Chapter 7. Non-Arab Africa – colonialism, neo-colonialism, militarism, debt, economic constraint and incompetence
“Exterminate all the brutes.”
Kurtz in Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad 1 and title of a key book on colonial racism by Sven Lindqvist 2
“I know enough tribes in Africa. They all have the same mentality insofar as they yield only to force. It was and remains my policy to apply this force by unmitigated terrorism and even cruelty. I shall destroy the rebellious tribes by shedding rivers of blood and money. Only thus will it be possible to sow the seeds of something new that will endure.”
General von Trotha, responsible for the German genocide of the Hereros of South West Africa. 3
“The Herero people will have to leave the country. Otherwise I shall force them to do so by means of guns. Within the German boundaries, every Herero, whether found armed or unarmed, with or without cattle, will be shot. I shall not accept any more women and children. I shall drive them back to their people – otherwise I shall order shots to be fired at them.”
The “Extermination Order” by General von Trotha, 2 October 1904, that forced scores of thousands of Hereros to die in the desert 4
“The Nazis gave the Jews a star on their coats and crowded them into “reserves” – just as the Indians, the Hereros, the Bushmen, the Amandabele, and all the other children of the stars had been crowded together. They died on their own when the food supply was cut off … Auschwitz was the modern industrial application of a policy of extermination on which European world domination had long since rested.”
Sven Lindqvist in Exterminate all the Brutes 5
“Why is it that in this courtroom I am facing a white magistrate, confronted by a white prosecutor, escorted by white orderlies? Can anybody honestly and seriously suggest that in this type of atmosphere the scales of justice are evenly balanced? Why is it that no African in the history of this country has ever had the honour of being tried by his own kith and kin? … Your Worship, I hate racial discrimination most intensely and in all its manifestations. I have fought it all my life. I fight it now, and will do so until the end of my days. I detest most intensely the set-up that surrounds me here. It makes me feel that I am a black man in a white man’s court. This should not be.”
Nelson Mandela, defending himself in court, October 1962 6
7.1 Overview of the continuing African tragedy
The awful history of colonial and post-colonial non-Arab Africa is sketched below with key dates as points of relativity. The countries are dealt with in alphabetical order for simplicity and ease of reference in relation to the core mortality data presented in Table 2.12. Foreign countries explicitly involved by military participation in the pre- and post-1950 eras are listed at the end of each “history” together with the post-1950 excess mortality and post-1950 under-5 infant mortality (in millions, m) expressed as a ratio with respect to the 2005 population (in millions, m), each ratio being presented as a percentages (%). The excess mortality/2005 population ratio is at a typical Western European level for the Indian Ocean island states of Mauritius and Réunion (5.1% and 6.0%, respectively), demonstrating that peace, humane administration, literacy and a modest annual per capita income can yield excellent mortality outcomes.
For the rest of non-Arab Africa the excess mortality/2005 population ratio is appallingly high and ranges from 19.4% (Western Sahara) to 85.2% (Sierra Leone), the highest value for any country in the World. The colonial history of non-Arab Africa involves European invasion, occupation, indigenous dispossession, exploitation (through slavery, forced labour, dispossession and global economics) and crude destruction for commercial gain of sophisticated indigenous societies and economies that had evolved intelligently over centuries to maximize nutrition and minimize disease (notably malaria).
All of the countries of non-Arab Africa were occupied by First World countries in the post-war era but eventually secured indigenous rule. However the period after colonial or minority White rule typically involved neo-colonial First World impositions that variously included neo-colonial control; corrupt and incompetent rule by First World-installed client régimes or successor governments dominated by the military and/or privileged elites; economic exclusion, economic constraint and crippling debt; militarization, consequent debt, civil war and international war; and sustained malignant interference by First World powers, notably Britain, France, Portugal, White South Africa and the US . 7
The sheer incompetence of the post-European régimes is illustrated by the spread of HIV/AIDS. Since AIDS was recognized in 1981, serological testing was rapidly developed and generally available since 1985. Prevention campaigns should have been a major priority for all countries and certainly worked extraordinarily well in the First World. While African régimes were able to spread the word on desired political allegiance throughout semi-literate populations they failed to prevent the spread of HIV infection. Sub-Saharan Africa with about 10% of the World’s population has about 2/3 of the World’s HIV-infected people. In 2005 in sub-Saharan Africa there were 25.8 million HIV positive people, 7% of adults were HIV positive, 3.2 million people were newly infected with HIV and 2.4 million died of AIDS.
The HIV/AIDS epidemic is particularly acute in Southern Africa, Central Africa and East Africa. Thus the percentage the population that is HIV positive (2003) (listed in descending order for the worst non-Arab African countries) is: 20.6% (Swaziland), 19.9% (Botswana), 17.9% (Lesotho), 14.1% (Zimbabwe), 11.9% (South Africa), 10.7% (Namibia), 8.6% (Zambia), 7.0% (Mozambique), 7.5% (Malawi), 6.8% (Central African Republic), 4.4% (Tanzania), 3.8% (Kenya), 3.7% (Burundi), 3.6% (Gabon), 3.5% (Côte d’Ivoire), 3.1% (Rwanda), 3.1% (Liberia), 2.9% (Nigeria), 2.4% (Congo, Brazzaville), 2.4% (Ethiopia), 2.4% (Chad), 2.3% (Togo), 2.1% (Congo, Zaire) and 2.1% (Uganda). Muslim countries and French West African countries have fared much better than the rest. 8
7.2 Short histories of the countries of Non-Arab Africa
The following short histories of the countries of Non-Arab Africa provide evidentiary background to the proposition that the current appalling excess mortality in these states is linked to their colonial experience. These impoverished and colonially enslaved countries were the products of arbitrary European colonial activity (of which the most absurd was British sequestration of territory immediately adjacent to the Gambia River and French seizure of wider territories around this key fresh water and transport resource). Typically impoverished and with major internal disagreements relating to settlers, European hegemony, indigenous élites, tribal differences, religion and socialism/capitalism, these countries variously gained nominal independence in the 1960s and 1970s in the context of the Cold War and in many cases after protracted political and armed struggle. 9 However, independence was typically replaced by neo-colonial economic and indeed military involvements. Accordingly, each entry contains a summary including pre- and post-1950 foreign occupation, post-1950 foreign military presence and the “post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population” and “post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population” ratios. Because of the devastating impact of HIV/AIDS, the percentage of the population infected with HIV is also presented at the end of each entry.
Angola: pre-historical Khoisan hunter-gatherers; 13th century AD, Bantu invasion from the North; Portuguese fleet arrived; 1482-1902, resistance to Portuguese invasion and occupation, especially by the Mbundu Kingdom in Central Angola; 1482; 1641-1648, brief coastal Dutch occupation; 1575, Luanda established; rich source of slaves for Brazil; 1850, population only 8 million (from 18 million in 1450 by slavery and war); 1884, Berlin Conference dividing up Africa; 1890-1902, continuing pacification and Portuguese colonization; 1902, Mbundu Kingdom crushed after capture of the Bié Plateau; 20th century, construction of the Benguela Railway and major Portuguese colonization of the highlands; 1956-1974, major armed resistance by the socialist Angolan MPLA against the Portuguese army (50,000 soldiers) and 500,000 Portuguese settlers; 1961, revolt suppressed; 1962, FNLA formed in the Congo; 1974, overthrow of the metropolitan Portuguese dictator Salazar by army; 1975, independence declared by MPLA; 1975-2002, protracted civil war between MPLA government forces (Soviet-supported and eventually with Cuban forces) against US- and Zaire-backed FNLA (with invading Zairean forces) and South Africa- and colonist-backed UNITA (with invading South African forces); 1989, Cuban forces left; 1993, the fall of Apartheid in South Africa lessened UNITA support; 2001, international diamond certification restricted UNITA funding; 2002, fragile ceasefire after the UNITA leader Savimbi died and 1 million had been killed in the civil war (1955-2005 excess mortality 8.5 million); 21st century, poverty and HIV epidemic.
Foreign occupation: Portugal (pre-1950); Portugal (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: Cuba, Portugal, South Africa, Zaire; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 9.207m/14.533m = 63.4%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 6.002m/14.533m = 41.3%; HIV positive (2003) 1.8%.
Benin: 12th -13th century AD, Aja people founded Allada; 16th-17th century, height of sophisticated Greater Ardra society based on Allada; 1602, foundation of Abomey by Aja people and development of Dahomey society; 17th-19th century, slavery by Dahomey supplying the British, French and Portuguese; 1818-1856, notwithstanding a British ban, slavery continued by circumvention; 1863, French protectorate over Porto-Novo; 1891-1894, French invasion and conquest; 1904, Benin part of French West Africa; 20th century, French economic exploitation of “Dahomey”; post-war resistance to brutal and exploitative French rule; 1946, a French overseas territory; 11958, member of the French Community; 1960, formal independence for an economically crippled country; 1963, military coup; 1972, military coup and long-term Kérékou socialist dictatorship; 1977, unsuccessful invasion by French mercenary, Morocco and Gabon forces; 1989-1991, economic crisis; 1991, first democratic elections won by opposition leader Soglo; 1996-2004, Kérékou was “democratically” elected in 1996 and again in 2001.
Foreign occupation: Britain, France, Portugal (pre-1950); Spain (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: Gabon, France, Morocco; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 3.267m/7.103m = 46.0%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 2.093m/7.103m = 29.5%; HIV positive (2003) 1.0%.
Botswana: original San (Bushmen) hunter-gatherer inhabitants; 17th century AD, Tswana occupation; 19th century, increasing incursion by Dutch Boers and by Zulus displaced by Boers; 1820, Khama II successfully resisted the Zulu-derived Ndebele; 1867, gold discovered; late 19th century, increasing Boer intrusions and German depredations in South West Africa (Namibia); 1884-1885, Khama III secured British protectorate over Bechanaland; 1948, rise of Afrikaaner National Party Apartheid; Britain unwilling to hand over Bechuanaland to South Africa; policy 1966, independent Botswana; democracy under Seretse Khama (ruled 1965-1980); 1980s, notwithstanding close economic relations including major migrant labour to South Africa, increasing conflict with White-ruled South Africa over African National Congress (ANC) refuge in Botswana; 1985, South African military attack on capital Gaborone; 1993, end of Apartheid in South Africa followed by immense increases in HIV-1 infection in both countries (Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland lead the world in HIV infection). Botswana National Front (BNF) (labor-oriented) and Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) political dichotomy; BDP in power since 1989.
Foreign occupation: Britain, Dutch Boers (pre-1950); UK (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: South Africa, UK; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 0.443m/1.801m = 24.6%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 0.236m/1.801m = 13.1%; HIV positive (2003) 19.9%.
Burkina Faso: 12th century AD, Bobo, Lobi and Gurunsi people (West), Mossi states (Central Ouagadougou, Yatenga and Tengkodogo states) and Gourma (East); 14th-16th centuries, sophisticated Mossi states defeated Mali and Songhai Empire invasions; the Burkinabes were fiercely independent but no match for heavily armed and brutal French invaders; 1885-1904, genocidal French invasion generated last ditch resistance that simply intensified French ferocity with millions fleeing to neighbouring countries; about 1900-1919, administered as part of French Soudan (Upper Senegal, now Mali); the major resource of the country was man-power for French plantations and war; 1919, Upper Volta; 1932, divided administratively between Cote d’Ivoire, Soudan and Niger; 1947, Upper Volta part of the French Union; 1958, autonomy within the French Community; 1960, nominal independence from France under Yaméogo; post-independence, short periods of elected governments interrupted by military coups;1965, Yaméogo re-elected; 1966, military coup under Lamizana; 1960s and 1970s, drought and major French aid; 1978, Lamizana elected under a new constitution; 1980, military coup; 1983, Sankara to power in a violent coup; non-alignment; 1987, further coup; 1991, new constitution followed by successive flawed elections.
