Why was Central and Southern Africa so underdeveloped?

[sarahtasher]

You mean like how every other ancient civilization managed to tame and domesticate Animals?

Domestication is a whole different matter than taming. Taming is training a single animal. Subsaharian Africans were not ''dumber'' than other cultures-they domesticated the local bovines well enough as well as dogs.

But certain species are fit for domestications and others are not-dogs were domesticated from either grey wolves or the immediate ancestor of grey wolves, not hyenas or foxes. Likewise, the auroch was relatively easy to domesticate, the bison was not. (It's sort of domesticated right now, but it involve large grazing areas and substantial issues compared to normal cattle-so much issues that most ''early'' society would not have cared)

[Deleted]

You mean like how every other ancient civilization managed to tame and domesticate Animals?

Not its a huge difference between between tame and domesticate.

guns germs and stee byl Jared Diamond are going deep into why not all animals can be domesticate, and notes that evry animal that can be domesticate has been so by local civilisations or they imported a superior alternative.

Southern Africa was not blessed as Euro-Asia with many animals and plants who was suitable for domestication, and it was hard to import/export animals and plants in the north-south direction because of the extreme changing climate, but Euro-Asian can import/export animals and plants in the west-easterly direction widout major climate changes.

Go and read guns germs and stee byl Jared Diamond, he explain it better then me.

[Reeve]

This is an interesting and compelling explanation. Although they don't range too far south.

There were certainly tsetse flies where I was in Mozambique, which is fairly far south.

[Deleted]

I have a African girlfriend, she is the reason why I learned about African culture. The main reason why they are underdeveloped is simple, they don't have a work culture like Azia and the Western countries. Also Africans often don't see the benefits in trade and working together.

[Lastlivingsoul]

Simple answer topography, Central Africa is on a Plateau, There are no Rivers/Deltas, Railroads, Paved Highways etc. Why would anyone need to build a town much less a city in the wilderness with no ports for trade. Cities as well as humanity in general like to be near water and Central Africa just doesn't have it.


Also South Africa has cities you can see from google earth so there, question answered. Actually research your question before you ask MMO-C about the real world.

[Deleted]

Apart from guns germs and steel.
There is also economics reasons, in Africa you didn't own land, you owned people.
If ownership of land isn't an issue, why would you create a territorial structure like an empire?
Africa and Africans in the Making of the Atlantic World, 1400-1800
great book about this, and the pre colonial period too.

[Forogil]

If you want some real answers a book called Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond might lead you in the right direction. It basically comes down to a dearth of appropriate animals and plants suitable to domestication and large scale agriculture. Eurasia had the greatest combination of those which ensured that agriculture started there first which lead to civilizations.

As I recall he also mentions the simple fact that Eurasia stretches out east-west which means that plants and animals once domesticated can more easily spread along similar climates. Obviously there are errors in his work, but it is stil a simpler explanation.

[Nere]

What do you mean was underdeveloped? They still are.

[Mihalik]

But Africa didn't have a lack of fauna to domesticate (donkeys, camels, cattle, domestic dogs were found throughout Africa and have been for thousands of years).

There are a range of factors when it comes to domestication. Such as available grazing land, available crops and crop types, blights, plagues and landscape and so on. This limits herd sizes, crop sizes and so on.

Complex metallurgy using and agricultural civilizations have developed in Africa. North Africa, that mostly thanks to the Nile and the Mediterranean.

[Tailswipe]

Colonialism and the USSR/USA inciting and funding a constant stream of civil wars during the cold war years.

Since the USA and Russia ended their game the continent has slowly been recovering. Western corporate exploitation is still a major problem though.

[Deleted]

Colonialism and the USSR/USA inciting and funding a constant stream of civil wars during the cold war years.

Since the USA and Russia ended their game the continent has slowly been recovering. Western corporate exploitation is still a major problem though.

Yes that perfectly explains the last 5-6 hundred years.

[Ripster42]

Yes that perfectly explains the last 5-6 hundred years.

That and the whole question was essentially about why it was so easy for colonial powers to fuck them over.

[Runenwächter]

Colonialism and the USSR/USA inciting and funding a constant stream of civil wars during the cold war years.

Since the USA and Russia ended their game the continent has slowly been recovering. Western corporate exploitation is still a major problem though.

/facepalm

not enough characters.

[Raldazzar]

Southern Africa? assuming you include South Africa in this.. you couldn't be more wrong, infact up until Apartheid it was a very powerful nation. nuclear power even up to 1993, and they were the only country who had the balls to do it.

South Africa used to have fantastic farmlands and export.. but I cannot state why that all changed without some ignorant moron inferring racism. so I shant bother.

[sarahtasher]

Southern Africa? assuming you include South Africa in this.. you couldn't be more wrong, infact up until Apartheid it was a very powerful nation. nuclear power even up to 1993, and they were the only country who had the balls to do it.

South Africa used to have fantastic farmlands and export.. but I cannot state why that all changed without some ignorant moron inferring racism. so I shant bother.

There are flawed arguments, they are deeply flawed arguments, there are Ben Carson arguments and there is this.

So, IYO, nuking the townships would have been ''having balls'' ? FYI, even the most rabid Afrikaaners realized ''gee, that would be a tad impopular''.

With a SS quote, what a surprise. What a surprise. Why anyone would think this would be slightly racist ?

[Airlick]

One theory I had read about was that Africa was hit by the black plague last. (the same strain that hit Europe earlier). By the time the plague was done, colonialism started.

Doesn't explain why they were dancing naked around campfires when at the same time Europeans and Asians created elaborate philosophies, developed all forms of science and started shaping the world to their will. Pre-columbian civilizations came late to the party, lived in FAR more deadly environment than Africans and still leaped way over African societies. If there's nothing inherently wrong with Africa itself that hampers development of civilizations, and there isn't, since civilizations developed and thrived even in worse conditions, then something must be wrong with Africans.


[Infracted]

[dd614]

There were large kingdoms, but not at the technological level of Europe, Asia or the Americas. The Zulu kingdom spanned much of South Africa, for example. Still a lot of property.

[neocount]

Two main reasons:

Lack of capitalism
Lack of the Rule of Law

[Raldazzar]

There are flawed arguments, they are deeply flawed arguments, there are Ben Carson arguments and there is this.

So, IYO, nuking the townships would have been ''having balls'' ? FYI, even the most rabid Afrikaaners realized ''gee, that would be a tad impopular''.

With a SS quote, what a surprise. What a surprise. Why anyone would think this would be slightly racist ?

I think you are either a tad inebriated or simple.. at no point did I suggest nuking townships, infact I commended them for giving UP their nukes.. I think you may be simple after all..


[Infracted]

[Osmeric]

Humanity evolved in Africa, and the diseases/parasites there evolved with us. It's a nasty place to live when nature has had so much time to adapt to destroying us.

Extinction of disease-bearing insects via gene drive can't come soon enough.