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135-535: The Watchungs are basalt uplifts, geologically similar to the Palisades along the Hudson River. In many places, however, the mountains have become sinuous islands of natural landscape within the suburban sprawl covering much of contemporary northeastern New Jersey. Parks, preserves, and numerous historical sites dot the valleys and slopes of the mountains, providing recreational and cultural activities to one of

270-591: A National Natural Landmark by the National Park Service. On May 12, 2012, a 10,000 ton rockfall just south of the state line left a 520-foot (160 m) scar on the cliffs. The Palisades is now a part of Palisades Interstate Park , a popular destination for hiking and other outdoor recreational activities, that also includes Harriman - Bear Mountain State Park , Minnewaska State Park Preserve and several other parks and historic sites in

405-770: 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

540-557: 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

675-576: A serial which helped popularize the term cliffhanger . In October 1931, after four years of construction, the George Washington Bridge opened between Upper Manhattan and Fort Lee. On April 28, 1940, the Boy Scout Foundation of Greater New York announced the donation of 723 acres by John D. Rockefeller Jr. to establish a weekend camp for New York City Boy Scouts. In June 1983, the Palisades were designated

810-616: 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

945-399: A Hoboken ferryboat entrepreneur at that time: It is hardly possible to imagine one of greater attraction; a broad belt of light underwood and flowering shrubs, studded at intervals with lofty forest trees, runs for two miles along a cliff which overhangs the matchless Hudson; sometimes it feathers the rocks down to its very margin, and at others leaves a pebbly shore, just rude enough to break

1080-579: A forest preserve. Fearing that they would soon be put out of business, quarry operators responded by working faster: in March 1898 alone, more than three tons of dynamite was used to bring down Washington Head and Indian Head in Fort Lee, New Jersey , producing several million cubic yards of traprock. The following year, work by the New Jersey Federation of Women's Clubs led to the creation of

1215-710: 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

1350-564: 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

1485-598: A matching $ 2.5 million and the state of New Jersey appropriated $ 500,000 to build the Henry Hudson Drive (which would be succeeded by the Palisades Parkway in 1947). Ultimately, the Sing Sing relocation was discontinued. In the 1910s, when Fort Lee was a center of film production, the cliffs were frequently used as film locations. The most notable of these films was The Perils of Pauline ,

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1620-579: A matrix of red or gray sandstone. Pyritous copper, also known as chalcopyrite , is not known to exist in ores found in the Watchungs. In the mid-twentieth century, the ability of the Watchungs to hold back the spread of urbanization was greatly reduced with the development of the interstate highway system. Three interstate highways, I-80 , I-280 , and I-78 , were built through the Watchungs, allowing midcentury suburban-style development to become economically feasible within its inner valleys and slopes. Near

1755-698: 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

1890-625: 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

2025-586: 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 ,

2160-711: A response, efforts to conserve the unique landscapes of the Watchungs have been undertaken. The largest of the conservation efforts so far is High Mountain Park Preserve , which at 1,153.7 acres (4.669 km) sets aside one of the largest tracts of wilderness in the New Jersey Piedmont. The park is known to contain at least one globally imperiled plant, Torrey's mountain mint ( Pycnanthemum torrei ), as well as three other plants endangered within New Jersey. Other large areas of preserved land lie within

2295-485: A series of smaller outlying volcanic ridges in the region. Cushetunk Mountain , a ring-shaped volcanic mountain between Sourland Mountain and the Watchungs, is of the same geologic lineage. The Metacomet Mountains in the Connecticut River Basin, another aborted rift valley, came into existence at approximately the same time as the Watchungs, also through extrusive eruptions. While non-contiguous,

2430-468: 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,

2565-791: 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

2700-498: Is said to be composed of Orange Mountain basalt , while Second Watchung Mountain is composed of Preakness Mountain basalt. The names applied to the basalts are geologic type localities , that is to say, the type of rock found at Orange Mountain is exclusive to all of First Watchung Mountain, while the type of rock found at Preakness Mountain is exclusive to all of Second Watchung Mountain. Similarly to this misinformation about First Watchung Mountain and Second Watchung Mountain, sometimes

