet Internal Troops to crush Hungary's fledgling uprising. The BTRs were deployed in Budapest and other settlements, as well as on the Hungarian border with Austria . A number were damaged or destroyed by insurgents armed with molotov cocktails , which were pitched into the open troop compartments without apparent difficulty. Since they were wheeled, some BTR-152s were also immobilized when their rubber tires caught fire, and had to be abandoned by their crews. Egypt

8190-467: The Soviet Army's reserve stocks. These vehicles were mostly BTR-152Vs but also included the BTR-152A anti-aircraft variant. The Soviet Union donated at least six BTR-152s to Mozambique shortly after that country's independence in the mid-1970s. Mozambican BTR-152s were deployed against Rhodesian Security Forces conducting cross-border raids, as well as in search and destroy operations mounted near Mozambican National Resistance (RENAMO) strongholds. It

8307-431: The Soviet infantrymen lacked the armored protection and rapid mobility of the tanks, and remained comparatively vulnerable to enemy fire. By the end of the war, the initial Soviet tactic of tank desant , in which the infantry rode into battle atop the tanks they were supporting, had been superseded by the introduction of M3 Half-tracks and M3 White armored cars. These were widely used for troop transport, giving rise to

8424-597: The chassis and components of the ZIL-157 utility truck utilized a slightly different ZIL-137K engine. There are several engine louvers on the front of the hull to prevent overheating; these could be safely closed for short intervals during combat, as long as the driver reduced speed and avoided overtaxing the vehicle. A BTR-152's gearbox comprised five forward gears and one reverse gear with a two-speed transfer box. Fifth gear had an overdrive. The suspension consisted of conventional leaf springs with hydraulic shock absorbers. In

8541-550: The continent and its countries are in the Northern Hemisphere , with a substantial portion and a number of countries in the Southern Hemisphere . Most of the continent lies in the tropics, except for a large part of Western Sahara , Algeria , Libya and Egypt , the northern tip of Mauritania , and the entire territories of Morocco , Ceuta , Melilla , and Tunisia , which in turn are located above

8658-463: The continent as a whole has trended towards more democratic governance. Upon independence an overwhelming majority of Africans lived in extreme poverty . The continent suffered from the lack of infrastructural or industrial development under colonial rule, along with political instability. With limited financial resources or access to global markets, relatively stable countries such as Kenya still experienced only very slow economic development. Only

8775-424: The continent most vulnerable to climate change . The history of Africa is long, complex, and varied, and has often been under-appreciated by the global historical community . In African societies the oral word is revered, and they have generally recorded their history via oral tradition , which has led anthropologists to term them oral civilisations, contrasted with literate civilisations which pride

8892-461: The continent's south. The Bantu expansion constituted a major series of migrations of Bantu peoples from central Africa to eastern and southern Africa and was substantial in the settling of the continent. Commencing in the 2nd millennium BC, the Bantu began to migrate from Cameroon to central, eastern, and southern Africa, laying the foundations for future states such as the Kingdom of Kongo in

9009-478: The continent. Africa, particularly Eastern Africa , is widely accepted to be the place of origin of humans and the Hominidae clade , also known as the great apes . The earliest hominids and their ancestors have been dated to around 7 million years ago, and Homo sapiens (modern human) are believed to have originated in Africa 350,000 to 260,000 years ago. Africa is also considered by anthropologists to be

9126-486: The driver's cab, but under the truck, which allowed the frame and thus the entire truck to be shortened. A tire pressure control system was also installed, which significantly improved off-road capability. Series production began on September 18, 1958 in Moscow . In the course of de-Stalinization , however, it was now renamed ZIL-157, as the plant was renamed in 1956 from "Zavod imeni Stalina" to "Zavod imeni Likhacheva". In

9243-428: The earliest instances of agriculture in human history. Its cultivation would gradually spread across Africa, before spreading to India around 2000   BC. People around modern-day Mauritania started making pottery and built stone settlements (e.g., Tichitt , Oualata ). Fishing, using bone-tipped harpoons , became a major activity in the numerous streams and lakes formed from the increased rains. In West Africa,

9360-543: The end of the Ice ages , estimated to have been around 10,500   BC, the Sahara had again become a green fertile valley, and its African populations returned from the interior and coastal highlands in sub-Saharan Africa , with rock art paintings depicting a fertile Sahara and large populations discovered in Tassili n'Ajjer dating back perhaps 10 millennia. However, the warming and drying climate meant that by 5,000   BC,

9477-642: The evolution of Homo sapiens approximately 350,000 to 260,000 years BP in Africa, the continent was mainly populated by groups of hunter-gatherers . These first modern humans left Africa and populated the rest of the globe during the Out of Africa II migration dated to approximately 50,000 years BP, exiting the continent either across Bab-el-Mandeb over the Red Sea , the Strait of Gibraltar in Morocco, or

