...

g/Africa

629 followers

Africa has her mysteries, and even a wise man cannot understand them. I never knew of a morning in Africa when I woke up that I was not happy — Ernest Hemingway

Ask an anonymous Africa related question...

LagosLast activity 2 months ago

I pick Ikeja because I was born in Ikeja and it is the most diverse in terms of tribes and ethnicities living together

AfricaLast activity 3 months ago

Africa's Population Density Displayed In Burning Fire Color

I must admit I'm surprised by how densely populated Madagascar is

Add a comment...

Anonymous

3 months ago

Wow, Madagascar displays way more fascinating than I assumed it was as an inexperienced African

Anonymous

3 months ago

It's a vast and challenging country to get around, so I wouldn't recommend it for a light vacation unless you're willing to spend a good chunk of time (at least a few weeks) and some moderately severe cash on guides, vehicles, and higher-end hotels. Nonetheless, it's a unique place for sooooo many reasons - ecological, cultural, historical, and gastronomical - that it's super interesting to learn about. 

If you do incline to come despite the various hardships, I can't recommend it highly enough. Once you're in-country, you can get some of the best French cooking in the world at bargain basement prices (check out Pourquoi Pas or Citizen in Tana), eat incredible soups in Tamatave, see a wide variety of lemurs and chameleons at any number of places (e.g. Andasibe, Ranomafana, Tzimbazaza), hike through rainforests, dry forests, mountains, deserts, and vast plains, visit UNESCO world heritage sites like the royal palace complex at Ambohimanga and limestone canyons with razor-sharp cliffs known as tsingy, and meet some of the sweetest people on the planet.

You'll also witness poverty of an intensity you've almost certainly never encountered before. The country is currently the 3rd poorest in the world, with 75 and 80% of the population earning less than $1.90 a day. You will experience infrastructure so incredibly neglected that it's constantly on the brink of collapse. You will be made vividly aware of the devastation of several of the unique ecosystems on the planet, rendered thus by uneducated rural populations with no source of alternative livelihoods to the traditional slash-and-burn and paddy agricultural systems. 

You will watch people deforest the remaining rainforest stands in front of your very eyes to provide food for themselves and their children or fuel for their cookfires. For all its faults, it is blessedly low on the violence front (although there has been a recent sharp uptick of violent cattle raiding and robbery incidents in the south associated with weakened state control and severe drought, and the vanilla and rosewood cartels in the north are also to be respected), but don't mistake it for a paradise. 

It's a land of extremes in every sense, and the human misery that drives these destructive processes shows few, if any, signs of improvement under the current government. Nevertheless, you have the money to step outside your comfort zone. In that case, it's one of the most exciting places I've ever been, with a dizzying array of human and natural diversity that will surely leave you wanting more.

What's interesting is how the center is thick than the coast, something unique for an island nation. It has to do with the central highlands providing a more temperate climate than the tropical coasts, but it could be something else.

The central highlands have been historically the province of the Merina (/Hova) and Betsileo peoples, both of whom have a strong rice paddy culture, lots of good land, and less variable/more agriculturally-appropriate rainy seasons relative to the worse soils and large inter- and intra-annual variation in rainfall observed on the coasts. The east coast was predominantly rainforest until the mid-19th century.

The Betsimisaraka, Betanimena, Tanala, and smaller ethnic groups of that coast essentially practice shifting swidden agriculture that can't support the same population densities as seen in the highlands. At the same time, the Sakalava and west coast ethnic groups have more arid and temperate climates that tend to support grazing and dryland agriculture, which also is less productive than paddy rice.

The Merina kingdoms of old (17th-end of the 19th century) also conquered most of the island before being overwhelmed by the French in 1896. The urban polity they built their empire around, the modern capital of Antananarivo in the center of the country, has been the largest city on the island ever since, providing a further draw toward the center and away from the coasts.

Thanks a lot for the thorough explanation!