2835-825: 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

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2970-515: Is the six cents you pay at the ferry. After the Civil War, signs advertising patent medicines and other products covered the rock face in letters 20 feet (6.1 m) high. In the 19th century, the cliffs were heavily quarried for railroad ballast , leading to local efforts to preserve them. Beginning in the 1890s, several unsuccessful efforts were made to turn much of the Highlands into

3105-400: 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 the world's human population . Africa's population is the youngest among all

3240-671: 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,

3375-646: 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

3510-685: 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

3645-526: 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

3780-904: 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

3915-746: 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

4050-617: 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

4185-651: The French and Indian War , the military reused the Lenape signal points, as did Washington later. 200 million years ago, magma intruded into the Newark Basin , then an active rift basin associated with the breakup of the supercontinent Pangaea . Initially, the magma was contained within the sedimentary strata of the basin, forming large intrusions such as the Palisades Sill , but it ultimately broke out to

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4320-510: The George Washington Bridge , as well as providing a vista of the Manhattan skyline . They sit in the Newark Basin , a rift basin located mostly in New Jersey. Palisade is derived from the same root as the word pole , ultimately from the Latin word palus , meaning stake. A "palisade" is, in general, a defensive fence or wall made up of wooden stakes or tree trunks. The Lenape called

4455-631: 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

4590-747: 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

4725-696: 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 ,

4860-530: 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

4995-688: 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

5130-512: 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

5265-430: 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

5400-411: The North American Wildlife Foundation . It is championed by many organizations among the contemporary communities adjacent to the refuge. The Great Swamp, as well as other swamps retained by the Watchungs, including Great Piece Meadows , constitute the remains of Glacial Lake Passaic . The lake existed during the last ice age, eventually draining as a glacier in the northern Watchungs receded and allowed

5535-399: 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

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5670-410: The Palisades Interstate Park Commission , headed by George W. Perkins , which was authorized to acquire land between Fort Lee and Piermont, New York . Its jurisdiction was extended to Stony Point, New York in 1906. In 1908, the State of New York announced plans to move Sing Sing Prison to Bear Mountain . Work was begun in the area near Highland Lake (renamed Hessian Lake) and in January 1909,

5805-404: 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

5940-447: 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

6075-494: 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

6210-488: 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 ,

6345-419: 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

6480-417: 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

6615-404: 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

6750-419: 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,

6885-780: 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

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7020-410: 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

7155-424: 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

7290-459: 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,

7425-420: 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

7560-423: 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

7695-406: 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

7830-418: 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

7965-416: 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

8100-405: 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

8235-457: 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

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8370-460: The Battle of Brooklyn and the Battle of Fort Washington , Cornwallis marched his men up the steep Palisades and southward through the Northern Valley. Washington, stationed near Fort Lee, was alerted to the ambush effort by an unknown horseback patriot, remembered only as the Closter Rider, and successfully fled west through Englewood and over the Hackensack River , avoiding capture in what is remembered as Washington's Retreat. The Palisades were

8505-422: 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 ,

8640-421: 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

8775-407: 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

8910-442: The Lenape favored the Watchungs for their profusion of natural resources, including abundant freshwater rivers and streams, a variety of forests, and plentiful fish and game. They took advantage of the rich soils and maintained many farm areas where they raised a variety of seasonal crops. The Lenape Trail goes along the edge of the cliffs of the Watchung Mountains and the Lenape used the overlooks there as smoke signal locations. With

9045-477: The Newark Basin became layered with alternating strata of Watchung basalt and Jurassic sedimentary rock. Throughout the early Jurassic, the Newark Basin underwent extensive dipping and folding. The western side of the basin plunged deeper into the crust, tilting the strata of the basin to an angle of between 5 and 25 degrees. Localized deformation of the western edge of the basin along the Ramapo Fault System formed alternating synclines and anticlines that warped

9180-403: The Passic River flows through the Third Watchung Mountain. Often the entireties of First Watchung Mountain and Second Watchung Mountain are erroneously referred to as Orange Mountain and Preakness Mountain . Historically, the names ‘Orange’ and ‘Preakness’ have only been applied to specific sections of these ridges. The confusion appears to have arisen from the fact that First Watchung Mountain

