According to Scripture, as
Isidore of Seville explained, Africa was named for Afer, a descendant of
Abraham (or
Ham, a son of
Noah from the
Bible). In
Medieval Christian World
T-O Maps, it supposedly had 30 races and 360 towns. But then, those maps also had the
Southern and
Northern coasts of the
Mediterranean Sea as
straight lines...
Sources:
Daniel J. Boorstin's "The Discoverers", p. 101; from
Ernest Brehaupt, "An Encyclopedist of The Dark Ages, Isidore of Seville" (1964)