African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 970: Fourth in the World
As time passed, it was already 1900 and, as usual, the East African government's census was nearing completion.

The turn of the century also meant that East Africa's development entered a new historical stage, so the 1899 census was more detailed and cumbersome. In addition, due to the popularization and development of railways, telegraphs, and postal services, population data was also easier to compile.

Ernst was briefed at the Central Government Building on the demographic developments in East Africa in the new century.

"According to the results of this census, the total population of our country has reached 83.13 million, and the urbanization level has increased to 28%, about 19 million people. The average population of cities above a certain scale is about 20,000 to 30,000. The city with the largest population is Dar es Salaam, with a total urban population of 710,000."

By 1900, the total population of East Africa had exceeded million, ranking fourth in the world after the Far Eastern Empire, Britain (India), and Tsarist Russia.

The three countries before East Africa all have a total population of over 100 million, while the United States, which ranks fifth after East Africa, has a total population of over 70 million. This also means that the next country with a population of over 100 million is likely to be East Africa.

“In addition to our citizens, there are 12.08 million illegal residents in our country, mainly in Angola and Mozambique, engaged in infrastructure and agricultural production activities.”

The illegal population referred to by the East African government is the black people. In just less than ten years, the number of black people in East Africa has dropped from more than 20 million after the South African War to about 12 million. Including these black people, the population of East Africa is already close to the total population of Africa in the same period of the previous life, which is around 95 million.

There is no doubt that the past decade has been the most difficult decade in the history of black people in East Africa. A large number of black people have paid the price of their lives for large-scale national projects such as East African railways, canals, and water conservancy projects. Countless ghosts are floating under the sleepers, in the riverbeds, and in the plantations of East Africa.

The proportion of blacks has dropped directly from 28 percent ten years ago to less than 13 percent, and the trend will continue.

This also shows the brutal rule of East Africa over the local indigenous people. Across the African continent, tens of millions of indigenous people have died, fled, or been trafficked and exported because of East Africa, and more than 10 million indigenous people have died directly because of East Africa.

It is worth mentioning that during the same period, the proportion of blacks in the United States was also around 13%. East Africa has reached the same level as the United States in this area. Of course, there are still big differences between the two. Blacks in the United States have been integrated into American society in any way, while the black apartheid system in East Africa has meant that East Africa has never included blacks in its own population system.

In the future, the population of East Africa will continue to decrease rapidly at a rate visible to the naked eye. Ernst predicts that in the next two to three years, the proportion of black people in the United States may surpass that of East Africa.

This result was undoubtedly quite bloody, and what replaced it was the rapid development of East Africa in the past decade, especially the leapfrog development in transportation, agriculture, and urban construction. The indigenous people made great contributions to the primitive accumulation of East Africa's industrialization.

"Currently, most of the country's population is distributed within the 600 mm dividing line and in the sub-rainforest areas below 2,000 mm."

Subrainforest is a climate classification unique to East Africa, used to distinguish the differences in vegetation within the tropical savannah. It is mainly distributed around tropical rainforests and surrounds the entire Congo rainforest. The most typical areas are the Great Lakes region and Zambia, Angola, including eastern Tanzania and parts of Mozambique.

Because these areas are close to the equator, they are strongly affected by rising air currents and have a longer rainy season. They are the most agriculturally developed regions in East Africa.

The tropical savannah climate, like the monsoon climate, is prone to drought and flood disasters. Taking the subtropical monsoon climate as a reference, the tropical savannah climate is more prone to drought disasters, so East Africa's agriculture and population naturally shift to areas with more abundant precipitation.

Subrainforest is the common vegetation in this climate. In the Great Lakes region, the hinterland of East Africa, and coastal areas, the forest coverage rate is high, but these areas are roughly classified as tropical savannah climates.

Of course, the amount of precipitation and vegetation type are not the only reference criteria. The temporal distribution of precipitation is also an important factor. In the tropical savanna climate, the longer the rainy season, the more conducive it is to stable agricultural production. The population distribution in East Africa is mainly based on the sub-rainforest belt. The most densely populated area in East Africa is between 5 degrees north latitude and 20 degrees south latitude.

"The current urbanization rate has exceeded 20% again and has reached about 23% of the national population, indicating that East Africa's industry and cities have developed rapidly in the past decade, especially in recent years, with a large number of industrial investments and construction. In addition to the central and eastern regions, the number of factories in other regions is also growing rapidly, especially in the southeastern coastal and western coastal regions."

"Based on the size and proportion of our urban population, our country has already entered the ranks of semi-industrialized countries, second only to France among the world's major powers, and ranking above the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Tsarist Russia."

"This fully demonstrates the superiority of our political system in East Africa, in which state-owned enterprises have made major contributions to the industrialization of the country. The economic system dominated by state-owned enterprises has kept the East African economy at a relatively high level in the competition with other world powers."

At the end of the 19th century, the only countries that had completed industrialization were Britain, France, Germany, the United States and Western European countries such as Belgium and the Netherlands. Of course, within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, countries like Austria and Bohemia had completed industrialization, but regions such as Hungary lagged behind.

Therefore, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, like East Africa, was a typical semi-industrialized country, and the industrialization level of Tsarist Russia was not even as good as that of East Africa. However, Tsarist Russia had a population of tens of millions more than East Africa and started earlier, so its industrial scale was also among the strongest in the world, similar to Brazil and India in the future.

"In terms of other population data, my country's population structure is becoming more reasonable, and the male-female ratio is at the same level as traditional countries."

Solving the gender imbalance problem has always been an important indicator of governance in East African countries, and East Africa has always attached great importance to this issue.

In addition to preventing abandoned babies and gender discrimination through harsh laws, the East African government also adopted baby girls from all over the world through illegal means, especially in the Far Eastern Empire and Europe.

The 19th century was an era of cannibalism, so East Africa did not need to spend too much effort to obtain the population it wanted. After all, even in Europe at that time there were a large number of homeless orphans living on the streets, and many of the early students of Hechingen College were mainly from Belgium.

Of course, this is an exception in East Africa. With a large black labor force, East Africa does not need to excessively exploit its own people to support its own industrial development. In addition, the compulsory education system means that there is no problem of child labor in East Africa.

"According to data analysis, by the next decade, my country's population will most likely exceed 100 million, which will add some pressure to my country's industrialization process. However, this also means that my country has unlimited economic potential. If we can maintain the current industrialization rate, by the next decade, East African industry will have a great chance of surpassing Tsarist Russia."

In fact, by 1900, East Africa's industrial output value was already close to that of Tsarist Russia, and was second only to the United States, Britain, Germany, and Tsarist Russia among all countries in the world. Among them, the United States, Germany and Britain had the highest quality of local industrialization, while Tsarist Russia was able to reach the fourth position only by virtue of its size. The population of Tsarist Russia should be over million, at least million more than East Africa (including blacks).

The same is true for East Africa. For example, East Africa has surpassed France in industry, but the population of East Africa is more than twice that of France. This is an advantage in size. What's more, France lost important industrial areas in the northeast due to the Franco-Prussian War.

Of course, it is remarkable that East Africa has reached its current level in nearly thirty years. At least in terms of comprehensive national strength, East Africa is already ranked above Tsarist Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and only below Britain, France, Germany and the United States.

France's advantages in East Africa are mainly reflected in science and technology, industrial quality, political and cultural influence, and military.

If we focus on other data, such as population, land area, resources, industrial scale, etc., East Africa ranks before France and only below Britain, the United States and Germany.

(End of this chapter)