GEOGRAPHY. 40.i 
n«us and peculiar, thefe being the native regions of the 
negroes, whofe colour, features, and hair, diftinguilh 
them from all tlie other races of mankind. In th.e north¬ 
ern parts fhere liave been many fucceflions of different in¬ 
habitants, the Egyptians and Abyllinians being of Ara¬ 
bian extrat:!; while further to the weft tlie Carthagi- 
nians paffed from Syria : and according to Salluft, other 
maritime parts were peopled by the hledes, Perfians, 
and Armenians. The original inliabitants of the north¬ 
ern parts appear to have been, in all ages, radically 
diftimSl from the negro race, from whom tliey were di¬ 
vided by the great defert of Sahara; and in ihe.eaftern 
parts the latter were yet furtlier repelled, by the Ara¬ 
bian colony whicli fettled in Abyftinia. 
The Romans appear to have explored the nortli of 
Africa as far as tlie river Niger ; and they eftabliflied 
fioiiriflting colonies in many parts. Upon the fall of 
tlieir empire the Vandals of Spain paffed into Africa, 
A. D. 429, and eftablilhed a kingdom which lafted till 
A. D. 535. In the following century the Mahometan 
Arabs fubdued the north of Africa ; and under the 
name of Moors conftitute a great part of the prefent 
population. There have been recently difcovered in 
the interior fome nations or tribes of a copper colour, 
with lank hair ; but the geography of this country is 
yet too impcrfeft to admit of a precife illuftration of 
the interior nations. 
The climate of Africa, towards the north, is intenfely 
hot; but it is rather more moderate in the ibuthern ex¬ 
tremity, the antarctic cold being more powerful than 
that of the other pole. In the centre it is faid there is 
a prodigious ridge of mountains, extending from thofe 
of Kong in the weft, to thofe of Kumri or of the moon, 
and thole of Abyftinia, in the eaft; the whole range 
being about north latitude ten degrees. And from this 
another chain feems to extend, about longitude thirty 
degrees eaft from Greenwich, in a fouthern direction. 
In Africa, the want of inland feas is not fupplied, as 
in South America, by large navigable rivers ; and the 
remarkable deficiency of both may be regarded as a 
radical caufe of the ftriking want of civilization, as 
well as of the ftow progrefs of African geography. In¬ 
land feas, or navigable rivers, would have naturally in¬ 
vited commercial intercourfe and foreign fettlements, 
on a far larger fcale than the fmall factories now efta- 
bliftied on the coaft ; and the more fouthern parts might 
ealily have rivalled the fettlements on the Mediterra¬ 
nean, and the Red Sea. But thefe grand inlets are ra- 
ther the boundaries than parts of Africa : and there are 
no navigable waters whatever at prefent known that can 
diffufe commerce and indiiltry from the Ihores to the 
centre.—See the article Africa, and correfponding 
maps, vol. i. p. 184. 
The following is a brief ftatement of thofe parts of 
Africa at prefent known: 
Empire of Morocco, including Fez, Suez, and Tafi- 
let. The chief towns are, Fez, Morocco, Taradant, 
Mequinez, Sallee, Earache, Tangier, and Ceuta, be¬ 
longing to Spain.—Republic of Algiers ; chief towns, 
Tremelan, Oran, and Algiers.—Republic of Tunis; 
chief towns, Tunis and Sfax.—Republic of Tripoli ; 
chief town, Tripoli.—Kingdom of Barca; chief town, 
Tolemeta. 
The above are the ftates of Barbary, which, as well 
as Egypt, are in a vague manner tributary to the grand 
feignior. They are all addicted to piratical praCHces. 
Principal divifions.—Biledulgerid ; chief town, Dara, 
Zaara, or Sahara ; chief tovy n,Tegeffa. Fezzam; Mour- 
zook. TombuCfoo ; TombuCloo and Houffa. Gonja; 
Gonja. Soudan; Calhnaand Agadez. Bornou ; Bor- 
nou. Fur; Darfur.—Upper Egypt; ciiief towns, 
Girge, Sayd or Thebes, Colfir, and Affuan or Syene.—- 
Lower Egypt; chief towns, Suez, Alexandria, Rofetta, 
Damictta, and Cairo,'—Upper Ethiopia; includes Abyf. 
Lnia ; chief towns, Ambumargen, Gondar, Axum, and 
Yill. No. 
Mazua, Nubia ; chief towns, Sennar, Dongala, witli 
cognominal ftates. And Abex ; chief town, Swakin. 
