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58-532: The Central European Iron Trail is a European Cultural Route which combines local iron routes with institutions as well as places that represent important parts of the European iron cultural heritage. The aim of the route is to increase understanding of the history, the culture and the traditions of the Central European iron areas in 8 countries. The “Central European Iron Trail” was recognised as

116-405: A derivative of Arabic . However, these areas are not generally considered part of North Africa, but rather Southern Europe, due to their proximity to mainland Europe and their European-based cultures and religion. The Maghreb or western North Africa on the whole is believed to have been inhabited by Berbers and their ancestors since at least 10,000 B.C., while the eastern part of North Africa or

174-629: A "cultural route of the Council of Europe" called: "Central European Iron Trail" ( Mitteleuropäische Eisenstraße ; Route du Fer en Europe Centrale ). The Central-European Iron Trail Association was created in April 2008 in Eisenstadt in the presence of many politic and scientist personalities. The "cultural routes of the Council of Europe" are tools of the European cultural cooperation implemented by

232-403: A continental scale rather than being confined to a particular corner of Africa. In September 2019, scientists reported the computerized determination, based on 260 CT scans , of a virtual skull shape of the last common human ancestor to modern humans / H. sapiens , representative of the earliest modern humans, and suggested that modern humans arose between 260,000 and 350,000 years ago through

290-613: A date of up to 1.8 million BCE. Recent finds in Jebel Irhoud in Morocco have been found to contain some of the oldest Homo sapiens remains; This suggests that, rather than arising only in East Africa around 200,000 years ago, early Homo sapiens may already have been present across the length of Africa 100,000 years earlier. According to study author Jean-Jacques Hublin, "The idea is that early Homo sapiens dispersed around

348-612: A distinctive Maghrebi ancestry formed from a mixture of Near Eastern and African ancestry, which is still found as a part of the genome of modern Northwest Africans. Later during the Neolithic , from around 7,500 years ago onwards, there was a migration into Northwest Africa of European Neolithic Farmers from the Iberian Peninsula (who had originated in Anatolia several thousand years prior), as well as pastoralists from

406-660: A large amount of their genetic, ethnic, cultural and linguistic identity and influence with the Middle East / West Asia , a process that began with the Neolithic Revolution c.  10,000 BC and pre Dynastic Egypt. The countries of North Africa are also a major part of the Arab world . The Islamic and Arab influence in North Africa has remained dominant ever since, with the region being major part of

464-597: A merging of populations in East and Southern Africa . The cave paintings found at Tassili n'Ajjer , north of Tamanrasset, Algeria, and at other locations depict vibrant and vivid scenes of everyday life in central North Africa during the Neolithic Subpluvial period (about 8000 to 4000 BCE). Some parts of North Africa began to participate in the Neolithic revolution in the 6th millennium BCE, just before

522-514: A second official language after Arabic. French also serves as an administrative language in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. The most spoken dialects are Maghrebi Arabic , a form of ancient Arabic dating back from the 8th century AD, and Egyptian Arabic . The largest and most numerous ethnic group in North Africa are the Arabs . In Algeria and Morocco, Berbers are the second largest ethnic group after

580-678: A “cultural route of the Council of Europe ” in 2007. Following a suggestion by the "European Iron Trail" working group, a project for an iron route on a European scale was presented in Bourglinster (LU) to the European Institute of Cultural Routes (Luxembourg) invitation in 2004. In February 2007, the Council of Europe recognised the initiative of the Montahistorischer Verein Österreichs working group as

638-708: Is "no or scanty evidence" of human presence in the Egyptian Nile Valley during these periods, which may be due to problems in site preservation. Several scholars have argued that the African origins of the Egyptian civilisation derived from pastoral communities which emerged in both the Egyptian and Sudanese regions of the Nile Valley in the fifth millennium BCE. When Egypt entered the Bronze Age,

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696-594: Is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of the Western Sahara in the west, to Egypt and Sudan's Red Sea coast in the east. The most common definition for the region's boundaries includes Algeria , Egypt , Libya , Morocco , Tunisia , and Western Sahara ,

754-603: Is a significant minority of Coptic Christians . The Copts are the largest Christian denomination in the Middle East and North Africa . The Maghreb formerly had a significant Jewish population, almost all of whom emigrated to France or Israel when the North African nations gained independence. Prior to the modern establishment of Israel, there were about 500,000 Jews in Northern Africa, including both Sephardi Jews (refugees from Spain, France and Portugal from

