5 Reasons Africa Was Called the Dark Continent

The “dark continent” of Africa is rich with natural beauty. You’ve probably seen the myriad of famous images depicting everything from beautiful dark skinned African men and women to the remnants of ancient African kingdoms. It is truly a continent of wonder and, in my opinion, the most intriguing of the continents of the world.

Africa is both a land of mystery and of discovery.

It is where you will find the legendary great apes and many of nature’s other wonders.

It is the birth place of modern humans.

And, it is so much more.

It is the mystery that gave rise to the myths of the dark continent and the moniker as well. Over time, these myths shaped how the outside world perceived the lands of Africa. And, the name served to reinforce them.

The Dark Continent

Formal names change all of the time. For instance, the continent of Africa was once known by a different name. The ancient name of Africa is Alkebulon. It is a romantic phrase that means “mother of mankind” or “garden of Eden”. Aside from that, history gives us many other names. However, the moniker of the dark continent is a bit different. It serves as more of a subtitle, a description.

Where did the term dark continent come from?

In order to better understand where terms come from, it helps to understand the words themselves. In this case, the word is dark. And, there are a few different meanings that explain why European powers in history had given the African continent that name.

When exactly that name came into use is not known. But, it became commonplace in the nineteenth century. The major powers of the time sought to expand their influences into the darkest Africa. European leaders, for the most part, held the common belief that they were different than African men. They saw themselves as enlightened people while the black man lived in the dark. The Europeans’ racial ideas most certainly played a role in the development of Africa’s nickname. Again, out understanding begins with the meaning of the word dark.

3 Possible Meanings

Like many other words in the English language, dark has multiple meanings. It can describe something visual. In some cases, it refers to a mood. It can also allude to mystery. Let’s take a look at each and see which most likely applied.

Little Light or Dark in Color

One meaning of the word dark refers to having little light or similarly to something dark in color. Perhaps, that could mean it is a racist phrase and is aimed at pointing out one skin color. Obviously, white Europeans are at one end of the light spectrum. Then middle eastern peoples, although darker, would not be considered dark skinned people either. However, as was policy in South Africa, the negro is what we mean when we say black or “dark”.

In fact, the common answer to the question of where the dark continent moniker cam frame would probably be a reference to skin color.There is an almost explicit duality when it comes to skin tone, there’s black and then there is everything else. Basically, there seems to be an unstated belief in the almost spiritual difference between them. Of course, the land of their origin must be dark as well, right? Many generations have done missionary work in Africa to attempt to rescue these dark people from themselves.

Polish-English novelist Joseph Conrad portrayed Africa as “‘the other world”. Essentially, he described Africa as the antithesis of Europe making it the antithesis of civilization.

According to Conrad, Europe was like the opposite side of the dark continent making it the place of light (enlightenment).

Gloomy, Sad, or Evil

Another meaning for the word dark is something that is gloomy, sad, or evil. It alludes to an idea of a hostile nature, or at least negative in thought. In this sense, Africa is seen as the heart of darkness by many Whites. It made it necessary for Christian missionaries to go into African countries to do good work and carry forth the word of God. The only answer, in their minds, was to carry the Christian religion into African people’s hearts to bring light into the midst of the darkness. In fact, sometimes it would even be necessary to enslave these people in order to save them. British abolitionists would spend years unraveling the racist webs spun using religion.

Hidden or Concealed

A third meaning for the word dark alludes to something being hidden or concealed. Realistically, this third meaning is the one that was most likely the source of the “Dark Continent” moniker. Africa remained “hidden” for many reasons. For one, there was little direct knowledge of Africa as there was a lack of direct contact with its’ people. Additionally, it was part of the uncharted reality as there were few accurate maps of Africa. The maps that did exist tended to be rough and simple maps instead of scholarly maps with detail.

Africa was dark because many of her secrets were hidden. Instead of facts, data, and statistics, all that was available was lies, rumors, and suspicion.

5 Reasons Africa is Called the Dark Continent

There are lots of reasons to call Africa dark but it was mostly because the interior of the dark continent was unexplored for a long time. Simply put, there were many things that made the exploration of Africa more difficult than a continent like South America, for instance. In a sense, “dark continent” is a geographical term. And, it became immensely popular in the middle of the 19th century.

So, here is a list of 5 of the reasons for the name…

1 The Largest Desert in the World

Africa has the largest hot desert in the world. The Sahara Desert served as a natural barrier to European explorers. Unlike today where you can simply fly over it, a desert posed a huge problem in the past. It touches, West Africa, central Africa, and Eastern Africa. Think about that, it spans across the entire continent covering a massive 9.2 million square kilometers. For reference, that larger than the United States of America. I’m sure you can see how that would limit travel in the 1900’s.

2 Few Natural Harbors

Another reason that Africa earned the moniker of the dark continent was that it has few natural harbors. Why is this so important? For starters, earlier traders in Africa came across the land making long journeys to get to their destinations. European traders sought to reach Africa by boat which served as a much faster form of travel. However, a lack of harbors meant a lack of protection of boats as they anchored of shore. This limited the locations that were suitable as arrival points which subsequently limited the amount of exploration that could take place.

3 Steep Elevations From the Coast

Steep elevations from the coast were another African feature that created difficulty in reaching the interior of the continent. Far from long slope of subtle differences, we see sharp transitions here. Along much of the coastline, the mainland descends quickly into the sea. With the height of the land being well above sea-level, movement from ship to land is impeded. You can imagine how hard it becomes when trying to move supplies, livestock, and equipment needed to journey inland onto the shore.

4 Rivers and Waterfalls

Many of Africa’s great Rivers have high waterfalls. As the rivers approach the sea huge drops in elevation make these waterfalls possible. Essentially, the waters fall over steep rocky ledges plunging into pools below. As a result, travel inland by river is prevented. Another name for these waterfalls is cascades. Through the process of erosion, the earth is worn away playing an important role in their formation.

5 Climate and Vegetation

The last set of challenges that made Africa difficult to “bring to the light” was the African climate and dense vegetation. Both of these things served to impeded movement. The humid climate made it inhospitable to foreigners. Meanwhile, dense vegetation like that found in the dense rain forests physically slowed down explorers in their movements toward the interior of Africa.

So, again, the dark continent nickname was derived from the level of mystery surrounding the continent. The mystery alluded to the lack of exploration. And thus, the lack of early exploration can be attributed to these 5 things;

1. The largest desert in the world
2. Africa has few good natural harbors
3. Steep elevations from the coast
4. Rivers with high waterfalls
5. Humid climate and dense vegetation