White African

Infobox Ethnic group
group = White Africans


pop = 5,116,400 - 7,360,400 (all countries below added up in highest and lowest figure*Figures do not include Europeans living in
European provinces or dependencies
(Canary Islands, Ceuta, Melilla, Madeira, Réunion, Saint Helena)
region1 = flagcountry|South Africa
pop1 = 4,360,000 - 5,687,000
region2 = flagcountry|Gabon
pop2 = 20,000
region3 = flagcountry|Angola
pop3 = 120,000 - 210,000
region4 = flagcountry|Namibia
pop4 = 120,000 - 180,000
region5 = flagcountry|Botswana
pop5 = 125,000 [cite web|title = White Batswana population |accessdate October 8|accessyear = 2007|url = https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/bc.html]
region6 = flagcountry|Zambia
pop6 = 125,000 [cite web|title = White Zambian population |accessdate October 8|accessyear = 2007|url = https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/za.html]
region8 = flagcountry|Morocco
pop8 = 100,000
region9 = flagcountry|Tunisia
pop9 = 100,000
region10 = flagcountry|Libya
pop10 = 100,000 - 150,000
region11 = flagcountry|Mozambique
pop11 = 50,000
region12 = flagcountry|Senegal
pop12 = 50,000
region13 = flagcountry|Côte d'Ivoire
pop13 = 45,000
region14 = flagcountry|Swaziland
pop14 = 33,000
region15 = flagcountry|Kenya
pop15 = 30,000
region16 = flagcountry|Equatorial Guinea
pop16 = 25,000
region17 = flagcountry|Mauritius
pop17 = 23,000
region18 = flagcountry|Zimbabwe
pop18 = 20,000 - 100,000
region19 = flagcountry|The Gambia
pop19 = 20,000
region20 = flagcountry|Central African Republic
pop20 = 15,000
region21 = flagcountry|Djibouti
pop21 = 12,000
region22 = flagcountry|Burkina Faso
pop22 = 12,000
region23 = flagcountry|Algeria
pop23 = 10,000
region24 = flagcountry|Niger
pop24 = 10,000
region25 = flagcountry|Tanzania
pop25 = 10,000 - 70,000
regio0n26 = flagcountry|Benin
pop26 = 10,000
region27 = flagcountry|Congo
pop27 = 9,500
region28 = flagcountry|Burundi
pop28 = 7,000
region29 = flagcountry|Chad
pop29 = 5,000
region30 = flagcountry|Sierra Leone
pop30 = 5,000
region31 = flagcountry|Rwanda
pop31 = 2,900
region32 = All other areas
pop32 = 138,000 - 445,000 ["Calculated from adding white residents of all other nations in Africa. Lower number assumes minimums in all other nations, larger assumes maximums in all other nations."]
languages =French, English, Afrikaans, Kabyle, Portuguese,
German, and others
religions = Predominantly Christian; minorities practicing Judaism, Islam, or no religion
related = Dutch, British, French, Portuguese,
Germans, Jews, White Americans,
White New Zealanders, White Latin Americans

White Africans are largely descendants of Europeans who settled on the continent of Africa under colonial rule. These individuals are mostly of Dutch, British, French, Portuguese, and to a lesser extent Italian, Greek, Belgian, Swiss, Spanish, and German ancestry. Prior to the decolonisation movements of the post-World War II era, Whites numbered at least 10 million persons and were represented in every part of Africa. However, many left during and after the indigenous independence movements. Nevertheless, White Africans remain an important minority in many African states, for example, 6% of the population in Namibia. [ [https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/wa.html#People Namibia: People: Ethnic Groups.] World Factbook of CIA] The African country with the largest White African population is South Africa, at approximately 5.2 million (9.6% of the population). [ [https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sf.html#People South Africa: People: Ethnic Groups.] World Factbook of CIA] Although Whites no longer rule various African nations, many have remained as permanent residents and often hold a substantial ownership of the economy and land in specific regions or countries. Many North African ethnic groups, such as Arabs and Berbers, [Dumaurier, "Notre place au soleil, La mémoire du peuple berbère", Firésias, 2001, ISBN 2908527812] can be or are also considered Whites under some definitions. [ [http://library.thinkquest.org/16645/the_people/ethnic_berber.shtml the Living Africa: the people - ethnic groups - Berber] ] [ [http://www.allied-media.com/Arab-American/census.html Arab Americans : Race & US Census] ]

The Dutch in Africa

insurgency and general collapse of colonial authorities in the decades after the World War II, Afrikaner colonies outside South Africa and Namibia diminished in size and the majority of settlers and their descendants returned to South Africa.

