“Africa is a country” is a common belief among Americans. It pictures Africa, meaning black Africa, as a place like Italy or China, a place where everyone pretty much looks the same, dresses the same, eats the same and talks the same. “Say something in African,” they ask.
Even those who “know” it is a continent divided into dozens of countries still tend to think that way when, say, watching the news.
For example, every now and then on the news you will see a boy who is skin and bones sitting in the dust somewhere in Africa. He will die if food aid does not arrive in time.
The news report is perfectly true: he is skin and bones and he will die if food does not come. Millions in Africa have died that way before. It is not made up, not for a nanosecond.
The trouble comes when that boy is seen in terms of “Africa is a country”. His somewhere in Africa then becomes everywhere in Africa. Because Africa is a country where things are pretty much the same from coast to coast, like America.
Only the worst news about Africa – and not even all of that – makes it to America. Then it is applied to all of Africa, because Africa is a country:
- The boy who is skin and bones in Sudan becomes how Africa is.
- The bad leadership of Mugabe in Zimbabwe becomes how Africa is.
- Aids in South Africa becomes how Africa is.
- The senseless mass killings in Rwanda become how Africa is.
- The 12-year-old boy with a machine gun in Sierra Leone becomes how Africa is.
Africa can never become more than its bad news because most Americans know so little about the place to add enough balance.
Even worse, this news is being laid on top of racism, a racism that already expects the worst of black people – making the bad news seem more telling than it is and the racism, in turn, more true than it is.
Africa is huge: it is three times bigger than America in both land and people.
Africa is a continent of a billion people. That is bigger than the whole world was up till 1800. Bigger than it was in the time of the Bible. Bigger than it was in the time of Shakespeare.
Africa has at least a thousand languages, which means at least a thousand cultures. Meaning each country has dozens of cultures of its own! So even the countries are not countries in the Western sense.
Africa has way more genetic diversity than the rest of the world – because it is the root of mankind. Deep down we are all Africans no matter what our colour or country.
So while there is some truth to the stereotypes about Africa – it is easy to find supporting examples in a land of a billion people – they are profoundly false. Because any stereotype about a place that big would have to be.
Peters Projection, which shows continents according to their true size
See also:
Abagond 
“Africa has at least a thousand languages, which means at least a thousand cultures.”
That’s way too conservative an estimate. If you count speakers of Swahili (or some variant) alone, you have about a 100 cultures; about double that for Arabic speakers. Yes, there is polyglot overlap, but the fact remains that Africa consists of immensely diverse cultures.
LikeLike
Abahond, as a military child, I grew up in Europe, specifcalky Germany. (just gat back to the states whoop whoop) I have noticed the exact opposite thing happens to Europe. Like how on TV every thing is neat and clean, the history, cultures,etc. Well most if it is a lie! Most of Europe isn’t that clean at all. There are alot of poor people and most of the buildings are old. Of corse the tourist spots are clean, but you unlikely to live there. Most of the famed historical buildings are under construction for most of the year. I could go on, but do you see my point?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Even worse, this news is being laid on top of racism, a racism that already expects the worst of black people – making the bad news seem more telling than it is and the racism, in turn, more true than it is
Bollocks! It is expectation based on experience over hundreds of years
LikeLike
Troll/Alan, you’re what makes this blog worthwhile. [/sarcasm] *gag*
LikeLike
Hello Juan. A good answer though wasn’t it?
LikeLike
Im pretty sure Africa has more than a thousand cultures. In Nigeria there’s about 250 different languages spoken, and thats just one country!
Its funny people actually ask me to say something in “African” when I tell them there is no such language they ask me to say something in “Nigerian”
Haha
LikeLike
The problem of Africa being viewed as a country is two fold. First is this, you said “…Because Africa is a country where things are pretty much the same from coast to coast, like America” It should read …like the United States. Most people in the States consider it America to the exclusion of Mexico, Canada, Panama, Guatamala or Brazil…I think you get the point. This is the United States OF America, not America. This smacks of continental hubris.
Second problem are the Africans themselves. Often when I’ve met someone who is from the continent of Africa and I ask where they are from, they often respond with “I’m from Africa.” This helps reinforce the thought that Africa is just one big gigantic country and it is not. I think we both the African and the people of the States should re-adjust what we are saying when speaking of Africa and America.
LikeLike
how could anyone not know Africa is a continent?
LikeLike
Good post, abagond. I agree entirely.
EnSayn,
“Second problem are the Africans themselves. Often when I’ve met someone who is from the continent of Africa and I ask where they are from, they often respond with “I’m from Africa.”