Foreign occupation: France (pre-1950); France (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: France; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 6.810m/13.798m = 49.4%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 4.793m/13.798m = 34.7%%; HIV positive (2003) 2.3%.
Burundi: Original Twa inhabitants; 11th century AD, Hutu invasion; 15th century, Tutsi invasion; cattle-herding Tutsi dominance over agrarian Hutus; pre-colonial times with major strife between the two groups; 1890, German colonization and ivory trade; part of German East Africa; 1899, Rwanda and Burundi merged; 1918, Belgium took over the colony and separated the 2 states; 1962, nominal independence under neo-colonial puppet régime followed by a succession of coup-installed governments; 1965, Hutu revolt suppressed with Hutu refugees fleeing to Tanzania; 1971, massive genocide of 0.3 million Hutus by the Tutsi-dominated government; 1988, further inter-racial strife and massacres of Hutus; 1993, first free elections won by Hutu Ndadaye who was murdered in a subsequent coup; subsequent Hutu rebellion, civil strife, neighbour and African Union intervention with African Union and UN peace keepers.
Foreign occupation: Germany, Belgium (pre-1950); Belgium (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: Belgium, UN; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 4.097m/7.319m = 38.3%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 2.263m/7.319m = 30.9%; HIV positive (2003) 3.7%.
Cameroon: Original homeland of Bantus who thence migrated south and east over the last 2 millennia; Fulani, Fang, Hausa, Kanuri people; 1472, Portuguese contact; 15th-19th century, British, Dutch, French, Portuguese and Spanish slave trade; 1850s, British missionary and trading; 1884, German protectorate of the coastal Doualas; 1894, northern Fulahs under German rule; 1897-1901, revolt of Doualas; 1911, additional territory acquired from France; 1916, brutal German administration removed by the British and French; formerly ceded territory re-joined French Equatorial Africa; 1919, British and French zones established in a League of nations Mandate; post-war independence movements especially directed against French rule; 1946, joint Anglo-French UN Mandate; 1950s, insurrection in the French region; 1957, self-government granted by France; 1960, independence of the French region; 1961, UN plebiscite and integration as a federation under Ahidjo; 1972, unitary state established ; one-party rule; 1982, Ahidjo appointed Biya as his replacement; 1984, coup attempt failed; 1990, restoration of multi-party “democracy”; 1992, 1997, 2004, Biya re-elected; 1990s, clashes with Nigeria over the oil-rich Bakassi Peninsular; 2002, ICJ decision favoured the Bakassi Peninsular going to Cameroon; 2003, territorial adjustments.
Foreign occupation: Germany, Britain, France (pre-1950); UK, France (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: France, UK; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 6.669m/16.564m = 40.3%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 3.818m/16.564m = 23.0%; HIV positive (2003) 3.5%.
Cape Verde: 15th century Portuguese discovery and invasion; 1456, discovery by da Cadamosto; 1460, Gomes landed on uninhabited islands; 1462, first Portuguese colonists; 15th-16th century Portuguese settlement; trans-shipment centre for the slave trade; subsequent penal colony; 1876, end of slave trade; 1879, cessation of Portuguese Guinea (Guinea-Bissau) administration with Cape Verde; 1951, overseas province of Portugal; 1956, African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) for independence of Portuguese West African Portuguese colonies; 1960s, 1970s, armed struggle in Guinea-Bissau, Angola and Mozambique; 1974, Portugal Salazar dictatorship overthrown by the military; 1975, Cape Verde independence and the revolutionary party PAIGC took power in both Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau; 1980, coup in Guinea-Bissau, unity plans terminated and Cape Verde versus Guinea-Bissau tensions; 1981, PAIGC renamed African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV), new constitution, Pereira elected; 1983, relations re-established with Guinea Bissau; 1986, Pereira re-elected; 1991, Movement for Democracy Party (MPD) elected; Monteiro president; 1996, Monteiro elected unopposed; 2001, PAICV legislature control and the presidency under Pires; 21st century, poverty and food importation problems.
Foreign occupation: Portugal (pre-1950); Portugal (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: Portugal; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 0.099m/0.482m = 20.5%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 0.061m/0.482m = 12.7%.
Central African Republic: 16th-19th century, European slave trade;19th century, Baya people fled North Cameroon Falani; Banda people fleeing from Muslim Sudan slavers; 1887, French invasion; late 19 th-20th century, and exceptionally brutal French slavery-conditions on concessions for exploitation of timber, ivory and rubber and thence of rubber, cotton, diamonds, cobalt and uranium; 1894, colony of Ubangi-Shari; 1906, governed with Chad; 1910, governed as part of French Equatorial Africa; 1928, 1935 and 1946, revolts against brutal conditions; 1946, own assembly and representation in the French Assembly; 1958, membership of the French Community; Boganda founded resistance movement MESAN (Social Evolution Movement for Black Africa); 1959, Boganda died in an air crash (possibly murdered by the French); 1960, independence with corrupt, neo-colonial regime of Dacko; 1965, Emperor Bokassa deposed Dacko by military coup; 1977, Emperor Bokassa; 1978, Bokassa diamond deal with the Israeli Army; 1978, Bokassa sent troops to Zaire to assist pro-US Mobutu; 1979, coup and French army intervention to restore Dacko, subsequent political repression and French granted key military base; 1981, Dacko “re-elected” but deposed in a further military coup by General Kolingba; 1991, restoration of democracy; 1993, Patassé won the first ever multi-party elections; 1996, army mutinies and coalition government under Patassé; 1997, French army intervention; 1999, French Army left, replaced by an African peacekeeping force; 1999, Patassé re-elected; 2001, 2002, insurrections put down with help from Libyan forces; 2003, General Bozizé seized power while Patassé abroad; 2004, new constitution.
Foreign occupation: France (pre-1950), France, Libya (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: France, Israel, Libya; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 2.274m/3.962m = 57.4%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 1.199m/3.962m = 30.3%; HIV positive (2003) 6.8%.
Chad: trans-Saharan trade through Chad; 7th century AD, Arab contact and Islam; 8th –13th century, north African Kanem state; 14th-18th century, Bornu state; 16th –18 th century, Wadai and Bagirmi states; pre-colonial nomadic Muslim north dominated the hunting and agrarian Sara south; 18th century Sara conversion to Christianity; late 19th century, Sudanese conquest under Rabah; 1890, first French incursions; 1894, Berlin Conference “awarded” Chad to France; 1900, Rabah defeated by the French; 1913, French control; variously administered with French Equatroial Africa and thence with Ubangi-Shari; 1920, separate colony; 1930s, cotton farming at the expense of food crops; 1946, local legislature; 1958, autonomy within the French Community; 1960, nominal independence under Tombalbaye with southern support and with the French Army present; 1960s and 1970s, severe drought; 1965, effective one-party rule; 1966, revolt by the northern Muslim Chad National Liberation Front (FROLINAT) with Libyan support; 1972, French prevented FROLINAT capture of the capital; 1973, end of the revolt; 1975, French-backed coup and Tombalbaye killed; 1979, Oueddai coalition; 1982, coup by Habré; continuing civil war with Christian South (US and French-backed) versus Muslim North (Libya-backed); Libyan forces reached capital; French military-supported South Army took most of the North; 1987, Southern Army and FROLINAT defeated Libyans (except for the Aozou Strip); !989, Chad-Libya treaty; 1990, Déby coup; 1994, International Court of Justice restored the Aozou to Chad; 1996, Déby elected; 1990s, continued northern rebellion; 2001, Déby re-elected; 2003, peace with northern rebels; 2003 onwards, large numbers of refugees fled to Chad to escape genocidal militias in the Darfur region of Sudan.
Foreign occupation: France (pre-1950); France, Libya (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: France, Libya; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 5.085m/9.117m = 55.8%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 2.989m/9.117m = 32.8%; HIV positive (2003) 2.4%.
Comoros: 5th century, Indonesian settlement; African and Madagascan settlement; 12th century, Muslim Arab settlement from the Persian Gulf; 1505, Portuguese arrival; 16th century, Portuguese invasion; subsequently the Oman Sultanate expelled the Portuguese and took over the slave trade; 19th century, split from Arab Zanzibar; 1843, French occupation; 19th-20th century, French settlement; post-war anti-colonial struggle; 1974, plebiscite overwhelmingly supported independence; 1975, independence but French retained massive military presence on French colonial-dominated Mayotte; 1976, mayotte population opposed independence; 1978, French mercenary coup; 1970s – present, repeated French, South African and Belgian foreign military interference; 1997, Anjouan and Moheli declared independence; the African Union subsequently brokered a resolution (2005).
Foreign occupation: Arabs, France (pre-1950); France (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: France, (French, Belgian, South African mercenaries); post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 0.204m/0.812m = 25.1%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 0.149m/0.812m = 18.3%.
Congo (Brazzaville): 500AD onwards, the original population of Mbuti Pygmies was supplanted by Bantu settlement; 16th century, Kongo, Loango and Teke Bantu kingdoms; 16th-19th century, British, Portuguese and French slave trade; 1880, French invasion headed by de Brazza; 1880s-1930s, rule as part of French Equatorial Africa; genocide by military violence and forced labour killed off about 70% of the population; 1924-1934, Congo-Ocean Railway built with forced labour; 1940-1943, Brazzaville the Free French capital; 1944, Brazzaville Conference, liberalization and abolition of forced labour; post-war, independence movement; 1960, neo-colonial “independence” under Youlou; 1963, coup and French Army forced to leave; 1963, provisional government leader Massamba-Débat elected; 1968, Ngouabi military coup and declaration of a “people’s republic”; 1977, Ngouabi assassinated; 1992, multi-party elections and victory to Lissouba; 1997, civil war between Lissouba and Sassou supporters, intervention by Angolan forces, installation of Sassou; 2002, effectively one-party “elections” returned Sassou; 1960s to the present, socialist governments, military coups and major oil exports.
Foreign occupation: France (pre-1950); France (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: France; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 1.085m/3.921m = 27.7%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 0.619m/3.921m = 15.8%; HIV positive (2003) 2.4%.
Congo (Zaire): earliest inhabitants Mbuti Pygmies; 500AD onwards, Bantu settlement; 700, Katanga copper mines; 1000, general settlement by Bantus; 14th -19th century, Kongo Kingdom; major involvement in the slave trade; 17th century, southern Kuba federation; 18th century, Lunda kingdom; 1492, first Portuguese exploration; 19th century, Arab, Swahili and Nyamwezi traders (ivory and slaves); Portuguese Atklantic coast slave trade; 1874-1884, Stanley’s explorations and local treaties for the Belgians; 1884-1885, Berlin Conference recognized Leopold II’s claim; 1885, Leopold head of the Congo Free State; 1890s, further Belgian conquest of mineral-rich Katanga and eastern Congo; Belgian conquest; 1900s, reports of Belgian atrocities from Casement and Morel; 10 million Congolese butchered by the Force Publique (that notoriously cut off limbs to enforce rubber collection quotas); 1908, Belgiam annexation under international outrage; 1921, prophet and healer Kimbangu gaoled; 1920s, major mining commenced; 1960, Congo independent under Lumumba; Katanga rebelled and became independent under Tshombe (with Belgian and white mercenary support); Belgian- and US-backed overthrow of the Lumumba government; Lumumba murdered; 1961, UN forces intervened; 1965-1997, US-backed Mobutu dictatorship; 1990s, Rwandan Tutsi and thence Hutu refugees; 1994 onwards, civil war; 1997, rebel leader Kabila took over; 2001, Kabila assassinated and replaced by his son, General Kabila; the continuing civil war has killed several millions and HIV/AIDS has spread catastrophically (1950-1960 Belgian era excess mortality 2.8 million;1960-1997 US-backed Mobutu era excess mortality 16.469; 1994-2005 civil war excess mortality 10.1 million).
