Africa at a Glance

Oh, Africa! Nurtured by the fury of the desert winds from the Sahara and the rainforests of the Congo, Africa is a place that stands alone as an exporter of natural resources and exuberant culture. The continent is a place battered by war and political upheaval but still standing tall with a struggling economy.

Africa is many things to many people, to the people who fought for her independence; it's a continent demanding its rightful voice in the world affairs, to the peanut farmer of Mali and business woman of Zimbabwe, its home. To them and others like them, the deep joy of knowing the history of their people sharing communal life and family values is balanced by bitter sorrows of hard times the continent has endured.

African cultures are ancient, yet alive, and show great evidence of the adaptation to the world around them. Africa is a continent with a vast resource of fertile soils, diverse wildlife, and lots of natural resources. It houses some of humanity's oldest forms of organized government and can trace its history back centuries. This book will take you on a trip to the various nations of Africa in order to familiarize yourself with their unique cultures as well as their history.