Some say this, but I don’t think it’s the majority. Most of the Africans I’ve known in the U.S. (a lot) will respond “I’m from Ghana/Sierra Leone/[insert country here].”
However, I know what you mean. I had a professor that would respond with “I’m from Africa,” when asked where he was from. Sometimes, he would make a joke out of it and say “I’m from deep in the jungle of Africa.” When I inquired about why he responded like this, he said he did it because most of those from the U.S. would ask him “Where is that?” when he used to responded with the state and country he was from, so he would eventually have to say “In Africa.” And of those that did know where the country was, they would make a comment like “Oh, so you’re African?” Eventually, he thought it was pointless to say otherwise since all roads lead back to “Africa.”
LikeLiked by 1 person
Uau! That’s a great graphic, Abagond!
I never truly realized how big Africa was before.
LikeLike
Thaddeus said
Uau! That’s a great graphic, Abagond!
I never truly realized how big Africa was before.
Try looking at an Atlas
LikeLike
@Y
I know! I have been asked if I can speak African so many times that I am surprised when someone asked if I can speak Nigerian because they actually remembered my ethnicity LOL.
When I met one of my good friends back in high school (she is half black jamaican and half white english) she asked me in ther sweetest way what language I spoke.
“Oi Aiyo, you see you’re like Nigerian and you know like there are pure languages there do you speak your language like fluently?”
LMAO she did not want to offend me it was so sweet and silly.
LikeLike
If we look at the relatively modern history of African countries, and how they were shaped, vis a vis their contact with the competing European empires of the time, in the age of colonialism:
French
English
Dutch
Spanish
Portuguese
We will have a better explanation of why Africa looks as it does today.
Books on the subject.
http://www.amazon.com/Europe-Underdeveloped-Africa-Walter-Rodney/dp/0882580965
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0253204682/ref=oss_product
Many African colonies/counties were essentially formulated to fail without colonial leadership. Nations were purposely stitched together out of enemy groups, to insure that relatively few Whites could govern them, and if anything went wrong, the natives would be slitting each other’s throats long before they were slitting any White throats.
Years later, when the continent is still reeling from the aftermath of this deliberately imposed dysfunction, the uninformed ask, why there are so few examples of “successful” African nations? It must be their skin color?
LikeLike
@ Natasha W, I feel you on that. Most people in the U.S. consider themselves the only Americans. So, since they don’t realize Brazil is America or Canada is America or Panama is America, its really not so strange that they don’t realize that Togo is in Africa or Burundi is in Africa. A friend and I often ask African Americans how many countries they can name in Africa and most barely get to 6 countries. Those that think Africa is really one country, are really just lost.
@ Aiyo & Y, if you live in the U.S. then you should have a real good grasp as to why so many people in the States don’t realize that there is no such language as African or Nigerian. You should know that the majority of media present Africa in this way, as one big country, let alone many different languages. Most of the people that say such things are not here on these blogs really gaining understanding.
Just think how the media portrays the so called Middle Eastern nations. I am willing to bet these same people will meet some one from Iran and ask them to speak Arabic not realizing Iranians/Persians speak Farsi. Simply due to the presentation of all people in the so called Middle East as Arabic. The dumbing down of the U.S.
LikeLike
Ensays says
Simply due to the presentation of all people in the so called Middle East as Arabic.
Iran is South Asia, not the middle east
LikeLike
@EnSayn
One of my favourite lines is “taught ignorance is no excuse for your ignorance.” And I say that as a USian, who feels that they had no real excuse. Especially when they try to enforce their ignorance when they’re proven wrong or pointed to truth.
LikeLike
Living a thousand miles away…
Could
1. education – in all its guises
2. interaction – or lack of, with those from the country…Silly me, I mean the continent
are the key factors behind this mindset??
LikeLike
“Iran is South Asia, not the middle east”
Have YOU looked at an atlas, trollturd? Iran’s as literally middle east as middle east can get. Contrived colonial demarcations are irrelevant.
LikeLike
J I don’t think it’s simply education and lack of interaction. Europe is far from the U.S. and it’s rare for the average American to interact with an actual European, but no one conflates Germany with Spain. I think a lot of it is racism. As Abagond brought out, not only is Africa viewed as one country, but as a troubled country at that.
LikeLike
Cheers Danila,
I do agree that it is viewed as a ‘troubled’ place.
Do you any thoughts on the ‘processes’ that are involved in making Africa a ‘country’ within the U.S??