9594-660: The expansion of farming communities and the rapid adoption of rice cultivation around the Niger River. By the first millennium BC, ironworking had been introduced in Northern Africa. Around that time it also became established in parts of sub-Saharan Africa, either through independent invention there or diffusion from the north and vanished under unknown circumstances around 500   AD, having lasted approximately 2,000 years, and by 500   BC, metalworking began to become commonplace in West Africa. Ironworking

9711-506: The growth and expansion of Aksum in the 1st century BC. Along the Horn's coast there were many ancient Somali city-states that thrived off of the wider Red Sea trade and transported their cargo via beden , exporting myrrh , frankincense , spices , gum , incense , and ivory , with freedom from Roman interference causing Indians to give the cities a lucrative monopoly on cinnamon from ancient India . The Kingdom of Aksum grew from

9828-443: The historical process is largely a communal one, with eyewitness accounts, hearsay , reminiscences, and occasionally visions , dreams, and hallucinations, crafted into oral traditions . Time is sometimes mythical and social, and truth generally viewed as relativist . Oral tradition can be exoteric or esoteric . It speaks to people according to their understanding, unveiling itself in accordance with their aptitudes, and

9945-572: The kingdoms of Lower Egypt and Upper Egypt in northeast Africa . Around 3100   BC Upper Egypt conquered Lower Egypt to unify Egypt under the 1st dynasty , with the process of consolidation and assimilation completed by the time of the 3rd dynasty who formed the Old Kingdom of Egypt in 2686   BC. The Kingdom of Kerma emerged around this time to become the dominant force in Nubia , controlling territory as large as Egypt between

10062-513: The largest number of megafauna species, as it was least affected by the extinction of the Pleistocene megafauna . However, Africa also is heavily affected by a wide range of environmental issues , including desertification, deforestation, water scarcity , and pollution . These entrenched environmental concerns are expected to worsen as climate change impacts Africa . The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has identified Africa as

10179-616: The last 200 years, in Ethiopia . The domestication of cattle in Africa preceded agriculture and seems to have existed alongside hunter-gatherer cultures. It is speculated that by 6,000   BC, cattle were domesticated in North Africa. In the Sahara-Nile complex, people domesticated many animals, including the donkey and a small screw-horned goat that was common from Algeria to Nubia . Between 10,000 and 9,000   BC, pottery

10296-436: The late 1950s, a little over 200 BTR-152s were produced with enclosed hulls, as opposed to the traditionally open-topped design; these were designated BTR-152K and BTR-152K1 . They were also known unofficially as "BTR-152 Model D" or "BTR-152 M1961" by some Warsaw Pact armies. The enclosed hull reduced situational awareness but allowed for the installation of central heating and an NBC overpressure system. Two hatches opening to

10413-593: The mainstay of mechanized units on both sides during the Ogaden War . The Somali National Army ordered enough BTR-152s from the Soviet Union in the late 1960s to equip nine new mechanized battalions. About half of Somalia's BTR-152s appear to have been lost in the Ogaden conflict. Soviet weapons deliveries to Ethiopia accelerated after the outbreak of war, and starting in March 1977 included 40 BTR-152s appropriated from

10530-660: The most genetically diverse continent as a result of being the longest inhabited. In the 4th and 3rd millennia BC Ancient Egypt , Kerma , Punt , and the Tichitt Tradition emerged in North , East and West Africa , while from 4000 BC until 1000 AD the Bantu expansion was substantial in laying the foundations for societies and states in Central , East , and Southern Africa . Some African empires include Wagadu , Mali , Songhai , Sokoto , Ife , Benin , Asante ,

10647-399: The most lucrative trading locations in the Gulf of Tunis . Phoenician settlements subsequently grew into Ancient Carthage after gaining independence from Phoenicia in the 6th century BC, and they would build an extensive empire and a strict mercantile network, all secured by one of the largest and most powerful navies in the ancient Mediterranean . Carthage would meet its demise in

10764-439: The official religion, built mosques, and brought to Gao Muslim scholars, including al-Maghili (d.1504), the founder of an important tradition of Sudanic African Muslim scholarship. By the eleventh century, some Hausa states – such as Kano , Jigawa , Katsina , and Gobir – had developed into walled towns engaging in trade, servicing caravans , and the manufacture of goods. Until the fifteenth century, these small states were on

10881-465: The opportunities afforded by north–south diversity in ecosystems. Various civilisations prospered in this period. From 4000   BC, the Tichitt culture in modern-day Mauritania and Mali was the oldest known complexly organised society in West Africa, with a four tiered hierarchical social structure. Other civilisations include the Kintampo culture from 2500   BC in modern-day Ghana ,