9315-442: 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

9450-400: 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

9585-538: 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

9720-522: 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

9855-556: The Third Watchung Mountain is confused with its basalt type locality, as on some occasions its entire length is erroneously referred to as Hook Mountain . In addition to the three main ridges of the Watchungs, a smaller fourth ridge exists south of Morristown and west of Third Watchung Mountain. While attaining elevations more than 400 ft (120 m) above sea level, the ridge lacks topographic prominence, only rising to approximately 100 ft (30 m) above

9990-551: The Watchungs also supported grain, grist, and saw mills. Later, the energy of these rivers would be harnessed for industry, most notably at the Great Falls of the Passaic River , where mechanical and hydroelectric systems exploited the energy of water falling over the face of First Watchung Mountain . Outside of providing gradation to rivers and streams, the height of the Watchungs has proven useful for other reasons. In

10125-592: The Watchungs from north to south include: Noteworthy summits of the Watchungs include High Mountain , Beech Mountain , and Mount Cecchino in Wayne , which stand at 879 ft (268m), 869 ft (265m) and 755 ft (230m) above sea level. Another notable summit is The Hilltop in Verona , Cedar Grove , and North Caldwell , which peaks at 675 feet (206 m) just east of the water sphere. The Watchung Mountains are said to have been formed millions of years ago when

10260-509: The arrival of Europeans, the same resources that sustained the indigenous peoples served settlers. Trade in furs to European markets, a bounty of game and fish, and native garden produce for the traders was important during the Dutch colonial period when few settlements occurred. Perhaps most importantly with the settlements established during the English colonial period, the rivers and streams of

10395-494: The cliffs "rocks that look like rows of trees", a phrase that became " Weehawken ", the name of a town in New Jersey that sits at the top of the cliffs across from Midtown Manhattan . The basalt cliffs are the margin of a diabase sill , formed about 200 million years ago, at the close of the Triassic period by the intrusion of molten magma upward into sandstone . The molten material cooled and solidified before reaching

10530-550: 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

10665-463: 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

10800-424: 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

10935-519: The continent of Africa collided with North America. The original inhabitants of the Watchungs, the Lenape , referred to the mountains as the Wach Unks , or ‘high hills’. Evidence of the Lenape presence in the Watchungs can be seen in numerous camps sites that have been uncovered, mainly along the rivers coursing through mountains and in the small caves abundant in the volcanic rock. It is thought that

11070-461: 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

11205-478: 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

11340-419: 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 ,

11475-595: The current erosional surface of the basin. Notably, the synclines preserve not only the basalt layers, but also some overlying Jurassic sedimentary rock. The largest syncline in the basin, the Watchung syncline, contains the greater portion of the Watchung flood basalts as they appear today. The projecting, eroding edges of the flood basalts preserved in the syncline form the three ridges of the Watchung Mountains. Jurassic sedimentary rock layers between and above

11610-483: The description given him by Giovanni da Verrazzano , who suggested they look like a "fence of stakes". During the early stages of the American Revolution, British military commander Lord Cornwallis landed a force of between 2,500 and 5,000 at Huyler's Landing on November 20, 1776. In an effort to ambush American general George Washington and crush the rebellion in the wake of the rebels' defeat in

11745-428: 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,

11880-585: The eastern faces of the ridges that often present mural precipices, or vertical escarpments . Similar features also can be seen in the Palisades Sill , although these were formed within the Earth's crust. Additionally, the Watchungs feature not only blocky aa lava, but also ropey and billowing pahoehoe flows. The magma that generated the Watchungs and the Palisades also formed the intrusive igneous Sourland Mountain in Central New Jersey, as well as

12015-470: The edge of the river, and are about 300 feet (90 m) high at Weehawken , increasing gradually to 540 feet (160 m) high near their northern terminus. North of Fort Lee , the Palisades are part of Palisades Interstate Park and are a National Natural Landmark . The Palisades are among the most dramatic geologic features in the vicinity of New York City , forming a canyon of the Hudson north of

12150-543: 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,

12285-537: The end of the twentieth century, I-287 , a semi-circular beltway enclosed the Watchungs within the bulge of suburbia radiating out from New York City. Many pathways of safe passage through the mountains, retained from the time of the Lenapes, were severed and blocked by the highways. Today, along the summits of the Watchungs, talus slope environs as well as globally rare trap rock glade/outcrop communities and their unique species have become threatened by development. As

