On the question of who discovered Africa and in what year, can not give a definite answer.The north coast of the Black continent was well known to Europeans in ancient times.Libya and Egypt were part of the Roman Empire.
study areas in sub-Saharan Africa, was launched in the Portuguese Age of Discovery.However, the internal regions of the African continent remained unexplored until the middle of the XIX century.
Antiquity The Phoenicians founded in the Mediterranean region a number of cities-colonies, the most famous of which was Carthage.It was a nation of traders and sailors.Around 600 BC the Phoenicians carried on several ships traveling around Africa.They sailed from the Red Sea in Egypt, headed south along the coast, rounded the continent, turned north, finally fell into the Mediterranean Sea and returned their native lands.Thus, the first to discover Africa, can be considered the ancient Phoenicians.
expedition of Hanno
preserved ancient source describing the journey to the coast of Senegal, the Phoenicians around 500 BC.The leader of the expedition was the navigator of Carthage.This is the earliest known history of a traveler among those who discovered Africa.This man's name Gannon.
Its fleet of 60 ships came from Carthage, passed the Strait of Gibraltar and moved along the Moroccan coast.There Phoenicians founded several colonies, and moved on.Modern historians agree that Gannon reached, at least, to Senegal.Perhaps the extreme point of the expedition was the Cameroon and Gabon.
Arab hiking
the XIII century AD, North Africa was conquered by Muslims.After that, they moved on.In the east, along the Nile to Nubia, in the west - across the Sahara in Mauritania.Accurate information about the year in which the Arabs discovered Africa, did not survive.It is believed that the spread of Islam among the black population of the continent took place in IX-XIV centuries.
Earlier Portuguese expeditions
Europeans interested in the black continent in the XV century.Portuguese Prince Henry (Heinrich), called the Navigator, methodically explored the African coast in search of a sea route to India.In 1420 the Portuguese established a settlement on the island of Madeira, and in 1431 declared its territory the Azores.These areas have become a base for further expeditions.
In 1455 and 1456 two researchers Aloysius Cada Mosto Venice and Uzus di Mare Genoa ships reached the mouth of the Gambia and the coast of Senegal.At the same time, another Italian explorer Antonio de Noli discovered the islands of Cape Verde.He subsequently became its first governor.All these travelers, Africa opened the Europeans were in the service of the Portuguese Prince Henry.Guided expedition they discovered Senegal, Gambia and Guinea.
Further studies
But after the death of Henry the Navigator, the Portuguese expeditions along the African coast continued.In 1471 Fernan Gomez opened in Ghana land rich in gold.In 1482 Diogo Cão found the mouth of the great river, and discovered the existence of the great kingdom of the Congo.The Portuguese established in West Africa, several fortified forts.They sold the local rulers of wheat and cloth in exchange for gold and slaves.
But the search for the way to India continued.In 1488 Bartolomeu Dias reached the southernmost point of the African continent.She was named the Cape of Good Hope.When asked about who and when opened Africa often have in mind this event.
Finally, Vasco da Gama, leaving behind the Cape of Good Hope, went further and in 1498 reached India.Along the way he discovered Mozambique and Mombasa, where he found traces of Chinese merchants.
Dutch colonization
Since the XVII century, the Dutch also began to penetrate into Africa.They founded the West Indian and East India Company to colonize overseas lands and they needed a port for travel to Asia.The Portuguese tried to stop the ambitions of the Netherlands.They argued that Africa, who opened the first one and should own continent.War Between the States ensued, during which the Dutch managed to gain a foothold on the continent.
In 1652 Jan van Riebeeck founded the city of Cape Town, which was the beginning of the colonization of South Africa.
ambitions of other European countries
addition to the Portuguese and the Dutch, the other States also sought to establish a colony on the continent.All of them, to some extent can be called by those who discovered Africa, because the territory of sub-Saharan Africa at that time were not completely explored, and each expedition made new discoveries.
Already in 1530 the British merchants began to trade in West Africa, coming into conflict with the Portuguese troops.In 1581 Francis Drake reached the Cape of Good Hope.In 1663, the British built Fort James in the Gambia.
France has eyes for Madagascar.In 1642 the French East India Company established a settlement in the southern part called Fort Dauphin.Etienne de flacourtia published a memoir about his time in Madagascar, which for a long time served as the main source of information about the island.
In 1657 the Swedish merchants founded the settlement of Cape Coast in Ghana, but were soon superseded by the Danes, who founded Fort Christiansborg near modern Accra.
In 1677 the Prussian King Frederick William I sent an expedition to the west coast of Africa.The commander of the expedition captain Blonk built a settlement called Gross Fridrihburg and restored an abandoned Portuguese fort of Arguin.But in 1720, the king decided to sell the base to the Netherlands for 7000 ducats.
Research XIX century
In XVII-XVIII centuries the entire coast of Africa have been studied well enough.But within the territory of the continent for the most part remained a "white spot".Those who have discovered Africa, were busy removing the profit rather than scientific research.But by the middle of the XIX century and the hinterland have become the subject of interest of Europeans.In 1848 it was opened Mount Kilimanjaro, on top of which there was snow.The unusual nature of Africa, previously unknown species of animals and plants have attracted European scientists.
Catholic and Protestant missionaries also tried to penetrate deeper into the continent to preach Christianity among those unfamiliar with the tribes.
David Livingstone
At the beginning of the XIX century Europeans knew where Africa is.But very little understanding of what she is inside.One of the people who discovered Africa from an unexpected quarter, was a Scottish missionary David Livingstone.He made friends with the local population and for the first time visited the most remote regions of the continent.
In 1849 Livingstone crossed the Kalahari desert and met there previously unknown to Europeans Bushmen tribe.In 1855, while traveling along the Zambezi River, he opened a stunning beauty of the waterfall, which has decided to give the name of Queen Victoria.Back in Britain, Livingstone published a book about his expedition, which caused unprecedented interest and has sold 70,000 copies.
In 1858, the researcher went to Africa again.He studied in detail the Lake Nyasa and the surrounding area.At the end of the journey it was written a second book.After that Livingstone undertook his third and final expedition.Its aim was to search for the sources of the Nile.Livingstone explored the Great Lakes.The source of the Nile, he was never found, but mapped many previously unknown territory.
Livingston was not only an outstanding researcher but also a great humanist.He opposed slavery and racial prejudice.
So who discovered Africa?
only correct answer to this question does not exist.It is impossible to say for sure who discovered Africa and in what year.And not only because the northern part of the continent known to the people of Europe since time immemorial.But because Africa - the birthplace of human rights.Nobody opened.It Africans discovered for themselves other continents and settled them.