812-523: Is based in the EICR and periodically gathers representatives of some of the states that are the more interested in the programme who are empowered to certify new Cultural Routes as well as evaluating already-certified Routes. This is a list of the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe, in order of their date of certification: North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa )

870-665: Is managed by the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Cultural Routes (EPA). In 2022, 48 Cultural Routes were certified as listed below. The Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe are tools of the European cultural cooperation implemented by the Council of Europe with the "European cultural convention" in 1954. On 23 October 1987, the Santiago de Compostela Declaration established the Santiago De Compostela Pilgrim Routes,

928-642: Is particularly fertile and most of Egypt lives close to the river. Elsewhere, irrigation is essential to improve crop yields on the desert margins. The inhabitants of North Africa are roughly divided in a manner corresponding to the principal geographic regions of North Africa: the Maghreb , the Nile valley, and the Sahel . The countries making up North Africa all have Modern Standard Arabic as their official language. Additionally, Algeria and Morocco recognize Berber as

986-584: The Afroasiatic language family . The Tuareg Berber languages are notably more conservative than those of the coastal cities. Over the years, Berbers have been influenced by contact with other cultures: Egyptians , Greeks , Punic people , Romans , Vandals , Arabs , Europeans , and Africans . The cultures of the Maghreb and the Sahara therefore combines Arab, indigenous Berber and African elements. In

1044-604: The European Union , even though it contributes to it. As a result, the programme goes beyond the borders of the EU, and even Europe in general - as some Routes go as far as North Africa or the Middle East . The programme was launched by the Council of Europe in 1987. It is based since 1998 in Luxembourg , at the European Institute of Cultural Routes (EICR). Since 2010, the evaluation and certification-awarding process

1102-484: The Levant , both of whom also significantly contributed to the ancestry of modern Northwest Africans. The proto-Berber tribes evolved from these prehistoric communities during the late Bronze - and early Iron ages. The majority of the people of the Maghreb and the Sahara regions speak varieties of Arabic and almost exclusively follow Islam. The Arabic and Berber languages are distantly related, both being members of

1160-600: The Middle Ages much of the area was loosely under the control of the Ottoman Empire . The Barbary pirates operated from the largely independent Barbary states located on the coast of North Africa. The Spanish Empire conquered several coastal cities between the 16th and 18th centuries. After the 19th century, the imperial and colonial presence of France , the United Kingdom , Spain and Italy left

1218-731: The Muslim world . North Africa is associated with the Middle East in the realm of geopolitics to form the Middle East-North Africa region. North Africa has three main geographic features: the Sahara desert in the south, the Atlas Mountains in the west, and the Nile River and delta in the east. The Atlas Mountains extend across much of northern Algeria , Morocco , and Tunisia . These mountains are part of

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1276-653: The Nile Valley has mainly been home to the Egyptians and Nubians . Ancient Egyptians record extensive contact in their Western desert with people that appear to have been Berber or proto-Berber. As the Tassili n'Ajjer and other rock art findings in the Sahara have shown, the Sahara also hosted various populations before its rapid desertification in 3500 B.C and even today continues to host small populations of nomadic trans-Saharan peoples . Laboratory examination of

1334-523: The Strait of Gibraltar , whereupon they overcame the fickle Roman defense. The loss of North Africa is considered a pinnacle point in the fall of the Western Roman Empire as Africa had previously been an important grain province that maintained Roman prosperity despite the barbarian incursions, and the wealth required to create new armies. The issue of regaining North Africa became paramount to

1392-748: The Uan Muhuggiag child mummy and Tin Hanakaten child, suggested that the Central Saharan peoples from the Epipaleolithic , Mesolithic , and Pastoral periods possessed dark skin complexions. The archaeological evidence from the Holocene period has shown that Nilo-Saharan speaking groups had populated the central and southern Sahara before the influx of Berber and Arabic speakers, around 1500 years ago, who now largely populate

1450-602: The eastern part of North Africa has been home to the Egyptians . In the seventh and eighth centuries, Arabs from the Arabian Peninsula swept across the region during the early Muslim conquests . The Arab migrations to the Maghreb began immediately after, which started a long process of Islamization and Arabization that has defined the cultural landscape of North Africa ever since. Many but not all Berbers and Egyptians gradually merged into Arab - Islamic culture . The countries and people of North Africa share

1508-538: The fold mountain system that also runs through much of Southern Europe . They recede to the south and east, becoming a steppe landscape before meeting the Sahara desert, which covers more than 75 percent of the region. The tallest peaks are in the High Atlas range in south-central Morocco, which has many snow-capped peaks. South of the Atlas Mountains is the dry and barren expanse of the Sahara desert,

