Africa
Though of many varied origins, African culture, especially Sub-Saharan African culture has been shaped by European colonialism, and is differentiated from North Africa from its lesser influence by Arab and Islamic culture. Africa is home to innumerable tribes, ethnic and social groups, some representing very large populations consisting of millions of people, others are smaller groups of a few thousand. Africa is a big continent and the food and drink of Africa reflect local influences, as also glimpses of colonial food traditions, including use of food products like peppers, peanuts and maize introduced by the colonizers. The African cuisine is a combination of traditional fruits and vegetables, milk and meat products. The African village diet is often milk, curds and whey. Exotic game and fish are gathered from Africa's vast area.
Africa has a number of overlapping cultures. The most conventional distinction is that between sub-Saharan Africa and the northern countries from Egypt to Morocco, who largely associate themselves with Arabic culture. In this comparison, the nations to the south of the Sahara are considered to consist of many cultural areas, in particular that of the Bantu language group. Divisions may also be made between French Africa and the rest of Africa, in particular the former British colonies of southern and East Africa. Another cultural fault-line is that between those Africans living traditional lifestyles and those who are essentially modern. The traditionalists are sometimes subdivided into pastoralists and agriculturalists.
The continent of Africa speaks hundreds of languages and, if dialects spoken by various ethnic groups are also included, the number is much higher. All these languages and dialects do not have the same importance though, as some are spoken by only few hundred persons while others are spoken by millions. Among the most prominent languages spoken are Arabic, Swahili and Hausa. Very few countries of Africa...