|
Tuareg
Tuareg or Touareg , Berbers of the Sahara, numbering c.2 million. They have preserved their ancient alphabet, which is related to that used by ancient Libyans. The Tuaregs traditionally maintained a feudal system consisting of a small number of noble families, a large majority of vassals, and ...
Read more
|
|
Charles Foucauld, vicomte de
Charles Foucauld, vicomte de , 1858-1916, French priest and missionary in the Sahara. After a career as an army officer and an explorer in Algeria and Morocco, he entered a Trappist monastery in 1890. In 1901 he was ordained and volunteered to go to the Sahara under the patronage of the White Father...
Read more
|
|
Hamites
Hamites African people of caucasoid descent who occupy the Horn of Africa (chiefly Somalia and Ethiopia), the western Sahara, and parts of Algeria and Tunisia. They are believed to be the original settlers of N Africa. The Hamitic cradleland is generally agreed to be in Asia—perhaps S Arabia ...
Read more
|
|
Timbuktu
Timbuktu , city (1987 pop. 31,925), central Mali, near the Niger River. Connected with the Niger by a series of canals, Timbuktu is served by the small river port of Kabara. Its salt trade and handicraft industries make it an important meeting place for the nomadic people of the Sahara. Timbuktu was...
Read more
|
|
Berbers
Berbers aboriginal Caucasoid peoples of N Africa, called Imazighen in the Tamazight language. They inhabit the lands lying between the Sahara and the Mediterranean Sea and between Egypt and the Atlantic Ocean. The Berbers form a substantial part of the populations of Libya, Algeria, and Morocco. Ex...
Read more
|
|
Niger
Niger , officially Republic of Niger, republic (2005 est. pop. 11,666,000), 489,189 sq mi (1,267,000 sq km), W Africa. It borders on Burkina Faso and Mali in the west, on Algeria and Libya in the north, on Chad in the east, and on Nigeria and Benin in the south. Niamey is the country's capital and...
Read more
|
|
Mali
Mali , officially Republic of Mali, independent republic (2005 est. pop. 12,292,000), 478,764 sq mi (1,240,000 sq km), the largest country in W Africa. Mali is bordered on the north by Algeria, on the east and southeast by Niger, on the south by Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire, and on the west ...
Read more
|
|
Sahara
Sahara [Arab.,=desert], world's largest desert, c.3,500,000 sq mi (9,065,000 sq km), N Africa; the western part of a great arid zone that continues into SW Asia. Extending more than 3,000 mi (4,830 km), from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea, the Sahara is bounded on the N by the Atlas Mts., steppe...
Read more
|
|
Chad
Chad , officially Republic of Chad, republic (2005 est. pop. 9,826,000), 495,752 sq mi (1,284,000 sq km), N central Africa. Chad is bordered by the Central African Republic on the south, Sudan on the east, Libya on the north, and Cameroon, Niger, and Nigeria on the west. Ndjamena is the capital an...
Read more
|
|
Mauritania
Mauritania , officially Islamic Republic of Mauritania, republic (2005 est. pop. 3,087,000), 397,953 sq mi (1,030,700 sq km), NW Africa. It borders on the Atlantic Ocean in the west, on Western Sahara in the northwest and north, on Algeria in the northeast, on Mali in the east and southeast, and on ...
Read more
|