1566-668: The Arab majority. Arabs constitute 70% to 80% of the population of Algeria, 92% 97% of Libya, 67% to 70% of Morocco and 98% of Tunisia's population. The Berbers comprise 20% of Algeria, 10% of Libya, 35% of Morocco and 1% of Tunisia's population. The region is predominantly Muslim with a Jewish minority in Morocco and Tunisia , and significant Christian minority—the Copts —in Egypt , Algeria , Morocco, Libya, and Tunisia. In 2001,

1624-428: The Council of Europe is not necessarily a physical path to be walked through and can be made up of cultural stakeholders such as museums, municipalities or local governments clustered into one umbrella association. Being awarded the title Cultural Route of the Council of Europe opens the way to a larger visibility, network of cultural stakeholders or even funding. The programme was launched by the Council of Europe and not

1682-542: The Council of Europe with the "European cultural convention" in 1954. The programme of the "cultural routes of the Council of Europe" was officially created in 1987 and is managed by an executive agency of the Council of Europe in Luxembourg since 1998: The European Institute of Cultural Routes. The programme is ruled by a resolution adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe . The "cultural routes of

1740-504: The Council of Europe" aims at the protection, the valorisation and the transmission of the European cultural heritage as well as the cultural diversity of Europe. They also aim at the development of the intercultural dialog. The Central European Iron Trail Association was created on 11 April 2008 in Eisenstadt (ZVR-Nr. 959952283). Members can be individuals, institutions, partners and sponsors. The members are entitled to participate to

1798-577: The Maghreb remained focused on small-scale subsistence in small, highly mobile groups. Some Phoenician and Greek colonies were established along the Mediterranean coast during the 7th century BCE. The most notable nations of antiquity in western North Africa are Carthage , Numidia and Mauretania . The Phoenicians colonized much of North Africa including Carthage and parts of present-day Morocco (including Chellah , Essaouira and Volubilis ). The Carthaginians were of Phoenician origin, with

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1856-633: The Renaissance era) as well as indigenous Mizrahi Jews . Today, less than 3,000 remain in the region, almost all in Morocco and Tunisia, and are mostly part of a French-speaking urban elite. (See Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim countries .) Due to the recent African origin of modern humans , the history of Prehistoric North Africa is important to the understanding of pre-hominid and early modern human history in Africa. Some researchers have postulated that North Africa rather than East Africa served as

1914-554: The Roman myth of their origin being that Dido , a Phoenician princess, was granted land by a local ruler based on how much land she could cover with a piece of cowhide. She ingeniously devised a method to extend the cowhide to a high proportion, thus gaining a large territory. She was also rejected by the Trojan prince Aeneas according to Virgil , thus creating a historical enmity between Carthage and Rome , as Aeneas would eventually lay

1972-633: The Romans, resulting in the Carthaginian North African territories becoming the Roman province of Africa in 146 B.C. This led to tension and eventually conflict between Numidia and Rome. The Numidian wars are notable for launching the careers of both Gaius Marius , and Sulla , and stretching the constitutional burden of the Roman republic as Marius required a professional army, something previously contrary to Roman values, to overcome

2030-420: The Sahara in the modern era. After migrating to North Africa in the 1st millennium BC, Semitic Phoenician settlers from the Levant established over 300 coastal colonies throughout the region and built a powerful empire that controlled most of the region from the 8th century BC until the middle of the 2nd century BC. Several waves of Arab migrations to the Maghreb began in the 7th century, including

2088-444: The Sahara, the distinction between sedentary oasis inhabitants and nomadic Bedouin Arabs and Tuaregs is particularly marked. Egyptians over the centuries have shifted their language from Egyptian (in its late form, varieties of Coptic ) to modern Egyptian Arabic while retaining a sense of national identity that has historically set them apart from other people in the region. Most Egyptians are Sunni Muslim , although there

2146-541: The Spanish cities of Ceuta and Melilla , and the plazas de soberanía . It can also be considered to include Malta , as well as other Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish regions such as Lampedusa and Lampione , Madeira , and the Canary Islands , which are all closer or as close to the African continent than Europe. Northwest Africa has been inhabited by Berbers since the beginning of recorded history , while

2204-696: The Western Empire, but was frustrated by Vandal victories. The focus of Roman energy had to be on the emerging threat of the Huns . In 468 AD, the Romans made one last serious attempt to invade North Africa but were repelled. This perhaps marks the point of terminal decline for the Western Roman Empire . The last Roman emperor was deposed in 476 by the Heruli general Odoacer . Trade routes between Europe and North Africa remained intact until

