Africa, 1883
Africa forms a vast compact peninsula of a triangular form, almost entirely surrounded by water, and connected only with Asia by the Isthmus of Suez. It is bounded on the north by the Mediterranean Sea; on the west by the Atlantic Ocean; on the south by the Southern Ocean; and on the east by the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. It may be divided into: Northern Africa, or the Barbary States, comprising Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, Tripoli, and Barca; the Nile Region, comprising Egypt, Nubia, and Abyssinia; Central Africa, or Nigritia; Equatorial Africa, or the Great Central Lake region; Western Africa; Southern Africa, including Cape Colony, Natal, etc.; Eastern Africa. Less is known of Africa than of any other of the great divisions of the earth; but as many enterprising travellers, such as Livingstone, Barth, Burton, Grant, Spoke, Baker, Stanley, Cameron, and others, have lately made it the subject of their explorations, our knowledge of the country is rapidly extending.
— Modern School Geography and Atlas, 1880