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Africa

History

How did the Berlin Conference of 1884 help expedite the colonization of Africa?

In 1884, a time when most of Africa had yet to be colonized, 13 European countries and the United States met in Berlin to divide Africa up among themselves. At the conference, geometric borders were drawn across Africa, completely ignoring the continent’s cultural differences. Though the borders were established over 100 years ago, they still exist today and are responsible for much of the turmoil and trauma among the now-independent African countries.