Africa

From Conservapedia

Africa is the continental landmass to the southwest of Asia, with its only physical land connection being the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt; the remaining borders are the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Red Sea and Indian Ocean to the east, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west.

Contents 1 Land 1.1 Topography 1.2 Climate 1.3 Drainage 1.4 Flora 1.5 Fauna 1.6 Resources 1.7 Arable land 2 People 2.1 Ethnic groups 2.2 Languages 2.3 Religion 2.4 Education 2.5 Health 2.6 Demography 3 Economy and Commerce 3.1 Industry 3.2 Agriculture 3.3 Forestry 3.4 Fishing 3.5 Transportation 3.6 Trade 4 History 4.1 Colonization 5 External links 6 References

Land

Topography

Climate

Drainage

Flora

Fauna

Resources

Arable land

People

Ethnic groups

Languages

Religion

Education

Health

Demography

Economy and Commerce

Industry

Agriculture

Forestry

Fishing

Transportation

Trade

History

Colonization

European nations held the Berlin Conference in 1884-1885 in order to decide how to divide Africa in order to best suit their interests. No Africans were invited to the conference. Ethnic and cultural differences within Africa were ignored, and lines of demarcation were drawn to aid the European nations in their quest to subjugate the continent and its peoples. All of Africa, except for Ethiopia (which resisted Italian control in 1896) and Liberia, was divided and colonized by the European nations.

Imperialism may be argued to have had both good and bad effects. The Europeans brought advances in technology, built hospitals, and improved the infrastructure, such as railroads, telephones, telegraphs, sanitation and other public works; this improved trade and communications and reduced disease. However, as Walter Rodney writes, the idea that Africans benefited from technological advances brought by imperialism is easily countered by the fact that colonialism found Africans practicing agriculture with a hoe, and left Africans practicing agriculture with a hoe.^[1] Europeans also built schools, but used them to teach European language, culture, and religion rather than respecting local traditions. Literacy did improve as a result, however. Europeans displaced Africans from their individual farms and shifted them into working for European businesses, which resulted in lost control of their land and saw a reduction in their own food crops. African workers were also purchased and shipped to other territories outside of Africa. Europeans disrupted African cultural groups and village life, resulting in arbitrary geographical boundaries that contribute to war and strife to this day.

External links

• Africa

References

1. ↑ Walter Rodney, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa. (Washington: Howard University Press, 1974. 219)