LikeLike
darth paul saiid
Have YOU looked at an atlas, trollturd? Iran’s as literally middle east as middle east can get. Contrived colonial demarcations are irrelevant.
http://www.worldatlas.com/cntycont.htm
LikeLike
well I have info on google that Iran is Asia and not the ME, an danother says the oppostie. So I’ll leave that one with you darth paul
LikeLike
I use “America” to mean the United States of America because that is what it means in English nine times out of ten. I would be surprised if more than 1 in 500 are honestly confused by my using the word that way.
I also use it because it is easier to form an adjective out of it. Stuff like “USian” or “U.S. American” makes my skin crawl.
LikeLike
The sad thing is that the majority of Americans are terrible when it comes to Geography. I’ve even heard people say to me, “Isn’t Brazil a place in Africa?” LMAO !!!!!!! LOL
LikeLike
American understanding of geography is shockingly low. According to one poll 1 in 5 cannot even point to the United States on a world map!
From my own experience most of them know where maybe 30 countries are, like Russia, Italy and China, but after that they have no idea. So unless you are from one of those 30 countries you constantly get the “Where’s that?” question. So I can completely see someone saying “I’m from Africa” leaving it for the truly curious to ask, “Where in Africa?”
LikeLike
The Peters Projection World Map is one of the most stimulating, and controversial, images of the world. When this map was first introduced by historian and cartographer Dr. Arno Peters at a Press Conference in Germany in 1974 it generated a firestorm of debate…
http://www.petersmap.com/
Geography lessons starts now ColorofLuv
LikeLike
Why Americans see Africa as a country:
1. They know so little about it it becomes this blob on the map. Like how New Jersey was to me before I moved there from New York.
2. Racism: if all black people are alike, there is little point in seeing Africa the way they see Europe, as made up of different countries each with their own history.
LikeLiked by 2 people
abagond,
“American understanding of geography is shockingly low. According to one poll 1 in 5 cannot even point to the United States on a world map!”
Seriously?! I find that shocking. Truly, I do. Not being great in geography is one thing. Not being able to locate your own place of residence is quite another.
I remember winning my city’s world geography bee in high school and thinking the other students in the spelling bee didn’t even deserve to be there; the runner-up lost because she didn’t know where Reno was. Sad to think that their knowledge might be representative of that of most Americans.
LikeLike
Cheers Abagond,
but in the UK, I sense the same media stereotypes also prevail, but I do not know many who would say ‘Africa’ is a ‘country’
LikeLike
Also I forgot to add what you do find here is that some usually think of Egypt as being in the ‘Middle East’ as opposed to ‘Africa’…
LikeLike
good post. i love how diverse africa is. I plan to travel to north/west africa in the near future.
I once had this half asian/half white guy ask me if east africans look different that west africans. I was kind of offended by that, they’re on two totally different ends of the continent. Do east asians look different than southeast asians that should have been my response. Do northern europeans look different than mediterranean europeans? Why do people think all of africa is one big monolith?
LikeLike
Merci, Abagond.
Psssst – kill the troll.
LikeLike
@ Peanut:
What that guy asked you is a dumb question… but in another sense it is a fair question.
Given that the Bantu expansion started relatively recently in West Africa and spread East and South, there will be a lot of people in the East and South of the continent who would be hard to distinguish from a West African.
If “East Africans” in this context means the Cushitic-type people of the Horn of Africa, or indeed the Nilotic people of South Sudan, then obviously they are easily distinguishable from West Africans. I too find it laughable when people are unable to distinguish differences between groups like this.
I was chatting to some folks from the Horn of Africa who said they could easily distinguish between an Ethiopian and a Somali (which I would struggle to do), but wouldn’t know how to pick a Japanese from say, a Cambodian (which I would find ridiculously easy).
It depends a lot on what sort of people you are most familiar with, to some extent.
LikeLike
Haha, I think my last comment is stuck in moderation because I used the word “Cush!tic”, which contains the the word “sh!t”. The internet is a funny thing.
LikeLike
I think I figured out who Alan is in RL:
http://encyclopediadramatica.com/Andrew_Quah
Amirite?
What do you think, Eurasian Sensation?
LikeLike
[…] entities waiting around in famine-and war-torn areas. Over at Abagond, he seeks to dispel the myths and stereotypical lies that slander the image of Africa. Yes, Africa is a […]
LikeLike
Hahahahahah!!!!! I love Encyclopedia Dramatica!
LikeLike
Peanut
why be offended at that question if it was sincerely asked. West African are genetically different from East Africans, say, from the Horn.
And yes, Eurpeans look different too. Al Italian or Greek is visibaly different to German or English
LikeLike
@ Alan B’Stard M P, I am pretty sure I said SO CALLED Middle East. But, thanks for your insight on.
