Africa

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² (11.7 million sq mi) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area. With a billion people (as of 2009, see table) in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.72% of the World's human population. The continent is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, both the Suez Canal and the Red Sea along the Sinai Peninsula to the northeast, the Indian Ocean to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Not counting the disputed territory of Western Sahara, there are 53 countries, including Madagascar and various island groups, associated with the continent.

Africa has featured prominently in several science fiction venues. In the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey, the movie opens with a tribe of herbivorous apes foraging for food in the desert. They encounter an alien Monolith, which prompts their evolutionary change. Soon after, the tribal leader, the Moonwatcher, learns how to use the bone of an animal as a tool and weapon. Learning how to hunt, the tribe then carnivores.

The Stargate franchise has its origins firmly rooted in the culture of ancient Egypt and establishes that a majority of the country's cultural influences are derived from an alien race known as the Goa'uld.

In the 2009 thriller 2012, the southern tip of Africa was one of the few locations left on the planet to survive the global catstrophe that flooded the world. Survivors of this extinction-level event found refuge in the tip of South Africa which, once again, became a cradle of civilization.

South Africa was the central location of the 2009 Peter Jackson film District 9. In the film, a space ship piloted by an alien race referred to as "Prawns" took up position above South Africa. The Prawns were brought to the surface and relocated to the District 9 reservation camp. Twenty years later, an organization called Multinational United began evicting the prawns out of the district. Wikus van de Merwe, a worker at the MNU Department for Relations with Extraterrestrial Civilizations was charged with issuing eviction notices. Through the course of his work, Wikus became infected with prawn DNA and slowly transformed into one of them.

In the Star Trek mythos, Africa of the 23rd century is known as the United States of Africa. It is the birth place of the Uhura family, which consists of patriarch Alhamisi Uhura, his wife M'Umbha Mahia Uhura and their daughter Nyota Uhura. Nyota becomes the Communications Officer aboard the starship USS Enterprise NCC-1701 under the command of Captain James T. Kirk. After a long and adventurous career with Starfleet, she ultimately rises to the rank of Admiral.

In Jurassic Park, entrepreneur John Hammond asserted that he had built an animal preserve in Kenya.

Points of Interest

 * District 9
 * Egypt
 * Kenya
 * Nigeria

Films that take place in

 * 1984
 * 2001: A Space Odyssey (beginning only)
 * Congo
 * District 9
 * Nineteen Eighty-Four
 * Stargate (partially)

Comics that take place in

 * Batwing 20
 * Batwing 21
 * New Teen Titans 13
 * New Teen Titans 14

Characters from

 * Biri
 * Congo Bill
 * Gerald O'Hara
 * Grey Bradnam
 * Ina
 * Janu
 * Mari McCabe
 * Moon-Watcher
 * Nyota Uhura
 * Sarah Livingstone
 * Shanna O'Hara
 * Wikus Van De Merwe
 * William Glenmorgan

People who were born in

 * Bolaji Badejo
 * Charlize Theron
 * Sharlto Copley
 * Ted Moore