10998-534: The periphery of the major Sudanic empires of the era, paying tribute to Songhai to the west and Kanem-Borno to the east. Slavery had long been practiced in Africa. Between the 15th and the 19th centuries, the Atlantic slave trade took an estimated 7–12 million slaves to the New World. In addition, more than 1 million Europeans were captured by Barbary pirates and sold as slaves in North Africa between

11115-599: The predecessor to the African Union. The nascent countries decided to keep their colonial borders, with traditional power structures used in governance to varying degrees. Afri was a Latin name used to refer to the inhabitants of what was then known as northern Africa , located west of the Nile river, and in its widest sense referring to all lands south of the Mediterranean , also known as Ancient Libya . This name seems to have originally referred to

11232-458: The right were installed on the new roofline. The BTR-152 was originally armed with a single pintle-mounted 7.62mm SG-43 Goryunov (SGMB) medium machine gun, fed by 1,250 rounds of stored on-board ammunition. This was mounted behind the driving position. Additional 7.62mm general-purpose machine guns could be mounted on either side of the hull top as needed. The SGMB machine gun could traverse 45 degrees and elevate between -6 and +24 degrees. Some of

11349-480: The same fate as Carthage and be conquered by the Romans who established Mauretania and Numidia as provinces of their empire, while Musulamii , led by Tacfarinas , and Garamantes were eventually defeated in war in the 1st century AD however weren't conquered. In the 5th century AD the Vandals conquered north Africa precipitating the fall of Rome . Swathes of indigenous peoples would regain self-governance in

11466-628: The same time, the BTR-40 did not enter serial production until the end of the year. The BTR-152 was used by the Soviet military as a command and communications vehicle, fire support vehicle, artillery tractor, and general transporter. Being open-topped, the BTR-152's crew was vulnerable to indirect fire. In later years, the vehicle was not ideal for the prospect of a major conventional war in Europe either, as it lacked amphibious capability or NBC countermeasures . However, these early BTRs remained effective as

11583-708: The same year, the truck won an award at the World Expo in Brussels . In 1961, a new version was introduced. The ZIL-157K had a more powerful engine, which it inherited from the ZIL-131 as well as the rest of the powertrain. This model was built until the cessation of production in Moscow in 1978. From that point on, the Uralsky Avtomotorny Zavod (UAmZ) took over the production of the truck. Here it

11700-505: The sides. The crew consists of a driver and a single passenger, who operates the radios. Two types of seating arrangements were available: the first consists of wooden benches on either side of the troop compartment facing inwards; the second consisted of three rows of seats facing forward. Both the driver and the radio operator seated to his right are provided with individual windscreens and, when in combat, these are covered by twin armored shutters with integral vision blocks. Crew members exit

11817-535: The start of serial production of the ZIS-151 , the revision of the ZIS-151 began. The new project was given the title ZIS-157. By 1956, two prototypes had been produced, which had some technical innovations compared to the ZIS-151. This also included tires specially developed for this vehicle, which were particularly wear-resistant due to the use of several layers of material. The spare wheel was no longer mounted behind

11934-488: The two continents by the geographer Ptolemy (85–165 CE), indicating Alexandria along the Prime Meridian and making the isthmus of Suez and the Red Sea the boundary between Asia and Africa. As Europeans came to understand the real extent of the continent, the idea of "Africa" expanded with their knowledge. Other etymological hypotheses have been postulated for the ancient name "Africa": In African societies,

12051-496: The unifying framework of Islam. Following the breakup of Mali, a local leader named Sonni Ali (1464–1492) founded the Songhai Empire in the region of middle Niger and the western Sudan and took control of the trans-Saharan trade. Sonni Ali seized Timbuktu in 1468 and Jenne in 1473, building his regime on trade revenues and the cooperation of Muslim merchants. His successor Askia Mohammad I (1493–1528) made Islam

12168-556: The upcoming design. Concept work on the new APC began at the Zavod imeni Stalina (ZIS) factory in Moscow, overseen by Soviet engineer Boris Mikhailovich Fitterman, at roughly the same time the Izdeliye 141 was being developed by GAZ. Prototypes were built with automotive components from the ZIS-151 production line; however, the APC chassis incorporated a more powerful engine and a shorter wheelbase than its utility truck counterpart. Design work

12285-512: The vehicle through side doors, the tops of which are hinged and fold down for observation purposes. The BTR-152's armor plate is fabricated of welded steel and ranges from 4 mm (0.16 in) to 13.5 mm (0.53 in) in thickness. This protects the crew and passengers from small arms fire, shell fragments, grenades, and anti-personnel mines, but is ineffective against larger shell fragments or even heavy machine gun fire. Late production hulls may have been manufactured from steel plate with

