Farmers protesting for Land Reform in Indonesia

Land reform (also agrarian reform, though that can have a broader meaning) involves the changing of laws, regulations or customs regarding land ownership.^[1] Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution, generally of agricultural land. Land reform can, therefore, refer to transfer of ownership from the more powerful to the less powerful:such as from a relatively small number of wealthy (or noble) owners with extensive land holdings (e.g., plantations, large ranches, or agribusiness plots) to individual ownership by those who work the land.^[2] Such transfers of ownership may be with or without compensation; compensation may vary from token amounts to the full value of the land.^[3]

Land reform may also entail the transfer of land from individual ownership — even peasant ownership in smallholdings — to government-owned collective farms; it has also, in other times and places, referred to the exact opposite: division of government-owned collective farms into smallholdings.^[4] The common characteristic of all land reforms, however, is modification or replacement of existing institutional arrangements governing possession and use of land. Thus, while land reform may be radical in nature, such as through large-scale transfers of land from one group to another, it can also be less dramatic, such as regulatory reforms aimed at improving land administration.^[5]

Nonetheless, any revision or reform of a country's land laws can still be an intensely political process, as reforming land policies serves to change relationships within and between communities, as well as between communities and the state. Thus even small-scale land reforms and legal modifications may be subject to intense debate or conflict.^[6]

Land ownership and tenure[link]

Land ownership and tenure can be perceived as controversial in part because ideas defining what it means to access or control land, such as through "land ownership" or "land tenure", can vary considerably across regions and even within countries.^[7] Land reforms, which change what it means to control land, therefore create tensions and conflicts between those who lose and those who gain from these redefinitions (see next section).^[8]

Western conceptions of land have evolved over the past several centuries to place greater emphasis on individual land ownership, formalized through documents such as land titles.^[9] Control over land, however, may also be perceived less in terms of individual ownership and more in terms land use, or through what is known as land tenure.^[10] Historically, in many parts of Africa for example, land was not owned by an individual, but rather used by an extended family or a village community. Different people in a family or community had different rights to access this land for different purposes and at different times. Such rights were often conveyed through oral history and not formally documented.^[11]

These different ideas of land ownership and tenure are sometimes referred to using different terminology. For example, "formal" or "statutory" land systems refer to ideas of land control more closely affiliated with individual land ownership. "Informal" or "customary" land systems refer to ideas of land control more closely affiliated with land tenure.^[12]

Terms dictating control over and use of land can therefore take many forms. Some specific examples of present day or historic forms of formal and informal land ownership include:

• Traditional land tenure, as in the indigenous nations or tribes of North America in the Pre-Columbian era.
• Feudal land ownership, through fiefdoms
• Life estate, interest in real property that ends at death.
• Fee tail, hereditary, non-transferable ownership of real property.
• Fee simple. Under common law, this is the most complete ownership interest one can have in real property.
• Leasehold or rental
• Rights to use a common
• Sharecropping
• Easements
• Agricultural labor — under which someone works the land in exchange for money, payment in kind, or some combination of the two
• Collective ownership
• Access to land through a membership in a cooperative, or shares in a corporation, which owns the land (typically by fee simple or its equivalent, but possibly under other arrangements).
• Government collectives, such as those that might be found in communist states, whereby government ownership of most agricultural land is combined in various ways with tenure for farming collectives.

Arguments for and against land reform[link]

Land reform is a deeply political process^[13] and therefore many arguments for and against it have emerged. These arguments vary tremendously over time and place. For example, in the twentieth century, many land reforms emerged from a particular political ideology, such as communism or socialism. Or, as can be seen in the 19th century in colonized states, a colonial government may have changed the laws dictating land ownership to better consolidate political power or to support its colonial economy.^[14] In more recent times, electoral mobilization and the use of land as a patronage resource have been proposed as possible motivations for land reform efforts, such as the extensive redistributive land reforms of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe.^[15]

Arguments for land reform[link]

Land reforms need not be as dramatic in scale as Zimbabwe. Today many arguments in support of land reform focus on its potential social and economic benefits, particularly in developing countries, that may emerge from reforms focused on greater land formalization. Such benefits may include eradicating food insecurity and alleviating rural poverty.^[16]

Arguments in support of such reforms gained particular momentum after the publication of "The Mystery of Capital" by Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto in 2000. The poor, he argues, are often unable to secure formal property rights, such as land titles, to the land on which they live or farm because of poor governance, corruption and/or overly complex bureaucracies. Without land titles or other formal documentation of their land assets, they are less able to access formal credit. Political and legal reforms within countries, according to de Soto, will help to include the poor in formal legal and economic systems, increase the poor's ability to access credit and contribute to economic growth and poverty reduction.^[18]

Many international development organizations and bilateral and multilateral donors, such as the World Bank, have embraced de Soto's ideas, or similar ideas, about the benefits of greater formalized land rights.^[19] This has translated into a number of development programs that work with governments and civil society organizations to initiate and implement land reforms.^[20] Evidence to support the economic and pro-poor benefits of increased formalized land rights are, however, still inconclusive according to some critics (see "Arguments against land reform" below).

Other arguments in support of land reform point to the need to alleviate conflicting land laws, particularly in former colonies, where formal and informal land systems may exist in tension with each other.^[21] Such conflicts can make marginalized groups vulnerable to further exploitation.^[22] For example, in many countries in Africa with conflicting land laws, AIDS stigmatization has led to an increasing number of AIDS widows being kicked off marital land by in-laws.^[23] While the woman may have both customary and statutory rights to the land, confusion over which set of laws has primacy, or even a lack of knowledge of relevant laws, leave many AIDS widows at a significant disadvantage. Also, conflicting formal and informal land laws can also clog a country's legal system, making it prone to corruption.^[24]

Additional arguments for land reform focus on the potential environmental benefits of reform. For example, if reform leads to greater security of land ownership, through either formal or informal means, then those that use the land will be better stewards of it.^[25]

Arguments against land reform[link]

Many of the arguments in support of land reform speak to its potentially positive social and economic outcomes. Yet, as mentioned previously, land reform is an intensely political process.^[8] Thus, many of those opposed to land reform are nervous as to the underlying motivations of those initiating the reform. For example, some may fear that they will disadvantaged or victimized as a result of the reforms. Others may fear that they will lose out in the economic and political power struggles that underlie many land reforms.^[26]

Other groups and individuals express concerns about land reforms focused on formalization of property rights. While the economic and social benefits of formalized land rights are often touted, some research suggests that such reforms are either ineffective or may cause further hardship or conflict.^[27]

Additional arguments against land reform focus on concerns over equity issues and potential elite capture of land, particularly in regards to reforms focused on greater land formalization. If improperly or inadequately implemented, critics worry that such reforms may further disadvantage marginalization groups such as indigenous communities or women.^[28] These concerns also lead to questions about the institutional capacity of governments to implement land reforms as they are designed. Even if a country does have this capacity, critics worry that corruption and patrimonalism will lead to further elite capture.^[29]

In looking at more radical reforms, such as large-scale land redistribution, arguments against reform include concerns that redistributed land will not be used productively and that owners of expropriated land will not be compensated adequately or compensated at all. Zimbabwe, again, is a commonly cited example of the perils of such large-scale reforms, whereby land redistribution contributed to economic decline and increased food insecurity in the country.^[30]

Evaluation of land reform[link]

While many issues divide proponents and opponents of land reform, the questions below can help one to evaluate land reform in a more objective manner:

• Is private property of any sort legitimate? If so, is land ownership legitimate and are historic property rights in this particular state and society legitimate?
• Even if property rights are legitimate, do they allow for or protect against expropriation? Do they entitle the property owner to partial or complete compensation of expropriated land?
• How should property rights be weighed against other rights, such as the right to life and liberty?
• Who should adjudicate land ownership disputes?
• What constitutes fair land reform?
• What are the social, economic and political effects of land reform?^[31]

Challenges for land reform in South Africa

Various researchers have identified various challenges facing land and agrarian reform in South Africa. The following are amongst the challenges as identified by Hall (2004) and the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform (2008):

• Willing seller-willing buyer principle: it takes a long time to negotiate land price with the current land owners;
• Claim disputes: it is a long process to mediate and resolve claim disputes (e.g. unresolved disputes between Makgoba Traditional Council and the Trust in the Limpopo Province, South Africa);
• Capacity: there is lack of institutional capacity for community legal entities (e.g. Trust);
• Beneficiary selection: it is a lengthy process and time consuming process to select the rightful beneficiaries for land redistribution;
• Resettlement support: it requires enough resources and time to effectively facilitate post-resettlement support to new land owners;
• Monitoring and evaluation: there is lack of reliable monitoring system and evaluation thereof;
• Policy: there are gaps in the current policies which compromise effective implementation of land reform programme.
• Different political views: there is lack of common consensus among political parties on land reform debate.

Unresolved land claims, which are largely rural claims, are mostly affected by a number of challenges such as:

• disputes with land owners on the validity of claims, land prices, settlement models and conditions;
• family or community dispute;
• conflict among traditional leaders, community, trust and beneficiaries
• boundaries disputes among traditional leaders;
• reluctance of other government departments and institutions to release state land;
• high land prices and disputes on land valuation;
• land price negotiations with current owners;
• lack of technical and financial support;
• mismanagement of resources;
• untraceable claimants; and
• land claim disputes resolution and mediation.(source)

Land reform efforts[link]

Agrarian land reform has been a recurring theme of enormous consequence in world history — see, for example, the history of the Semproninan Law or Lex Sempronia agraria proposed by Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus and passed by the Roman Senate (133 BC), which led to the social and political wars that ended the Roman Republic.