@ Abagond, I was not knocking your use of America. And you are correct most people would not be confused by your use of America for United States. However, as I said in my previous comment that we should begin to make the correction
LikeLike
As for the comment that Africans themselves promote the stereotype by saying “I’m from Africa” when asked, I suppose you’d also get tired of conversations like this
“Where are you from?”
“I’m from Yaoundé.”
“Cool, is that in France?”
“No, Cameroon”
“Wow, I didn’t know there are black people in Asia” (mixing it up with Cambodia)
READ people! It’s free!
LikeLike
@ J – You’re preachin to the choir brother! I don’t know how many times I’ve told my wife to “calm down” and take the opportunity to educate people. lol
LikeLike
@Femi
Exactly! You get so tired you say “Yeah I’m from downtown Africa.” so you won’t have to keep explaining and hearing silly questions
LikeLike
Hmmm, never had a blank stare when I tell people my family hails from South Africa. Or mention Cape Town, or Johannesburg. I have found the British, or rather, the chattering classes tend to have quite a good grasp of any country they have colonized, Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Eurasian Sensation,
What that guy asked you is a dumb question… but in another sense it is a fair question.
Given that the Bantu expansion started relatively recently in West Africa and spread East and South, there will be a lot of people in the East and South of the continent who would be hard to distinguish from a West African.”
I highly disagree with that.
And using this logic, due to the relatively recent Austronesian expansion, East Asians and Southeast Asians would be hard to distinguish.
I also think that another issue with the question is assuming that Africans on one side of the continent would all look similar. Which is definitely not true.
LikeLike
It’s in the best interests of the powers that be to keep people confused about the continent of Africa, and it’s in the USAs best interests to keep North Americans as dumb as possible about the rest of the world, outside of Europe.
LikeLiked by 2 people
WHY WE WROTE THIS BOOK?
We know a lot aboutthe countries of Europe and the states of teh United Stataes. But how much do we know about the countries of Africa? How many of their capitals can we name? How many African leaders can we identify?
Its hard to be proud of a place we do not know especially when everything we hear about it is negative”
Africa Is Not a Country: It’s a Continent by Arthur Lewin
http://www.amazon.com/Africa-Not-Country-Its-Continent/dp/0962891118
LikeLike
I agree with everyones point of view, and it is annoying to have to explain and explain and explain. and the one about cameroon being confused with Cambodia, SMDH , lol it never stops to amaze me at how little people know about Africa and how little they would take the chance to do so.
LikeLike
Femi: As for the comment that Africans themselves promote the stereotype by saying “I’m from Africa” when asked, I suppose you’d also get tired of conversations like this
“Where are you from?”
“I’m from Yaoundé.”
“Cool, is that in France?”
“No, Cameroon”
“Wow, I didn’t know there are black people in Asia” (mixing it up with Cambodia)
—
I myself have noticed this tendency; not just with Africans but also with Caribbean nationals (“I’m Caribbean” or “I’m from the islands”). It’s especially pervasive online, and makes me wonder about their hesitancy to pinpoint an actual country of origin.
I do understand that it’s sometimes easier to just say “Africa”, but it’s not much trouble to go a bit further and say, “I’m from the country of (fill in the name of the country), in Africa”.
LikeLike
Well, I can relate to the “I’m from Africa problem”. When people find I grew up in the U.S. something similar occurs.
“Oh, New York?” they ask.
“No.”
“California…?”
Most Brazilians – even well-educated ones – have a really hard time distinguishing between places in the U.S., especially states and cities. So if I say I grew up in Wisconsin, this generally leads to a tedious twenty questions where Brazilians will make a massive effort to try to situate this “city” on either the east or the west coasts, preferably near L.A. or NYC.
And don’t even get me started on Americans!
When we were in D.C., on several occasions Ana ran into people who presumed that Brazil was in Africa (because Ana’s black and, you know, there are no blacks in the Americas outside of the U.S. and a few small Carribean islands). And then there’s the constant error of mistaking Buenos Aires as the capital of Brazil…
People are ignorant about geography, in general, but are PARTICULARLY ignorant when it comes to Africa.
LikeLike
And back to the football and the World Cup
England has the upper-hand over Germany, according to an exclusive story in one of the national Sunday’s paper,
because:
“The People’s Witch Doctor Casts Spell on Germans”
http://www.people.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/2010/06/26/witch-doctor-102039-22363321/
LikeLike
England will lose tomorrow. Germany all the way!!!
LikeLike
I don’t see what is wrong with calling yourself an African,
when you are one.
Some people are confusing the geographic term with
ethnicity.
I am from Cameroon so am African.
