Why do African countries have straight line borders

The majority of African countries have straight-line borders due to the historical impact of European colonialism, especially during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when European powers divided the African continent among themselves without regard for the indigenous ethnic, cultural, or geographic realities. This division was formalized during the Berlin Conference of 1884–1885, where European leaders drew borders using geometric lines on maps, often based on latitude and longitude, prioritizing their political and economic interests over the social structures of the native populations. As a result, many borders were drawn arbitrarily, cutting across tribal lands, linguistic regions, and natural features like rivers and mountains. These artificial boundaries contributed to long-term challenges, including ethnic conflicts, civil wars, and governance issues in post-colonial African states. Even after independence in the mid-20th century, most countries retained these colonial borders to avoid disputes and wars over redrawing them.

African history, colonial borders, Berlin Conference, European imperialism, straight borders, artificial boundaries, geopolitical history, Africa colonization, post-colonial Africa, border conflicts, tribal divisions, longitude and latitude, map drawing, African unity issues, ethnic division, nation-state formation, European interests, geographic ignorance, African tribes, historical geography, political legacy, independence era, colonial legacy, border wars, ethnic tension.

Видео Why do African countries have straight line borders канала JR STUDIO Sci-Talk Malayalam