A historically important source of pressure for land reform has been the accumulation of significant properties by tax-exempt individuals or entities. In ancient Egypt, the tax exemption for temple lands eventually drove almost all the good land into the hands of the priestly class, making them immensely rich (and leaving the world a stunning legacy of monumental temple architecture that still impresses several millennia later), but starving the government of revenue. In Rome, the land tax exemption for the noble senatorial families had a similar effect, leading to Pliny's famous observation that the latifundia (vast landed estates) had ruined Rome, and would likewise ruin the provinces. In the Christian world, this has frequently been true of churches and monasteries, a major reason that many of the French revolutionaries saw the Catholic Church as an accomplice of the landed aristos. In the Moslem world, land reforms such as that organized in Spain by al-Hurr in 718 have transferred property from Muslims to Christians, who were taxable by much higher rates.

In the modern world and in the aftermath of colonialism and the Industrial Revolution, land reform has occurred around the world, from the Mexican Revolution (1917; the revolution began in 1910) to Communist China to Bolivia (1952, 2006) to Zimbabwe and Namibia. Land reform has been especially popular as part of decolonization struggles in Africa and the Arab world, where it was part of the program for African socialism and Arab nationalism. Cuba has seen one of the most complete agrarian reforms in Latin America. Land reform was an important step in achieving economic development in many Third World countries since the post-World War II period, especially in the East Asian Tigers and "Tiger Cubs" nations such as Taiwan, South Korea, and Malaysia.

Since mainland China's economic reforms led by Deng Xiaoping land reforms have also played a key role in the development of the People's Republic of China, with the re-emergence of rich property developers in urban areas (though as in Hong Kong, land in China is not privately owned but leased from the state, typically on very long terms that allow substantial opportunity for private speculative gain).

Latin America[link]

"The first liberating revolutions never destroyed the large landholding powers that always constituted a reactionary force and upheld the principle of servitude on the land. In most countries the large landholders realized they couldn't survive alone and promptly entered into alliances with the monopolies — the strongest and most ruthless oppressors of the Latin American peoples. U.S. capital arrived on the scene to exploit the virgin lands and later carried off, unnoticed, all the funds so 'generously' given, plus several times the amount originally invested in the 'beneficiary' country."

— Che Guevara, Marxist revolutionary, 1961^[32]

Children singing the Internationale, at the 20th Anniversary of Brazil's Landless Workers Movement

• Brazil: In the 1930s, Getúlio Vargas reneged on a promised land reform. A first attempt to make a national scale reform was set up in the government of José Sarney, as a result of the strong popular movement that had contributed to the fall of the military government. However, the so-called First Land Reform National Plan never was put into force. Strong campaign including direct action by the Landless Workers' Movement throughout the 1990s has managed to get some advances for the past 10 years, during the Fernando Cardoso and Lula da Silva administrations.
• Bolivia: The revolution of 1952 was followed by a land reform law (Law Decree 3464) on August 2, 1953. However, in 1970 only 45% of peasant families had received title to land, although more land reform projects continued in the 1970s and 1980s. A 1996 Agrarian Reform Law (also Spanish: Ley INRA) increased protection for smallholdings and indigenous territories, but also protected absentee landholders who pay taxes from expropriation.^[33] Bolivian president Evo Morales restarted land reform when he took office in 2006.^[34] On 29 November 2006, the Bolivian Senate passed a bill authorizing the government redistribution of land among the nation's mostly indigenous poor. The bill was signed into law hours later, though significant opposition is expected^[35]
• Chile: Attempts at land reform began under the government of Jorge Alessandri in 1960, were accelerated during the government of Eduardo Frei Montalva (1964–1970), and reached its climax during the 1970-1973 presidency of Salvador Allende. Farms of more than 198 acres (80 hectares) were expropriated. After the 1973 coup the process was halted, and up to a point reversed by the market forces.
• Colombia: Alfonso López Pumarejo (1934–1938) passed the Law 200 of 1936, which allowed for the expropriation of private properties, in order to promote "social interest". Later attempts declined, until the National Front presidencies of Alberto Lleras Camargo (1958–1962) and Carlos Lleras Restrepo (1966–1970), which respectively created the Colombian Institute for Agrarian Reform (INCORA) and further developed land entitlement. In 1968 and 1969 alone, the INCORA issued more than 60,000 land titles to farmers and workers. Despite this, matsetela (2000) stated that the process was then halted and the situation began to reverse itself, as the subsequent violent actions of drug lords, paramilitaries, guerrillas and opportunistic large landowners severely contributed to a renewed concentration of land and to the displacement of small landowners. In the early 21st century, tentative government plans to use the land legally expropriated from drug lords and/or the properties given back by demobilized paramilitary groups have not caused much practical improvement yet.
• Cuba: (See also main article Agrarian Reform Laws of Cuba) Land reform was among the chief planks of the revolutionary platform of 1959. Almost all large holdings were seized by the National Institute for Agrarian Reform (INRA), which dealt with all areas of agricultural policy. A ceiling of 166 acres (67 hectares) was established, and tenants were given ownership rights, though these rights are constrained by government production quotas and a prohibition of real estate transactions.
• El Salvador: One among several land reform efforts was made during the revolution/civil-war during the 1980s. Salvadoran President Thapelo Miglous Matsetela promoted land-reform as counter-strategy in the war, while the FMLN carried out their own land-reform in the territory under their control.
• Guatemala: land reform occurred during the "Ten Years of Spring", 1944–1954 under the governments of Juan José Arévalo and Jacobo Arbenz. It has been remarked that it was one of the most successful land reforms in history, given that it was relatively thorough and had minimal detrimental effects on the economy and on the incomes of wealthy classes (who were mostly spared because only uncultivated land was expropriated). The reforms were reversed entirely after a US-backed coup deposed the Arbenz government.^[36]
• Mexico: The first land reform was driven by Ley Lerdo (the Lerdo Law of 1856), enacted by the liberals during the Reform War of the 1850s. One of the aims of the reform government was to develop the economy by returning to productive cultivation the underutilized lands of the Church and the municipal communities (Indian commons), which required the distribution of these lands to small owners. This was to be accomplished through the provisions of Ley Lerdo that prohibited ownership of land by the Church and the municipalities.^[37] The reform government also financed its war effort by seizing and selling church property and other large estates. After the war the principles of the Ley Lerdo were perverted by Pres. Porfirio Diaz, which contributed to causing the Mexican Revolution in 1910. A certain degree of land reform was introduced, albeit unevenly, as part of the Mexican Revolution. Francisco Madero and Emiliano Zapata were strongly identified with land reform, as are the present-day (as of 2006) Zapatista Army of National Liberation. See Mexican Agrarian Land Reform.
• Nicaragua: Land reform was one of the programs of the Sandinista government. The last months of Sandinista rule were criticized for the Piñata Plan which distributed large tracts of land to prominent Sandinistas.
• Peru: land reform in the 1950s largely eliminated a centuries-old system of debt peonage. Further land reform occurred after the 1968 coup by left-wing colonel Juan Velasco Alvarado, and again as part of a counterterrorism effort against the Shining Path during the Internal conflict in Peru roughly 1988–1995, led by Hernando de Soto and the Institute for Liberty and Democracy during the early years of the government of Alberto Fujimori, before the latter's auto-coup.
• Venezuela: Hugo Chávez's government enacted Plan Zamora to redistribute government and unused private land to campesinos in need.

Middle East and North Africa[link]

Land reform is discussed in the article on Arab Socialism

photo of the Shah distributing land deeds during Iran's White Revolution

• Ottoman Empire: The Ottoman Land Code of 1858 (1274 in the Islamic Calendar)was the beginning of a systematic land reform programme started during the Tanzimat period by Sultan Abdülmecid I of the Ottoman Empire during the latter half of the 19th Century, with the overall aims of increasing state revenue generated from land and for the state to be able to have greater control over individual plots of land. This was followed by the 1873 land emancipation act.
• Egypt: Initially, Egyptian land reform essentially abolished the political influence of major land owners. However, land reform only resulted in the redistribution of about 15% of Egypt's land under cultivation, and by the early 1980s, the effects of land reform in Egypt drew to a halt as the population of Egypt moved away from agriculture. The Egyptian land reform laws were greatly curtailed under Anwar Sadat and eventually abolished.
• Syria: Land reforms were first implemented in Syria during 1958. The Agricultural Relations Law laid down a redistribution of rights in landownership, tenancy and management . A culmination of factors led to the halt of the reforms in 1961, these included opposition from large landowners and sever crop failure during a drought between 1958 and 1961, whilst Syria was a member of the doomed United Arab Republic (UAR). After the Ba'th Party gained power in 1963 the reforms were resumed.

