Negroland

Not to be confused with the Greek town called Nigrita.

A 1729 map titled: "NEGROLAND and GUINEA. with the European settlements, Explaining what belongs to England, Holland, Denmark &c."
By H. Moll Geographer

Negroland or Nigritia^[1], was a term invented and used by Europeans in colonial times, for various West African inland states and areas which was described as populated with "Negro people". This area would comprise at least the western part of the region called Sudan (not to be confused with the modern country). The term is probably a direct translation of the Arabic term Bilad Al Sudan meaning 'Land of the blacks', corresponding to about the same area. Some of the greatest states of those considered part of Negroland was the Bornu Empire and the Sokoto Caliphate.

When Asians and Indians are named after Asia and India, respectively, the term Negroland came around the other way as a use for the areas populated with dark colored people in Sub-Saharan Africa which at the time were called Negroes (from the Spanish word "negro", meaning "black").

After about the 1960s, however, when civil rights started improving for people of African ancestry, the term "Negro" has been widely considered an ethnic slur.^[2]

See also

• Sudan (region)
• Sudanian Savanna

Sources

• Encyclopaedia Britannica 10th Edition (1902) Online - States of Central Africa

References

1. ^ African-Institute - Sudan
2. ^ The Name "Negro": Its Origin and Evil Use