White African
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| White African | |
|---|---|
    |
|
| Total population | 5,800,000+ |
| Regions with significant populations | South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Algeria, Kenya and Tanzania |
| Language | Afrikaans, French, English, Portuguese |
| Religion | Christian Protestant (Calvinist) |
| Related ethnic groups | Whites, White American, White British, White Canadian, White Australian and White South African |
White African people are descendants of Europeans who settled in the continent of Africa under colonial rule. (Known in Shona as the Mukiwa, and in Nguni languages as abeLungu) These individuals are mostly of Dutch, British, French, Portuguese, and to a lesser extent Italian, Belgian and European ancestry. The African country with the largest White African population is South Africa, at approximately 5 million. Although white Africans no longer rule various African nations, many have remained as permanent residents and may dominate the economy and ownership of land in specific regions or countries.
Contents |
[edit] Dutch people in Africa
Dutch settlement, under the Dutch East India Company, began in the Cape of Good Hope (present-day Cape Town) in southern Africa in 1652, making it the oldest European culture in Sub-Saharan Africa. By the late nineteenth century, the descendants of the Dutch (known as Afrikaners) had crossed the Limpopo river into Mashonaland, now part of Zimbabwe. In the early 1900s following the Anglo-Boer War, large numbers of Afrikaner colonists travelled north to British East Africa and settled in what is now Kenya and Tanzania, as well as in Angola. The Afrikaner colonies outside South Africa and Namibia diminished in size following the Second World War, and the majority of settlers and their descendants returned to South Africa.
[edit] British people in Africa
- See also Anglo-African
Although there were small temporary British settlements along the West African coast from the 1700s onwards, British settlement in Africa began in earnest only at the end of the eighteenth century, in the Cape of Good Hope. It gained momentum following British annexation of the Cape from the Dutch East India Company, and the subsequent encouragement of settlers in the Eastern Cape in an effort to consolidate the colony's eastern border.
In the late nineteenth century the discovery of gold and diamonds further encouraged colonisation of South Africa by Britons. The search for gold drove expansion north into the Rhodesias (now Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi). Simultaneously, British settlers began expansion into the fertile uplands (often called the "White Highlands") of British East Africa (now Kenya and Tanzania). In all these colonies, a number of settlers remained to live following independence and the introduction of majority rule in the second half of the twentieth century.
[edit] French people in Africa
- See also French rule in Algeria and Pieds noirs
Large numbers of French people settled in French North Africa from the 1840s onwards. By the end of French rule in 1960 there were over one million French colonists (known as pieds noirs, or "black feet") living in Algeria [1]. No other region of the French African colonial empire attracted similar settlement, although there is still a comparatively large white population living in the former West African colony of Côte d'Ivoire.
A large number of French Huguenots settled in the Cape Colony, following their expulsion from France in the 17th Century. However, the use of the French language was banned and the Huguenot settlers were entirely absorbed into Afrikaans culture. However, this early contact can be seen clearly in the names of historic towns, such as Franschoek in the Western Cape (meaning "French Corner") and in the surnames of many Afrikaners, such as Theron, DuPlessis etc.
[edit] Portuguese people in Africa
The first Portuguese settlements in Africa were built in the sixteenth century. In the late seventeenth century much of Mozambique was divided into prazos, or agricultural estates, which were settled by Portuguese families. In the early twentieth century the Portuguese government encouraged white emigration to Angola and Mozambique, and by the 1960s there were around 500,000 white people living in Portugal's overseas African provinces, and a substantial Portuguese population living in other African countries. Many Portuguese settlers returned to Portugal as the country's African possessions gained independence in the 1970s, while others moved south to South Africa.
[edit] Other White African Groups
Smaller white African groups also settled parts of Africa. These include Spanish in Equatorial Guinea, Western Sahara, Morocco, Ceuta, and Melilla; Italians in Libya, Eritrea, eastern Somalia, and South Africa; Germans in Namibia and South Africa; and Belgians in Democratic Republic of Congo, and Lithuanians in South Africa; and Lebanese Maronite Christians in South Africa. Caucasian North Africans such as Egyptians and Moroccans can also be considered White Africans.
[edit] Current Populations (2005 est. From CIA)
White Population by Country
- South Africa: 5,300,000
- Namibia: 120,000
- Zambia: 120,000
- Angola: 110,000
- Zimbabwe: 90,000
- Tanzania: 35,000
- Botswana: 30,000
- Kenya: 25,000
- Gabon: 20,000
- Mozambique: 10,000
- Equatorial Guinea: 1,000
- Other African nations: 20,000
Total: Approximately 5,800,000
Note: Many white people live in tight private, gated neighborhoods, or farms, and did not receive or return a census form. So the white South African population may be undercounted. At this same time a force of 100,000 temporary employees tracked down nearly every legal black resident, although it's believed 3 to 5 million illegal or unregistered black people are also in the country. A more accurate estimate may be that 12% of South Africa's population is white. The white population of Zimbabwe was much higher in the 1960s (when the country was known as Rhodesia), when it was 270 000 at its highest. After the introduction of majority rule in 1980 many white people left the country.