Foreign occupation: Belgium (pre-1950); Belgium, UN forces (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: Belgium, UN peacekeepers (notably French); post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 26.677m/56.079m = 47.6%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 17.425m/56.079m = 31.1%; HIV positive (2003) 2.1%.
Côte d’Ivoire: precolonial, many small states; 15th-19th century, French, British and Portuguese slavery and ivory trade; 1842, Ashanti kingdom invaded by France; 1898, resistance by Touré finally overcome and the Côte d’Ivoire was incorporated into French West Africa (together with Burkina Faso, Chad, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania and Senegal); post-war independence movement; about 1920, final French conquest; 1940-1944, WW2, Vichy rule; 1946, Parti Démocratique de la Côte d’Ivoire (PCDI) formed Houphouet-Boigny; 1958, autonomy within the French Community; 1960, neo-colonial “independence” under Houphouet-Boigny after ferocious repression of the socialist independence movement by French; 1990, opposition parties legalized; 1993, Houphouet-Boigny re-elected; 1993, Houphouet-Boigny died; replaced by Bédié; 1999, candidacy disqualification of northern Muslim leader Ouattera; Christian versus Muslim dichotomy; 1999, Bédié ousted in a coup by General Gueï; 2001, Gbagbo “elected” with Ouattera excluded; 2002, renewed rebellion; Gueï killed; 3 factions; French military intervention; 2004, UN peace-keeping force; Israel involvement in attack on French military; French destroyed the airforce; 21st century, formerly a very prosperous country; major cocoa producer (child slavery a major problem); continuing instability (1999-2005 excess mortality 1.5 million).
Foreign occupation: France (pre-1950); France (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: France, Israel; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 6.953m/17.165m = 40.5%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 4.196m/17.165m = 24.4%; HIV positive (2003) 3.5%.
Djibouti: 1862, Tadjoura sold to French and adjoining areas subsequently subjugated as “Coast of Somalians” and thence as “Territory of the Afars and Issars”; 1946, territory within the French Union; post-war demands for independence; 1977, independence under Gouled; 1979, formation of the Affar and Issar-Somali coalition People’s Progress Assembly (RPP); 1981, RPP the sole political party; 1991, base for French participation in the Gulf War; 1991, Affar rebellion; 1992, new constitution allowing multi-party elections; 1993, Gouled re-elected in elections boycotted by the opposition; 1994, rebel accommodation with the Issar-dominated government; 1977-2005, major continuing Western military presence (US, UK and France) and tensions with Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia; 2001, final peace with rebels; 2002, US base agreement; 2003,government sought expulsion of 0.1 million Ethiopians and Somalis.
Foreign occupation: France (pre-1950); France (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: France, UK, US; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 0.265m/0.721m = 36.8%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 0.141m/0.721m = 19.6%; HIV positive (2003) 1.3%.
Equatorial Guinea: 13th-17th century AD Bantu, Fang and Ndowe invaded, displacing the Pygmies; 1472, discovery by Portuguese de Po; 15th -19th century, slavery with Ndowe complicity involving the Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch and British; 1777-1778, Portugal ceded territory to Spain; 19th century, increasing British and French control; 1827-1843, British lease for anti-slavery activity; 1843-1858, Spanish resumed control; 1849, Cuban penal colony on the island of Bioko (formerly Fernando Po);1894 Berlin Conference recognized Spanish ownership of coastal Rio Muni and the islands; 1900, treaty with France over borders; 1936, Spanish colonists supported Franco; 1959, overseas provinces of Spain; 1963, internal autonomy; 1968, independence under Nguema; 1969, most Europeans fled after riots; 1970, one-party ruled under the United National Party (PUN); 1972, Nguema president for life; severe repression; many fled the country ( 1970-1980 population decline about 130,000); 1979, military coup; Nguema executed; Nguema’s nephew Mbsogo installed; 1992, theoretical multi-party constitution; 1993, 2002, “re-elections” of Mbsogo; 2004, coup involving South African mercenaries foiled; continuing repression and effective one-party rule (1968-2005 excess mortality 0.2 million).
Foreign occupation: Britain, France, Portugal, Spain (pre-1950); Spain (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: Spain; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 0.305m/0.521m = 58.5 %; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 0.168m/0.521m = 32.2%.
Eritrea: 2nd -7th century AD, part of northern Ethiopian Axum kingdom; 7th-16th century, Ethiopoan rule or hegemony; 16th century, Ottoman Turkish control of coastal areas; 1869, Italian trading post established; 1885, Italians seized Aseb, Massawa and the surrounding region; 1889, Italian treaty with Menelik giving Italy rights in Eritrea; 1890, Italian colony of Eritrea; 1893-1897, Italian war with Ethiopia leading to Italian defeat but retention of Eritrea; 1935-1936, Eritrea the base for Italian invasion of Ethiopia; 1941, Italians defeated by the British; 1949, British administration as a UN trust territory; 1950, UN declaration of Eritrean federation with Ethiopia; 1952, formal federation with Ethiopia; 1962, Eritrean assembly voted for formal union with Ethiopia; Eritrean Muslim and Marxist groups led the revolt for independence; Eritrean Liberation front (ELF); 1972, Eritrean Popular Liberation Forces (EPLF) founded; 1974, Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie deposed; EPLF and ELF united for independence; 1976-1978, Eritrean control opposed by Ethiopia with Russian and Cuban help; 1978, Ethiopian victory; 1978-1993, continuing Eritrean struggle; 1991, Asmara captured by the Eritreans; 1993, UN-sponsored referendum and overwhelming support for independence; EPLF leader Afwerki president of independent Eritrea (200,000 killed in the war; 1962-1993 excess mortality 1.0 million); mid-1990s, Yemeni and Eritrean clashes over Red Sea islands; 1998, Yemen-Eritrea agreement; 1998-2001, border war with Ethiopia; Eritrea occupied disputed territory; Ethiopia invaded; 2001, cease-fire; 2002, Hague tribunal ruling over disputed territory; 1998-2002, drought and famine; 21st century, drought, famine and political repression.
Foreign occupation: Italy, UK (pre-1950); Ethiopia (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: Cuba, Ethiopia; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 1.757m/4.456m = 39.4%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 1.036m/4.456m = 23.2%; HIV positive (2003) 1.5%.
Ethiopia: 2nd millennium BC, Cushitic people; Habashat to the Egyptians; 10th century BC, rule by Menelik I (by tradition the son of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba); from 500BC, Semitic trade and settlement on coastal areas; 2nd -7th century AD, kingdom of Axum (northern Ethiopia); 4th century, ruling class conversion to Christianity; 5th century, Christian Monophysitism accepted; Jewish refugees ultimately became the Falashas; 7th century, rise of Islam, loss of coastal areas and Ethiopian isolation as their power retracted inland; 1530-1531, Muslim Somali conquest; 16th-18th century, Gallas (Oromos) migrated from the West with resultant conflict; civil wars between rival princes; 1755-1769, Galla emperor; 1855, united Ethiopia under Emperor Tewodros II; 1868, British “revenge” expedition defeated the Ethiopians and Tewodros suicided; 1869, opening of the Suez Canal greatly increased the strategic impotance of the Horn of Africa; 1872, Emperor Yohannes IV; 1875-1876, Egyptian incursion; 1880s, incursions from Sudan Mahdists; 1889, Yohannes IV killed in battle with Mahdists; Menelik II took over with British and Italian backing; treaty with the Italians; 1895, Italians invaded; 1896, Italians defeated at Adwa (with Biblical-style mass castration of Italian prisoners) with a settlement involving continued Italian occupation of Eritrea and Southern Somalia and Ethiopean independence backed by Britain and France; 1913, Emperor; 1916, Iyasu (supported Germany) was deposed; Empress Zawditu with Ras Tafari as regent; 1930, Ras Tafari crowned as Emperor Haile Selassie I; 1935-1936, Italian re-invasion and occupation; use of poison gas; Ethiopia, Somalia and Eritrea ruled as Italian east Africa; 1941, Italians defeated by the British; 1948, British left and Haile Selassie returned as emperor; 1952, Eritrea federated with Ethiopia by the UN; 1962, Eritrea formally part of Ethiopia; 1956, commencement of conflict with the Eritreans (who initially had Cuban and Arab support) and Ogaden region conflicts with Somalians; 1973-1974, severe drought (1973-1974 excess mortality 1.0 million); 1974, Selassie overthrown by military coup, followed by further coups and rightist versus leftist violence; 1970s, under Colonel Mengistu Ethiopia continued war against the Eritreans and Ogaden Somali separatists with USSR support (US bases closed); 1978, Somalis and Eritreans defeated with Russian aid and Cuban forces; 1984-1987, huge drought and famine (1984-1987 excess mortality 2.1 million); 1987, Eritrean and Tigray rebel victories; 1988, peace with Somalia; 1989, attempted coup and Cuban troops left; 1990, Eritreans captured Massawa on the Red Sea and isolated Asmara; 1991, Tigrayan-led Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) defeated Mengistu who fled; Meles president; 1993, Eritrean independence; 1995, opposition boycotted elections; 1998-2002, border war with Eritrea; 2000-2003, drought and famine (2000-2003, excess mortality 2.9 million).
Foreign occupation: Italy, UK (pre-1950); none post-1950; post-1950 foreign military presence: Cuba, US; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 36.133m/74.189m = 48.7%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 21.590m/74.189m = 29.1%; HIV positive (2003) 2.4%.
Gabon: settled in the Paleolithic era; 16th century AD, Omiéné people on the coast; 18th century, Fang entry from the north; 16th-18th century, part of Loango Emopire; late 15th century, Portuguese exploration; 15th -17th century, Portuguese, Dutch, English and French slave traders; 18th century, French control; 1815, Congress of Vienna outlawed the slave trade;19th century, continuing slave trade; 1849, Libreville established for freed slaves; 1885, Berlin Conference recognized French “ownership”; 1911, Fang armed resistance ceased; 1913, Albert Schweitzer established a hospital at Lambaréné; 1958, self-governing part of the French Community; 1960, independent under Mba (a Fang); 1964, coup suppressed by French forces; 1967, Bongo established a one-party system; 1967-1970, Gabon assisted the Biafrans in the Nigerian civil war; 1989, riots suppressed by the army; 1990, multi-party elections permitted; 1993, multi-party elections were introduced but with continued return of Bongo in 1998 and 2001.
Foreign occupation: France (pre-1950); France (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: France; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 0.504m/1.375m = 36.7%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 0.186m/1.375m = 13.5%; HIV positive (2003) 3.6%.
Gambia: part of the Ghana and Songhai Empires; 9th –15th century AD, Arab trans-Saharan trade in slaves and ivory; 15th century, the Malinke and Wolof tribes were tributaries of the Mali Empire; 15th century, Portuguese exploration and commencement of Atlantic slave trade; 1588, British acquisition from Portugal; 1618, British royal charter for exploitation of the Gambia; 1651-1661, Gambia ncolony by Poland-Lithuania; 17th century, British settlements around the Gambia River; 17 th – 18 th century, Britsh and French conflict; 1783, British rights to the Gambia with French retention of the Albreda enclave (ceded to Britain in 1867); 1807, slave trading abolished (some 3 million slaves had been taken from the Gambia region); 1816, Bathurst (Banjul) founded; 19th century, variously administered from Sierra Leone; negotiations with the French (who ruled surrounding Senegal); 1889, crown colony; post-war, increased political activism; 1963, local autonomy; 1965, independence under Jawara (a Malinke); 1970, republic; late 1970s-early 1980s, drought; 1981, military coup suppressed by Senegal soldiers; 1982-1989, Senegal-Gambia union (Senegambia); 1994, Jawara was replaced by Jammeh in a coup; 2001, Jammeh was subsequently re-elected in flawed elections.
