I’m rereading Herbst’s States and Power in Africa (.pdf review here) and I started wondering how population densities in Africa and Europe compare today. Herbst makes the claim (I’m simplifying) that European and African political trajectories can be largely explained by differences in population densities. Herbst points out (in this chart) that African population density in 1975 roughly equaled European population density in 1500. The graph above shows that by 2010 Ethiopia will have surpassed France’s population density in 1950. That is quite the catch up. I’m writing something on this and I’ll try to remember to post my thoughts as my writing progresses. Charles Kenny has a good  explanation of the African population explosion and how it could happen without large amounts of economic growth. The data comes from the UN and can be found here.

I’m rereading Herbst’s States and Power in Africa (.pdf review here) and I started wondering how population densities in Africa and Europe compare today. Herbst makes the claim (I’m simplifying) that European and African political trajectories can be largely explained by differences in population densities. Herbst points out (in this chart) that African population density in 1975 roughly equaled European population density in 1500. The graph above shows that by 2010 Ethiopia will have surpassed France’s population density in 1950. That is quite the catch up.

I’m writing something on this and I’ll try to remember to post my thoughts as my writing progresses. Charles Kenny has a good  explanation of the African population explosion and how it could happen without large amounts of economic growth.

The data comes from the UN and can be found here.