Original name of Africa and how it got its current name

Whenever the word Africa is mentioned, different thoughts come racing in people's minds. For some, it is a mirage shimmering on the horizon of the arid Sahara desert.

While to others, it's an ivory-tusked elephant standing before the snow-capped peaks of Mount Kilimanjaro. But have you ever stopped to ask what is the original name of Africa? Did the continent have another name in the first place?

Africa is the second-largest and second most populated continent after Asia. The continent covers over 11.7 million miles squared, and to over 1.2 billion people, the word Africa is synonymous to home. It boasts of an unmatched linguistic, ethnic and cultural variety among these people.

The population accounts for about 16% of the world's populace. Despite all you may know about the continent, do you ever ask yourself questions such as what was Africa called in ancient times? Or was Africa called Asia? And many other queries of this sort? Well, the origin of the continent's identity remains a mystery.

By Pulse Contributor.

Full story at Pulse NG.