Foreign occupation: Britain (pre-1950); UK, Senegal (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: UK, Senegal; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 0.606m/1.499m = 40.4%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 0.363m/1.499m = 24.2%; HIV positive (2003) 0.5%.
Ghana: pre-colonial coastal Fanti society, interior Ashanti dominance and Gonja and Dagomba societies in the North; 13th–19th century AD, Ashanti kingdom trading slaves and gold; 1482, Portuguese fort at Elmina; 15th- 19th century, coastal forts of the Portuguese, British, Danes and Dutch trading gold and slaves on the Gold Coast; 1807, slavery abolished in the British Empire; 1850, Danes withdrew; 1872, Dutch withdrew; 19th century, war against the Ashantis by the British in alliance with coastal Fantis; 1874, Ashanti defeated; 1896, British protectorate over northern regions; renewed fighting with the Ashantis; 1902, Ashanti territories annexed to Gold Coast; 1919, adjoining German Togoland placed under British League of Nations Mandate; post-war, independence movement led by N’Krumah’s Convention People’s Party (CPP); 1951, constitution granted; 1957, Ghana was the first black African country to gain independence; N’Krumah a major Third World, anti-colonial, pan-African and non-aligned leader; 1964, opposition outlawed; 1966, N’Krumah was overthrown by a military coup which was followed by successive elections and coups; 1969, Busia elected; 1972, coup; 1978, coup; 1979 Rawlings coup; Limann civilian government; 1981, further Rawlings coup; 1992, Rawlings elected in a flawed process; 1994, thousands killed in Northern disturbances; 1996, Rawlings re-elected; 2000, opposition Kufuor elected; 2004, Kufuor re-elected.
Foreign occupation: Britain (pre-1950); UK (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: UK; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 6.089m/21.833m = 27.9%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 3.972m/21.833m = 18.2%; HIV positive (2003) 1.7%.
Guinea: pre-colonial, Northern areas part of Ghana and of the Mali Empire; 16th–19th century AD, Fulah state; 15th century, Portuguese incursions; 15th- 19th century, British, French and Portuguese slave trade; 1840-1898, Samori led state in Guinea region; 1849, French protectorate over the Boké region; 1886, French invasion; 1891, administratively separated from Senegal; 1895, part of French West Africa; 1898, Samori captured by French but resistance continued; pre-war, bauxite exploitation began; 1947, post-war independence movement led by Sekou Touré’s Democratic Party of Guinea (PDG); 1958, Guinea rejected neo-colonial French Commonwealth membership and declared independence with consequent French retaliation; increased contact with the USSR; Sekou Touré a major non-aligned, pan-African and anti-colonial Third World leader; one-party Marxist rule; notional union with Ghana (1958) and Mali (1961); 1970, Portuguese mercenary invasion; 1978, rapprochement with France, aid and huge bauxite exploitation; 1984, death of Sekou Touré followed by military coup by Conté; 1990s, 0.4 million refugees from Sierra Leone and Liberia civil wars; declining international aid; 1993, first multi-party elections won by Conté (opposition boycotts and campaign killings); 1996, army revolt suppressed; 1996, Conté re-elected; 1998, Conté re-elected in flawed elections; 2000, 2001, border conflict spilling over from adjoining civil wars; 2003, Conté re-elected in an election boycotted by the opposition.
Foreign occupation: France, Portugal (pre-1950); France (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: France, Portugal (mercenaries); post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 5.185m/8.788m = 59.0%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 3.611m/8.788m = 41.1%; HIV positive (2003) 1.7%.
Guinea-Bissau: pre-European era Mali, Fulah and Mandingo people; 1446-1447, first Portuguese incursions; 1500, Portuguese invasion; 16th-19th century, slave trade and slave-based plantations; 1879, administratively separated from Cape Verde Islands; 1951, overseas province of Portugal; 1950s, Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde independence movement lead by Amilcar Cabral; 1956, African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) founded by Cabral for independence of Portuguese West African Portuguese colonies; 1959-1974, guerrilla war against Portuguese; 1968, Portuguese confined to capital Bissau; 1973, unilateral declaration of independence but Cabral later assassinated by Portuguese agents; 1974, Salazar regime overthrown in Portugal; 1974, independence under Luis Cabral (brother of Amilcar Cabral); 1980, military coup by Vieira; 1984, unsuccessful coup; 1991, sole party status of PAIGC removed; 1994, Vieira elected; 1998, army mutiny; Senegal and Guinea intervened; 1999, military coup installed Sanhá; 2000, leader of opposition Party for Social Renewal (PRS) Yala elected; 2003, military coup; 2004, PRS leader Junnior elected
Foreign occupation: Portugal (pre-1950); Portugal (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: Portugal; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 0.945m/1.584m = 59.7%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 0.611m/1.584m = 38.6%.
Kenya: 2000BC, agrarian settlers from Ethiopia; 500BC-500AD, Bantu and Nilotic settlers from the Sudan;10th century Arab foundation of coastal city Malindi; 100AD, trade with Arabia; 10th-16th century, major Muslim Arab-African trade; Malindi, Mombasa and Pate founded; 1498, Portuguese arrived; 16th century, Portuguese invasion; 1698, Portuguese withdrawal; 1729, Portuguese left Mombasa; 18th century, Mazrui Arab rule over Mombasa; Omani (Musquat) Busaidi coastal rule; 1832, Busaidi ruler took over Zanzibar; 1837, Busaidi conquest of Mombasa; 17th-19th century, Zanzibar-based Arab slave trade; 19th century Masai dominance
ended by cattle disease epidemic; 1884, Berlin Conference gave Uganda, Kenya and Zanzibar to Britain and Tanzania to Germany; 1887, British group given a concession from the Sultan of Zanzibar; 1888, Imperial British East Africa Company; 1895, British east Africa Protectorate; 1895-1901, Mombasa-Lake Victoria Railway; 20th century, commencing in 1903 British settlement on most of the best land, with the Kikuyu and Masai people; 1920, interior Kenya colony and a coastal Protectorate of Kenya; confined to the rest; 20th century, European settlement, coffee plantations, Indian traders and mounting indigenous activism; 1944, Jomo Kenyatta started the independence movement; 1952-1960, Mau Mau Emergency, Kikuyu Mau Mau insurgency against the British, 0.3 million Kikuyu held in concentration camps, 1 million held in “enclosed villages”, 0.1 million were either killed or otherwise died in custody, horrendous British atrocities, Kenyatta imprisoned (1952-1960 excess mortality 1.1 million); 1963, independence with Kenyatta as leader but the UK retained a military base in Mombasa; 1964, republic; many Europeans and Asians left; 1963-1968, Somalia-Kenya border clashes; 1969, leading politician Mboya assassinated; 1970s, tensions with Uganda and Tanzania; 1978, Kenyatta died, replaced by Moi, opposition suppression; 1988, riots over political suppression; 1991, multi-party elections permitted; 1992, Moi re-elected in flawed elections; 1998, US embassy bombing; 2002, opposition leader Kibaki elected; 2004, Masai calls for return of land held under British colonial leases.
Foreign occupation: Portugal, Arab, Britain (pre-1950); UK (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: UK; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 10.015m/32.849m = 30.5%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 5.358m/32.849m = 16.3%; HIV positive (2003) 3.8%.
Lesotho: earliest settlement by San people (Bushmen); early 19th century, Sotho and other Bantu people fled from genocidal Zulu army of Chaka; 1839, war with Boers; 1858, 1865, wars with Boers; 1867, discovery of diamonds; 1868, British protectorate of Basutoland; 1871, under Cape Colony rule without Sotho agreement; 1884, direct British control; 1950s, Apartheid prevented British surrender of the country to racist South Africa; 1960, self-government; 1961, South Africa broke constitutional links with UK; 1965, constitution promulgated; 1966, Basotholand independence as a kingdom under the name Lesotho; 1970, Basutoland (later Basotho) Congress party (BCP) under Mokhehle won elections; Jonathan coup; 1974, clashes with the BCP-linked Lesotho Liberation Army; 1978, Lesotho received ANC refugees; 1977, South Africa closed the border; 1982, airborne South African attack on the capital Maseru and subsequent Lesotho constraint of ANC activists; 1983, Lesotho-South African border incident; 1986, pro-South African Lekhanya coup after South African economic boycott; 1991, bloodless coup; 1993, BCP victory under Mokhehle in democratic elections; 1994, Mokhehle removed and then reinstated by the king; 1997, Mokhehle formed the Lesotho Congress for Democracy Party (LCD); 1998, Mokhehle died; LCD leader Mosisili elected; riots and South African and Botswana forces restored order; government and opposition rapprochement; 2002, LCD victory under Mosisili; 2004, drought; 21st century, HIV/AIDS scourge.
Foreign occupation: Boer, Britain (pre-1950); UK (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: UK, South Africa, Botswana; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 0.951m/1.797m = 52.9%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 0.386m/1.797m = 21.5%; HIV positive (2003) 17.9%.
Liberia: 15th century, first Portuguese arrival; 15th-19th century, slave trade abuses; 1821, Monrovia established by American Colonization Society on Sierra Leone land purchased from the British; 1822, first Afro-American settlers lead by Ashmun; 1847, independent republic; 1871, debt crisis and overthrow of the government; 19th-20th century, major US rubber holdings and minority American-Liberian economic dominance with US diplomatic backing; 1885, 1992 and 1919, loss of territory to the British and French; 1909, bankruptcy; 1926, Firestone company leased large rubber growing areas; 1930, League of nations revealed forced labor export (i.e. slavery) scandal; King resigned; 1930-1944, Barclay president; 1944-1971, Tubman president; 1971-1979, Tolbert; increased cost of living and riots; 1979, Sergeant Samuel Doe coup and Tolbert killed; continuing intimacy with the US and the IMF; 1985, fraudulent Doe election; 1980s, thousands fled repression to Guinea and Côte d’Ivoire; 1989, China broke relations over the issue of Taiwan; Taylor forces invaded from Côte d’Ivoire; US forces landed supposedly when Taylor forces threatened foreign hostage taking; 1990, Doe killed by Johnson rebel forces; Economic Community of West Africa (ECOWAS) forces installed Sawyer; Taylor backed by Burkino-Faso and Libya; 1989-1997, guerrilla civil war, 400,000 refugees to neighbouring countries, 150,000-200,000 killed (1989-1967 excess mortality 3.4 million); 1997, Taylor elected; 2000, UN embargo on diamond sales (linked to Taylor support for a Sierra Leone civil war faction); 2001, UN sanctions on Liberia; renewed civil war; 2003, rebels held much of the country; Taylor replaced by Blah; peace accord; UN West African forces and off-shore US forces; Bryant president; 2004, massive disarmament of 100,000 soldiers; continued diamond embargo, corruption and insecurity (2000-2005 excess mortality 0.3 million).
Foreign occupation: Britain, US (pre-1950); none (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: US; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 1.754m/3.603m = 48.7%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 1.209m/3.603m = 33.6%; HIV positive (2003) 3.1%.