12420-478: The eroding basalt layers have managed to persist longer than the exposed edges of the sedimentary layers, causing them to project prominently above the surrounding surface terrain as high ridges. Today, the flood basalts are preserved in the synclines adjacent to the Ramapo Fault system. It is in these synclines that the basalt layers are thick and warped into downward dipping trap rock sheets, descending below

12555-642: 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

12690-660: 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

12825-466: The five major extinction episodes that span geologic time. Franklyn Van Houten completed groundbreaking research on a rock formation known as the Newark Basin . His discovery of a consistent geological pattern in which lake levels rose and fell is now known as the "Van Houten cycle". The Palisades appear on the first European map of the New World, made by Gerardus Mercator in 1541 based on

12960-404: The gentle waves, and make a music which mimics softly the loud chorus of the ocean. Through this beautiful little wood, a broad well gravelled terrace is led by every point which can exhibit the scenery to advantage; narrower and wilder paths diverge at intervals, some into the deeper shadow of the wood, and some shelving gradually to the pretty coves below. The price of entrance to this little Eden,

13095-506: 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

13230-443: 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

13365-828: The history of New Jersey. Parks and reservations from north to south: The Palisades (Hudson River) The Palisades , also called the New Jersey Palisades or the Hudson River Palisades , are a line of steep cliffs along the west side of the lower Hudson River in Northeastern New Jersey and Southeastern New York in the United States . The cliffs stretch north from Jersey City about 20 miles (32 km) to near Nyack, New York , and are visible at Haverstraw, New York . They rise nearly vertically from near

13500-572: 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

13635-507: The lake's water to empty out via a gap in the ridges of First Watchung Mountain and Second Watchung Mountain currently occupied by the Passaic River. General awareness of the history and natural environment of Watchungs has been increased through efforts such as the construction and designation of the Lenape Trail . The trail traverses rugged sections of the mountains while at the same time, connecting various historical sites pertinent to

13770-513: 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

13905-616: 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

14040-401: The layers of basalt and sedimentary rock. Erosion began to attack the basin as rifting failed and deposition of new sediments ceased. Over millions of years, erosion ate downward through the tilted rock of the basin, eventually encountering the basalt layers that are significantly more erosion resistant than the surrounding sedimentary rock. The result of this has been that the exposed edges of

14175-544: The most densely populated regions of the nation. The two most prominent ridges, known as First Watchung Mountain (the southeastern ridge) and Second Watchung Mountain (the northwestern ridge), stretch for more than forty miles (64 km) from Somerville (in Somerset County ) in the southwest through Morris County , Union County , Essex County , and Passaic County to Mahwah (in Bergen County ) in

14310-660: 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 ,

14445-399: 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

14580-401: The northeast. Sometimes the less prominent and discontinuous ridge formed by Long Hill , Riker Hill , Hook Mountain , and Packanack Mountain is referred to as Third Watchung Mountain and lies on the northwestern side of Second Watchung Mountain. A parallel series of gaps through all three mountain ridges extends to the west from near Springfield to the northern boundary of Chatham where

14715-439: 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

14850-465: 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 ,

14985-477: 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

15120-599: 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

15255-614: The prehistoric Glacial Lake Passaic . The Great Swamp, a large portion of which is designated as the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge , is a remnant of this glacial lake and presently is retained by Third Watchung Mountain. Although the Watchungs commonly are described in terms of their east-west ridge arrangement (First Watchung Mountain, Second Watchung Mountain, and Third Watchung Mountain), they also are divided into smaller mountain ranges, as well as various named ridges. Notable ranges and ridges of

15390-696: The region. On June 23, 2015, officials of the South Korean conglomerate LG Group announced that their planned new North American headquarters building in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey , which was originally designed to be 143 feet (44 m) tall, and would have broken the tree line on top of the Palisades, would be reduced to 69 feet (21 m) in height, thus preserving the contour of the ridge. The new building had been opposed by numerous conservation groups and politicians, including four former governors of New Jersey. Africa Africa