2262-525: The coming of Islam. Some Berbers were members of the Early African Church (but evolved their own Donatist doctrine ), some were Berber Jews , and some adhered to traditional Berber religion . African pope Victor I served during the reign of Roman emperor Septimius Severus . Furthermore, during the rule of the Romans, Byzantines, Vandals, Ottomans and Carthaginians the Kabyle people were

2320-1969: The constitution of the cultural route and to use the network’s logo. The association is supervised by a president, who assists and controls the executive board and the general assemblies. 1 - Die Steirische Eisenstraße, Eisenerz / Museumsverbund Steirische Eisenstraße, Trofaiach / Geschichte-Club ALPINE, Leoben-Donawitz / Arbeitsgemeinschaft Österreichische Eisenstraße 2 - Radwerk IV in Vordernberg, Leoben / Marktgemeinde Vordernberg, Vordernberg / Montanhistorischer Verein Österreich (MHVÖ), Leoben-Donawitz 3 -Verein Kulturpark Eisenstraße-Ötscherland, Ybbsitz 4 - Verein Eisenstraße Oberösterreich , Steinbach an der Steyr 5 - Montangeschichtlicher Verein Norisches Eisen , Hüttenberg 6 - Norisch-Pannonische Eisenstraße, Eisenstadt 7 - Országos Magyar Bányászati és Kohászati Egyesület (OMBKE), Budapest / Műszaki és Természettudományi Egyesületek Szövetsége (MTESZ), Budapest / Öntödei Múzeum, Budapest 8 - Kohászati Múzeum, Miskolc 9 - Magyar Olajipari múzeum, Zalaegerszeg 10 - Erdélyi Magyar Műszaki Tudományos Társaság (EMT - Societatea Tehnico-Ştiinţifică Maghiară din Transilvania), Cluj-Napoca 11 - Universitatea Eftimie Murgu, Reşiţa 12 - Arbeitsgemeinschaft Bayerische Eisenstraße, Amberg 13 - Technické muzeum v Brně 14 - Stowarzyszenie Inżynierów i Techników Przemysłu Hutniczego (SITPH), Katowice 15 - Slovenska železná cesta, Kosice / Slovenské technické múzeum, Kosice 16 - Slovenské banské múzeum (slowakisches Bergbaumuseum), Banská Štiavnica 17 - Museum Ravne na Koroskem, Ravne na Koroskem European Cultural Route A Cultural Route of

2378-438: The continent and elements of human modernity appeared in different places, and so different parts of Africa contributed to the emergence of what we call modern humans today." Early humans may have comprised a large, interbreeding population dispersed across Africa whose spread was facilitated by a wetter climate that created a "green Sahara", around 330,000 to 300,000 years ago. The rise of modern humans may thus have taken place on

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2436-717: The desert: Tripolitania in the northwest and Cyrenaica in the northeast. Most of Egypt is also desert, with the exception of the Nile River and the irrigated land along its banks. The Nile Valley forms a narrow fertile thread that runs along the length of the country. Sheltered valleys in the Atlas Mountains, the Nile Valley and Delta , and the Mediterranean coast are the main sources of fertile farming land. A wide variety of valuable crops including cereals, rice and cotton, and woods such as cedar and cork , are grown. Typical Mediterranean crops, such as olives, figs, dates and citrus fruits, also thrive in these areas. The Nile Valley

2494-458: The eleventh century, a reformist movement made up of members that called themselves the Almoravid dynasty expanded south into Sub-Saharan Africa . North Africa's populous and flourishing civilization collapsed after exhausting its resources in internal fighting and suffering devastation from the invasion of the Banu Sulaym and Banu Hilal . Ibn Khaldun noted that the lands ravaged by Banu Hilal invaders had become completely arid desert. After

2552-479: The entirety of the region under one form of European occupation. In World War II from 1940 to 1943 the area was the setting for the North African Campaign . During the 1950s and 1960s all of the North African states gained independence. There remains a dispute over Western Sahara between Morocco and the Algerian -backed Polisario Front . The wider protest movement known as the Arab Spring began with revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt which ultimately led to

2610-438: The exit point for the modern humans who first trekked out of the continent in the Out of Africa migration. The earliest inhabitants of central North Africa have left behind significant remains: early remnants of hominid occupation in North Africa, for example, were found in Ain el Hanech, near Saïda ( c.  200,000 BCE ); in fact, more recent investigations have found signs of Oldowan technology there, and indicate