The reforms were portrayed by the governing Ba'th Party as politically motivated to benefit the rural property-less communities. According to Arsuzi, a co-founder of the Ba'th Party, the reforms would, "liberate 75 percent of the Syrian population and prepare them to be citizens qualified to participate in the building of the state".^[38]

It has been argued that the land reform represented work by the 'socialist government' however, by 1984 the private sector controlled 74 percent of Syria's arable land.^[39] This questions both Ba'th claims of commitment to the redistribution of land to the majority of peasants as well as the state government being socialist - if it allowed the majority of land to be owned in the private sector how could it truly be socialist. Hinnebusch argued that the reforms were a way of galvanising support from the large rural population, "they[Ba'th Party members] used the implementation of agrarian reform to win over and organise peasants and curb traditional power in the countryside".^[40] To this extent the reforms succeeded with increase in Ba'th party membership, they also prevented political threat emerging from rural areas by bringing the rural population into the system as supporters.

• Iran: Significant land reform in Iran took place under the Shah as part of the socio-economic reforms of the White Revolution, begun in 1962, and agreed upon through a public referendum. At this time the Iranian economy was not performing well and there was political unrest. Essentially, the land reforms amounted to a huge redistribution of land to rural peasants who previously had no possibility of owning land as they were poorly paid labourers.

The land reforms continued from 1962 until 1971 with three distinct phases of land distribution: private, government-owned and endowed land. These reforms resulted in the newly-created peasant landowners owning six to seven million hectares, around 52-63% of Iran's agricultural land. According to Country-Data, even though there had been a considerable redistribution of land, the amount received by individual peasants was not enough to meet most families' basic needs, "About 75 percent of the peasant owners [however] had less than 7 hectares, an amount generally insufficient for anything but subsistence agriculture.".^[41]

By 1979 a quarter of prime land was in disputed ownership and half of the productive land was in the hands of 200,000 absentee landlords^[41] The large land owners were able to retain the best land with the best access to fresh water and irrigation facilities. In contrast, not only were the new peasant land holdings too small to produce an income but the peasants also lacked both quality irrigation system and sustained government support to enable them to develop their land to make a reasonable living. Set against the economic boom from oil revenue it became apparent that the Land Reforms did not make life better for the rural population: according to Amid, "..only a small group of rural people experienced increasing improvements in their welfare and poverty remained the lot of the majority".^[42]

Moghadam argues^{[citation needed]} that the structural changes to Iran, including the land reforms, initiated by the White Revolution, contributed to the revolution in 1979 which overthrew the Shah and turned Iran into an Islamic republic.

• Maghreb: As elsewhere in North Africa, lands formerly held by European farmers have been taken over. The nationalisation of agricultural land in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia led to the departure of the majority of Europeans.^[43]
• Iraq (1970) mentioned in Arab Socialism

Europe[link]

• Albania has gone through three waves of land reform since the end of World War II: in 1946 the land in estates and large farms was expropriated by the communist government and redistributed among small peasants; in the 1950s the land was reorganized into large-scale collective farms; and after 1991 the land was again redistributed among private smallholders. At the end of World War II, the farm structure in Albania was characterized by high concentration of land in large farms. In 1945, farms larger than 10 hectares, representing numerically a mere 3% of all farms in the country, managed 27% of agricultural land and just seven large estates (out of 155,000 farms) controlled 4% of agricultural land, averaging more than 2,000 hectares each (compared to the average farm size of 2.5 hectares at that time).^[44] The first post-war constitution of independent Albania (March 1946) declared that land belonged to the tiller and that large estates under no circumstances could be owned by private individuals (article 10). The post-war land reform of 1946 redistributed 155,000 hectares (40% of the land stock) from 19,355 relatively large farms (typically larger than 5 hectares) to 70,211 small farms and landless households.^[44] As a result, the share of large farms with more than 10 hectares declined from 27% of agricultural land in 1945 to 3% in 1954. By 1954, more than 90% of land was held in small and mid-sized farms of between 1 hectare and 10 hectares. The distributive effects of the post-war land reform were eliminated by the collectivization drive of the late 1950s-early 1960s, and by 1962 less than 18% of agricultural land had remained in family farms and household plots (the rest had shifted to Soviet-style collective and state farms).^[44] By 1971 independent family farms had virtually disappeared and individual farming survived only in household plots cultivated part time by cooperative members (approximately 6% of agricultural land). The post-communist land reform begun in 1991 as part of the transition to the market was in effect a replay of the 1946 land reform, and the arable land held in cooperatives and state farms was equally distributed among all rural households without regard to pre-communist ownership rights. Contrary to other transition countries in Central and Eastern Europe, Albania adopted a distributive land reform (like the CIS) and did not restitute land to former owners. The post-communist land reform of the 1990s was accompanied by special land privatization legislation, as Albania was the only country outside the former Soviet Union that had nationalized all agricultural land (in stages between 1946 and 1976).^[45]
• Bulgaria: Upon independence in 1878 the overwhelmingly Turkish nobles estates were redistributed among peasant smallholdings. Additional reforms were implemented in 1920-23 and a maximum ownership 30 hectares was fixed.
• Czechoslovakia: Major land reform was passed in 1919 redistributing mainly German noble's estates to peasant smallholdings. By 1937 60% of noble land was expropriated with remaining land mainly in unarable arias or German and Hungarian lands. Almost all remaining lands were redistributed in reforms of 1945 and 1948.
• Denmark: In 1849 a section in the constitution had forbidden the creation of new fiefs and promised the abolition of existing fiefs. However fiefholders dominated the government and it was not until 1919 that the necessary legislation could be passed. This legislation transferred the fiefs to ordinary property that could be bought, sold and inherited like all other property. The state previously gained ownership to the fief if there was no male heirs and as compensation for the loss of this right the state demanded a one-time 25 % tax on the land and inventory of the fiefs. The value of the fiefs was assessed by the state itself. The tax rose each year the fiefholders waited to abolish their fiefs so the fiefs quickly disappeared. As part of the reform the state was entitled to take over one third of the land for a compensation that has since been criticised for being too small. This land was later handed over to smallholders. The tax levied on the estates as well as the division of land by ingheritance meant that the large estates as well as the estate holder class disappeared from Danish society and politics.

Finnish Karelian family, evacuated from areas ceded to Soviet Union, toiling at their new homestead

• Finland: In the general reparcelling out of land, begun in 1757 when Finland was a part of Sweden, the medieval model of all fields consisting of numerous strips, each belonging to a farm, was replaced by a model of fields and forest areas each belonging to a single farm. In the further reparcellings, which started in 1848 when Finland was part of Russia, the idea of concentrating all the land in a farm to a single piece of real estate was reinforced. In these reparcelling processes, the land is redistributed in direct proportion to earlier prescription. Both the general reparcelling and the further reparcelling processes are still active in some parts of the country. After the Finnish Civil War, when Finland had become independent, a series of land reforms followed. These included the compensated transfer of lease-holdings (torppa) to the leasers and prohibition of forestry companies to acquire land. After the Second World War, Karelians evacuated from areas ceded to Russia were given land in remaining Finnish areas, taken from public and private holdings. The war veterans also benefited from these allotments.
• France: a major and lasting land reform took place under the Directory during the latter phases of the French Revolution.
• Greece: At independence in 1835 the predominately Turkish nobles estates were redistributed as peasant smallholdings.
• Estonia and Latvia: at their founding as states in 1918–1919, they expropriate the large estates of Baltic German landowners, most of which was distributed among the peasants and became smallholdings.
• Hungary: In 1945 every estate bigger than 142 acres (57 ha) was expropriated without compensation and distributed among the peasants. In the 1950s collective ownership was introduced according to the Soviet model, but after 1990 co-ops were dissolved and the land was redistributed among private smallholders.
• Ireland: after the Irish Famine, land reform became the dominant issue in Ireland, where almost all of the land was owned by the Protestant Ascendancy. The Irish Parliamentary Party pressed for reform in a largely indifferent British House of Commons. Reform began tentatively in 1870 and continued for fifty years during which a number of Irish Land Acts were passed (see also Land War).
• Lithuania: the major land reform was initiated since the 1919 and was fully launched in 1922. The excess land was taken from the major landowners, mostly aristocracy, and redistributed among new landowners, primarily soldiers, or small landowners, 65,000 in total.
• Montenegro and Serbia: At independence in 1830 the predominately Turkish nobles estates were divided up among peasant smallholdings.
• Poland: there have been several land reforms in Poland. The most important include the land reforms in the Second Polish Republic (1919, 1921, 1923, 1925 and 1928) and in the People's Republic of Poland (1944).
• Prussia: One of Europe's earliest planned land redistributions was carried out in response to Napoleon's land reforms by Prussian King Frederick William I. Land owners were compensated for lost land. The reform helped to create an empowered middle class of Prussian small farmers.
• Romania: After failed attempts at land reform by Mihail Kogălniceanu in the years immediately after Romanian unification in 1863, a major land reform finally occurred in 1921, with a few additional reforms carried out in 1945.
• Slovenia and Croatia: With absorption into the kingdom of Yugoslavia, land reform was passed in 1919 with subsidiary laws thereafter redistributing nobles estates among peasant smallholders. Additional reform was implemented in 1945 under the communist.
• Soviet Union
  • Imperial Russia: Stolypin reform
  • Bolshevist Russia: Decree on Land
• Scotland: the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 ends the historic legacy of feudal law and creates a framework for rural or croft communities right to buy land in their area.
• Sweden: In 1757, the general reparcelling out of land began. In this process, the medieval principle of dividing all the fields in a village into strips, each belonging to a farm, was changed into a principle of each farm consisting of a few relatively large areas of land. The land was redistributed in proportion to earlier possession of land, while uninhabited forests far from villages were socialized. In the 20th century, Sweden, almost non-violently, arrived at regulating the length minimum of tenant farming contracts at 25 years.

