30 Sub-Saharan Africa: Historical Geography I – Nationless States

“African borders are so absurd that they must be considered as sacrosanct.”

• Julius Nyerere, first president of Tanzania, serving 1964-1985

In Chapter 7 of this textbook, we examined concepts and terminology used in Political Geography. In doing so, we noted the terms nation (ethnic group) and state (or sometimes, State; either way meaning country). We will continue to use these terms in this chapter with italics as a reminder. Both of these terms can be combined, as present or as lacking, to create paired terms that explain real-life political circumstances. In this chapter, we will consider the combination of the nationless state.

Given that state means country, we are examining countries. As nation means ethnic group, nationlesssuggests the lack of ethnic groups. That understanding, however, would lead us astray. We cannot be considering a country without ethnic groups, for that would mean a country without people. That would not be a country. That would be nothing.

Instead, a nationless country is one with no majority ethnic group. This could be a country largely divided by two ethnic groups with a few other peoples. For instance, Country X with 45% ethnic group A, 41% ethnic group B, 8% ethnic group C, and 6% divided between a few other ethnic groups; this would be a nationless state, for it would have no majority ethnic group. Nation A (ethnic group A) holds a plurality, but not a majority. In type of country, tension between the two main ethnic groups often resonates strongly, creating challenges for governing the country. Afghanistan is an example of this type of nationless state, as the Pashtun ethnic group comprises about 42% of the total population, while the Tajiks are another 27%. Several other groups (Hazara, Uzbek, …) fill out the remaining population. This type of nationless state is difficult to govern, as no group has a majority of the population. As the Taliban are largely Pashtun, there is an ethnic component to their religious and political emphases of control.

Commonly, though, a nationless state has many, even many many, nations in that state. A single country may hold twenty ethnic groups each representing a few percentage points of the country’s total population.

Notice that neither of our definitions of the nationless state has offered the term multinational state. We prefer a distinction here, citing the multinational state as a country with one majority ethnic group along with many (multi) other ethnic groups. China is a multinational state where the Han ethnic group dominates with over 90% of the population with 55 other officially recognized minorities constitute the remaining numbers. A single dominant nation with many other nations, that is a multinational state.

The common nationless state with many ethnic groups and no group with a majority of the population is readily found in Africa. Of course, this is not the result of random chance. The modern borders of African countries are directly linked to the colonial control of these territories by European empires and powers.

The British, of course, gained territories all around the world for their empire. In Africa, British holdings were widespread – Ghana in West Africa, Kenya in East Africa, Zimbabwe in Southern Africa, a few decades of de facto control of Egypt in North Africa, and many others.

Spain had a few locations in Africa, including the Canary Islands and Equatorial Guinea. However, the Treaty of Tordesillas had divided Spanish and Portuguese colonial claims with Portugal gaining African lands. Portugal held several colonies in Africa including Angola and Mozambique.

The French were prominent in West Africa, including Senegal and Mali. The Dutch were present in Ghana before the British and were in South Africa. Though not known much for colonial lands, Germany possessed a few African territories, including Namibia and Togo.

(In each of the above cases, we use the current country name, though the colonies may have had other names – Namibia was German South West Africa.)

Thus, it is apparent that European powers held colonial lands throughout Africa. In truth in others continents too, but indeed in Africa, these colonies naturally featured borders that corresponded with the European owners’ inherent and primarily economic interests. For instance, in West Africa there are several small but elongated countries – Benin and Togo are examples. The shape of these countries was prompted by the importance of having ports for the export of raw materials back to Europe. Whereas one square coastal colony paired with one inland square colony may represent the same square miles as one long rectangular colony adjacent to another long rectangular colony, the elongated adjacent shapes allow both to have a port, that being a crucial requirement. See the shape of Togo to the left.

In claiming African land, European explorers and conquerors would press on as far as they could overpower the natives, maintain supply lines behind their advances, and not impinge on other European claims. The ethnicity of the African nations was irrelevant to the European land acquisitions.

Usually, contemporary countries in Africa recognize the folly of seeking to alter their current borders, even though these boundaries were drawn by these European colonists. However, that does mean that many African countries are the type of nationless states with multiple nations and no majority nation.

Let’s consider a few examples. In Nigeria, its outline shown here in the icon, there are over 500 languages spoken among more than 250 nations. The most populous nations are the Hausa 30%, Igbo 15%, and Yoruba 15%. Clearly, Nigeria is a nationless state – a country with no majority nation.

The Democratic Republic of Congo has over 200 nations. The Luba people lead the way with about 18% of the population.

The neighboring Republic of Congo holds four main ethnic groups with the Kongo nearly a majority at 48%; however, French is the national European language.

Of Kenya’s many ethnic groups, the largest is the Kikuyu with 17% of the country’s population.

In contrast, there are a few countries that do not fit this model. The small country Rwanda has two main ethnic groups – the Hutu have about 85% of the population and the Tutsi 14%.

Cited and additional bibliography:

Fisher, Max. “The Dividing of a Continent: Africa’s Separatist Problem.”                  The Atlantic, September 10, 2012. https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/09/the-dividing-of-a-continent-africas-separatist-problem/262171/