ABSTRACT
The rapid emergence in the last few years of a number of independent states in Africa makes this an appropriate time to take a look at the political map of the continent, since the many unions, federations and other associations of states that are currently under discussion suggest that the present pattern of countries and boundaries may not be destined to endure for long. The reason why watersheds are so much more important in Africa appears to be that the early exploration of the continent consisted primarily of a series of attempts to elucidate the drainage pattern of the continent. The extensive but nebulous domain of the Sultan of Zanzibar on the east coast of Africa cannot properly be compared with the kingdoms just discussed, since it was by trade rather than by military expeditions that the Sultan extended his nominal sway.