The British in Africa

Although there were small British settlements along the West African coast from the 18th century onwards, mostly devoted to the commerce of the slave trade, British settlement in Africa began in earnest only at the end of the 18th century, in the Cape of Good Hope. It gained momentum following British annexation of the Cape from the Dutch East India Company, and the subsequent encouragement of settlers in the Eastern Cape in an effort to consolidate the colony's eastern border.

In the late 19th century, the discovery of gold and diamonds further encouraged colonisation of South Africa by the British. The search for gold drove expansion north into the Rhodesias (now Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi). Simultaneously, British settlers began expansion into the fertile uplands (often called the "White Highlands") of British East Africa (now Kenya and Tanzania). Most of these settlements were not planned by the British government, with many colonial officials concluding they upset the balance of power in the region and left overall imperial interests vulnerable. Cecil Rhodes utilized his wealth and connections towards organizing this ad hoc movement and settlement into a grand imperial policy. This policy had as its general aim the securing of a Cairo to Cape Town railway system, and settling the upper highlands of East Africa and the whole of Southern Africa south of the Zambezi with British colonies in a manner akin to that of North America and Australasia.
[
thumb|left|Ian Smith defies the international community, 1975 "(photo by W Higham)"]

However, prioritization of British power around the globe in the years before World War I, initially reduced the resources appropriated toward settlement. World War I and the Great Depression and the general decline of British and European birthrates further hobbled the expected settler numbers. Nonetheless, thousands of colonists arrived each year during the decades preceding World War II. Despite a general change in British policy against supporting the establishment of European settlements in Africa, and a slow abandonment in the overall British ruling and common classes for a separate and exclusivist European identity, large colonial appendages of European separatist supporters of the British Empire were well entrenched in South Africa, Rhodesia, and Kenya.

In keeping with the general trend toward non-European rule evident throughout most of the globe during the Cold War and the abandonment of colonial positions in the face of American and Soviet pressure, the vestigial remnants of Cecil Rhodes' vision was abruptly ended, leaving British settlers in an exposed, isolated and weak position. Black Nationalist guerrilla forces aided by Soviet expertise and weapons soon drove the colonists into a fortress mentality which led to the break-off of ties with perceived collaborationist governments in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. The result was a series of conflicts which eventually led to a reduced presence of White Africans due to emigration and natural death. Many were murdered, tens of thousands driven off their lands and property, with many of those remaining being intimidated and threatened by the government and political and paramilitary organisations. In all, over 2,000,000 White Africans of mostly British descent were killed, pushed out, deported or went into exile from the original British colonies, reversing a process that took place hundreds of years previously. Nonetheless, in all of these areas, a number of well-connected, extremely wealthy settlers remained to live following independence and the introduction of black rule in the second half of the twentieth century.

There were 60,000 white settlers living in Kenya in 1965. [ [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,901759-3,00.html "We Want Our Country" (3 of 10)] , TIME] Today, there are an estimated 30,000 whites in Kenya. [ [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/heir-takes-on-flash-in-kenya-murder-trial-866379.html Heir takes on 'Flash' in Kenya murder trial] , The Independent] However, there has been an increasing number of British expatriates that, according to the BBC, number at about 32,000. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6161705.stm Brits Abroad: Country-by-country] , BBC News]

Sizeable numbers of Anglo-Africans also live in Ghana, Namibia, Tanzania, Uganda, Swaziland (3% of the population), [ [https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/wz.html#People Swaziland: People: Ethnic Groups.] World Factbook of CIA] Nigeria [ [http://www.afrol.com/articles/10506 Zim, South African white farmers head for Nigeria] ] and Botswana. [ [https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/bc.html#People Botswana: People: Ethnic Groups.] World Factbook of CIA]

The French in Africa

:"See also Huguenots in South Africa, French rule in Algeria, Pieds noirs, Franco-Réunionnaise, Franco-Mauritian, and Franco-Seychellois" Large numbers of French people settled in French North Africa from the 1840s onwards. By the end of French rule in the early 1960s there were over one million French Algerians of European origin (known as "pieds noirs", or "black feet") living in Algeria [http://www.time.com/time/archive/collections/0,21428,c_algerian_war,00.shtml] . No other region of the French African colonial empire attracted similar settlement, although there is still a comparatively large European population living in the former West African colony of Senegal, which has largest French African population in sub-Saharan Africa. There is also an important white minority in Gabon, Côte d'Ivoire, and Togo. The total French population in Côte d'Ivoire was 60,000 in 1980. [ [http://countrystudies.us/ivory-coast/41.htm Ivory Coast - The Economy] ] An estimated 18,000 French citizens lived and worked in Madagascar in the early 1990s (by independence, the Madagascar’s "colons" accounted for 70,000 people). [ [http://countrystudies.us/madagascar/15.htm Madagascar - Minorities] ]