Madagascar: 5th century–15th century AD, African and Indonesian settlement; 9th-14th century, Muslim Arab East African and Comoran traders, port establishment and Africanization; 1500, Portuguese contact; 1506-1507, Portuguese invaders destroyed port towns; 1600-1619, Portuguese attempts at conversion; 1642, small French intrusion commenced; 16th-19th century, various Malagasy kingdoms; 19th century, various attempts to stem European encroachment; 1787-1810, Andrianampoinimerina united Merina interior and defeated the Bétsiléo; 1810-1825, Radama I received British aid and stopped slavery; Merina culture dominant; Protestant missionary activity; 1821-1861, Queen Ranavalona, civil strife; 1835, Christianity outlawed; 1861-1863, Radama II; 1863-1868, Rasoherina,; Christianity permitted; 1868-1883, Ranavalona II, became Christian; 1883-1896, Ranavalona III; 1883-1904, French invasion; 1885, French protectorate; 1890, British recognition of French control; 1896, Merina finally defeated and the monarchy abolished; 20th century, colonization, forest destruction and cotton, sugar and coffee plantations; 1942, British defeated Vichy French; post-war independence struggle; 1947-1948, French suppressed revolt with 11,000-80,000 deaths; 1958, autonomous part of French Community; 1960, independence under Tsiranana, but France retained military bases; coastal dominance over Merina interior; 1965, 1972, Tsiranana re-election; political repression; broke off with South Africa; 1972, General Ramanantsoa coup to disengage from French neo-colonialism; 1975, democratic election of Ratsiraka; 1980s, coup attempts; 1989, Ratsiraka re-elected; 1991, strike and power-sharing coalition; 1993, opposition Zafy elected; 1996, Ratsraka re-elected; 2001, opposition Ravalomanana elected but Ratsiraka disputed the result; civil war; 2002, OAU and thence African Union involvement for democracy; Ravalomanana elected; Ratsiraka fled.
Foreign occupation: Portugal, France, UK (pre-1950); France (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: France; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 7.098m/18.409m = 38.6%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 3.867m/18.409m = 21.0%; HIV positive (2003) 0.8%.
Malawi: early San (Bushmen) people; 1st-4th century AD, early Bantu invasion; 14th century, later Bantu settlement; 15th-18th century, Maravi kingdom; 18th century, Maravi conquest of parts of Zimbabwe and Mozambique; Yao depredations and Yao slave trade of Malawians to Indian Ocean coast Arab and Swahili slavers; pre-colonial history related to that of the Zimbabwe civilization; 1835, extremely violent Zulu (Ngoni) expansion from the South impacted on internal conflicts; mid- to late-19th century, exploration, missionary activity and eventual British colonization; 1859, Livingstone exploration by Dr Livingstone; 1873, British missionary presence; 1883, British consul; 1889, British Shire Highlands Protectorate; 1890, Portuguese East-West expansion blocked by British who had North-South plans; Rhodes negotiated the British Central African Protectorate; 1890s, slave trade abolished; 1907, protectorate of Nyasaland; coffee plantations; 1915, revolt suppressed; 1944, Nyasaland African Congress formed; 1949, first African participation in legislative council; 1953, Federation of Rhodesia and Nysasaland, opposed Malawians; 1959-1960, Malawian opposition to British rule by the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) under Hastings Banda; state of emergency; 1963, Federation of Rhodesia and Nysasaland abolished; 1964, independence under Banda; 1966, republic; 1971, Banda president for life; retained European influence; controversially visited South Africa; cooperation with White Rhodesia, South Africa and the Portuguese; severe repression; 1965, Chipembere revolt crushed; 1967, Chisiza revolt crushed; 1970s, used as refuge by Mozambique rebels; 1980s, 1990s, 600,000 Mozambique civil war refugees; 1980, armed resistance to Banda; 1980s and 1990s, Malawi support for rightist rebels in Mozambique; 1992, drought; suspension of foreign aid over political repression; 1993, referendum for multi-party rule; 1994, Banda defeated in elections by Muluzi; 1999, Muluzi re-elected in a flawed process; 2004, Mutharika elected against a divided opposition.
Foreign occupation: Portugal, Britain (pre-1950); UK (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: UK; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 6.976m/12.572m = 55.5%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 4.794m/12.572m = 38.1%; HIV positive (2003) 7.5%.
Mali: early trade with the Mediterranean region; 4th-11th century AD, Ghana Empire; 7th century onwards, Muslim conversion; 14th century, Mali Empire; 1312-1337, Emperor Musa; wealth from gold; trade and high culture at Timbuktu and Jenne; 15th-16th century, Songhai Empire of Gao; 1590, defeated by Moroccans; 17th-18th century, smaller states; Touareg and Fulani incursions; 19th century, resistance to French invasion by Umar and Touré; 1850, French occupation with horrendous brutality; Mali grouped with Burkina Faso (Upper Volta), Benin and Senegal to form French Sudan and thence French West Africa; 1898, resistance largely destroyed; trade now directed to the Atlantic rather than to the North and East; postwar independence movements; 1958, self-rule as part of the French Community as the Sudanese Republic; 1959, joined with Senegal to form the Mali Federation; 1960, dissolution of the Mali Federation; 1960, independence of Mali under Modibo Keita; detached from the French Community; symbolic association with Guinea and Ghana; one-party socialist state; 1963, joined the Organization of African Unity (OAU); 1967, forced to rejoin the Franc Zone; 1968, repression led to military coup under Traoré; 1970s, severe drought in the Sahel; 1977, Keita died in prison (poisoned?); economic woes, civil unrest and repression; 1983, moved closer to France and the West; 1979, 1985, Traoré re-elected; armed conflict with Burkina Faso;1991, coup deposed Traoré; interim Touré government; 1992, Konaré elected in multi-party elections; early 1990s, Tuareg revolt in the North; 1995, peace with the Tuareg; return of refugees; 1997, Konaré re-elected but the opposition had boycotted the election; 2002, Touré elected president.
Foreign occupation: France (pre-1950); France (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: France; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 6.808m/13.829m = 49.2%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 6.438m/13.829m = 46.6%; HIV positive (2003) 1.1%.
Mauritania: 1st millennium AD, Berber culture in the North and black African society in the South; 8th-13th century, Hodh region Ghana Empire (capital Kumbi-Saleh); 11th century, important Berber Almovarid dynasty arose in Mauritania; 14th-15th century, part of the Mali Empire; 1440s, Portuguese access to coastal areas; 17th century, Dutch, English and French trade in gum arabic; 1858, French invasion to consolidate its territory from Senegal to the Sudan; 1850s to 1930s, armed resistance to the French; 1903, French protectorate; administered as part of Senegal; 1920, part of French West Africa; 1930s, last resistance overcome; 1958, Mauritania became part of the French Community; 1960, formal independence under Daddah but French neo-colonial control; major iron ore exploitation; 1961, Daddah elected; subsequent one-party rule; bridge between Arab North Africa and Black Africa; 1973, Mauritania withdrew from the Franc Zone; 1974, iron ore mines nationalized; 1975-1979, allied with Morocco with French support to divide former Spanish Western Sahara; 1978, pro-Arabist and pro-peace Salek coup; 1979, Louly replaced Salek; peace with Polisario Front of Western Sahara; 1980, Heydalla coup; 1981, rift with Morocco over coup plot; 1984, Taya coup; 1985, restored relations with Morocco; 1970s and 1980s, left-right and Arabization conflicts, French interference; 1989, conflict with Senegal over expulsion of 40,000 Senegalese; 1992, 1997, 2003, Taya elected in flawed elections; 1993, US hostility over maltreatment of black African Senegalese and pro-Iraq stance; 2004, locust ravages.
Foreign occupation: France (pre-1950); France (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: France, Morocco; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 1.294m/3.069m = 42.2%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 0.848m/3.069m = 27.6%; HIV positive (2003) 0.3%.
Mauritius: 16th century, discovered by Portuguese; 1598-1710, Dutch occupation and naming; 1715-1810, French occupation; 1810-1968, British occupation; 19th century, indentured Indian labour for French plantations after abolition of slavery in 1835; 20th century, increasing Indian political activity; 1959, local elections; 1950s and 1960s, French and Afro-European creoles opposed independence fearing Indian domination; 1965, Chagos transferred to Britain, Diego Garcia a major naval base; 1968, independence with a neo-colonial pro-US-UK and pro-South African régime led by Ramgoolam; 1970, US-UK removal of all Diego Garcia inhabitants to Mauritius to permit huge US military expansion; 1982, elected socialist Mauritius Militant Movement (MMM) government under Jugnauth; objected to US, UK and French occupation of Mauritian islands; 1983, Jugnauth split the MMM and formed the Mauritius Socialist Movement (MSM); 1992, republic under president Uteem; 1995, son of Ramgoolam elected PM; 2000, Jugnauth re-elected PM to head a MMM-MSM coalition; 2002, Uteem resigned; Offmann elected president; 2003, Jugnauth resigned as PM and was replaced by Berenger; 2003, Jugnauth as president; 21st century, key sugar economy, excellent governance and wish for the return of UK-US militarized islands.
Foreign occupation: Netherlands, France, Britain (pre-1950); UK (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: UK (and thence US, UK and French forces on militarised, seized islands); post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 0.064m/1.244m = 5.1%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 0.078m/1.244m = 6.3%.
Mozambique: about 500AD, Bantu people settled Mozambique; 10th century, Sofala founded by Muslim Arab Shiraz and Swahili traders settled on the coast; trade between interior Zimbabwe and coastal Zandj Muslim culture; gold and ivory trade via Sofala and Kilwa (futher North); 1498, Vasco da Gama visited; 16th century, Portuguese conquered the Indian Ocean coast; Swahili traders re-directed trade further North; 1509-1512, Fernandes reached the gold-rich kingdom of Mwanamutapa; 1560-1561. Jesuit mission to Mwanamutapa; Portuguese attempts at conquest of the interior were defeated by disease and combat; 16th-17th century, increasing Portuguese estates; corn and cashews introduced; Arab Zanzibar-based slave trade; destruction of Mwanamutapa; 18th-mid-19th century, Portuguese slave trade to Brazil; 1820s, 1830s, invasion from the South by Nguni (Zulu-, Sazi- and Xhosa-related people); 19th century, Nguni Sgagana people dominated the South; Portuguese controlled the lower Zambezi; late 19th century Portuguese conquest and colonization of hinterland; Portuguese linkage with Angola blocked by British expansion into Rhodesia and Nysaland (Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi); 1891, British-Portuguese treaty on Southern African holdings; late-19th-20th century, Portuguese conquest; 1895-1897, the Shangana defeated; 1897-1900, the Nyanja defeated; 1912, Yao defeated; 1917, South conquered; 1926, post-revolution Portugal expanded settlement of Mozambique; ostensibly assimilatory African policies; post-war linked economically and militarily with White Rhodesia and South Africa; 1951, an overseas province of Portugal; 1960s, abolition of forced African labor; increasing Portuguese repression, Frelimo struggle; 1962, Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo) founded under Mondlane; 1964-1974, Frelimo-Portugal war; 1974, Salazar overthrown in Portugal; 1975, independence under Machel-led Frelimo (1964-1975 excess mortality 2.1 million); 1970s onwards, one-party, Marxist state; Mozambique support for African freedom fighters in South Africa (ANC) and Rhodesia (independence as Zimbabwe in 1980); 1979, White Rhodesian forces invaded; 1981, South Africa invaded, supported Portuguese colonist Renamo rebels with mercenaries; 1981-1992, war against Renamo terrorism; 1984, Mozambique-South Africa pact eventually collapsed; 1986 Machel killed (murdered?) in a plane crash; succeeded by Chissano; 1992, Renamo blocked drought-relief efforts; Frelimo-Renamo peace pact (1981-1992, excess mortality 2,5 million); 1994, UN overseen elections; Chissano elected; 1999, Frelimo, Chissano electoral victory; 2000, huge Limpopo and Changane flooding, 1 million displaced; 2004, electoral victory to Frelimo and Guebuza.
Foreign occupation: Portugal (pre-1950); Portugal (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: Portugal, South Africa, white Rhodesians; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 12.462m/19.495m = 63.9%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 7.200m/19.495m = 36.9%; HIV positive (2003) 7.0%.
