NORTH AFRICA, CRADLE OF THE BERBERS

The Berbers (Imazighen, Amazigh in the singular) are the oldest people of North Africa, their language (Tamazight), since the high antiquity had to rub shoulders with the languages of the different peoples who successively settled in North Africa. Today's North Africans, in their culture and social organization, are the heirs of a rich millennial history full of twists and turns. The Berbers are an indigenous ethnic group of North Africa. They were also known in antiquity as Libyans, Numidians, Moors, Betulas and Garamantes. They were involved in the Punic Wars, the Roman conquest, Christianization, the Vandal invasion, the Arab conquest, and Islamization, among other things.During the Hellenic era, they were called "Libyans" (or "Libycs") and their land "Libya", known today as ancient Libya. Their land extended from the Canary Islands (west of present-day Morocco) to the west of ancient Egypt (the Siwa oasis), and from the Mediterranean Sea to the Niger River in West Africa.