The African Continent

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In this issue of Student Xpress we start a series of articles on the African Continent. Africa is a stunningly beautiful continent attracting millions of tourists every year. It is also a continent that is ravaged by wars killing hundreds of thousands of Africans every year. These wars are draining Africa's economic resources and severely stunting its ability to develop its infrastructure. Student Xpress starts the series by focussing on Zimbabwe and Ethiopia.

Zimbabwe, like most African countries, was colonised by a foreign country. They gained their independence from Britain in 1980. All new independent states face enormous problems. One of the major problems facing Zimbabwe is the land question. Less than one per-cent of the population is white and they own most of the fertile land. A series of measures were supposed to have been undertaken to transfer much of the land to the native people but progress has been slow. As a result many Zimbabweans have occupied these lands and seized farms, killing some farmers in the process.

Unlike other African countries, Ethiopia, has been independent for most of its existence. It is located in a drought-prone area in the East called the Horn of Africa. Most of its people work and depend on farming for their living. Long periods of drought give rise to famine conditions. When the country is involved in war as they are now then many people end up starving as aid finds it difficult to get through to the starving. The Ethiopian government is spending millions of dollars on a war with Eritrea while its people face a famine.

African Fact File

• World Continent Size: Fourth largest
• Square Miles: 6,900,000
• Estimated Population: 314,000,000
• Largest City: Sao Paulo, Brazil, 17.3 million
• Largest Country: Brazil, 3.2 million sq. miles
• Longest River: Amazon, 4,000 miles

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