I am from France so am an Europeean
I am from Colombia so am a Latina
I am from China, so am an Asian
etc…..
One or another are correct
LikeLike
off topic,
regarding the World Cup, I am so happy for Ghana who
made it through to the quater finale.
LikeLike
I don’t see what is wrong with calling yourself an African,
when you are one.
Some people are confusing the geographic term with
ethnicity.
I am from Cameroon so am African.
I am from France so am an Europeean
I am from Colombia so am a Latina
I am from China, so am an Asian
etc…..
One or another are correct
—
Gee Whiz, ya learn sumthin new evrydy….
LikeLike
So pleased for Ghana too 🙂 I knew they would come through!!
LikeLike
“Stuff like “USian” or “U.S. American” makes my skin crawl.”
Abagond, I’m used to saying and hearing “estadounidense” as an adjective so it just seems like good English to try to make it clear when I’m talking about people from the US, as opposed to all the other Americans. I didn’t know anyone could be so upset by the term “U.S. American”.
What would you like us to use? “American” really is not specific enough in a lot of contexts
LikeLike
Back to Africa re: World Cup..sorry little off topic
As I predicted the Germans wiped the floor with mediocre England, haahahaha
Go Germany!!!!!!!!!!!! 😉
LikeLike
@ Natasha W:
I was not saying “East Africans and West Africans are hard to distinguish”, but “there are a lot of people in East Africa who would be hard to distinguish from West Africans.”
I hope you can see there is a big difference in that.
With your East Asian/Southeast Asian analogy, the same logic still stands; taken as groups, there are obvious differences. Look at random individuals, and you will find some East Asians who look “Southeast Asian” and some Southeast Asians who look “East Asian” and so on.
LikeLike
Eurasian Sensation,
Well then, isn’t it somewhat needless to point out (and thus the question, as stated before, wasn’t very informed)? There are Eastern Europeans that look similar to Western Europeans, and vice versa. We all know people can look like someone that is not of their “group.” This is part of human diversity.
LikeLike
@ Natasha:
I can’t remember what my point was to be honest. I think it was along the lines that some questions that seem reasonable can be quite ignorant, and some questions that seem ignorant can be quite reasonable, depending on what perspective the asker is coming from.
LikeLike
Why do white Euros/USians think of Africa as one big country? In addition to everything else that’s been noted— cough*racism*cough— I wonder if it has to do with what I see as a certain unconscious common “knowledge” here (at least in the last 3 or 4 decades; I don’t know about before) that the political boundaries of Africa are pretty much arbitrary; that they were imposed by Europeans?
It’s like African borders don’t have the kind of cultural significance they’re used to seeing in other places, so they don’t “count.” They have no trouble seeing, say, the former Soviet states as separate— in their minds, the “new” borders are obviously related to culture. Whereas, If you can cross the border from Nigeria into Cameroon and still see the same people/culture (Ibo), then what is the meaning of “Nigeria”? Of “Cameroon”? To them, the divisions have no meaning: if Nigerians aren’t different from Cameroonians, then what’s the point?
Of course, it’s a big circle: the borders were drawn (and redrawn!) by Europeans without regard to culture because of racism. Hell, even the cultural “tribes” “themselves were essentially made up by Europeans (because of, and to facilitate, their racism); and I don’t think that’s soaked into the common knowledge at all: the white common knowledge is selective!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Hmm. Now that I say that, I wonder if it isn’t the exact same racism that caused those random borders in the first place: African cultures were and are interchangeable/insignificant/unimportant (to them), so why not randomly divide them up— and then ignore the divisions?
LikeLiked by 2 people
AFRICA IS A CONTINENT AND NOT A COUNTRY!!!
I also got so sick of people asking me where Congo is, that’s why every time someone ask me:
Person: where are you from?
Me: I’m from Congo, in Central Africa.( To avoid the “where it is?”)
Person: oooohhhh yeah, yeah Congo (acting as if he knew where it was at the first place)
Person: You look different for an African.
Me: Because there’s a certain way an African girl should look like?
Person: No, it’s not that, it’s just… blabbering (Ignorance at it peak.)
It’s amazing how some people can be at their best level of ignorance when it comes to Africa.
And what I’ve notice most people in Europe and America the only countries they know from Africa are:
– South-Africa because of the Apartheid and Nelson Mandela
– Kenya because of the Masai and Nature
– Somalia because of the hunger and war (even if it’s not the only African country to be in war)
– Egypt because of it history, well for those who are smart enough to know that Egypt is in Africa.
– Nigeria and Ghana
While Africa is a continent of 53 states, these are the only countries that are known to the rest of the world as if those 6 countries make the whole Africa.