Namibia: Pre-colonial occupation of Kalahari desert and adjoining areas by San (Bushmen) (BC), Nama (from 500AD), Herero (from 1600) and Ovambo people (from 1800); 15th century, Portuguese and Dutch contact; 18th century, British missionaries; 1840s, German missionaries; 1878, British took Walvis Bay; 1983, trading concession to the F.A.E. Lüderitz company from Bremen; 1884, German protectorate; 1880s, German invasion and settlement; 1903, Nama revolted; 1904-1907, Herero revolt and resultant German genocide – the Herero population dropped from 80,000 to 15,000; populations were driven into the desert to die; 1908, diamonds discovered at Lüderitz; 1915, British invaded; 1918, League of Nations trust territory; 1921-1922, revolt by Bondelzwarts Nama people crushed (aeroplanes used); 1945, South Africa would not give up the Mandate; 1947, South African annexation opposed by UN; 1966, UN declared South African annexation illegal; South West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO) commenced armed resistance; 1975-1988, SWAPO increased resistance activity from Angola; 1970s and 1980s, US, UK and European mining (uranium and diamonds); 1988, South Africa, Angola, Cuba and US agreed on peace (1966-1988 excess mortality 0.2 million); 1989, SWAPO victory in democratic elections; 1990, independence as Namibia with Nujomo as president: South Africa retained the port of Walvis Bay; 1994, Walvis Bay returned to Namibia; 1994, 1999, Nujomo re-elected; 2004, Pohambo (SWAPO) elected; 21 st century, huge HIV/AIDS problem.
Foreign occupation: Germany, Britain, South Africa (pre-1950); South Africa (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: South Africa; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 0.672m/2.032m = 33.1%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 0.281m/2.032m = 13.8%; HIV positive (2003) 10.7%.
Niger: prehistory, Sahara grasslands were home to shepherd Berber, Tuareg, Fulah, Nilotic and Tibu people; 11th century AD, Tuareg movement South; 13th century, Arabs and Berbers brought Islam; 14th century, Tuareg states based on Agadez and Bilma involved in North Africa-Nigeria trade Agadez; 14th century, Hausa states in Southern Niger; 17th century, part of the Songhai Empire based on Gao on the Niger in Mali; 18th century, part of the Northern Nigerian Bornu state; 19th century, Fulani control of South Niger; 1985, Berlin Conference awarded Niger to France; 1890s, French invasion; 1900, French military territory; 1904, Agadez captured from Tuaregs; 20th century, introduction of cash crops such as cotton and peanuts; from 1922, part of French West Africa; 1946, part of the French Union; 1950s, pro-French Niger Progressive party (PPN) and the socialist Sawaba Party lead by Djibo; 1960, independence under neo-colonial PPN lead by Diori; Sawaba outlawed; 1960s, some rebel activity by Sawaba supporters; 1970s and 1980s, severe drought in the Sahel region; 1974, coup by Kountché; 1980s, uranium exports; 1983, attempted coup and Tuareg rebellion; 1984-1986, Nigeria closed border; 1987, General Seybou succeeded Kountché; 1991-1993, transitional civilian rule; 1993, Ousmane elected; 1995, peace with Tuaregs; 1996, Mainassara coup; 1999, Mainassara killed in Wanké coup; suspension of French aid; Tandja Mamadou elected; 21st century, most people are agricultural but the human economy is compromised by low land tenure, deforestation and drought; traditional slavery still widespread.
Foreign occupation: France (pre-1950); France (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: France; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 6.558m/12.873m = 50.9%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 5.674m/12.873m = 44.1%; HIV positive (2003) 0.6%.
Nigeria: 1st millennium BC-200AD, iron-working Nok culture; 8th century-19th century, Northern Kenem-Bornu state North and South of Lake Chad; pre-colonial Yoruba cities (South) and 11th -19th century, century, Muslim Hausa city states (North); sometime tributaries or foes of the Kenem-Bornu state; 16th century, Hausa cities part of the Songhai Empire; 14th-19th century, Oyo state in South West Nigeria ruled Dahomey and Yoruba people; 15th-17th century, sophisticated Benin state in South West Nigeria; 15th century, Portuguese arrival; 16th-19th century, Portuguese, British and French slave trade; Igbo and Ibibio city states based on slave procurement; 1804, Fodio, an Islamic Fulani leader, conquered Hausa cities; 1817, his son, Bello, consolidated the Fulani state based on Sokoto; Bornu remained independent until about 1880; 1807, British abolished slavery; 19th century, palm oil industry replaced slavery; civil war in the Oyo state; 1861, Britain took Lagos; 1880s, Goldie secured interests for Britain along the Niger; 1883, Britain invaded the Oyo state; 1886, Royal Niger Company dominated Niger trade; 1894-1895, Berlin Conference awarded Nigeria to Britain; 1897, Benin taken by the British; 1900, Royal Charter revoked for the Royal Niger Company; 1903, Lugard captured Sokoto; 1906, British Colony (Lagos), British Protectorates in the North and the South; 1914, British united these disparate areas administratively; British exploited indigenous leaders; major tropical cash crops exploited (palm oil, peanuts, cotton); 1947, constitution based on traditional rulers; 1950s, increasing democratization and self-ggovernment for major regions; 1960, independence under Balewa (PM) and Azikiwe (governor-general); 1963, republic; Azikiwe president; 1966, Igbo military coup under Ironsi; Balewa and Western and Northern PMs killed; Northern revolt, Hausa military coup, General Gowon installed; Ironsi killed; massacres of Igbo (Ibo) people in the Hausa North; 1967, Ojukwu proclaimed independent Biafra in Eastern Nigeria; 1970, Biafra defeated in the genocidal civil war (Nigerian 1967-1970 excess mortality, 2.5 million); 1960s, oil industry developed; 1971, joined OPEC; 1970s, Sahel drought; 1975, Muhammad coup; 1976, Obasanjo coup; 1979, return to democracy; Shagari elected and thence overthrown; 1985, Babangida coup; 1993, Moshood Abiola won elections, was deposed, imprisoned and an interim government toppled by the Abacha coup; 1995, outrage when Ken Saro-Wiwa was executed; Nigeria suspended from the British Commonwealth; 1996, Kudirat Abiola (activist for husband Moshood Abiola) murdered; 1998 Abacha; General Abubakar succeeded; Abiola died in custody, riots over Abiola’s death; 1999, elections; General Obasanjo president; 21 st century, Sharia Law related violence in North; thousands were killed; 2002, Abacha’s family agreed to return corruptly acquired billions; billions; 2003, Ijaw violence against Itsekiri and oil installations; 2003, Obasanjo re-elected.
Foreign occupation: Britain (pre-1950); UK (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: UK, France; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 49.737m/130.236m = 38.2%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 38.297m/130.236m = 29.4%; HIV positive (2003) 2.9%.
Réunion: 1513, Portuguese found the island uninhabited; 1638, claimed for france by Cauche; 17th-19th century French settlement together with Chinese, Malay, African and Indian labor; 1869, opening of the Suez Canal greatly diminished its seaport importance; 1946, made an Overseas Department of France.
Foreign occupation: France (pre-1950); France (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: France; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 0.047m/0.777m = 6.0%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 0.041m/0.777m = 5.3%.
Rwanda: early inhabitants Pygmies (Twa); 10th century AD, Hutu settlement; 15th century, Tutsi invasion from north; 19th century, major Tutsi kings Mutari II and Kigeri IV; 1890, Kigeri IV accepted German control as part of German East Africa; 1897, German colonization (together with Tanzania and Burundi); 1916, Belgian forces occupied Rwanda; 1918, after WW1 Rwanda and Burundi under Belgians and administered from the Congo; 1946, Ruanda-Urundi UN Trust Territory; 1959, majority Hutus demanded greater say; 1959, Hutu revolt, departure of Belgians and of 0.1 million Tutsis; 1961, UN-sponsored elections won by Hutus; 1962, independent Rwanda separate from Burundi; president Kayibanda; 1965, 1969, Kayibanda re-elected; 1963, Hutu-Tutsi civil war after Burundi Tutsi incursion; 20,000 dead, 160,000 Tutsis expelled; 1971-1972, tensions with Uganda’s Idi Amin; 1973, renewed racial violence; 600 Tutsis fled to Uganda; General Habyarimana coup; 1978, new constitution; 1978, Habyarimana elected; 1982, Uganda expelled Tutsi refugees; 1983, 1988, Habyarimana successively re-elected; 50,000 Hutu refugees from Burundi; 1988, Uganda-Rwanda agreement on refugees; 1990, Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) Tutsi insurgents invaded from Uganda; 1993, power-sharing accommodation and UN mission established; 1994, Habyarimana and Burundi president killed in a plane crash; Hutu soldiers and gangs killed 0.5-1.0 million Tutsis and connected Hutus (Rwanda Genocide); RPF took over the country; 2 million Hutus fled; Hutu Pastor Bizimungu as president, Kagame as Defence Minister; 0.1 million Hutus died of disease in Congo camps; 1995, commencement of genocide trials (1990-1995 pentade excess mortality 1.1 million); 1996, 1 million Hutu refugees returned; 1997, Rwandan army and Hutus rebels in conflict; Rwandan forces aided Kabila in the Congo; 1998, Rwandan forces assisted anti-Kabila forces; 2000, Bizimungu resigned; Kagame president; 2002, Rwandan forces formally withdrawn from the Congo but continued incursions seeking Hutu rebels; 2003, Kagame elected in flawed elections; 2004, Bizimungu imprisoned.
Foreign occupation: Germany, Belgium (pre-1950); Belgium (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: Belgium; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 5.190m/8.607m = 60.3%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 2.577m/8.607m = 29.9%; HIV positive (2003) 3.1%.
Sao Tomé & Principe: 15th century, Portuguese slave trade base; Dutch, French, Spanish, British and Portuguese slavers used Sao Tomé; early slave rebellion put down but slave activism lived on in Brazil; 1869, cessation of slave trade but sugar, cocoa and coffee plantations run with indentured labor; 19th-mid-20th century, indentured labour system with “9-year slaves” from other Portuguese African colonies drew international protests; 1940s-1970s, severe repression under the Salazar Portuguese dictatorship; 1969, resistance organization Movement for the Liberation of Sao Tome and Principe (MLSTP) was founded; 1974, Salazar overthrown; 1975, independence; departure of many Europeans disrupted cocoa production; plots for mercenary invasion from Gabon; 1991, first free elections; frequent changes of government; 1995, 2003, coup attempts
Foreign occupation: Portugal (pre-1950); Portugal (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: Portugal; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 0.039m/0.169m = 23.1%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 0.033m/0.169m = 19.5%.
Senegal: Pre-colonial Uolof, Fulani and Tukolor peoples; 9th-14th century AD, Tukolor settled the Senegal valley; dominant Tekrur state; 11th century, Muslim Almovarid Tukolors ruled in Morocco; 14th century, Mali Empire encompassed Senegal; Tektur defeated; 15th-17th century, the Wolof people established the Joluf state; 1445-1446, Portuguese arrival; subsequent trading forts (notably on Gorée Island) ; 17th century, Dutch and French displaced the Portuguese; 1638, 1659, French posts near present-day Dakar; 1677, French captured Dutch Gorée; 1697-1720, Brüe headed Royal Senegal Company, extended French domain up-river (slaves, gum Arabic and ivory); 1756-1763, & Years war, Britain captured Senegal and formed Senegambia; 1775-1783, subsequent French recovery of possessions; 1815, Britain retained the immediate Senegal Valley (Gambia); 19th century, further French conquest; 1848, slavery abolished in France and thence cotton and peanut exports from Senegal; 1854-1885, war by the French; Walo defeated; Tukolor religious leader Umar constrained; 1895, Senegal a colony and part of French West Africa; 1902, Dakar HQ for French West Africa; 1930s and post-war, increasing pressure for independence; 1940-1942, Vichy rule; 1958, autonomous republic within the French Community; 1959, part of Senegal-French Sudan Mali Federation; 1960, independent within the French Community under Senghor; French domination of industry and cotton and peanut farming; political repression; 1981, Senghor resigned; Diouf president; Senegal intervened to suppress Gambia coup; Senegambia Confederation (independent sovereignty but common defence and economic links); 1983-1985, major Sahel drought; 1988, Diouf socialist electoral victory in a flawed process, Senegal-Mauritanian tensions with civil violence and thousands of Senegalese refugees; 1989, Guinea-Bissau dispute; Senegal and Mauritania broke relations and Gambia-Senegal tensions; Senegambia was dissolved; 1993, Diouf re-elected; 2000, opposition Wade won the presidential elections; 21st century, continuing fighting with Casamance rebels south of the Gambia.
