African Entrepreneurship Records

Chapter 947 Black population across the continent

There is also data saying that under the rule of Leopold II, the Democratic Republic of the Congo lost more than 10 million people, which is enough to show how wealthy the Democratic Republic of the Congo was in the previous life. In fact, the scope of the Belgian Congo in the previous life was much larger than that of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, especially in the east and south where the population was the most concentrated. .

However, these areas have all fallen into the hands of East Africa. Ernst optimistically estimates that the total black population in East Africa should be around 15 million. This is only an optimistic estimate.

 Because since the South African War, East Africa's rule over native blacks has entered the most "brutal" stage to relieve the pressure of population growth in East Africa.

Now East Africa has a large population, and the growth rate is still high. With a population of more than 50 million and a relatively high population growth rate, Ernst himself does not know to what extent the population of East Africa has expanded now, but it is certain that by 1900, The population of black Africans in East Africa will definitely reach the third place in the world, surpassing the United States and only after Tsarist Russia.

In addition to population pressure, what is closely followed is the large-scale infrastructure construction in East Africa. The East African Grand Canal plan alone is enough to keep Ernst and Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty on par. Roads, railways, and urban construction must also be added.

 In this case, East Africa does not even need to export black people. The local black people will perish due to heavy labor tasks and imbalanced population structure. Therefore, the genocide in Belgium is a child's play compared with East Africa.

 So when he read Nales's diary again, Ernst felt no emotion at all, and he had no sympathy for the suffering of the Chinese in Belgium.

After all, the situation of the Chinese under the rule of Belgium is much better now than in the previous life. In the previous life, Leopold also introduced Chinese immigrants from the Far Eastern Empire. At that time, the Zaire colony (the former name of the Democratic Republic of the Congo) was used to make up for the gap in the black labor force, and the results were disastrous. The burdened Chinese immigrants were finally forced to flee across the rainforest of the Zaire colony to other countries' colonies.

  It is conceivable how brutal the Belgians ruled the Chinese in previous lives. After all, the Chinese in the 19th century were definitely models of hard work and hard work.

Under the influence of East Africa, the Belgian colonies are now very restrained. At least the East African border has never received a case of Chinese in Belgium escaping to East Africa.

Of course, this is not a question that Ernst, a mature and cold-blooded politician, wants to think about. He is more concerned about the impact of East Africa on the African population.

 Now under the rule of Belgium, the Chinese have become the mainstream local population, not to mention the royal territory of Sigmaringen and East Africa, the two major Chinese immigrant countries.

Of course, the Royal Territory of Sigmaringen and East Africa are countries of German-Chinese intermarriage, so the situation is very different from Belgium. In the future, there will be no mainstream Chinese race in the two countries, only the proportion and degree of mixed race will be different.

Ernst does not care about the current number of Chinese in Africa. He wants to know how many pure black people are left in Africa.

Ernst thought that assuming that the number of black people in East Africa was calculated at 15 million, these 15 million were all men and would basically self-destruct as soon as time was up.

In other words, black Africans will only exist in West Africa in the future. According to previous African population data, at the end of the 19th century, the total population of Africa was more than 90 million.

 Now East Africa accounts for 43% of Africa's land, and it was also the main gathering place for black people in the previous life. Therefore, excluding the native black people in East Africa, the total population of Africa will be reduced by at least 40%.

That is about 45 million, and the only 45 million left, minus the Arab cultural area in North Africa, Egypt, Algeria, Libya and other countries, there were also 20 million before. If you include Abyssinians There are estimated to be 30 million mixed-race black and white people like Asia. Based on this calculation, the population left in West Africa is probably less than 15 million!

Of course, this number may not be reliable, because the reduction in East Africa by half is certainly unreasonable. After all, before East Africa, West Africa had always been more developed than the indigenous civilizations in East Africa.

 Coupled with the fact that East Africa has imported a large number of people to West Africa, the total black population in West Africa should now be more than 20 million, less than 30 million.

 If this is the case, then the number of black people in Africa as a whole is now estimated to be equivalent to that of the United States in the 21st century, or perhaps even less than that of the United States. The number of black people in the United States in the 21st century is 47 million, and the number of black people in East Africa plus West African blacks may be the same.

And we have to further consider that the future of black people in Sigmaringen and the Belgian Congo is basically bleak, and the number of black people in West Africa will only be even smaller.

The total black population in West Africa is less than 30 million. This number is very interesting. After all, colonial development requires a large population, and the current total population of West Africa is only equivalent to the total population of France. This shows how sparsely populated West Africa is today.

Of course, there are gains and losses, and the total population of Africa will not change much because of the cliff-like decline in the black population.

The total population of East Africa alone is now close to the size of the entire African population in the 19th century or even the previous life, but most of them are Europeans and Far Easterners.

 Thinking that the year was approaching 1900, Ernst also felt that he should conduct a new round of census of East African population and other data.

 At the same time, East Africa should also pay attention to the population in West Africa and other regions to facilitate the future layout of East Africa across Africa.

 …

  Census is a complex matter, especially as the population size of East Africa further increases, the difficulty and calculation volume further increase.

Therefore, compared with the census, attention to other areas is more urgent and convenient, and investment in the education field has already achieved initial results.

Following the trend of large-scale schools in East Africa, in 1898, the number of East African universities further increased, almost doubling in less than a year, and the number of college students also increased to more than 52,000. If Including quasi-tertiary education, the number directly exceeded 100,000, and it has become the country with the largest number of higher education institutions and college students in the world, surpassing the United States, Germany and other European and American countries. This is only the initial stage of the expansion of East African university enrollment.

“By 1900, after the construction of universities in various provinces is completed, the number of college students in East Africa is expected to exceed 160,000, further widening the distance from other countries in the world.”

“The current increase in the number of college students can be divided into two main reasons. One is that existing universities have increased their enrollment, and the other is that newly constructed universities have begun enrolling students.”

The average number of students enrolled in various universities in East Africa is actually only about six to seven hundred, which is far from being compared with the universities in the previous life. To put it bluntly, one university in the previous life could accommodate all the current university students in East Africa, and the whole country of East Africa The number of faculty and staff at the university is less than 8,000, of which there are only more than 3,000 teachers, and the teacher-student ratio is about one to seventeen.

Therefore, even though the higher education in East Africa is at the middle level in the world, it can still be called elite education. After all, East Africa cannot only be compared with European and American countries. Higher education also exists in other regions and countries. There is a gap between East Africa and Europe and the United States. There are also gaps between other regions and countries compared with East Africa.

But one thing is good, that is, East African universities have adopted the "crowd wave" strategy from the beginning. As an agricultural country that has not yet successfully transformed, East Africa has the highest penetration rate of higher education and basic education in the world.

 This is also one of the important reasons why East Africa squeezed black slaves to death after the South African War. In terms of the proportion of education expenditure alone, East Africa ranks first among countries in the world, surpassing Germany.

 (End of this chapter)