The only way to know about a place is to go and visit the place by yourself, meet the people and learn about their culture, their way of living instead of learning it through the racist ignorants media.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Malaika,
What? People know about Kenya in Europe? Most people I’ve met (in the U.S.) don’t know about Kenya; even the Masai aren’t that popular I’d put Ethiopia in its place.
People have only begun to know about Kenya, it seems, since our current president has ancestry there. Yet I still managed to meet a professor (!) (and at an HBCU no less) who thought Obama’s father was from Nigeria. I know Nigeria is a large and populous place, but it’s nothing like Kenya; the only similarities I can think of between those two countries is that they both end in the letter “a” (like so many other countries in Africa..).
LikeLike
Natasha W
Most of the people I’ve met in the UK know more about Kenya because it’s one of the British empire colonies, the same as they know more about Nigeria, Ghana, Zimbabwe etc…and they do travel a lot in those countries. But ask them if they know Djibouti, Eritrea, Namibia, Uganda, Burundi, Tchad, Zambia, Angola, Niger and the list goes on and they won’t even know that these countries are in Africa, let alone that they are countries.
Back in my country geography and history was my favourite lesson and every week we had to remember 10 countries and their capitals and not only African countries but countries all over the world. That why it always shock me when someone doesn’t know where some countries are. I’m not saying that I know all the countries and their capitals but when someone doesn’t know where Somalia is, let alone that it’s a country it’s quite shocking…well, I cannot blame them different countries different educations.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Stuff people in my country know:
– Africa is not a country. (I thought this was obvious)
– They can name many African countries and a few capitals.
Stuff people in my country don’t know:
– Any of the particular African ethnicities or languages
– They know nothing about politics or history (apart from Ancient history of Egypt or modern history of South Africa, + Non-Aligned Movement.
– They don’t know the exact geographical position of African countries, apart from few (such as Egypt).
LikeLike
People in my country tend to think that Africa is some sort of maravelous Never-Never Land, a bit on a par with Oz.
LikeLike
And what is your country, Thad? 😀
LikeLike
Malaika,
“Most of the people I’ve met in the UK know more about Kenya because it’s one of the British empire colonies”
Ah, okay. Makes sense.
“Back in my country geography and history was my favourite lesson.. I’m not saying that I know all the countries and their capitals but when someone doesn’t know where Somalia is, let alone that it’s a country it’s quite shocking…well, I cannot blame them different countries different educations.”
Geography was one of my favorite subjects as well. I don’t think American schools emphasize geography as much, at least not on a more than superficial level.
Mira,
“Stuff people in my country don’t know:
– Any of the particular African ethnicities or languages”
😦
This is sad, because the most important aspect, moreso than the countries, I believe, are the ethnic groups. The countries are semi-random.
LikeLike
This is sad, because the most important aspect, moreso than the countries, I believe, are the ethnic groups. The countries are semi-random.
Indeed. Especially given the fact ethnicity is the most important thing in my culture (when it comes to identity). I have no idea why they are unable to understand the importance of it elsewhere.
However, this may be due to education. Geography books list African countries and its capitals, with a bit about specific cultures, but not much. History books stop with Africa right after… let me see- Ancient Egypt. Yes, you read that right. The education system is extremely Eurocentric (which is a shame, because many people here don’t see many Europeans, namely, Western And Northern Europeans as “one of their own”).
LikeLike
Brazil, Mira.
LikeLike
Brazil, Mira.
Ok. Just making sure. (I didn’t know whether you meant USA or Brazil).
LikeLike
Both are my country. But in this context, I’m talking Brazil.
LikeLike
Mira
“Geography books list African countries and its capitals, with a bit about specific cultures, but not much.”…Very true.
In every book where they talk about Africa, it just talking about it countries, capitals and other big cities, cultures, politic, economy and natural wealth, but it’s very rare to read about different ethnicities in Africa and believe me if they have to talk about each ethnic group in Africa it will be written as a dictionary and not a book because there is just too many ethnic group.
For example, in my country there are more than 250 ethnic group with their own dialect. Africa has 53 states with more than 100 or 200 ethnic group in each countries, so the only way to know about some African ethnic groups is to meet some of them by yourself and not to trust books.
LikeLike
“not to trust books” I meant not to put your hope on books.
LikeLike
Mira,
“Especially given the fact ethnicity is the most important thing in my culture (when it comes to identity)…
However, this may be due to education. Geography books list African countries and its capitals, with a bit about specific cultures, but not much.”
That’s true. I think it’s only when you get to the upper levels that they begin to mention (the main/largest) ethnic groups. And most people never get to the upper level, even if they have an advanced education, since these courses are not required.
