A cewar daya version, kalmar "Afrika" ta fito ne daga sunan kabilar Berber Afrigia, wanda ya rayu a arewacin nahiyar Afrika, akwai kuma lardin Roman na Afirka. An kafa lardin Romawa na Afirka a shekara ta 146 BC. e. a wurin daular Carthaginian, ta mamaye arewa maso yammacin Tunisiya ta zamani. A zamanin daular, Afirka na cikin lardunan majalisar dattijai kuma wani mai mulki ne ke mulki. Zamanin daular yana da siffa da bunƙasa tsarin birane. Garuruwa sun sami haƙƙin mallaka da gundumomi. Mafi rinjaye a cikin biranen su ne ƴan mulkin mallaka na Romawa da kuma ƴan ƙasar Romanized na al'ummar yankin. A al'ada, a lokacin daular, lardin Afirka ya taka rawa sosai. Koyaya, ƴan asalin ƙauyuka sun kasance baƙo ga yaren Latin da al'adun Romawa. A cikin 4th-5th ƙarni. ya zama yanki na gagarumin boren bayi da ginshiƙai, wanda ya raunana daular Rum ƙwarai da gaske kuma ya taimaka wajen faɗuwarta. A cikin 5 c. Vandals sun zauna a Afirka. A cikin 6 c. Sarkin Byzantine Justinian ya yi nasarar dawo da tsiri na bakin teku, amma ikon Byzantium ya kasance mai rauni. A cikin karni na 7 Larabawa ne suka mamaye lardin Afirka.
A Arewacin Afirka, baya a cikin karni na farko BC. e. akwai ƙasashe masu zaman kansu da yawa: Carthage, wanda baƙi daga Phoenicia suka kafa, waɗanda ke magana da yaren Semitic kusa da Ibrananci, Mauritania da Numidia, waɗanda Libiyawa suka ƙirƙira. Bayan cin nasarar Carthage da Romawa suka yi a cikin 146 BC. e. waɗannan jahohin, bayan gwagwarmayar taurin kai, sun zama mallakin Romawa. Ƙarnuka kaɗan kafin sabon zamani, ci gaban al'umma mai daraja ya fara a cikin ƙasar Habasha ta zamani. Daya daga cikin jihohin da suka ci gaba a nan – Aksum – ta kai kololuwarta a karni na 4 BC. n. e., lokacin da dukiyarsa a yamma ta isa ƙasar Meroe a cikin kwarin Nilu, kuma a gabas – "Alabiya Mai Farin Ciki" (Yaman ta zamani). A cikin karni na II da. e. Kasashe masu karfi sun bunkasa a yammacin Sudan (Ghana, Mali, Songhai da Bornu); daga baya, an kafa jihohi a gabar tekun Guinea (Ashanti, Dahomey, Kongo, da sauransu), da yammacin tafkin Chadi (jahohin Hausawa) da sauran yankuna da dama na yankin Afirka.
Harsunan al'ummomin Afirka na wurare masu zafi, da ke zaune a kudu da dangin Semitic-Hamitic, galibi ana haɗa su zuwa iyalai biyu: Nijar (Kordofan) da Nilo-Saharan. Kungiyar Neja-Kordofanian ta hada da kungiyar Niger-Congo – kungiya ce da ta fi yawa kuma ta hada kai: West Atlantic, Mande, Volts, Kwa, Benue-Congo da Adamawa-Eastern. Mutanen yammacin Atlantika sun hada da babban fulbe da ke zaune a kungiyoyi daban-daban a kusan dukkanin kasashen yammacin da tsakiyar Sudan, Wolof da Serep (Senegal), da sauransu. kogin Senegal da Nijar (Guinea, Mali, da dai sauransu). ), al'ummomin Volta (moy, loby, bobo, Senufo, da dai sauransu) – a Burkina Faso, Ghana da sauran ƙasashe. Mutanen Kwa sun haɗa da manyan al'ummomin gabar tekun Guinea kamar su Yarbawa da Ibo (Nigeria), Akan (Ghana) da Ewe (Benin da Togo); kusa da Ewe su ne asalinsu, waɗanda ke zaune a kudu kuma wasu lokuta ana kiransu Dahomeans; mutanen da ke magana da harsuna (ko yare) na Kru sun mamaye wani keɓantaccen matsayi. Waɗannan su ne Bakwe, Grebo, Krahn da sauran mutanen da ke zaune a Laberiya da Ivory Coast (Ivory Coast). Ƙungiyoyin jama'a da dama ne suka kafa ƙungiyar Benue-Congo, waɗanda a baya ake danganta su ga dangin Bantu na musamman da kuma ƙungiyar Bantu ta Gabas. Al'ummar Bantu, sun yi kama da juna ta fuskar harshe da al'adu, suna zaune a kasashen Tsakiya da Gabas da Kudancin Afirka (Jamhuriyar Demokradiyyar Kongo (tsohon Zaire), Angola, Tanzania, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Afirka ta Kudu, da sauransu). Masana harshe sun raba Bantu zuwa rukuni 15: 1st – duala, lupdu, fang, da dai sauransu; 2nd -teke, mpongwe, kele; 3rd – bangi, pgala, mongo, tetelya; 4th – Rwanda, rundi; 5th – ganda, luhya, kikuyu, kamba; 6th-nyamwezi, nyatura; 7th – Swahili, togo, hehe; 8th – Kongo, ambundu; 9th-chokwe, luena; 10-luba; 11-bemba, fipa, tonga; 12th – Malawi 13th – Yao, Makonde, Makua; 14th – ovimbundu, ambo, herero; 15th – Shona, Suto, Zulu, Spit, Swazi, da sauransu.