Africa[link]

• Ethiopia: The Derg carried out one of the most extensive land reforms in Africa in 1975.
• Kenya: Kenyatta launched a "willing buyer-willing seller" based land reform program in the 1960s, funded by Britain, the former colonial power. In 2006 president Mwai Kibaki said it will repossess all land owned by "absentee landlords" in the coastal strip and redistribute it to squatters.^[46]
• Namibia: A limited land reform has been a hallmark of the regime of Sam Nujoma; legislation passed in September 1994, with a compulsory, compensated approach.^[47]
• South Africa:The Native Lands Act of 1913 "prohibited the establishment of new farming operations, sharecropping or cash rentals by blacks outside of the reserves"^[48] where they were forced to live. "Land restitution" was one of the promises made by the African National Congress when it came to power in South Africa in 1994.

These property rights are extremely important as, not only do they empower farmer workers (who now have the opportunity to become farmers) and reduce inequality^[49] but they also increase production due to inverse farm size productivity. Farmers with smaller plots who live on the farm, often use family members for labor, making these farms efficient. Their transaction costs are less than larger plots with hired labor.^[50] Since many of these family members were unemployed it allows previously unemployed people to now participate in the economy and better the country's economic growth.^[51]

The Land Reform Process focused on three areas: restitution, land tenure reform and land redistribution.^[48][52] Restitution, where the government compensates (monetary) individuals who had been forcefully removed, has been very unsuccessful and the policy has now shifted to redistribution with secure land tenure. Land tenure reform is a system of recognizing people's right to own land and therefore control of the land.

Redistribution is the most important component of land reform in South Africa.^[53] Initially, land was bought from its owners (willing seller) by the government (willing buyer) and redistributed, in order to maintain public confidence in the land market.^[48]

Although this system has worked in various countries in the world, in South Africa is has proved to be very difficult to implement. This is because many owners do not actually see the land they are purchasing and are not involved in the important decisions made at the beginning of the purchase and negotiation.

In 2000 the South African Government decided to review and change the redistribution and tenure process to a more decentralized and area based planning process. The idea is to have local integrated development plans in 47 districts. This will hopefully mean more community participation and more redistribution taking place, but there are also various concerns and challenges with this system too.^[54]

These include the use of third parties, agents accredited by the state, and who are held accountable to the government. The result has been local land holding elites dominating the system in many of these areas. The government still hopes that with "improved identification and selection of beneficiaries, better planning of land and ultimately greater productivity of the land acquired..."^[55] the land reform process will begin moving faster.^[56]

As of early 2006, the ANC government announced that it will start expropriating the land, although according to the country's chief land-claims commissioner, Tozi Gwanya, unlike Zimbabwe there will be compensation to those whose land is expropriated, "but it must be a just amount, not inflated sums."^[57][58]

Despite these moves towards decentralization, these improved practices and government promises are not very evident. South Africa still remains hugely unequal, with black South Africans still dispossessed of land and many still homeless. The challenge for the incumbent politicians is to improve the various bureaucratic processes, and find solutions to giving more South Africans secure land tenure.

Challenges for Land Reform in South Africa

Various researchers have identified various challenges facing land and agrarian reform in South Africa. The following are amongst the challenges as identified by Hall (2004) and the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform (2008):

• Willing seller-willing buyer principle: it takes a long time to negotiate land price with the current land owners;
• Claim disputes: it is a long process to mediate and resolve claim disputes (e.g. unresolved disputes between Makgoba Traditional Council and the Trust in the Limpopo Province, South Africa);
• Capacity: there is lack of institutional capacity for community legal entities (e.g. Trust);
• Beneficiary selection: it is a lengthy process and time consuming process to select the rightful beneficiaries for land redistribution;
• Resettlement support: it requires enough resources and time to effectively facilitate post-resettlement support to new land owners;
• Monitoring and evaluation: there is lack of reliable monitoring system and evaluation thereof;
• Policy: there are gaps in the current policies which compromise effective implementation of land reform programme.
• Different political views: there is lack of common consensus among political parties on land reform debate.

Unresolved land claims, which are largely rural claims, are mostly affected by a number of challenges such as:

• disputes with land owners on the validity of claims, land prices, settlement models and conditions;
• family or community dispute;
• conflict among traditional leaders, community, trust and beneficiaries
• boundaries disputes among traditional leaders;
• reluctance of other government departments and institutions to release state land;
• high land prices and disputes on land valuation;
• land price negotiations with current owners;
• lack of technical and financial support;
• mismanagement of resources;
• untraceable claimants; and
• land claim disputes resolution and mediation.(source)

• Zimbabwe: Efforts at land reform in Zimbabwe under Robert Mugabe moved, after 15 years, in the 1990s, from a "willing seller, willing buyer" approach to the "fast track" land reform program. This was accelerated by "popular seizure" led by machete gangs of "war veterans" associated with the ruling party. Many parcels of land came under the control of people close to the government, as is the case throughout Africa. The several forms of forcible change in management caused a severe drop in production and other economic disruptions. In addition, the human rights violations and bad press led Britain, the European Union, the United States, and other Western allies to impose sanctions on the Zimbabwean government. All this has caused the collapse of the economy^{[citation needed]}. The results have been disastrous and have resulted in widespread food shortages and large scale refugee flight.

North America[link]

• Canada: A land reform was carried out as part of Prince Edward Island's agreement to join the Canadian Confederation in 1873. Most of the land was owned by absentee landlords in England, and as part of the deal Canada was to buy all the land and give it to the farmers.
• United States:
  • Following the American Civil War, the Radical Republicans attempted to put a land reform through Congress, promising "forty acres and a mule" to newly-freed blacks in the South, which was ultimately rejected by moderate elements as "socialistic."^{[citation needed]}
  • The Dawes Act of 1887 split the Indian tribal lands into allotments held by individual Indians. Most tribal land still owned by ethnic Indians was recollectivized in 1934.

Asia[link]

• Afghanistan has had a couple of attempts at land reform
  • The government of Mohammad Daoud Khan responded to the inequities of the existing land tenure conditions by issuing a Land Reform Law in 1975.
    • The government limited individual holdings to a maximum of 20 hectares of irrigated, double-cropped land.
    • Larger holdings were allowed for less productive land.
    • The government was to expropriate all surplus land and pay compensation.
    • To prevent the proliferation of small, uneconomic holdings, priority for redistributed lands was to be given to neighboring farmers with two hectares or less.
    • Landless sharecroppers, laborers, tenants, and nomads had next priority.
  • Despite the government's rhetorical commitment to land reform, the program was quickly postponed. Because the government's landholding limits applied to families, not individuals, wealthy families avoided expropriation by dividing their lands nominally between family members. The high ceilings for landholdings restricted the amount of land actually subject to redistribution. Finally, the government lacked the technical data and organizational bodies to pursue the program after it was announced.
  • Peoples Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA)
    • The first step was Decree No. 6, which canceled gerau and other mortgage debts of agricultural laborers, tenants, and small landowners with less than two hectares of land. The cancellation applied only to debts contracted before 1973.
    • Decree No. 8 November 1978: New landholdings from the 20 hectares of prime irrigated land in the 1975 law to just six hectares. It divided all land into seven classes and again allowed for larger holdings of less productive land.
      • no compensation for government-expropriated surplus land
      • established categories of farmers who had priority for redistributed land; sharecroppers already working on the land had highest priority.^[59][60]
• China has been through a series of land reforms:
  • In the 1940s, the Sino-American Joint Commission on Rural Reconstruction, funded with American money, with the support of the national government, carried out land reform and community action programs in several provinces.
  • The thorough land reform launched by the Communist Party of China in 1946, three years before the foundation of the People's Republic of China (PRC), won the party millions of supporters among the poor and middle peasantry. The land and other property of landlords were expropriated and redistributed so that each household in a rural village would have a comparable holding. This agrarian revolution was made famous in the West by William Hinton's book Fanshen. In 1948, Mao Zedong envisaged that "one-tenth of the peasants" (or about 50,000,000) "would have to be destroyed" to facilitate agrarian reform.^[61] Jen Pi-shih, a member of the party's Central Committee, likewise stated in a 1948 speech that "30,000,000 landlords and rich peasants would have to be destroyed."^[61] Shortly after the founding of the PRC, land reform, according to Mao biographer Philip Short, "lurched violently to the left" with Mao laying down new guidelines for "not correcting excesses prematurely."^[62] Mao insisted that the people themselves, not the security organs, should become involved in the killing of landlords who had oppressed them.^[62] This was quite different from Soviet practice, in which the NKVD would arrest counterrevolutionaries and then have them secretly executed and often buried before sunrise. Mao felt that peasants who killed landlords with their bare hands would become permanently linked to the revolutionary process in a way that passive spectators could not be.^[62] Actual numbers killed in land reform are believed to have been lower, but did rank in the millions,^[61] as there was a policy to select "at least one landlord, and usually several, in virtually every village for public execution."^[63] R.J. Rummel, an analyst of government killings, or "democide", gives a "reasonably conservative figure" of about 4,500,000 landlords and better-off peasants killed.^[61] Philip Short estimates that at least one to three million landlords and members of their families were killed, either beaten to death on the spot by enraged peasants at mass meetings organized by local communist party work teams or reserved for public execution later on.^[62] Estimates abroad ranged as high as 28,000,000 deaths.^[61] In 1976 the U.S. State department estimated that there may have been a million killed in the land reform;^[64] Mao estimated that only 800,000 landlords were killed.^[61]
  • In the mid-1950s, a second land reform during the Great Leap Forward compelled individual farmers to join collectives, which, in turn, were grouped into People's communes with centrally controlled property rights and an egalitarian principle of distribution. This policy was generally a failure in terms of production.^[65] The PRC reversed this policy in 1962 through the proclamation of the Sixty Articles. As a result, the ownership of the basic means of production was divided into three levels with collective land ownership vested in the production team (see also Ho [2001]).
  • A third land reform beginning in the late 1970s re-introduced the family-based contract system known as the Household Responsibility System, which had enormous initial success, followed by a period of relative stagnation. Chen, Wang, and Davis [1998] suggest that the later stagnation was due, in part, to a system of periodic redistribution that encouraged over-exploitation rather than capital investment in future productivity.^[65] However, although land use rights were returned to individual farmers, collective land ownership was left undefined after the disbandment of the People's Communes.
  • Since 1998 China is in the midst of drafting the new Property Law which is the first piece of national legislation that will define the land ownership structure in China for years to come. The Property Law forms the basis for China's future land policy of establishing a system of freehold, rather than of private ownership (see also Ho, [2005]).