Anonymous

3 months ago

Of course! Even that explanation oversimplifies complex societal dynamics, ecological constraints, and the impact of historical events. For instance, the prevalence of mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue is much higher in the lowlands than in the highlands, introducing another set of pressures on the population distribution. For another, the practice of Corvée labor that began during the Imerina kingdom and continued under French colonial rule meant that large numbers of subject peoples were brought to the highlands to participate in forced labor for months each year, many of whom never left.

How does the lemur kingdom factor into all of this?

AfricaLast activity 3 months ago

Africa's Population Density Displayed In Burning Fire Color

This map makes me interested in what this would look like without the impacts of European colonialism, specifically if the Congo were much more populous. I only say that because I have read a few books on what the Belgians and other nations perpetrated there.

Add a comment...

This question is not an easy one to answer. The Belgian repulsiveness is evaluated to have caused 5 to 10 million deaths. Just a few decades before that, the Arab slave trade caused some demographic disturbances in the east of what's now Congo. For four centuries before that, millions were shipped to America while a couple of million others migrated from Angola to Congo, escaping slavery.

The Atlantic coast from Gabon to Angola would be much more populated, and the Tanganyika region of Congo and Tanzania would look a bit brighter, like the other great lakes in that region.

It will be a completely different country. There were many kingdoms in central Africa, and Kongo was the most popular due to its strong relationship with Europe since the 15th century. I also think the Igbos had a strong tie with the original Congo and fled to South Nigeria due to slavery. The languages sound similar. What do I know, though?

Interesting that Igbo will show up without concrete evidence or a tangible claim to something? I once met a Congo(or similar) man name Chima. He said his tribe has nothing to do with the Igbos. I asked him the meaning of his name and it was the same with the Igbos. There is something we may really not know

Without Belgium, Congo will be considerably more miniature.

VideoLast activity 3 months ago

My Question is simple if Baba Fela was still alive, who would have been his candidate? Bet me it not BAT nor Atiku

VideoLast activity 3 months ago

The Americans are masters of using familiar-looking faces to push their state department and CIA propaganda. The subtle message they're making here is "the white man is bad, and China is equally as bad."

China didn't colonize us and never couped us or armed rebels or started a civil war on the continent. China has never attacked an African country as the oyimbos did to Libya and Somalia. China is giving us loans on far better terms and letting us decide what we build instead of lecturing us as the west does.

They see that China is giving us an alternative to western hegemony, and they don't like it. They want us to say no to the new railways, ports, and dams and never industrialize. We should keep exporting raw materials and cocoa and be poor forever like good little slaves.

Add a comment...

Anonymous

3 months ago

I’ve had this entire conversation with you. In your determination to run away from the white man, you'll apply lipstick on a pig, blind yourself to the “Peoples Republic “activities, and ignore that everyone is indeed out to take our shyte.

Honestly, it’s sad seeing how so many Africans will prostitute themselves to any charlatan that offers them salvation, refusing to do the hard work necessary to reconstruct the African continent with the only process we know that’s actually worked and worked over and over again. Detente.

Instead, we’ll want to join the PRC in their losing Hegemonic challenge in the hopes that we’ll get to decide on the new order. The same delusional choice we made during the Cold War. But then again, the Cold War propaganda is thick on this continent amongst the so-called “liberation minded.”

If you know how china is stealing African resources, you'd realize they need to have us in their best interest. Both sides are bad for Africa. As Thomas sankara said, "he who feeds you controls you" We are still a slave to these people. Some of you don't know what Nigerians are going through from the foreigners on our soil, how they are shipping out resources, and mining Gold on a large scale in Osun state. Do your research, and you'd know westerners and Asians are not our friends.

Wonder how it's looking for the residents working for Chinese-owned companies.

We should be refining and building our stuff, not waiting for the Chinese to do anything.

Anonymous

4 months ago

VideoLast activity 4 months ago

Nice video! My Godmother is from Sierra Leone and always told me that the Western perception of Africa is wrong. Even African Americans don't truly know because our heritage has been stripped and we have to actively pursue learning about African culture. This video shows that just like the states there are rural and non rural beautiful areas. We are not still in huts. My Godmother would say people in the modern world who still live in those communities choose to, but that does not represent the whole of the continent. Great share and hopefully educates!