12402-516: The wet phase ushered in an expanding rainforest and wooded savanna from Senegal to Cameroon . Between 9,000 and 5,000   BC, Niger–Congo speakers domesticated the oil palm and raffia palm . Black-eyed peas and voandzeia (African groundnuts), were domesticated, followed by okra and kola nuts . Since most of the plants grew in the forest, the Niger–Congo speakers invented polished stone axes for clearing forest. Around 4,000   BC,

12519-497: The world's human population . Africa's population is the youngest among all the continents; the median age in 2012 was 19.7, when the worldwide median age was 30.4. Based on 2024 projections, Africa's population will reach 3.8 billion people by 2099. Africa is the least wealthy inhabited continent per capita and second-least wealthy by total wealth, ahead of Oceania . Scholars have attributed this to different factors including geography , climate , corruption , colonialism ,

12636-418: Was rapidly conquered and colonised by European nations , save for Ethiopia and Liberia . European rule had significant impacts on Africa's societies , and colonies were maintained for the purpose of economic exploitation and extraction of natural resources. Most present states emerged from a process of decolonisation following World War II , and established the Organisation of African Unity in 1963,

12753-605: Was carried out by a team of five ZIS employees: Fitterman, K. M. Androsov, A. P. Petrenko, V. F. Rodionov and P. P. Chernyaev. The final prototype was trialed by the Soviet Armed Forces in December 1949 and accepted into service as the BTR-152 . Serial production of the BTR-152 under the manufacturer's code ZIS-152 commenced around mid 1950, making it the first mass-produced Soviet APC. Despite being designed around

12870-503: Was established around the ninth century, making it one of the oldest kingdoms in present-day Nigeri. The Nri kingdom is famous for its elaborate bronzes , found at the town of Igbo-Ukwu . The Kingdom of Ife , historically the first of these Yoruba city-states or kingdoms, established government under a priestly oba ('king' or 'ruler' in the Yoruba language ), called the Ooni of Ife . Ife

12987-450: Was fully established by roughly 500   BC in many areas of East and West Africa, although other regions did not begin ironworking until the early centuries AD. Copper objects from Egypt , North Africa, Nubia, and Ethiopia dating from around 500   BC have been excavated in West Africa, suggesting that Trans-Saharan trade networks had been established by this date. From 3500   BC, nomes (ruled by nomarchs ) coalesced to form

13104-609: Was independently invented in the region of Mali in the savannah of West Africa. In the steppes and savannahs of the Sahara and Sahel in Northern West Africa, people possibly ancestral to modern Nilo-Saharan and Mandé cultures started to collect wild millet , around 8,000 to 6,000   BC. Later, gourds , watermelons , castor beans , and cotton were also collected. Sorghum was first domesticated in Eastern Sudan around 4,000   BC, in one of

13221-581: Was mostly intended for use by the Red Army , but a number was also made for the civilian sector and for export; it was also popular with forestry companies, and was thus also used as a log truck , specifically in the ZIL-157V tractor trailer version. In the Soviet Union, the vehicle received several nicknames from the population, including " Crocodile " because of the long bonnet and characteristic radiator grille. This military vehicle article

13338-558: Was noted as a major religious and cultural centre in West Africa and for its unique naturalistic tradition of bronze sculpture. The Ife model of government was adapted by the Oyo Empire , whose obas, called the Alaafins of Oyo , controlled many other Yoruba and non-Yoruba city-states and kingdoms including the Fon Kingdom of Dahomey . The Almoravids were a Berber dynasty from the Sahara that spread over northwestern Africa and

13455-514: Was one of the first African countries to gain independence, the state remained under the control of the country's white minority, initially through qualified voting rights and from 1956 by a system of racial segregation known as apartheid , until 1994. Today, Africa contains 54 sovereign countries. Since independence, African states have frequently been hampered by instability, corruption, violence, and authoritarianism. The vast majority of African states are republics that operate under some form of

13572-672: Was one of the first major export customers for the BTR-152 outside Eastern Europe; in 1954, it ordered 200 from the Soviet Union, and between 1961 and 1966 it received another 600 in second-hand condition, possibly as military aid. Syria likewise received at least 200 BTR-152s in 1966, and another 300 three years later. These were deployed against the Israel Defense Forces during the Six-Day War . In Syrian service, they were utilized as makeshift infantry fighting vehicles rather than APCs; infantrymen remained on board and used

13689-412: Was reworked again and designated ZIL-157KD. The payload increased by 500 kg to five tons, and three tons of cargo could still be transported off-road. Production officially continued until 1992, with vehicles still being assembled from existing parts until 1994. A total of 797,934 ZIL-157 trucks were produced by both manufacturers in 36 years of construction. The ZIL-157 truck, like its predecessors,

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