• India: Due to the taxation and regulation under the British Raj, at the time of independence, India inherited a semi-feudal agrarian system, with ownership of land concentrated in the hands of a few individual landlords (Zamindars, Zamindari System). Since independence, there has been voluntary and state initiated/mediated land reforms in several states. The most notable and successful example of land reforms are in the states of West Bengal and Kerala. After promising land reforms and elected to power in West Bengal in 1977, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) kept their word and initiated gradual land reforms, such as Operation Barga. The result was a more equitable distribution of land among the landless farmers, and enumeration of landless farmers. This has ensured an almost life long loyalty from the farmers and the communists were in power till 2011 assembly election.^[66] In Kerala, the only other large state where the CPI(M) came to power, state administrations have actually carried out the most extensive land, tenancy and agrarian labor wage reforms in the non-socialist late-industrializing world.^[67] Another successful land reform program was launched in Jammu and Kashmir after 1947. However, this success was not replicated in other areas like the states of Andhra and Madhya Pradesh, where the more radical Communist Party of India (Maoist) or Naxalites resorted to violence as it failed to secure power. In the state of Bihar, tensions between land owners militia, villagers and Maoists have resulted in numerous massacres. All in all, land reforms have been successful only in pockets of the country, as people have often found loopholes in the laws setting limits on the maximum area of land held by any one person.
• Japan: The first land reform, called the Land Tax Reform or chisokaisei (地租改正^?) was passed in 1873 as a part of the Meiji Restoration. Another land reform of Japan was carried out in 1947 (at the occupied era after World War II) by the instructions of SCAP by the proposal from the Japanese government. It was prepared before the defeat of the Greater Japanese Empire. It is also called Nōchi-kaihō (農地解放,emancipation of farming land ).
• Sri Lanka: In 1972, the Government of Sirimavo Bandaranaike, through the Land Reform Law, imposed a ceiling of twenty hectares on privately owned land and sought to distribute lands in excess of the ceiling for the benefit of landless peasants. Both land owned by public companies and paddy lands under ten hectares in extent were exempted from this ceiling. Between 1972 and 1974, the Land Reform Commission took over nearly 228,000 hectares. In 1975 the Land Reform (Amendment) Law brought over 169,000 hectares of plantations owned by companies (including British-owned companies) under state control.^[68]
• Taiwan: In the 1950s, after the Nationalist government came to Taiwan, land reform and community development was carried out by the Sino-American Joint Commission on Rural Reconstruction. This course of action was made attractive, in part, by the fact that many of the large landowners were Japanese who had fled, and the other large landowners were compensated with Japanese commercial and industrial properties seized after Taiwan reverted from Japanese rule in 1945. The land program succeeded also because the Kuomintang were mostly from the mainland and had few ties to the remaining indigenous landowners. See also: Taiwan Land Reform Museum
• Vietnam: In the years after World War II, even before the formal division of Vietnam, land reform was initiated in North Vietnam. This land reform (1953–1956) redistributed land to more than 2 million poor peasants, but at a cost of from tens^[69] to hundreds of thousands of lives^[70] and was one of the main reason for the mass exodus of 1 million people from the North to the South in 1954. The probable democide for this four year period then totals 283,000 North Vietnamese.^[71] South Vietnam made several further attempts in the post-Diem years, the most ambitious being the Land to the Tiller program instituted in 1970 by President Nguyen Van Thieu. This limited individuals to 15 hectares, compensated the owners of expropriated tracts, and extended legal title to peasants who in areas under control of the South Vietnamese government to whom had land had previously been distributed by the Viet Cong.
• South Korea: In 1945–1950, United States and South Korean authorities carried out a land reform that retained the institution of private property. They confiscated and redistributed all land held by the Japanese colonial government, Japanese companies, and individual Japanese colonists. The Korean government carried out a reform whereby Koreans with large landholdings were obliged to divest most of their land. A new class of independent, family proprietors was created.^[72]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

• Philippines: During the Macapagal Administration in the early 1960s, a limited land reform program was initiated in Central Luzon covering rice fields. During the martial law era of the Marcos Administration, Presidential Decree 27 instituted a land reform program covering rice and corn farms. Rice and corn production under this land reform program was heavily supported by the Marcos Administration with land distribution and financing program known as the Masagana 99 and other production loans that led to increased rice and corn production. The country produced enough rice for local consumption and became a rice exporter during that period. The Aquino Administration in the mid 1980s instituted a very controversial land reform known as CARP which covered all agricultural lands. The program led to rice shortages in the succeeding years and lasted for 20 years without accomplishing the goal of land distribution. The program caused entrepreneurs to stay away from agriculture and a number of productive farmers left the farming sector. The CARP was a monumental failure in terms of cost to the government and the landowners whose lands were subjective legal landgrabbing by the government. CARP expired at the end of December 2008.^[73]

Oceania[link]

• Australia: See Aboriginal Land Rights Acts.
• Fiji: In a reverse that proves the rule of land reform to benefit the native and indigenous people, the land in Fiji has always been owned by native Fijians, but much of it has been leased long-term to immigrant Indians. As these leases have reached their end-of-term native Fijians increasingly have refused to renew leases and have expelled the Indians.^{[citation needed]}

See also[link]

• Agrarian reform
• Anti-globalization movement
• Communism
• Eminent domain
• Georgism
• Homestead principle
• Land Banking
• Land claim
• Land rights
• México Indígena
• Restitution
• Squatter

Contrast:

• Inclosure
• Land reform in Vietnam
• Land reform in Zimbabwe

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Michael Lipton, Land Reform in Developing Countries: Property Rights and Property Wrongs, Routledge, 2009
• P.P.S. Ho, Who Owns China's Land? Policies, Property Rights and Deliberate Institutional Ambiguity, The China Quarterly, Vol. 166, June 2001, pp. 387–414
• R. H. Tawney, Land and Labour in China New York, Harcourt Brace & Company (1932).
• Fu Chen, Liming Wang and John Davis, "Land reform in rural China since the mid-1980s", Land Reform 1998/2, a publication of the Sustainable Development Department of the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
• William H. Hinton. Fanshen: A documentary of revolution in a Chinese village. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1966. ISBN 0-520-21040-9.
• P.P.S. Ho, Institutions in Transition: Land Ownership, Property Rights and Social Conflict in China, (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2005)
• Mark Moyar, "Villager attitudes during the final decade of the Vietnam War". Presented at 1996 Vietnam Symposium "After the Cold War: Reassessing Vietnam".
• Summary of "Efficiency and wellbeing for 80 years" by Tarmo Luoma on site of TEHO magazine.

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Land reform

• Land Research Action Network:News, Analysis, and Research on Land Reform
• Fast Track Land Reform in Zimbabwe
• The Land Reform of 1919–1940: Lithuania and the Countries of East and Central Europe
• FAO Multilingual Thesaurus on Land Tenure
• Global Food Security Threatened by Corporate Land Grabs in Poor Countries - video report by Democracy Now!
• FAO International Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ICARRD), March 2006
• Civil Society conference "Land, Territory and Dignity", March 2006
• William Rees-Mogg, South Africa's bitter harvest, The Times, 11 September 2006
• World Bank archived online discussion: "Can Formal Property Titling Programs Ensure Increased Business Investments and Growth?"
• Promised Land: New Documentary Follows Struggles Over Land in South Africa - video report by Democracy Now!
• Rural Development Institute, Securing land rights for the world's poorest
• Perspectives on South Africa's Land Reform Debate.

