ABSTRACT
The great compact land-mass of Africa is second only in size to Asia. In fact, the area of 11,700,000 sq. miles is four times the size of the United States, and the variations and diversity within Africa are far greater than in North America. Africa is also the most tropical of continents: it is almost bisected by the equator and 9 million sq. miles of Africa lie within the tropics. This is one of the factors that delayed discovery and penetration and now retards economic development. Economic development and political development both involve change. Contemporary Africa is a continent of change: economies are being transformed, social structures and ideologies modified and aspirations lifted. In the decade 1954-64 the number of independent African states more than quintupled: a staggering fact. With fifty divisions (ignoring microscopic enclaves) the average area of African states is still high (234,000 sq. miles), but the population is low (av. 5 million).