—Lower or inland Ethiopia ; no town known.—Negro- 
land ; chief tov\’n, Mandinga.—Upper Guinea ; in¬ 
cluding the Grain Coaft, Ivory Coaft, Gold Coaft, 
Whydah, and Benin ; chief towns, Benin, and Cape 
Coaft Gallic.—Lower Guinea, includes Macoko ; chief 
town, Macoko. Loango; Lcango. Congo.; St. Sal¬ 
vador. Angola; Loanda. Benguela; Benguela. Ma- 
taman; no towns. Ajan; Brava, Adel, and Maga- 
doxa. Zanguebar; Melinda, Quiola, Mofambique, 
Sofala ; with fome cognominal countries. Monomugi; 
Merango. Monomotapa ; Zimbaou. Terra de Natal, 
no towns. CaftVaria, or Country of the Hottentots, 
near the Cape of Good Hope. 
African Islands.— Babelmandel ; chief town, Ba- 
belmandel. Zocotora ; Tamara. Almirante; no town. 
Comorra Iftands, the chief of which is Joanna. Mada- 
galcar, one of the largeft iftands in the world ; chief 
town, St. Auguftine. Belonging to France : Bourbon; 
Bourbon. Mauritius, or the Hie of France ; Mauri¬ 
tius. St. Helena; chief town, St. Helena; belonging 
to England. Afccnfion. Annobon; Annobon. St. 
Thomas; St. Thomas. Prince’s Ifland, Fernandopo. 
St, Matthew ; St. Mattliew. 
The Cape Verd IJlands belong to Portugal.—The Canary 
IJlands belonging to Spain ; and are as follow : Canary; 
chief town, Palma. Tenerift'c; St. Chriftopher’s. Fer. 
ro; Palma, &cc. — T\\s Madeira IJlands he\ong to Portu¬ 
gal; chief town, Funchal, See. The Azores, ox Wejlern. 
belong to Portugal. They are; Tercera; chief 
town, Angra. St. Maria ; chief town, Fayal. 
The principal headlands are ; Cape Gardafui, Cape 
of Good Hope, Cape Verd, Cape Bojador, Cape Spar- 
tel, Cape Three Forks. 
The mountains are : Atlas, the Mountains of the 
Moon, Sierra Leona, the Peak of Teneriffe, 15,396 feet 
high ; the Peak of the Azores, alfo very higli ; and 
Table Mount, at the Cape of Good Hope. 
Sahara, or the Great Defert, extends from the fliores 
of the Atlantic to the vicinity of Egypt, 2,500- miles 
in length, and 720 in breadth.—See the article Desert, 
vol. V. p.758. 
The principal rivers are: the Nile, receiving the 
Abawi or Aftapus, and the Tacuz or Aftaboras, anej 
formerly forming at their confluence the Ifle of Meroe ; 
the Niger, theGir, the Senegal, and theGambia, fuppofed 
by fome to be a branch of tiie Senegal.—The lakes 
are : Maravi, Tzana or Dembea, and Bournou. 
The general population is fuppofed to be one luindred 
and fifty millions; but by Ibme writers reftridled to a 
mucli lower amount.—The prevailing religion is Ma- 
hometanifin, and grofs Paganifm ; except in.Abyffmia, 
wliere a corruption of Chriftianity is profefled. 
Abyftinia, Monomotapa or Mocorango, and Mono¬ 
mugi, as well as Morocco, are called empires; but in 
fo degraded a ftate are thefe countries, that, though in 
extent little inferior to France or Germany, their topo¬ 
graphy and liiftory are equally obfeure. 
I'he emperor or king of Morocco pretends to be de- 
feended from the Saracen princes called xerifs. The 
chiefs of the republics of Algiers,.Tunis, and 'I'ripoli, 
are called deys. The grand feignior, or emperor of 
Turkey, has a viceroy or balhaw in Egypt; but whofe 
power is fb much limited by the mamahike beys, fheiks, 
and inferior governors, as to give to the govcrninent of 
this country the appearance of a republic.—See the 
article Egypt, vol. vi. p. 289.—See alfo all the differ¬ 
ent countries of Africa under their refpective names or 
titles, in tliis Encyclopredia ; and the map of modern 
Africa, vol. i. p. 184. 
AMERICA. 
The popular divilion of the wide continent, or New 
World, into two parts, called North and South Ame- 
^ L rica, 