Foreign occupation: France (pre-1950); France (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: France; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 4.457m/9.393m = 47.5%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 2.770m/9.393m = 29.5%; HIV positive (2003) 0.4%.
Seychelles: 1502, Portuguese Vasco da Gama arrived; 1756, occupied by France; 18th century, French colonization with plantations and slaves from Mauritius; 1794, British conquered and ruled from Mauritius; 1814, formal British possession; 1903, Crown Colony; 1948, legislative council; 1960s, increasing Afro-Indian activism; 1974, legislative elections, anti-independence conservative leader Mancham became interim president and gave key islands to UK; 1976, independence; 1977, Mancham deposed by socialist leader René who demanded the return of Diego Garcia to Mauritius; 1981, South African mercenary coup attempt; 1984, René re-elected; 1986, further coup attempt; 1993, multi-party democracy restored; 1993, 1998, 2001, René re-elected; 2004, René retired; replaced by his deputy Michel.
Foreign occupation: France, Britain (pre-1950); UK (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: UK, South African mercenaries.
Sierra Leone: pre-colonial coastal Temne people; 1460, Portuguese arrival; 15th century, Portuguese incursions; 16th century, Mande migration from Liberia; 16th-19th century, timber, ivory and slaves; 1787, 1792, attempts at free slave settlement at Freetown on land purchased from the Temne; 1807, British abolition of slavery; run-away slaves and the abolition of slavery in London led to Granville Sharp land purchase, colonization by Britain and takeover from the Sierra Leone company running Freetown; 19th century, 50,000 freed slaves settled; interior resistance to British rule; 1827, Fourah Bay College founded; 1896, British protectorate proclaimed over the interior; 1897, final British victory over indigenous resistance; post-war, palm oil, peanuts, diamonds and iron ore; 1960, autonomy with pro-British interim government; 1961, independence under conservative Mende Sir Milton Margai representing Creole, British and Syrian-Lebanese merchant interests; 1954, Albert Margai succeeded brother; 1967, elections won by Temne Stevens overturned by coup; 1968, coup re-installed Stevens; 1971-1973, Guinean troops to support Stevens; one-party rule; 1986, Momoh replaced Stevens; 1991, commencement of Liberian-backed Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebel attacks; 1990s, rebel violence, coups, civil war and international intervention; 1992, Strasser military coup; 1996, Bio coup; 1996, Kabbah elected; cease-fire with rebels; 1997, Koroma coup; UN sanctions; Economic Community of West African states (ECOWAS) sent Nigerian-led forces; 1998, Kabbah restored; continued violence; 1999, peace accord with RUF leader Sankoh; continued violence; UN peace-keepers (eventually 13,000); 2000, UN forces held hostage by rebels; British forces involved; ban on rebel-funding diamond sales; 2001, sanctions on Liberia; rebel and pro-government militia disarmament (1991-2001 excess mortality 1.1 million); 2002, elections; Kabbah re-elected; 2003, UN diamond ban lifted; 70,000 rebels and militias disarmed; 2004, 8,000 UN peacekeepers remained.
Foreign occupation: Britain (pre-1950); Britain (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: UK, Guinea, UN peacekeepers (Nigeria, UK); post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 4.548m/5.340m = 85.2%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 2.846m/5.340m = 53.3%.
Somalia: Early trade with Romans and Egyptians; Galla, Haussa and Yemeni settlements; 7th-10th century AD, Muslim Arab and Persian trading and settlements; 15th-16th century, Christian Ethiopian and Muslim Somali conflict; 1541, Portuguese destroyed major towns; 1698, Portuguese expelled; 18th–19th century, Ottoman Turkish control of north, Zanzibar Arab control of south; mid-19th century, the Suez Canal construction impelled territorial seizures by Italy (Eritrea), Britain (Berbera, Zelia) and France (Obuck, now Djibouti); 1870, partial Egyptian occupation; 1884, Egyptians withdrew; 1896, Italians defeated by Ethiopia; 1906, Italians took the South coast of Somalia; 1885-1920, Somali resistance to British crushed using air power; 1925, Jubaland conquered by the Italians; 1936, Italian-occupied Somalia incorporated with Ethiopia and Eritrea into Italian East Africa; 1941, British forces from Kenya defeated the Italians; 1950, Italian Somaliland a UN Trust Territory under Italian control; 1960, Italian and thence British Somalia independence; union as United Republic of Somalia; 1969, coup under Barre; 1974, joined the Arab League; 1976-1988, war by US- and Saudi-backed Somalia against USSR-backed Ethiopia over the Ogaden region, 840,000 refugees fled to Somalia; 1980, US gained Berbera base; Somalia-Ethiopia peace accord (1976-1988 excess mortality 1.4 million); 1991, coup; North Somalia (formerly British) seceded; Mogadishu civil war between Mahdi and Aidid factions; 1992, famine due to drought exacerbated by civil war (0.3 million famine deaths); UN aid; 1993, Pakistan peacekeeper deaths; US forces entry; US left; 1995, last UN forces left; 1996, Aidid died of wounds; 1997, devastating floods; 1998, Northeast Puntland region and Jubaland (South Somalia) declared independence; 21st century, fragmented country (Northern Somaliland, Southwestern Somaliland, Northeast Puntland and Mogadishu region); 2002, ceasefire covering most areas; continuing attempts at resolution with Kenyan facilitation (1991-2005, excess mortality 1.9 million).
Foreign occupation: Turks, French, British, Italians (pre-1950); UK (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: UK, US, UN (Pakistan peacekeepers); post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 5.568m/10.742m = 51.8%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 3.582m/10.742m = 33.3%.
South Africa: San (Bushmen) the earliest inhabitants; 1st century AD, Khoikhoi (Hottentot) people settled; 1488, Portuguese Dias arrived; 15th century onwards; Cape of Good Hope on route of Vasco da Gama and others to India; 1652, van Riebeeck, Dutch East Indian Company and first Dutch settlement; 1713, smallpox killed many Europeans and most of the Cape Khoikhoi; 17th-19th century, Dutch Afrikaaner (Boer) expansion north; 17th-mid-20th century, wars against Africans (“kaffirs”), notably the Xhosa and Zulus; 1795, British occupation during the Napoleonic wars; 1814, formal British possession by the Congress of Vienna; 1834-1845, Great Trek of Boers inland; 1838, Boers defeated the Zulus; 1843, British annexation of Natal; 1852-1854, independence of Transvaal and Orange Free State; 19th century, Boers enslaved and exterminated native people; 1867, gold and diamonds discovered in Transvaal; 1860, first Indian indentured labor in Natal; late 19th century, major importation of Indian and Chinese indentured labour; 1895, Jameson’s raid on Transvaal failed to precipitate a non-Boer (Uitlander) uprising; 1899-1902, British versus Afrikaaner Boer War, 50,000 dead, 28,000 (mainly women and children) died in British concentration camps; 1912, African National Congress (ANC) founded; 1948, Afrikaaner nationalist victory and increasing racist Apartheid legislation legitimizing dispossession, confinement and control of the African, Asian and part-European majority; 1960, Sharpeville massacre of Africans leading to increasing World opposition, sanctions and boycotts; 1961, South Africa cut British Commonwealth ties; 1960s-1980s, crucial covert UK and US support for South Africa; South African military attacks in the “front-line” neighbouring countries; 1990, Namibian independence; 1993, collapse of Apartheid and majority rule under Nelson Mandela; post-independence HIV/AIDS epidemic with 11.9% of the population infected (2003).
Foreign occupation: Netherlands, Afrikaaner, Britain (pre-1950); Afrikaaner (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: Afrikaaner, Israel (nuclear weapons technology); post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 13.534m/45.323m = 29.9%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 4.623m/45.323m = 10.2%; HIV positive (2003) 11.9%.
Swaziland: 19th century AD, Sobhuza I led various African groups in North East South Africa evading genocidal Boer and Zulu violence; 1839, Sobhuza I’s son M’swazi the new leader; Zulu defeat by the Boers and increasing Boer threat; 1867, British Protectorate established; 1894, protectorate of the Transvaal; 1906, British High Commission Territory; 1961, South Africa cut British Commonwealth ties; continued British rule; 1963, local autonomy; 1967, constitutional monarchy; 1968, independence within the British Commonwealth under Sobhuza II but with close ties with South Africa; 1978, constitutional change entrenching royal power; 1982, Mswati III; 1980s, South African military incursions attacking ANC opponents; 1992, severe drought; 1990s-present, pressure for democracy but continued royal power; HIV/AIDS epidemic (highest incidence in the world).
Foreign occupation: Netherlands, Afrikaaner, Britain (pre-1950); UK (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: Afrikaaner South African hegemony; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 0.471m/1.087m = 43.3%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 0.233m/1.087m = 21.4%; HIV positive (2003) 20.6%.
Tanzania: prehistoric Paleolithic cultures; 1st millennium AD, coastal trade with India, SW Asia and NE Africa eventually leading to trading settlements; trading contacts with present-day Indonesia; about 1000, Bantu settlers from the West and the South; about 1200, Kilwa traded with Sofala in Mozambique; 1498, Vasco da Gama arrived; 1505, Kilwa conquered by the Portuguese; 1587, Zimba people from the South massacred nearly half of Kilwa; 1698, Omani removal of the Portuguese; 17th-19th century, Omani commerce (slaves, gold, ivory and skins) was based on Zanzibar and Mombasa; 19th century, early European visits; Nyamwezi state in Central and Northern Tanzania; Tippu Tib controlled Zanzibar slave trade to Zambia and the East Congo; 1841, Omani Sayyid Said ruled from Zanzibar; 1886, Anglo-German agreement over areas of control; 1887, German East Africa company ruled Tanzania and Rwanda and Burundi (from 1890); indigenous resistance, plantations and missionaries; 1905-1907, Maji Maji revolt suppressed by the Germans with 75,000 Africans killed; 1916, WW1, British and Belgian occupation; 1919, Tanzania a British mandate; 1926, a legislative assembly was established; 1954, Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) founded by Nyerere; 1961, Tanzania became independent under Nyerere; 1961-1995, effective one-party socialist rule; 1978, Uganda invaded; 1979, Tanzania invaded Uganda and displaced dictator Idi Amin;1982, Tanzanian forces left Uganda (whereupon rebellion escalated); 1977-1983, tensions with Kenya resulting in the border closure; 1985, Nyerere resigned; Mwinyi president; 1990s, 0.3 million refugees from war in Burundi; 1995, multi-party elections; Mkapa elected in flawed elections; 2000, Mkapa re-elected; 21st century, flawed democracy; HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Foreign occupation: Germany, Britain, Belgium (pre-1950); UK, Uganda (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: UK, Uganda; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 14.682m/38.365m = 38.3%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 8.991m/38.365m = 23.4%; HIV positive (2003) 4.4%.
