Stereotypes-The Great Continent Of Africa

The Great Continent of Africa
Some people view the world through a single lens. Our experiences and beliefs impact our behaviors unconsciously, which is known as a bias. A stereotype is a widely held idea or belief that tends to be oversimplified about a particular group of people, country, or person based merely on physical traits or characteristics. Stereotypes can be formed from a cognitive perspective; we simply categorize information about types of people instead of considering information about the individual. One overly stereotyped and severely misunderstood place that covers 6 percent of the Earth’s surface and home of the second largest population is known as the great continent of Africa. Although it is typical for people think Africa
It’s a huge continent containing 54 countries, which makes up nearly a quarter of all the countries in the world. Africa has the world’s second largest population at1.2 billion people as well as being the oldest populated area. There are over 6 languages spoken in the continent, including, English, Arabic, Swahili, French, Portuguese, and Spanish; Arabic being the most common with around 170 million speakers. Though everyone seems to think of Africa as a whole, every country within it is very different and each has its own culture. Ethiopia and Liberia were the only countries in Africa that were originally colonized by Africans. The rest were claimed by many different countries, including France and Germany. Not surprisingly, these French and German influences still hang around those areas causing the many cultures within Africa to vary
People tend to believe that Africa is a land with no opportunity for growth. This stereotype, though generally untrue, does have good reason for being brought into existence. Sub-Saharan Africa has over approximately 218 million people living in extensive poverty, however not all African countries are poor. There are many rich and prospering countries in the continent. Africa has a great potential for oil and gas and isn’t poor in that area at all. Ninety percent of Africa’s annual production volume of gas comes out of Nigeria, Algeria, Egypt, and Libya. There are also abundant mineral reserves, and the continent exported 6.5 percent of the world’s total mineral exports in 2011. Africa alone is responsible for forty-six percent of the world’s diamonds. Though some of the world’s poorest countries are located in Africa, the rest of the countries have much wealth to