Dark Continent

English

Etymology

A 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. (informal, dated, sometimes offensive) Africa.
   • 1879 March 12, The Sydney Morning Herald:

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

   • 1903 November 10, The Advertiser Adelaide:

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

Translations

Africa

• Finnish: musta maanosa
• French: continent noir (fr) m
• German: Schwarzer Kontinent m
• Japanese: 暗黒大陸 (ankoku tairiku)

References

• “Dark Continent”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.