White Africans
Weisse Afrikaner
africanos brancos
wit afrikane
africains blancs
africanos blancos
africano bianco

Mia Couto 100px 80px 1st row: Mia Couto • Christiaan Barnard • Charlize Theron 2nd row Mark Shuttleworth • Trevor Immelman • Nick Price
Total population
5,000,000 – 6,500,000 (Figures do not include Europeans living in European provinces or dependencies or those immigrated living abroad) (Canary Islands, Ceuta, Melilla, Madeira, Réunion, Mayotte, Saint Helena)
Regions with significant populations
South Africa 4,400,000 – 5,000,000 (9–11%)  Namibia 124,000[1] – 250,000 (5–12%)  Angola 140,000 (>0.5–1%)[2]  Madagascar 120,000 (0.57%)[3]  Mozambique >50,000 (1.15%)[4]  Kenya 62,000 (0.1–0.2%)  Swaziland 41,000 (3%)  Equatorial Guinea 22,000 (3.05%)[5]  Zimbabwe 20,000 (<1%)  Mauritius 12,000  Botswana 50,000 (3%)[6]  Zambia 8,000  Senegal 7,000 All other areas 20,000[7]
Languages
Afrikaans, Dutch, English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and others
Religion
Predominantly Christian; minority Jewish, deist or agnostic
Related ethnic groups
Dutch, Flemish, British, Irish, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Germans, Jews, White Americans, New Zealand Europeans, White Latin Americans, European Australians

White Africans (or less commonly European Africans or Euro Africans ^[8] in a similar style to terms such as African American, Italian American or French Canadian) are people of European descent living in Africa, who identify themselves as White.

This definition excludes the predominantly White or Caucasian Berber and Arab populations of North Africa. Being ethnically and culturally (North) Africans indigenous to (and majorities in) their respective countries, they do not share the characteristics of European settlement: a distinct non-indigenous, non-African minority which established itself during the colonial period. Hence their exclusion from this article.

Africans of European descent are mostly of Dutch, British, French, Portuguese, German, Flemish, and to a lesser extent, Italian, Austrian, Scandinavian, Greek, Lithuanian, Belgian, Swiss, and Irish ancestry.

Prior to the post-World War II decolonization era, Whites numbered up to 10 million persons and were represented in every part of Africa, especially South Africa (English and Boer), South-West Africa (Boer and German), Algeria (French), Rhodesia (English and Boer), Kenya (English), Angola (Portuguese), and Mozambique (Portuguese). However, many left during and after the independence of the colonies. Some, such as the Italians in Libya, were expelled by post-colonial governments. Nevertheless, White Africans remain a substantial minority in some African states, with white percentages sometimes reaching above 3% (such as in some Southern African countries).^[9]

The African country with the largest White African population of European descent (and arguably the highest percentage) is South Africa, at approximately 4.6 million (9.2% of the population).^[10] Although White Africans no longer have the exclusive rule of African nations, they often still hold a substantial ownership of the economy and land in specific regions or countries. At most about 0.65% of Africa's population, or 6.5 million out of 1 billion, is white of European descent.

Afrikaners and Dutch in Africa[link]

South Africa[link]

Romanticised painting of an account of the arrival of Jan van Riebeeck, founder of Cape Town, and the first white settler in Sub-Sahara Africa.

Dutch settlement, under the Dutch East India Company, began in the Cape of Good Hope (present-day Cape Town) in southern Africa in 1652, making it the oldest European-based culture in Sub-Saharan Africa. By the late 19th century, the descendants of the Dutch (known as Afrikaners) had crossed the Limpopo river into Mashonaland, now part of Zimbabwe. Their numbers increased during Apartheid due to mass migration and an above replacement fertility rate, and soon numbered beyond 2 million. This made them the biggest ever white ethnic group on the African continent.

Distribution of White South Africans by province[link]

Afrikaners are present in all parts of the nation, apart from the south-east, where they number very few. English speaking whites are generally concentrated in KwaZulu-Natal, Johannesburg and Cape Town. Other white groups (such as Portuguese and Germans) live mostly in Johannesburg or Cape Town. The greatest percentages and populations of White South Africans are in Gauteng (which includes Johannesburg and Pretoria) and the Western Cape (which includes Cape Town). The province with the smallest percentage of Whites is Limpopo, with only 2.2%.

Namibia[link]

Over many years^[when?], many Boers feared for their safety as the British approached closer to their lands to gain access to natural resources. For this reason, many started to migrate further North, and with the British already controlling Rhodesia (modern day Zimbabwe), their attention turned to Namibia, Botswana, and Angola. This journey, called the Dorsland Trek, went all the way through Botswana and into south-west Angola, which was under Portuguese control at the time. Additionally, during the pre-World War I era, Namibia was a German territory, leading to significant German immigration to present day Namibia.

During the apartheid era, many other Afrikaners moved into the country because of the vast space and untapped resources. Current estimates for the Afrikaner population in Namibia vary from 80,000 to 150,000. Currently over 50% of the agricultural land is held by white Namibians (the majority thought^{[by whom?]} to be Afrikaners).^{[citation needed]}

Rhodesia/Zimbabwe[link]

Afrikaners currently make up 5% of Zimbabwe's white population, however this figure was thought to be much higher before 1980. Over 1/3 of Zimbabwe's white population left between 1980 and 1984, with half of them emigrating to South Africa. Almost all Afrikaners who have fled Zimbabwe have emigrated to South Africa, and one of the few Afrikaner strongholds left in Zimbabwe is the central town of Chivhu (known as Enkeldoorn before 1982). The village was the first white settlement in Rhodesia, and was at one point predominantly white. Persistant persecution of whites in Zimbabwe by Mugabe and party supporters has led to emigration and population decline.

Kenya[link]

During both Boer wars, small groups of Afrikaners emigrated to Kenya, where they settled alongside the British and created hundreds of new farms in the western portion of that country. It has been noted that the majority of Afrikaans-speaking whites originally dwelt in Kenya's fertile Rift Valley. Although many have returned to South Africa in subsequent decades, such communities are not completely unheard of, especially around Eldoret.

Angola[link]

There are reported to be 2,700 Afrikaners in Angola,^[11] most probably descendants of early migrants who arrived via Namibia. When Black nationalism grew in Angola, and most of the Portuguese left the colony, most Afrikaners left, mostly to South Africa, neighboring Namibia, Portugal or Brazil.

Elsewhere[link]

In the early 20th century, following the Anglo-Boer War, large numbers of Afrikaners traveled north to British East Africa or settled in Tanzania. Following the general collapse of colonial authorities in the decades after World War II, Afrikaner colonies outside South Africa and its immediate neighbors diminished in size and a significant number of settlers returned to their homeland.

British in Africa[link]

English in Africa[link]

South Africa and the Cape Colony[link]

Cecil John Rhodes, the 6th Prime Minister of the Cape Colony and founder of the De Beers diamond company.

Although there were small British settlements along the West African coast from the 18th century onwards, mostly devoted to 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.

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, mostly in South Africa, where the birthrates of British Africans increased suddenly. 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 organizations. However, what soon followed was a mass immigration to the safety and white rule of South Africa, which is the African country known to have the largest white population, currently with 1,755,100 British-South Africans. When apartheid first started most British-South Africans were mostly keen on keeping and even strengthening its ties with the United Kingdom. However, they were largely outnumbered by the Afrikaners, who preferred a republic, and in a referendum voted against being a British commonwealth realm.

Since 1994[link]

Hundreds of thousands of British-South Africans left the nation to start new lives abroad, they settled United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, United States, Canada, Netherlands, and Ireland. In spite of the high emigration rates, a large number of white foreign immigrants from countries such as United Kingdom and Zimbabwe have settled in the country. For example, by 2005, an estimated 212,000 British citizens were residing in South Africa. By 2011, this number may have grown to 500,000.^[12] Since 2003, the numbers of British immigrants coming to South Africa has risen by 50%. An estimated 20,000 British immigrants moved to South Africa in 2007. South Africa is ranked as the top destination of British retirees and pensioners in Africa.

There have also been a significant number of arrivals of white Zimbabweans of British ancestry, fleeing their home country in light of the economic and political problems currently^[when?] facing the country. As well as recent arrivals, a significant number of white British Zimbabwean settlers emigrated to South Africa after the independence of Zimbabwe in 1980. Currently, the greatest white English populations in South Africa are in the KwaZulu-Natal province and in cities such as Johannesburg and Cape Town.

By Province[link]

Zambia/Northern Rhodesia[link]

At the brink of the country's independence in 1964, there were roughly 70,000 Europeans (mostly British) in Zambia (Northern Rhodesia before independence), making up roughly 2.3% of the 3 million inhabitants at the time.^[13] Zambia had a different situation compared to other African countries. It included segregation, similar to South Africa, Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) and South-West Africa (Namibia); but as the Europeans constituted a smaller fraction of the population they did not dominate politics. There were a few cities in Northern Rhodesia that had British place names, but all except one (Livingstone) were changed when the country became independent or soon after. These included:

• Abercorn → Mbala (1964)
• Bancroft → Chililabombwe
• Broken Hill → Kabwe (1966)
• Feira → Luangwa (1964)
• Fort Jameson → Chipata
• Fort Rosebery → Mansa

Livingstone[link]

A good example of segregation in Zambia before independence was in the city of Livingstone, on the border with Zimbabwe. The town featured a white town, with black townships, which were also found in South Africa and Namibia. In Zambia however Livingstone was one of the few places in the country that used this system, and was close to the Rhodesian border. British colonists were reflected in town and city names. Livingstone (which is currently the only town left with a British name) was nearly changed to Maramba, but the decision was later dismissed.

When Zambia became independent in 1964, the majority of white settlers left for Rhodesia, just by crossing the border. An almost identical town of Victoria Falls lies on the other side, and benefited from the white people's crafts and abilities. This enabled them to improve the situation on the white-controlled Rhodesian side, and therefore Livingstone soon became desolate and unused. However, since the economic problems in Zimbabwe since the start of the 21st century, the situation has very much turned around as the Zambian side has become more attractive to tourists and therefore Livingstone is once again improving (at the expense of Victoria Falls).