Togo: Pre-colonial Ewe people in the South, Volta people in the North; 16th-19th century, British, French, Portuguese, Spanish slavery in the “Slave Coast”; Ashanti participated in collecting slaves; 1840s, German missionaries and traders; 1884, German colony; 1897, treaty with France; 1904, treaty with Britain; 1914-1818, WW1; 1914, Anglo-French conquest and occupation; 1922, League of nations mandate between France and Britain; 1946, UN Trust Territories; 1956, Western part to Ghana, Eastern part to France; major phosphate deposits; 1960, independence of French Togoland as Togo under Olympio; 1961, Olympio president; 1966, tensions with Ghana; 1963, military coup, Olympio killed and succeeded by his brother-in-law Grunitzky; 1969, coup by General Eyadéma who set up a one-party system; political repression; 1980s, refugees from Ghana and Burkina-Faso; 1985, Lomé Deal regulating EEC-Third World economic relations; 1986, attempted coup; 1979, 1986, 1993, 1998, 2003, Eyadéma “re-elected” in “elections” with a repressed opposition; 21st century, poverty, repression and HIV epidemic.
Foreign occupation: Germany, Britain, France (pre-1950); UK, France (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: France (hegemony); post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 1.950m/5.129m = 38.0%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 1.186m/5.129m = 23.1%.; HIV positive (2003) 2.3%.
Uganda: 500BC, Bantu settlement; 13th century AD, shepherding Bacwezi people conquered northern Uganda; 14th Cwezi states; 15th century, Nilotic Luo people founded Buganda; 17th-18th century, rise of Eastern Buganda state; 16th-17th century, Bunyoro state in the South; 18th-19th century, extension of Buganda power; Ganda trade in slaves and ivory; 1869-mid-1880s, Bunyoro under Kabarega expanded using Western arms but was eventually defeated by Buganda; 1862, Speke explored the region; about 1875, US explorer Stanley and thence Christian missionaries in the region; late 19th century, increasing Muslim and Christian tensions; 1890, British-German treaty; 1894, British protectorate; 1904, beginning of cotton production; 20th century, British personal ownership-based “land reform” and cash crops distorted society; Indian immigration; disempoerement of Buganda; 1953-1955, Mutesa II exiled; independence, Dr Milton Obote (a Lango) the first prime minister; 1966, constitution abolished Bugandan autonomy; 1971, coup installed General Idi Amin; cultivated the Ganda; split with US and Israel over destabilization; 1972, expulsion of Indians; severe repression (0.3 million killed); 1976, Israeli Entebbe raid; 1978, Amin annexed part of Tanzania; Tanzania removed Amin; successive rule by Lule and Binaisa; 1980, democracy restored and Obote victory; 1981, Tanzanian forces left; National Resistance Army (NRA) rebellion; 0.2 million refugees to Rwanda, Sudan and the Congo; 1985, Okello coup removed Obote; 1986, NRA Museveni took over; effective ban on political parties; Northern rebel activity by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) commenced involving former government soldiers; 1996, 2001, Museveni elected; 1997, forces helped install Kabila in the Congo (Zaire); 1998, forces opposed Kabila; 1999, conflict with Rwandan forces in the Congo; 2000, religious mass murder-suicide event killed 800; 2003, final withdrawal of forces from the Congo; 21st century, continued LRA rebel activity in the North with atrocities against civilians; 21st century, persistent northern guerrilla war, crippled economy and HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Foreign occupation: Britain (pre-1950); UK (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: Tanzania (Amin overthrow), Israel (Entebbe airport hostage rescue); post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 11.121m/27.623m = 40.3%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 6.301m/27.623m = 22.8%; HIV infection (2003) 2.1%.
Western Sahara: 4th century BC, trade with Europe; 5th century AD, Tuareg, Berber (Moor) and Tubu people; 1434, Portuguese contact; 1884, Spanish protectorate asserted to protect the Canary Islands; 1886 Berlin Conference allocated Western Sahara territory to Spain and Morocco to France; 1904, border agreement between France and Spain; 20th century, French and Spanish war against indigenous resistance; 1934, Essemara captured by the Spanish; 1956, Morocco independent; 1957, Spanish ousted but restored with French help (1958); 1958, Spanish formed Spanish Sahara; 1950s onwards, phosphate deposit exploitation, increasing resistance; 1967, Polisario Front founded; 1970s, increased pro-independence activity (supported by Algeria) for the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic; 1975, Morocco claim to Western Sahara (march of 300,000 Moroccans) was rejected; Spain ceded Spanish Sahara to Morocco (Northern 2/3) and Mauritania (Southern 1/3); 1976, Polisario Front war with Morocco and Mauritania; 1979, Mauritania made peace with the Polisario Front; 1991, UN cease-fire.
Foreign occupation: France, Spain (pre-1950); Spain, Morocco, Mauritania (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: Spain, Morocco, Mauritania; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 0.063m/0.324m= 19.4%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 0.052m/0.324m = 16.0%.
Zambia: early San (Bushmen) people; 800AD, first Bantu settlement; 16th-18th century, Bantu people from Angola and Congo; 18th century, Lunda state; 18th -19th century, Portuguese and Arab slave trade from Mozambique; trade in copper and slaves; 1835, Ngoni (Zulu) invaded from the South; 1830s, Lozi Kingdom of Barotseland ruled by Kololo people from the South; 1851, Dr Livingstone explored the Zambezi; 1889, Cecil Rhodes’ British South Africa Company given mining and trade monopolies by Lozi Kingdom and other groups; 1909, railway to Indian Ocean for copper and agricultural produce; increased European settlement; 1924, UK took direct control; late 1920s, copper exploitation began in the Copperbelt; 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, copper worker strikes; 1953, British Federation of Northern Rhodesia (future Zambia), Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), and Nyasaland (Malawi); opposed by the Northern Rhodesia African Congress under Nkumbula; 1950s, African struggle for independence led by Kenneth Kaunda; 1958, European population about 70,000; 1959, Kaunda led the United African Independence Party (UNIP); 1964, Zambia independent under Kaunda but surrounded by racist states dominated by Europeans (US-Belgium-dominated Congo, White-ruled Namibia/Botswana/South Africa and Southern Rhodesia and Portuguese-ruled Mozambique and Angola); 1965, joined sanctions against White-ruled Rhodesia; 1969, Dar-es-Salaam to Ndola oil pipeline; 1972, one-party state under Kaunda’s UNIP; 1974, China-built the Great Uhuru Tanzania-Zambia railway to avoid Portuguese Mozambique; 1965-1980, Zimbabwe struggle for majority rule; White Rhodesian military incursions and economic sabotage; 1980, Zimbabwe independence; 1986, South Africa invaded over Namibia guerrillas and ANC rebels; 1991, Chiluba’s Multiparty Democracy Party (MDP) won the elections; 1993, emergency after coup plot; 1996, Chiluba re-election; 1997, coup attempt, emergency and repression; 2001, Mwanawasa (MDP) elected in flawed elections; 1990s, 21st century, dire poverty and huge HIV/AIDS crisis.
Foreign occupation: Britain (pre-1950); UK (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: UK, South Africa (invasion), White Rhodesia (invasion); post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 5.463m/11.043m= 49.5%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 2.848m/11.043m = 25.8%; HIV positive (2003) 8.6%.
Zimbabwe: early Iron Age civilization; 5th century AD, Bantu settlement; 12th–15th century, Karanga (Shona) civilization with mining, trade and impressive fortifications (notably Zimbabwe); 16th century, Portuguese destruction of Indian Ocean Sofala disrupted Karanga trade via Mozambique; 1834, genocidal Zulu expansion forced Shona North; Zulu Ndebele branch settled in Southern Matabeleland; 1861, London Missionary Society; 1889, Rudd Concession from Ndbele opened up European invasion by Boers and British (Cecil Rhodes’ British South Africa Company); 1890, Fort Salisbury founded by Jameson; 1893, Ndebele defeated and dispossessed of their land; 1896-1897, Ndebele and Shona revolts suppressed; 1914, Company charter renewed subject to future settler self-rule; 1923, self-governing White-ruled Rhodesia; 1953, Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland; 1960, the 5% European minority owned 70% of the land; 1960s, African National Congress (ANC) struggle for independence; 1963, Northern Rhodesia became independent Zambia; Nyasaland became independent Malawi; 1965, Ian Smith Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI); UK refused to suppress the rebellion; UN embargo violated by South Africa, Portugal and the West (notably the UK and the US); 1970, Rhodesian republic; 1970s, guerrilla warfare by Mugabe’s Zimbawe African National Union (ZANU) (from Mozambique) and Nkomo’s Zimbawe African People’s Union (ZAPU) (from Zambia); 1971, UK-Rhodesia accord for increased African role; 1975, Mozambique independence; Smith attacked Zambia and Mozambique; 1965-1980, war made 1 million homeless, huge mortality from violence, deprivation and disease; 1978, internal settlement; 1980, peace with interim formal UK control and supervised elections (1965-1980 excess mortality 0.7 million; 25,000 killed); Robert Mugabe (ZANU-PF or ZANU Patriotic front) PM ruled together with Joshua Nkomo’s minority ZAPU; 1982-1987, repression of ZAPU stronghold Matabeleland; eventual rapprochement after widespread violence; 1988, ZAPU fusion with ZANU-PF and and Nkomo return to government; 1987, 1992, 1996, 2002, Mugabe re-elected in flawed elections; 1992, Land Acqusition Act to restore land to Africans; 1990s, 21st century, UK hostility over land acquisition from Europeans, increasing repression, food shortages and poverty; 1997, one quarter of the population HIV positive; 2000, major electoral showing by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change under Morgan Changirai (Tsvangirai); followed by increased repression; 2002, forced removal of White farmers leaving 600 out of 4,500 pre-redistribution 2005, deliberate rendering of nearly 1 million people jobless and homeless by the Mugabe government’s politically-motivated “slum-clearance” program; huge HIV/AIDS problem.
Foreign occupation: Britain (pre-1950); UK (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: UK; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 4.653m/12.963m= 35.9%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 1.800m/12.963m = 13.9%; HIV positive (2003) 14.1%.
7.3 Summary
Non-Arab Africa has in general the worst excess mortality, literacy, annual per capita income and HIV infection burden of all the major regions of the World. All of the countries of non-Arab Africa were still occupied by First World countries in the post-war era but eventually secured indigenous rule. The 5 century colonial period successively involved the European, African and Arab slave trade (15th-19th century, with slavery still continuing today in parts of the Sahel and coastal West Africa); resource-driven European conquest mainly in the 19th century and involving destruction of indigenous societies that had evolved to maximize nutrition and protection from disease (notably malaria); brutal exploitation (rubber, ivory, timber, minerals) variously involving terrorized populations (notably the Belgian Congo), forced labour, indentured Asian labour (South Africa) and “economic slavery”; extensive European colonization of African lands in Kenya and Southern Africa.
The period after colonial or minority White rule typically involved neo-colonial First World impositions that variously included continued dispossession from land, neo-colonial control, corrupt and incompetent rule by First World-installed client régimes (or successor governments dominated by the military and/or privileged élites), malignant interference by First World powers (notably the UK, the US, Portugal and France), economic exclusion, economic constraint, militarization, debt, civil war and international war. The horrendous HIV/AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa (and especially in the formerly British Empire countries of Southern Africa) reveals the dimensions of the appallingly incompetent governance in these countries. The spread of HIV was utterly preventable and the catastrophic, continuing further spread is still preventable with sensible governance. Continuing government incompetence, poverty, First World disregard and the general absence in these countries of life-saving pharmaceuticals for treatment of primary HIV infection and of consequent medical conditions all mean that this appalling avoidable mortality will continue to increase.
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