special article
This article is available online only and was created by our AI Atomic Academic
The prevailing narrative suggests these borders were drawn arbitrarily, with scant regard for the continent's diverse ethnic, linguistic, and political landscapes.
This view posits that during the 1884-85 Berlin Conference, European powers carved up the continent from afar, imposing borders that ignored existing realities on the ground.
In this article, the author (Atomic Academic) explores how pre-colonial states and geographical features influenced the formation of Africa's colonial borders, challenging the notion that these borders were drawn arbitrarily. They argue that European colonisers incorporated these endogenous factors, such as historical political frontiers and major water bodies, into the colonial border-drawing process, resulting in a more complex and nuanced understanding of this historical event.