15525-480: 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

15660-574: The site of 18 documented duels and probably many unrecorded ones in the years 1798–1845. The most famous is the Burr–Hamilton duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr , which took place in a spot known as the Heights of Weehawken on July 11, 1804. An English visitor, Fanny Trollope , in her 1832 book Domestic Manners of the Americans , wrote of a park established at the Palisades by

15795-524: The state another 10,000 acres (40 km ) and one million dollars toward the creation of a state park. George Walbridge Perkins , who served as president of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission from its creation in 1900 until his death in 1920, with whom she had been working, raised another $ 1.5 million from a dozen wealthy contributors including John D. Rockefeller and J. P. Morgan . New York State appropriated

15930-547: The state purchased the 740-acre (3.0 km ) Bear Mountain tract. Conservationists, inspired by the work of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission , lobbied successfully for the creation of the Highlands of the Hudson Forest Preserve. However, the prison project was continued. Mary Williamson Averell , whose husband, Union Pacific Railroad president E. H. Harriman died in September of that year, offered

16065-426: The surface through large, episodic eruptions. The Watchung Mountains were formed from these eruptions, consisting of three separate flood basalts that may have filled nearly the entire Newark Basin. Each time the basin filled with basalt , which cooled into blocky trap rock , a period of limited volcanic activity followed, allowing sediment to be deposited on top of the previously erupted layer of basalt. In this way,

16200-483: The surface. Water erosion of the softer sandstone left behind the columnar structure of harder rock that exists today. The cliffs are about 300 ft (100 m) thick in sections and originally may have reached 1,000 ft (300 m). The end-Triassic extinction event that coincided with the formation of the Hudson Palisades, Central Atlantic magmatic province , 200 million years ago ranks second in severity of

16335-534: The surrounding terrain. Only one portion of the ridge is named, a southern section underlying Harding Township known as Lees Hill . All of the ridges lie to the east of the higher Appalachian Mountains , which in northern New Jersey often are referred to as the New York - New Jersey Highlands . Together with the Appalachian Mountains to the west, the Watchungs pen in an area formerly occupied by

16470-665: The three ridges form the Feltville , Towaco , and Boonton formations. Elsewhere in the Newark Basin, smaller synclines preserve the Watchung Outliers , additional fragments of the flood basalts and associated overlying sediments that have survived into the modern era. Because the majority of the Watchung Mountains are composed of extrusive igneous trap rock, they display characteristic columnar jointing and stacked lava flows. These features are readily noted along

16605-488: 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,

16740-640: The two ranges may be considered geologic cousins, having formed under similar circumstances during the rifting of Pangaea. The same erosive and tectonic forces that elevated the Watchungs, also served to raise the Metacomets. The Watchungs are composed principally of volcanic basalt , which historically has been used in railroad beds and road construction. In addition to this, in many places the mountains are underlain by red and white sandstone that, at times, has been used in building construction. Mica and calcareous spar often accompany these sandstone beds. Due to

16875-496: 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

17010-509: The valleys of the Watchungs. Retained within the embrace of Third Watchung Mountain, the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge consists of 7,600 acres (31 km2) or approximately 12 square miles (30.4 km²) of varied habitats . The refuge was created through the efforts and donations of a small group of local residents in 1959, the Jersey Jetport Site Association , and a Great Swamp Committee later formed within

17145-504: The volcanic nature of the Watchungs, zeolites , including prehnite , analcime , and stilbite , which form from a reaction of mafic rocks in alkaline environments, can be found along exposed ridge lines. Agate , primarily in the form of chalcedony , and crystalline quartz (sometimes in the form of amethyst ), are prominent in the ancient lava flows of the Watchungs and typically, are seen as embedded nodules along exposed fronts. Datolite , another nodular mineral, has been found embedded in

17280-444: The volcanic rock around the Great Falls . Additionally, jasper and satin spar are known to exist within the northwestern Preakness Range. Copper also can be found in the Watchungs. Near Belleville , ore containing 8% copper was discovered, and a copper mine once operated in the area. Other copper bearing ores have been noted near Paterson . These ores typically contain cuprite (red copper oxide) and/or copper carbonate in

17415-516: 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,

17550-418: 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,

17685-503: 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

17820-450: 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

17955-609: 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

18090-558: 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

18225-514: 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

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