Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Author Biographies
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I La Longue Durée
- 1 Africa in World History before ca. 1440
- 2 Reversal of Fortune and Socioeconomic Development in the Atlantic World
- 3 The Impact of Malaria on African Development over the Longue Durée
- 4 African Population, 1650–2000: Comparisons and Implications of New Estimates
- Part II Culture, Entrepreneurship, and Development
- Part III Institutions
- Part IV External Forces
- Index
- References
4 - African Population, 1650–2000: Comparisons and Implications of New Estimates
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 September 2014
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Author Biographies
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I La Longue Durée
- 1 Africa in World History before ca. 1440
- 2 Reversal of Fortune and Socioeconomic Development in the Atlantic World
- 3 The Impact of Malaria on African Development over the Longue Durée
- 4 African Population, 1650–2000: Comparisons and Implications of New Estimates
- Part II Culture, Entrepreneurship, and Development
- Part III Institutions
- Part IV External Forces
- Index
- References
Summary
New and comprehensive estimates of African population, at regional and continental levels, suggest that from the seventeenth to the twentieth century the continent’s population was much larger in size yet growing at a slower rate than previously thought. In a project that is nearing completion, Scott Nickleach and I, with the assistance of Yun Zhang, Brian McGill, and Bowen Yi, are projecting African populations from 1950 back to 1650. The analysis relies on a combination of methods that account for decennial and regional estimates of net growth rates, effects of various social and environmental factors, and especially the demographic impact of enslavement and the attendant migration and mortality. Two hypotheses – a dense early modern African population and a decline in African population because of slave trade – are linked tightly together.
The present chapter focuses on the social implications of this new demographic argument. It begins with a concise summary of the new estimates at continental and regional levels, a comparison with previously accepted figures, and a brief exploration of the plausibility of the new figures. The bulk of this chapter discusses global comparisons of African population estimates and focuses especially on the main economic and social implications of these new estimates for our understanding of African history.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Africa's Development in Historical Perspective , pp. 131 - 150Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2014
References
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