LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Africa: South Africa
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The Union of South Africa was formed and became virtually self-governing in 1910, Egypt achieved a measure of sovereignty in 1922, and in 1925 Tangier, previously attached to Morocco, was made an international zone. At the end of World War II a rise in international trade spurred renewed exploitation of Africa's resources. France and Britain began campaigns to improve conditions in their African holdings, including access to education and investment in infrastructure. Africans were ... able to pressure France and Britain into a degree of self-administration. Belgium and Portugal did little in the way of colonial development and sought greater control over their colonies during this period.
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Like South Africa, this former British colony was under white control until the late 1980's. Zimbabwe has been independent since 1987 and has been ruled by onetime Marxist Robert Mugabe since that time. In 2000, the country began a land redistribution campaign which has caused an exodus of white farmers, has crippled the economy and has resulted in widespread shortages of basic commodities. By the end of 2002 some 600 white farmers remained (out of a pre- redistribution total of 4,500), mainly on smaller holdings.
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Some areas, notably Botswana and South Africa, have experienced economic success. The latter has a wealth of natural resources, being the world's leading producer of both gold and diamonds, and having a well-established legal system. South Africa ... has access to financial capital, numerous markets, skilled labor, and first world infrastructure in much of the country and has one of the major stock exchanges of the continent, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
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With the exception of the nomadic Maasai, ancestor cults feature prominently in the mythologies of East and South Africa, whereas in West Africa an extended pantheon offers more scope for worship and speculation. There is room for divinities other than the creator god as well as the accidents of fate and fortune so necessary for mythological development. A folklore personage like Anansi, or Mr Spider, appears to be almost a national hero in Sierra Leone. This trickster is shrewd, designing, and selfish; from the safety of a tree Mr Spider enjoys the sport he has helped to create by his subtle wit and takes advantage of the victims to supply himself with food. Neither the elephant nor the hippopotamus can cope with him, and they are tricked into a contest that brings both of them to death. ‘You might be stronger,’ he reflects, ‘but you are ... more stupid.’
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West Africa is becoming a new transit point for drugs from South America on their way to European markets, Dulue Mbachu reports from Benin for ISN Security Watch. By Dulue Mbachu in Cotonou, Benin for ISN Security Watch (27/02/08) Centuries after ships sailed with slaves from the Gulf of Guinea to South America as part of a triangular trade with Europe, increasingly large numbers of ships are heading in the opposite direction in a reverse triangular trade with another cargo: cocaine destined for Europe. The latest evidence is the interception of a Liberian-registered ship, Blue Atlantic, by
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West Africa is composed of eighteen countries occupying various climate zones. The coastal region from Guinea-Bissau to Cameroon is characterized by abundant rainfall (with a rainy season of at least six months) and a thick forest of massive evergreen trees. A drier region, the savanna, lies five hundred miles north of the forest, and receives enough rainfall to sustain vast areas of rarer trees and grasses. The semiarid zone between the Sahara Desert to the north and the savanna to the south is called the Sahel, which in some years has a dry season of over nine months. North of the Sahel lies the Sahara Desert.
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