“History books stop with Africa right after… let me see- Ancient Egypt. Yes, you read that right. The education system is extremely Eurocentric”
These are world history books, right?
———
Malaika,
“Africa has 53 states with more than 100 or 200 ethnic group in each countries, so the only way to know about some African ethnic groups is to meet some of them by yourself and not to trust books.”
This is true, to an extent. Books are a good springboard, if you need them. But I’ve always noticed that there is a large difference from what the books say and the actual reality of the lives of the people. Not to mention that it doesn’t become “real” until you actually know the people. It’s just disconnected information. For instance, living and interacting with the Wolof was soooooo different than reading about them, for me. Even though I knew a lot of “facts”, the actual experience was just tremendously different.
LikeLike
As a someone who has been there, a trip there is much more than any book I’ve read about it. And the ones I have read opened up totally differently once I visited the place. Egypt is a long way from Nigeria or Niger, or Kenia or Tanzania.
and just a small thin abagond: China, while the ethnic han chinese claim the unity of it, is actually an multi ethnic state. It has dozens of minorities and languages and cultures. Tibetans, uigurs and those most clearly but others too.
It is very common to forget this fact because the chinese goverment does not want to advertise this. They want to give the impression that all these groups are more than willing to assimilate to the han, speak mandarin etc. Those who don’t are, of course, terrorists.
LikeLike
Sam, what’s “there”? Where have you been?
LikeLike
And how long were you there, Sam?
LikeLike
Sam said:
“As a someone who has been there, a trip there is much more than any book I’ve read about it. And the ones I have read opened up totally differently once I visited the place”
Natasha W said:
“For instance, living and interacting with the Wolof was soooooo different than reading about them, for me. Even though I knew a lot of “facts”, the actual experience was just tremendously different.”
Both these statement are very true. I think the best book to rely on is yourself. I’m not saying that all the books have some misleading information about a group of people or a place but a personal experience is always the best way as you learning some of the things that you may never find in any books in the world.
LikeLike
Both these statement are very true. I think the best book to rely on is yourself.
Just like this woman did here, right? Her personal experiences obviously gave her a very deep take on Brazilian realities…
http://www.theonion.com/articles/woman-who-loves-brazil-has-only-seen-four-square-m,343/
LikeLike
Thaddeus,
I read that article and that woman is a whole Brazil book by herself, because she experienced the real Brazil in depth, the good and the bad sides of it. Every time the media refer to Brazil, it’s always about Carnival, beaches, Favelas, the models but they rarely talk about the ordinary people who make the beauty of Brazil.
LikeLike
Malaika, you’re familiar with The Onion, correct? I mean, you know what it is…?
LikeLike
Even news resources as respectable as CNN say things like “China is Africa’s largest trading partner” as though Africa were a country.
That makes as much sense as saying that the USA is Asia’s largest trading partner.
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/26/world/africa/angola-chinese-deported/index.html
LikeLike
@ Jefe
CNN is the gold standard in stereotyping Africa. They do not miss a single trope. Sometimes when I write posts like this one I just close my eyes and think of CNN.
LikeLike
Abagond sais:
I am not proud of my knowledge of US geography.
There is a fog when I try to think where Ohio is in relation Cincinnati.
I am not sure where Virginia is in relation to the Hoover Dam, or Baton Rouge in relation to Boston. Not a clue. These places (apart from Boston — which is in East England) were never part of my vocabulary or reference points.
But, I know the US is not “America”, and for this reason, I won’t call it that, the US is a country in America.
It’s a shorthand, of course, but a very untrustworthy shorthand; it’s only part of North America, and only one part of America, and whenever I find myself calling it “America”, because I am supposed to, it feels wrong. Like saying “sub-Saharan Africa”.
Art and maps interest me, and when I searched for the latest “art” maps of Africa just now, I found this one: 11 Beautiful Maps made out of food: It’s a feature in Time Magazine (http://time.com/21710/11-beautiful-maps-made-out-of-the-food-each-country-is-famous-for/). It showed this:
US — corn.
Italy — tomatoes.
Australia — shrimp.
China — noodles.
France — cheese and bread.
Japan — seaweed.
Africa — bananas and plantains.
India — spices.
New Zealand — kiwi.
South America — citrus.
Ireland The United Kingdom — biscuits.
So… Africa is a country. South America is a country.
And, Ireland is part of The United Kingdom (it’s not!!!).
Published 12th March 2014.
I can guess that the artists are probably white Americans who might not think to check any of that..