French law made it easy for thousands of "colons", ethnic or national French from former colonies of Africa, India and Indochina to live in mainland France. 1.6 million European "colons" migrated from Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DEFDE1539F935A35757C0A96E948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all For Pieds-Noirs, the Anger Endures] ]

In Réunion, a French island in the Indian Ocean, white islanders of French origin make up approx. 25% of the population. [ [http://www.lvlr.net/crocvl/2006/html/reunion_island.html Réunion Island] ]

A large number of French Huguenots settled in the Cape Colony, following their expulsion from France in the 17th century. However, the use of the French language was banned and the Huguenot settlers were entirely absorbed into Afrikaans culture. However, this early contact can be seen clearly in the names of historic towns, such as Franschhoek in the Western Cape (meaning "French Corner") and in the surnames of many Afrikaners, such as Theron, Du Plessis etc.

The Portuguese in Africa

The first Portuguese settlements in Africa were built in the 15th century. In the late 17th century, much of Mozambique was divided into "prazos", or agricultural estates, which were settled by Portuguese families. In Angola, namely in the areas of Luanda and Benguela there was significant Portuguese population. In the islands of Cape Verde and São Tomé and Príncipe, besides Portuguese settlers, most of the population was of mixed Portuguese and African origin.

In the early 20th century, the Portuguese government encouraged white emigration to Angola and Mozambique, and by the 1960s, at the beginning of the Portuguese Colonial War, there were around 650,000 Portuguese settlers living in their overseas African provinces, and a substantial Portuguese population living in other African countries. In 1974, there were up to 1,000,000 Portuguese settlers living in their overseas African provinces. [ [http://countrystudies.us/portugal/48.htm Portugal - Emigration] , Eric Solsten, ed. Portugal: A Country Study. Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress, 1993.]

Most Portuguese settlers returned to Portugal (the "retornados") as the country's African possessions gained independence in the mid 1970s, while others moved south to South Africa, which now has the largest Portuguese-African population.

Other White African Groups

Smaller White African groups also settled parts of Africa. These include Spanish in Equatorial Guinea, Western Sahara, Morocco, Ceuta, Melilla (94,000 Spaniards chose to go to the Algeria in the last years of the 19th century, 250,000 Spaniards lived in Morocco at the beginning of the 20th century), [ [http://www.migrationinformation.org/Profiles/display.cfm?id=97 Spain: Forging an Immigration Policy] , Migration Information Source] and South Africa; Italians in Libya, Eritrea, eastern Somalia, and South Africa; Germans in Namibia and South Africa; and Belgians in Democratic Republic of Congo, and Lithuanians in South Africa; [ [http://www.dfa.gov.za/docs/2007/lithu0613.htm Deputy Minister van der Merwe to hold Discussions with Lithuanian Counterpart] ] and Lebanese in South Africa, Senegal, [ [http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2007-07/2007-07-10-voa46.cfm Lebanese Immigrants Boost West African Commerce] ] Liberia, [ [http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=59719 Liberians who fled civil war trapped in Beirut] ] Nigeria, [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6908065.stm Lebanese man shot dead in Nigeria] , BBC News] Congo, [ [http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2001/525/in3.htm Lebanese nightmare in Congo] , Al-Ahram Weekly] and Côte d'Ivoire. [ [http://countrystudies.us/ivory-coast/72.htm Ivory Coast - The Levantine Community] ]

In 1910, there were 105,000 Italians in Tunisia, as against 35,000 Frenchmen. Former Italian communities once thrived in their African colonies of Eritrea (50,000 Italian settlers in 1935), [ [http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/33/038.html Eritrea—Hope For Africa’s Future] ] Somalia and Libya (some 150,000 Italians settled in Libya, constituting about 18% of the total population). [ [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-46562/Libya Libya - Italian colonization] ] All of Libya's Italians were expelled from the North African country in 1970, a year after Muammar al-Gaddafi seized power (a "day of vengeance" on 7 October 1970). [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4380360.stm Libya cuts ties to mark Italy era.] ] There was emigration to Ethiopia as well. During the five-year occupation of Ethiopia, roughly 300,000 Italians were absorbed into East Africa (there were over 49,000 Italians living in Asmara in 1939, and over 38,000 in Addis Ababa). But fully one third of these Italians were military. [Barker, p.154]

There is a substantial, mostly Ashkenazic Jewish community in South Africa. These Jews arrived mostly from Lithuania prior to World War II. [ [http://www.queensu.ca/samp/news/artic1.htm Lithuanian Jews Make Big Impact in South Africa] ] Although the Jewish community peaked in the 1970s, about 80,000 remain in South Africa. [ [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/South_Africa.html The Virtual Jewish History Tour - South Africa] ]

Armenians and Greeks once numbered thousands in Ethiopia and Sudan, before civil wars, revolutions and nationalization drove most of them out. They still have community centers and churches in these countries.

