Editing Africa

{{Era|Forerunner|Covenant|Human|UNSC|HCW|Post|RW|ILB|IRIS}}

'''Africa''' is a continent on [[Earth]], and is the second-largest continent after [[Wikipedia:Asia|Asia]]. At about 30,221,532 km² (11,668,545 mi²) including adjacent islands, it covers around 6.0% of the Earth's total surface area, and 20.4% of the total land area. The continent is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Suez Canal and the Red Sea to the northeast, the Indian Ocean to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west.  Africa, particularly central eastern Africa, is widely regarded [within the scientific community] to be the origin of [[human]]s and the [[Wikipedia:Hominidae|Hominidae family]] (great apes), as evidenced by the discovery of the earliest hominids and their possible ancestors, as well as later ones that have been dated to around seven million years ago – including ''[[Wikipedia:Sahelanthropus|Sahelanthropus tchadensis]]'', ''[[Wikipedia:Australopithecus africanus|Australopithecus africanus]]'', ''[[Wikipedia:Australopithecus afarensis|Australopithecus afarensis]]'', ''[[Wikipedia:Homo erectus|Homo erectus]]'', ''[[Wikipedia:Homo erectus|Homo habilis]]'' and ''[[Wikipedia:Homo erectus|Homo ergaster]]'' – with among the latest being ''[[Human|Homo sapiens]]'' found in Ethiopia being dated to ca. 200,000 years ago. <ref>http://web.utah.edu/unews/releases/05/feb/homosapiens.html</ref>

Africa has always played a key role in human history, being the likely birthplace of humanity as a species. Periodical waves of outward migration resulted in the spread of several species to more distant parts of the world, including the earliest known migrations of Homo erectus, and several later migrations of [[Human|Homo sapiens]]. By the time humanity first settled other worlds beyond Earth, however, it was not even known with certainly that Earth was humanity's planet of origin, let alone Africa the respective continent from whence it emerged. Following the conclusion of the [[human-Forerunner wars]], the humans that were permitted to live on were taken to Earth and were given over to the care of [[Lifeworker]]s for observation and study. The [[Librarian]] herself gave many humans [[geas]] at that time. As the last years of the [[Forerunner-Flood war]] waned, the [[Conservation Measure]] saw species from all across the globe collected for future preservation, in one way or another. It was from Africa that the [[Librarian]] oversaw her efforts on Earth, and it was there she remained even up unto the point where [[star road]]s and the [[Flood]] entered the [[Sol system]]. Her last act was to set the construction of [[the Portal]] in East Africa into motion. It would go on to be completed after the firing of the [[Halo Array]], but even after humans were returned once more to the planet, it lay dormant, eventually being covered by the Earth as the years went on.

{{main|Battle of Earth}}

[[File:LC 002 Doc Recon.png|thumb|right|300px|ONI surveillance of the Covenant's excavation of the Portal, burning away much of the surface of Eastern Africa.]]

On  [[2552|October 2552]], the [[Prophet of Regret]] found Earth in search of the [[The Portal|Portal]]. They landed only in one spot in the country of [[Kenya]], in and around the city of [[Mombasa]].<ref>'''[[Halo 2]]''', campaign level, ''[[Outskirts]]''</ref> [[Prophet of Regret|Regret's]] forces tried to hold onto and capture the city from the [[United Nations Space Command|UNSC]] [[UNSC Defense Force|Defense Force]], but failed. Then, his flagship, ''[[Solemn Penance]]'', jumped into [[Slipstream space|Slipspace]], damaging the city. After this, more Covenant ships appeared, [[glassing]] Mombasa and its surroundings to uncover the Portal to the Ark, which had been buried under the ground for more than a hundred thousand years.

Four weeks later, the uncovering process of the Portal was complete. The [[Prophet of Truth]] came to Earth on his [[Forerunner Dreadnought]], landing in the center of the Portal. The UNSC, believing the structure to be [[Installation 00|the Ark]], [[Battle of Voi|attempted to stop]] the Covenant from activating it, with no effect.<ref>'''[[Halo 3]]''', campaign level, ''[[The Storm]]''</ref> Truth and his fleet escaped through the Portal, and a [[Flood]]-[[Indulgence of Conviction|infected ship]] arrived just after, followed shortly by [[Swords of Sanghelios|the Sangheili]]. To prevent the Flood from spreading and consuming the planet, the [[Fleet of Retribution]] glassed a large portion of the continent, bringing a bitter and violent close to the battle.<ref>'''[[Halo 3]]''', campaign level, ''[[Floodgate]]''</ref>

In [[2555]], the portal was activated again, leading to a massive invasion of Earth by [[Retriever Sentinel]]s sent by [[000 Tragic Solitude]], that was stopped by the human and Sangheili forces at [[Installation 00]].<ref>'''Halo: Hunters in the Dark'''</ref>

==Major locations==

*[[Egypt]]

***[[Mombasa]]

****[[New Mombasa]]

****[[Old Mombasa]]

***[[Tsavo Highway]]

**[[Diego Garcia]]

**''[[Palace Hotel (short story)|Palace Hotel]]''

<references/>

[[Category:Continents]]

[[Category:Earth]]