But, this is Time magazine, which is, apparently: “..published in New York….has the world’s largest circulation for a weekly news magazine, and has a readership of 25 million, 20 million of which are based in the United States” (Wikipedia). An organ of such prestige would have some quite on-the-ball people working for it, I would have thought.
I am, of course, mistaken, because NO ONE saw this — because no number of proof readers, checkers or sub-editors (I mean WHITE PEOPLE) noticed that crap, until after it was published. And then, only then, at the bottom, is there a correction to say :
Perfect. 🙂
LikeLike
I wonder whether Australian or English publications — that are known for “serious” news — do this?
LikeLike
There are 4 language families in Africa – Niger-Kongo, Nilo-Saharan, Afrosiatic and Khoisan(not counting imported languages as Portuguese or creole languages as Krio or Afrikaans etc.)
According to ethnologue, Niger-Congo has 1453 languages, Nilo-Saharan 206, Afro-Asiatic 376(of which some 20 are located outside Africa) and Khoisan 28.
All these macro-families are highly divergent, the differences between different subgroups being more significant than between subgroups of the Indo-European macro-family. Classification of African languges is quite complicated and often controversial
https://www.ethnologue.com/browse/families
Of more important languages are Kiswahili(Swahili), Lingala, Chiluba, Kikongo, isiZulu, isiXosa, Setswana, Sesotho, Seswazi, Luganda, Gikuyu, Kamba, Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Chibemba, Chichewa, Shona, Emakhwa, Umbundu, Ovimbundu; Sango, Yoruba, Igbo, Edo, Hausa, Kanuri, Twi/Akan, Fongbe, Ewegbe, Moré, Bamanakan, Dyula, Wolof, Fulfulde: Dholuo, Dinka, Nuer, Shilluk, Acholi, Massai: Amharic, Tigre, Tigrinya, Oromo, Somali, Tamazight(Berber) and Arabic
Some of these designations in reality mean clusters of dialects rather than individual languages.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The African country with the most of languages is Nigeria(522 languages)
https://www.ethnologue.com/country/NG/languages
https://www.ethnologue.com/country/NG/maps
Cameroon probably is the second with 280 languages
https://www.ethnologue.com/country/CM/languages
https://www.ethnologue.com/country/CM/maps
Congo(Kinshasa) is probably the third with 212
https://www.ethnologue.com/country/CD/languages
https://www.ethnologue.com/country/CD/maps
Tanzania may be the fourth with 126 languages
https://www.ethnologue.com/country/TZ/languages
https://www.ethnologue.com/country/TZ/maps
Even small countries have many languages – Benin – 54, Togo -39, Liberia -31, Sierra Leone – 25, Gabon – 41, Equatorial Guinea -14, Gambia -12.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Chad has more languages (130) than Tanzania (126), so that Chad should be forth, and Tanzania fifth. Anyway these 5 nations – Nigeria, Cameroon, Congo-
Kinshasa, Chad and Tanzania contain about 61 percent of all African languages.
LikeLike
@Natasha W:
So how do you really get a balanced and good picture of the world (and not even just a particular region, but the world in general)?
LikeLike
African language which is the most widely used and has the broadest spectrum of functions is undoubtedly Kiswahili or Swahili, which is spoken as first or as second language by approximatively 100-120 mln. of people in Tanzania, Kenya, Kongo-Kinshasa and to lesser extent in other countries.
Language which is the most sung is probably Lingala. The Congolese music is world famous. But there are good songs sung in variety of African languages, for example these are song by Kamba people(Kenya) sung most likely in Kikamba
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFQX_q1RPHA)
The most of films in African languages are in Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo, Edo(Nollywood production), also there are films in Swahili, Bambara, Lingala(in the latter mostly teleserials called “theatre congolaise”). Of course much of Nollywood production is released in English.
LikeLike
[…] to action. It opens with a truck stopping abruptly in a grassy area, ostensibly in Africa because Africa is just one big country. A white, blond girl jumps out with high-calorie food in hand, dressed in a white tank top, shorts […]
LikeLike
@ Abagond
The feature image for this post leads to a 404-not found page.
I found this site that shows Africa’s true size here:
http://kai.sub.blue/en/africa.html
LikeLike
Many of the African languages are mutually intelligible or nearly so, for example Zulu and Xhosa
LikeLike
The most noble and interesting African culture is the Boers
LikeLike
Nothing ‘African’ about the Boers. A dog born in a barn is still a dog not a cow.
LikeLiked by 1 person
“Oorlam people”. The real Afrikaners
LikeLike
The word Africa comes from White people. No Bantu group had a word for Africa before colonization because they didn’t know what continents were until we taught them.
LikeLike