Started reading Guns, Germ, and Steel, and debated about this with my friend. I do understand that Africa’s North/South orientation adds a lot of climate diversity, which makes it difficult for people to collaborate. To what extent did this actually affect Africa’s economic development? Like for example, are there other countries that may have pulled off thriving under this orientation, or is this a red herring to distract away from the serious impact of European colonization? I do understand this is not a simple question, but let’s try!
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European colonization? Does not explain anything before the 19th century.
North Africa was thriving when North Europe was a backwater. But south of the Sahara was the Dark Continent. Terra Incognito. Arab culture influenced the east coast, but did not go far inland.
Europeans had explored, traded and settled all over Asia, the Americas and Australia while most of sub-Saharan Africa was still largely isolated from Europe and the Middle Eastern empires. Why was that?
Impenetrable jungle and malaria had a lot to do with it. The human population of sub-Saharan Africa was very small in those days, compared to Europe and Asia.
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