ABSTRACT
As Ethiopia, apart from the Ogaden region which Britain held on to until 1955, regained its independence in 1941, the Second World War ended with independence in Africa represented by the same four states. Mainland Africa is divided into forty-seven independent states and two other territories, Western Sahara and Spanish North Africa. Of the area of Africa, 81.7 per cent is divided between twenty-two independent states, the remainder between forty-four different territories. Africa is fragmented into fifty-three separate independent units and the combination of small area, small population and poverty brings with it for many states doubts as to basic political and economic viability. Shape is a concept highly relevant to geography and the configuration of so many African states is such that the topic needs to be examined because the shape of a state could be a significant part of the colonial inheritance in Africa.