2668-412: The first European Cultural Route. From this point on, the Council of Europe gradually implemented a certification of routes with a cultural, social or historical interest with a view to bringing European cultures and peoples closer. The certification criteria have been revised throughout the existence of the programme, the last time was in December 2013. The European Institute of Cultural Routes (EICR)

2726-411: The foundations for Rome. Ancient Carthage was a commercial power and had a strong navy, but relied on mercenaries for land soldiers. The Carthaginians developed an empire in the Iberian Peninsula , Malta , Sardinia , Corsica and northwest Sicily , the latter being the cause of First Punic War with the Romans . Over a hundred years and more, all Carthaginian territory was eventually conquered by

2784-496: The largest sand desert in the world. In places the desert is cut by irregular watercourses called wadis —streams that flow only after rainfall but are usually dry. The Sahara's major landforms include ergs , large seas of sand that sometimes form into huge dunes ; the hammada , a level rocky plateau without soil or sand; and the reg , a desert pavement . The Sahara covers the southern part of Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, and most of Libya. Only two regions of Libya are outside

2842-417: The migration of the Banu Hilal and the Banu Sulaym westward into the Maghreb in the eleventh century, which introduced Arab culture and language to the countryside. Historians mark their movement as a critical moment in the Arabization of North Africa. As Arab nomads spread, the territories of the local Berber tribes were moved and shrank. The Zenata were pushed to the west and the Kabyles were pushed to

2900-482: The north. The Berbers took refuge in the mountains whereas the plains were Arabized. This heavily shifted the demographics of the Maghreb. The trans-Saharan slave trade resulted in increased levels of sub-Saharan African ancestry in North Africa. The Haratin are commonly perceived as an endogamous group of former slaves or descendants of slaves. DNA studies of Iberomaurusian peoples at Taforalt , Morocco dating to around 15,000 years ago have found them to have

2958-417: The number of Christians in North Africa was estimated at 9 million, the majority of whom live in Egypt, with the remainder live in Maghreb countries. The inhabitants of the Spanish Canary Islands are of mixed Spanish and North African Berber ancestry, and the people of Malta are of primarily Southern Italian/Sicilian, as well as, to a lesser extent, North African and Middle Eastern ancestry and speak

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3016-485: The only or one of the few in North Africa who remained independent. The Kabyle people were incredibly resistible so much so that even during the Arab conquest of North Africa they still had control and possession over their mountains. The early Muslim conquests included North Africa by 640. By 700, most of North Africa had come under Muslim rule. Indigenous Berbers subsequently started to form their own polities in response in places such as Fez and Sijilmasa . In

3074-417: The programme's stakeholders, helps with the certification of new Cultural Routes, evaluates every three years the certified Routes or promotes the Cultural Routes. In December 2010, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe adopted a resolution establishing the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Cultural Routes (EPA). This agreement aimed to making the programme's funding and organisation easier. The EPA

3132-412: The rapid desertification of the Sahara around 3500 B.C. largely due to a tilt in the Earth's orbit. It was during this period that domesticated plants and animals were introduced in the region, spreading from the north and east to the southwest. There has been an inferred connection between areas of rapid drying and the introduction of livestock in which the natural (orbital) aridification was amplified by

3190-442: The spread of shrubs and open land due to grazing. Nevertheless, changes in northern Africa's ecology after 3500 BCE provided the backdrop for the formation of dynastic civilizations and the construction of monumental architecture such as the Pyramids of Giza . Archaeological evidence has attested that population settlements occurred in Nubia as early as the Late Pleistocene era and from the 5th millennium BC onwards, whereas there

3248-406: The talented military leader Jugurtha . Kingdom of Mauretania remained independent until being annexed to the Roman Empire by Emperor Claudius in 42 AD. North Africa remained a part of the Roman Empire, producing notable citizens, including Augustine of Hippo , until incompetent leadership from Roman commanders in the early fifth century allowed the Germanic peoples , the Vandals , to cross

3306-424: The territory disputed between Morocco and the partially recognized Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic . The United Nations ' definition includes all these countries as well as the Sudan . The African Union defines the region similarly, only differing from the UN in excluding the Sudan. The Sahel , south of the Sahara Desert , can be considered as the southern boundary of North Africa. North Africa includes

3364-408: Was set up in 1998 following a political agreement between the Council of Europe and the Government of Luxembourg . The EICR have been in charge of managing the Cultural Route programme since then, ensuring connexions between the Routes’ associations, its university network, the Council of Europe and since 2010 the EPA statutory bodies. As a result, the institute organises several annual meetings between

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