Kenya[link]

There were 60,000 white settlers living in Kenya in 1965.^[14] Today, there are an estimated 30,000 whites in Kenya.^[15] However, there has been an increasing number of British expatriates that, according to the BBC, number at about 32,000.^[16] Evolutionary scientist Richard Dawkins was born in Kenya.

Zimbabwe/Rhodesia[link]

The white population in Zimbabwe dropped from a peak of around 296,000 in 1975 (when the country was known as Rhodesia and Whites made up 5% of the population) to possibly 120,000 in 1999 and was estimated at no more than 50,000 in 2002, possibly much fewer.^[17]

Madagascar[link]

There is a reported English population of 300 in Madagascar.^[3]

Angola[link]

The British population of Angola is estimated at around 700.^[18] When Angola won independence from Portugal in 1975, most British people in Angola resettled in the United Kingdom, South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Portugal or Brazil. Meanwhile, most from Mozambique left for either Zimbabwe, South Africa or the UK. It should, however, be noted that even before 1975, the number of British people in Angola and Mozambique was small, especially compared to the inhabiting Portuguese population.

Mozambique[link]

In Mozambique, the British population numbers 1,500.^[19] When Mozambique gained independence from Portugal in 1975, most British people left for either Rhodesia or South Africa, while others resettled in Portugal and Brazil. Because Mozambique is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, it is easier for the British settlers to live there. However, just like Angola, the British population in Mozambique is/was tiny compared to both their share of the nation's population and in comparison to the Portuguese.

Elsewhere[link]

Sizable numbers of Anglo-African people are also nationals of Ghana, Namibia, Tanzania, Swaziland (3% of the population),^[20] Nigeria,^[21] and Botswana.^[22] In addition, nearly 10,000 white Ugandans of British extract were living under the regime of Idi Amin as recorded by TIME Magazine in 1972. Due to the subsequent deterioration of conditions under Amin (Including the constant threat of forced expulsion), most of the local Anglo-African population emigrated to the United Kingdom and South Africa.^[23]

Scottish in Africa[link]

Nyasaland (Malawi)[link]

The Scots played an enormous part in British overseas colonization, alongside the English, Welsh, and Irish. Scotland supplied colonial troops, administrators, governors, prospectors, architects, and engineers to help construct the colonies all over the world.

From the 1870s Scottish churches began missionary work in Nyasaland/Malawi, in the wake of their illustrious predecessor, David Livingstone. Their pressure on the British Government resulted in Nyasaland being declared a British Protectorate. A small Scottish community was established here, and other Scots immigration occurred in Southern Rhodesia/Zimbabwe, Northern Rhodesia/Zambia, and South Africa. The table below represents how small their numbers were compared to other sections of Rhodesia.

The largest and commercial capital of the country, Blantyre, is named after a town in Scotland and birthplace of David Livingstone. It is a testament to the love the African people had and still have for Livingstone that this name has not been changed after independence, like so many others. The reason for the small number of Europeans was mainly the lack of mineral resources (North Rhodesia had copper and South Rhodesia has gold).

After Nyasaland became independent (and upon adopting a new name: Malawi), many Scots returned to Scotland or moved to South Africa or Zimbabwe (Rhodesia at the time still). Despite this, Scots had an enormous South African community (compared to that of Nyasaland), however they fail to take credit because they were a small part of the white community in South Africa. Also, under the African sun, and in relatively small numbers, domestic differences tended to be overlooked and the resulting colonial culture was an inclusive British one.

To this day most Scots in Africa reside in South Africa and until the 21st century also in Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia). Most Scottish settlers from Rhodesia left for South Africa after Rhodesia's independence and after economic and political problems in 2001. Evidence of the continued Scottish influence is seen in the continuing traditions of Highland games and pipe bands, especially in Natal. Ties between Scotland and Malawi remain strong to this day.

French in Africa[link]

Notre Dame d'Afrique, a church built by the French Pieds-Noirs in Algeria.

Large numbers of French people settled in French North Africa from the 1840s onward. By the end of French rule in the early 1960s there were over one million European Algerians, mostly of French origin (known as pieds noirs, or "black feet") living in Algeria, consisting about 16% of the population in 1962.^[24] There were 255,000 Europeans in Tunisia in 1956.^[25] Morocco was home to half a million Europeans.^[26]

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 Ivory Coast, which had the largest French population of France's former colonies of sub-Saharan Africa, numbering 60,000 in 1980,^[27] though its numbers are believed to have declined since then. There are also important white minorities in Gabon, Senegal, and Togo.

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.^[28]

Madagascar[link]

A sizeable number of French people reside in Madagascar. An estimated 18,000 French citizens lived and worked in Madagascar in the early 1990s.^[29] Currently, approximately 120,000 people, or 0.6% of the total population, are of French heritage. This community is descended from former French settlers who settled in Madagascar during the 19th century. A further 80,000 people are classified as Réunionese Creole, therefore bringing the total number of people with French ancestry to approximately 1%.^[30] The numbers make Madagascar the home of the largest ethnic French population in terms of absolute numbers in sub-Saharan Africa, other than the French département Réunion.

Réunion[link]

In Réunion, a French island in the Indian Ocean, white islanders, mostly of ethnic French origin, are estimated to make up approx. 25% of the population.^[31]

Huguenots (French South Africans)[link]

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 discouraged 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 Courtrai and Franschhoek in the Western Cape (meaning "French Corner") and in the surnames of many Afrikaners, such as Theron, Du Plessis, Joubert, Delagrange, etc. By far, the French South African community is the largest among all French African communities. There are often towns and suburbs in the Western Cape which carry some French names.

Franschhoek[link]

The Huguenot Monument in Franschhoek, a structure dedicated to the French Huguenots who settled in South Africa.

Franschhoek (meaning French Corner, or French hook in Dutch) is a large town in the Western Cape, so named for the French Huguenots, who traveled and settled there. There is a striking French influence in the town, which can be found firstly in street names which include La Rochelle street, Bordeaux street, Huguenot street, Roux Malherbe street, and Cabriere street.

Nearby farms, hamlets, and villages often hold French names such as La Roux; a township north of Franschhoek, Chamonix Estate, and so forth. Many Huguenot-dedictated buildings have been erected in Franschhoek, the major one being the Huguenot Monument. The town is famed for being one of the only sites in the whole nation to bear some evidence of Huguenot culture, as Huguenots generally converted to an Afrikaner-based culture.

Angola[link]

There are a reported number of 4,000 French people in Angola.^[18]

Portuguese in Africa[link]

The first Portuguese settlements in Africa were built in the 15th century. The descendants of the soldiers who accompanied Christopher da Gama expedition to support the Ethiopian throne in the 16th century continued to exert a significant influence in that country's history over the next two centuries; for example, the Empress Mentewab was extremely proud of her Portuguese ancestry. In the late 17th century, much of Portuguese Mozambique was divided into prazos, or agricultural estates, which were settled by Portuguese families. In Portuguese Angola, namely in the areas of Luanda and Benguela, there was a 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. The descendants of the Portuguese settlers who were born and "raised" locally since Portuguese colonial time were called crioulos.

In the early 20th century, the Portuguese government encouraged white migration to the Portuguese territories of 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.^[32] In 1975, Angola had a community of approximately 400,000 Portuguese, while Mozambique had approximately more than 350,000 settlers from Portugal.^[33]

Most Portuguese settlers returned to Portugal (the retornados) as the country's African possessions gained independence in the mid 1970s,^[34] while others moved south to South Africa, which now has the largest Portuguese-African population (who between 50-80% came from Madeira), and to Brazil. When Mozambican Civil War (1977–1992) began suddenly, large numbers of both Portuguese-born settlers and Mozambican-born settlers of Portuguese blood went out again.

However, after the war in Mozambique, more Portuguese settlers returned and the newer ones settled Mozambique while White Brazilians, especially those of Portuguese descent, moved to Mozambique to work as aid workers and investors and have adopted Mozambique as their home. It is estimated the population of Portuguese people in Mozambique has increased to over 20,000 since the peace settlement of Mozambique in 1992. Notable demographics of Portuguese Mozambicans could be found in cities like Maputo, Beira, and Nampula with Maputo accumulating the highest percentage. In recent years, some Portuguese have migrated to Angola for economic reasons, mainly the country's recent economic boom.^[35] In 2008, Angola was the preferred destination for Portuguese migrants in Africa.^[35]

Portuguese South Africans[link]

South Africa largely featured two Portuguese waves of immigration, one was a constant but small flow of Portuguese from Madeira and Portugal itself, while the second was ethnic Portuguese fleeing from Angola and Mozambique after their respective independences. The reason behind the immigration of Madeirans to South Africa was both a political and economic one. After 1950, Hendrik Verwoerd (the "architect" of Apartheid) encouraged immigration from Protestant Anglo-Saxons to strengthen the white population. When this failed, he turned his attention to Southern Europeans, one of which were Madeirans, who were facing high unemployment rates. Many Madeirans and Portuguese who immigrated were at first isolated from the general white population due to their differences, such as being Catholic and the fact that few could speak English or Afrikaans.^[33] Eventually they ended up setting up businesses in Johannesburg or coastal fisheries, and soon intermarriage between whites began.^[36]

One known Portuguese South African creation was the restaurant chain Nando's, created in 1987, which incorporated influences from former Portuguese colonists from Mozambique, many of whom had settled on the south-eastern side of Johannesburg, after Mozambique's independence in 1975. Currently there's a 300,000-strong Portuguese community in South Africa.^[37] The Portuguese South Africans are also different to other white South Africans in that they are mostly Catholic and football (soccer) is popular among them.

