ABSTRACT
Africa, the second largest continent in the world with 800 million people, is characterized by diversity similar to that of the Native Americans of North America. Historically, the continent experienced cultural exchanges with places as remote as Southeast Asia and the Pacific, from where it received bananas, and as close as the Arabian Peninsula, from where some of the world’s first Muslims migrated to Ethiopia. Since Roman times, Africans participated in trade in gold, ivory, salt, slaves, and teak that connected them with the Middle East, Europe, and Asia.
