ABSTRACT
The African continent first impresses by its size: The second-largest of the continents of the world, it encloses more than 28 million square kilometers, spanning 8,000 kilometers from north to south and 7,400 kilometers from east to west. Swahili, an East African trade language, reflects the movements of peoples both within Africa and to and from Arabia. For trade and travel, people have long moved across African deserts and savannas, and through African forests, but the intensity and speed of their movement increased with the building of roads, railways, and airports, particularly since the 1950s in many parts of the continent. Indigenous religious practices in Africa have been influenced and overlaid by Christian and Islamic practices, among other world religions. West Africa supports Poro and Sande, organizations to which adults belong and through which they are enculturated about social mores and customs.
