Dark Continent

Dark Continent

English

Etymology

Victorian nickname, referring to the fact that little was known in the West about the interior of the continent.

Proper noun

the Dark Continent

1. (dated, informal) Africa.
   • 1879, The Sydney Morning Herald, 12 March 1879

     De Lesseps, the engineer, has been visiting the Boy of Tunis, and trying to get his consent to the scheme for piercing tho isthmus of Zaber, and opening up communication with the interior of the Dark Continent by water.

   • 1903, The Advertiser Adelaide, 10 November 1903

     Africa is still the Dark Continent, the land of the unknown, the remarkable.

Translations

Africa

French: continent noir (fr) m

Japanese: 暗黒大陸 (ankoku tairiku)