The Greek community in South Africa numbers around 60,000 people. [ [http://old.mfa.gr/english/foreign_policy/sub_saharan/ Greece and sub-Saharan African Countries Bilateral Relations] ] The Greeks had a thriving presence in Egypt from the ancient times up to today. In about 1940, Greeks were numbered at about 250,000. The exodus of Greeks from Egypt started during and after the revolution of 1952. It is estimated that between 1957 - 1962 almost 70% of the Egyptiot Greeks left the country. The size of the Italian Egyptian community had reached around 55,000 just before World War II, forming the second largest expatriate community in Egypt. Before 1952 there were around 75,000 Armenians in Egypt. [ [http://www.refugeesinternational.org/section/publications/stateless_africa/ Refugees International: Publications: Stateless Report] ]

On 5 July 1960, five days after the Congo gained independence from Belgium, the Force Publique garrison near Léopoldville mutinied against its white officers and attacked numerous European targets. This caused the fear amongst the approximately 100,000 whites still resident in the Congo and mass exodus from the country. [ [http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/united_nations_congo.htm ::UN:: History Learning Site] ] In 1965, there were 60,000 Belgians spread throughout the Congo. [ [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,901759-2,00.html "We Want Our Country" (2 of 10)] , TIME]

The inhabitants of the Canary Islands hold a gene pool that is halfway between the Spaniards and the ancient native population, the Guanches (a proto-berber population), although with a major Spanish contribution. [ [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15598218?dopt=Abstract] other theories, however, suggest that the native Guanche population may have been of ancient Nordic or Celtic origin, but this in itself is up to dispute.]

On Tristan da Cunha, the population of 271 people shared just seven surnames: Glass, Green, Hagan, Lavarello (a typical Ligurian surname), Repetto (another typical Ligurian surname), Rogers and Swain.

There are an estimated 100,000 Europeans living in Tunisia. [ [https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ts.html#People Tunisia: People: Ethnic Groups.] World Factbook of CIA] About 50,000 Europeans (mostly French) and Lebanese reside in Senegal, mainly in the cities. [ [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2862.htm Senegal (03/08)] , U.S. Department of State]

Current Populations (2005 est. From CIA)

White African Population by Country

* South Africa: 5,265,300 (as of July 2008)
* Namibia: 120,000
* Zambia: 120,000
* Angola: 120,000
* Mozambique: 50,000
* Zimbabwe: 46,743 (2002 census)
* Senegal: 50,000
* Botswana: 40,000
* Kenya: 30,000
* Equatorial Guinea: 25,000
* Côte D'Ivoire: 20,000
* Gabon: 20,000
* Tanzania: 10,000
* Other African nations: 30,000

Total: Approximately +6,000,000

The White African population of Zimbabwe was much higher in the 1960s and 1970s (when the country was known as Rhodesia), when it was 270,000 at its highest. After the introduction of majority rule in 1980, and the as-to-be-expected strains on a newly evolving economic system during the late 1990s that was brought on by expulsion of white farmers and the economic mismanagement by the Mugabe regime, many white people left the country.

By September 2007, it is thought that as few as 22,000 whites remain in Zimbabwe as the economic and political crisis deepens. It is thought that if economic and political conditions better, some of the former white population will return. [ [http://www.africanloft.com/nigeria-zimbabwean-white-farmers-hope-to-retun-home/ Zimbabwean White Farmers Hope to Return Home] ]

In November 2004, several thousand of the estimated 14,000 French nationals in Côte d'Ivoire left country after days of anti-white violence. [ [http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,138116,00.html France, U.N. Start Ivory Coast Evacuation] , FOXNews.com]

Languages

White Africans generally speak European languages as their first languages (English, Portuguese, French, German, Spanish, Italian and Afrikaans, derived from Dutch); some also speak major native African languages.

ports

White Africans in East and Southern Africa are largely of British descent hence the most popular sport with them is cricket. Rugby and hockey are also popular with them. Today, Cricket, rugby and hockey national sports teams of South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Angola, Botswana and other South African countries, and until the 1970s, East African teams have been composed primarily of whites.

Many Whites from Commonwealth countries in Africa are accomplished swimmers, including Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe and Jason Dunford of Kenya, as well as numerous South Africans.

ee also

*List of White Africans
*Anglo-African
*Afrikaner
*Asians in Africa
*Whites in South Africa
*Whites in Zimbabwe
*Whites in Kenya

References