ABSTRACT
Africa is a complex of diverse regions offering different conditions for human habitation and influenced by factors that have hampered an efficient adjustment of people to resources in many parts of the continent. Population statistics for most African countries, though subject to much error in detail, now have a more substantial basis than is generally supposed. The fertility of the Arab population in North Africa is fairly constant from region to region and is reasonably well known through numerous surveys and investigations. The 1960 census of South Africa showed a population of nearly 16 million persons of whom about 3 million were Europeans and about half a million were South Asians. The distribution of the mainland African population is largely determined by geographical factors. The rapid increase of population in Africa undoubtedly hampers to some degree the forces of economic and social development.