Anonymous

4 months ago

VideoLast activity 4 months ago

I have to make it my priority to visit! My maternal line is rooted in a Mende Woman. Proud beyoond measure. Thanks for the video and the point made.

NigeriaLast activity 4 months ago

Yes, practice usual or slightly heightened caution, depending on the region. And do not go pretty close to the north for now, not necessarily because you're a woman but because it's generally dangerous for everyone. You should bring a giant sun hat and shades. If you want to go out at nighttime, I'd recommend sticking to Lagos or Abuja, as they're the most nighttime-friendly cities/states. If you are Igbo, I will recommend Owerri. Been there, and they have a solid social nightlife scene. I don't know about the other states; anyone can correct me.

Since you said "one day," I don't need to point out that it's not a good idea to come anytime between now and April (see: elections)

Add a comment...

Anonymous

4 months ago

Oh, ok, good to know! I was afraid the first answer would be no since the west paints a picture of Africa, in general, being poor and unsafe (Unless it's Egypt or maybe South Africa? 🙄) but then makes it seem only attractive when tribes are being documented for National Geographic or its wildlife.

But then, ever since I became interested in my heritage, and one day, someone told me not to believe everything the media tells me, I have a different outlook on Africa and that it's not all unsafe and poor.

Also, I hope to visit the regions where The Yoruba are since that's part of my heritage.

Yea, it's a common stereotype that Africa is poor and unsafe, there are poor and hazardous regions, but that's not ALL there is, and that's the mistake people make

EXACTLY, it's frustrating, but it's good to ask questions. Well, you're lucky because Lagos is solidly in the Yoruba region. They even opened a new Yoruba history museum/cultural center just last week (maybe coincidentally for you). Anyway, all the other Yoruba states are in the South and easily accessible from Lagos, so you shouldn't have a problem. I'm not Yoruba, and I don't know much about their landmarks, but I'd recommend you take time to visit Badagry, the Slave Museum, and the Point of no return (where enslaved people were boarded onto the ships).

Unfortunately, since you're mainly interested in Yoruba culture, you won't necessarily have a reason to visit Abuja or the eastern part of Nigeria. Maybe even Calabar. I am sure you will love it there, too, if you are curious about where the Caribbean culture originated from.

We look forward to having you!

You can also consider Portharcourt city a great place to be at too

AfricaLast activity 4 months ago

Pictures Of The Ancient Benin Kingdom Of West Africa
Pictures Of The Ancient Benin Kingdom Of West Africa
Pictures Of The Ancient Benin Kingdom Of West Africa
Pictures Of The Ancient Benin Kingdom Of West Africa

I'm reading the history of Nigerian architecture, and I'm currently reading about the Benin kingdom. It's nice to see elements I've only imagined from words in these pictures. Thank you for sharing. I would appreciate getting links to these images or other sources to learn more about ancient Benin.

Add a comment...

Pictures Of The Ancient Benin Kingdom Of West Africa

LagosLast activity 4 months ago

I remember growing up in one of these around Ikotun Market. Maybe I'm just nostalgic, but it was fun because it was like a small community in the compound. We, the kids, would play football in the compound car park, and neighbors would hang out with each other whenever there was a birthday. Everyone came. It was pretty nice. Although when there was drama, there was no way around it 😅

Recommended Topics


g/Nigeria

886 followers

Last activity 24 days ago


g/People

1741 followers

Last activity 24 days ago


g/Fun

1552 followers

Last activity 2 months ago


g/Central Bank Of Nigeria

210 followers

Last activity 2 months ago

Post a reply


PollWhat Nigerian City Do You Recommend That A Tourist Or Foreigner Must Visit And Experience While In Nigeria?

Nigeria9 answersLast activity 4 months ago

55 votes

Poll ends 14 days from now