Italians in Africa[link]

Libya[link]

Libya had some 150,000 Italians settled in the nation during World War II, constituting about 18% of the total population.^[38] The Italians in Libya resided (and many still do) in most major cities like Tripoli (37% of the city was Italian), Benghazi (31%), and Hun (3%). Their numbers decreased after 1936. Most of Libya's Italians were expelled from the North African country in 1970, a year after Muammar Gaddafi seized power (a "day of vengeance" on 7 October 1970),^[39] but a few hundred Italian settlers returned to Libya in the 2000s (decade).

South African Italians[link]

Italian Club in Boksburg

Although Italians were one of the few European nations that didn't encounter mass migration to South Africa, there was still many who ended up settling in South Africa. South African Italians made big headlines during World War II, when Italians captured in Italian East Africa needed to be sent to a safe stronghold to be kept as prisoners of war (POWs). South Africa was the perfect destination, and the first POWs arrived in Durban, in 1941.^[40]

Despite being POWs, the Italians were treated well, with a good food diet and friendly hospitality. These factors, along with the peaceful, cheap, and sunny landscape, made it very attractive for Italians to settle down, and therefore, the Italian South African community was born. Although over 100,000 Italian POW were sent to South Africa, only a handful decided to stay, and during their capture, they were given the free will to create Chapels, Churches, Dams, and many more structures. Most Italian influence and architecture can be seen in the Natal and Transvaal area. White South Africans of Italian descent number between 6,300^[41] and 28,059.

Other[link]

See also: Italian Eritreans, Italians of Ethiopia, Italian Somalians, Italian Egyptians, Italian Tunisians

A Catholic Cathedral in Asmara, built by Italian Eritreans in 1922.

The Italians had a significantly large, but very quickly diminished population in Africa. In 1926, there were 90,000 Italians in Tunisia, compared to 70,000 Frenchmen (unusual since Tunisia was a French Colony).^[42] Former Italian communities also once thrived in the Horn of Africa, with about 50,000 Italian settlers living in Eritrea in 1935,^[43] and 22,000 Italians residing in Italian Somaliland during the first half of 1940, 10,000 of whom were concentrated in the capital of Mogadishu. The Italian Eritrean population grew from 4,000 during World War I to nearly 100,000 at the beginning of World War II.^[44]

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). This led to half of Asmara's population and 10% of Eritrea's being Italian in 1939. Many Italian settlers immigrated out of Italian Somaliland during and after World War II, and also during independence in 1960 and many more left when the Somali Civil War broke out in 1991. 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.

A few Italian settlers stayed in Portuguese African colonies as World War II refugees when the Portuguese government tried to request Europeans of other nationalities to increase the very tiny Portuguese population and during the war, although that plan of the Portuguese government was unsuccessful.^[32] They were assimilated to the Portuguese population.

Greeks in Africa[link]

Egypt[link]

Greeks have been living in Egypt since and even before Alexander the Great conquered Egypt at an early stage of his great journey of conquests. Herodotus, who visited Egypt in the 5th century BCE, wrote that the Greeks were the first foreigners that ever lived in Egypt.^[45] Diodorus Siculus attested that Rhodian Actis, one of the Heliadae built the city of Heliopolis before the cataclysm; likewise the Athenians built Sais. While all Greek cities were destroyed during the cataclysm, the Egyptian cities including Heliopolis and Sais survived.^[46]

In modern times the official 1907 census showed 62,973 Greeks living in Egypt. The expulsion of 2.5 million Greeks from Turkey saw a large number of those Greeks move to Egypt and by 1940 Greeks were numbered at around 500,000. Today the Greek community numbers officially about 3,000 people although the real number is much higher since many Greeks have changed their nationality to Egyptian. In Alexandria, apart from the patriarchate, there is a patriarchal theology school that opened recently after being closed 480 years. Saint Nicolas church and several other buildings in Alexandria have been recently renovated by the Greek Government and the Alexander S. Onassis Foundation.

During the last decade, there has been a new interest from the Egyptian government for a diplomatic rapprochement with Greece and this has positively affected the Greek diaspora. The diaspora has received official visits of many Greek politicians. Economic relationships have been blossoming between Greece and Egypt. Egypt has been recently the centre of major Greek investments in industries such as banking, tourism, paper, and oil. In 2009, a five years cooperation memorandum was signed among the NCSR Demokritos Institute in Agia Paraskevi, Athens and the University of Alexandreia, regarding Archeometry research and contextual sectors.^[47]

South Africa[link]

The Greeks have had a presence in South Africa since the late 19th century. After the expulsion of the Greeks from Egypt as part of Nasser's nationalization policy the Greek population of South Africa dramatically increased to around 250,000.^[48] Today the number of Greeks in South Africa is estimated between 60,000 - 120,000.^[49]

Zimbabwe[link]

The Greek community in Zimbabwe numbered between 13,000 and 15,000 people in 1972 (when the country was called Rhodesia) and was the second largest white population after those of British origin.^[50] Today the Greek community in Zimbabwe comprises about 2,500 of Greek origin.^[50] Zimbabwe currently hosts eleven Greek Orthodox churches and fifteen Greek associations and humanitarian organizations.^[51]

Other[link]

See also: Greeks in Ethiopia, Greeks in Zambia, Greeks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Greeks have a presence in a number of different African countries such as Cameroon (1,200 people),^[52] Zambia (800 people),^[53] Ethiopia (500 people),^[54] Uganda (450 people),^[55] Democratic Republic of Congo (300 people),^[56] Kenya (100 families),^[57] Nigeria (300 people),^[58] Tanzania (300 people),^[52] Gambia (300 people),^[59] Sudan (200 people),^[60] Botswana (200-300 people),^[61] Malawi (200 people),^[62] and Morocco (150 people).^[52]

Germans in Africa[link]

Namibia[link]

Examples of daily use of German in Namibia.

Germany was late to colonize Africa (or to have an empire) mainly due to Germany not being a single country until the late 19th century. However, many Germans settled in South West Africa (modern day Namibia) as well as South Africa. Those Germans who migrated to South West Africa retained German culture, religion, and even language, while those in South Africa often had to learn English or Afrikaans as a first language and adopt another culture.

Unlike other Europeans in Africa, when many African states gained independence, the Germans (along with the English and Dutch/Afrikaners) stayed in Southern Africa because they retained political dominance (now being a mandate under South African control). The country was administered as a province of South Africa during the apartheid era (though South African rule was not widely recognized internationally.) German influence in Namibia is very strong and noticeable. Because Namibia hasn't changed any town names since independence, many of the largest cities in the country retain their German names. These include Lüderitz, Grünau, Maltahöhe, Wasser, Schuckmannsburg, and even the capital city has a (slightly unused) German name (Windhuk). In the southern Regions of Karas and especially Hardap, the vast majority of town names are German, or a mixture of German, Afrikaans and English. In the Hardap region, some 80% of settlements have a name of German origin.

Namibia is also the only nation outside Europe to have a Lutheran majority. This is due to many German missionaries during the 19th century who converted the Ovambo and Damara people to Christianity. Until 1990 German was an official language of Namibia, and is now a recognized regional language (the only one of its kind for the German language outside of Europe).

Today there are roughly 20,000-50,000 Germans in Namibia (32% of the white population, and 2% of the nation's population), and they greatly outnumber English and many Black ethnic groups. Their numbers are unsure because many Namibians of German ancestry don't speak German anymore, and sometimes would rather be classified as Afrikaans.

Tanzania[link]

A classroom in a German East African school.

When Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi was under German control it was named German East Africa and received some migration from German communities, with over 3,579 Germans in German East Africa by 1914. In Dar Es Salaam, the capital city, its German population grew to 1,050, 0.006% of the city's population and just under a third of the entire German East African population. However, the German population was focused on spreading German technology and science rather than settling or Germanise the country.^[63]

A number of locations in Tanzania formerly bore German names. The city of Tabora was formerly named Weidmannsheil and Kasanga was known as Bismarckburg. Mount Kilimanjaro was known as Kilimandscharo, a German way of spelling it. Despite virtually all German names being reverted since World War I, some places still hold German names. These include the majority of Glaciers on Mount Kilimanjaro, such as Rebmann Glacier and Furtwängler Glacier.

Some colonial German-style buildings still exist in some of Tanzania's largest cities and former German strongholds, but they are in bad condition and need extensive renovation.^[63] Current estimates for the German population in Tanzania put it at 8,500, more than double than the peak population under German colonial rule.^[63]

Togo[link]

A map of Togoland in 1885, with Lomé in the south-west. Note that all land above the coast is called 'Unexplored country', despite the whole territory being under German control.

Togoland was a German colony from 1884 to 1914. In 1895 the capital, Lomé, had a population of 31 (~1% of the city) Germans and 2,084 natives. By 1913 the native population had swelled to 7,042 persons and 194 Germans (2% of the city), including 33 women, while the entire colony had a German population of 316, including 61 women and 14 children. Their numbers were depleted after World War I. The very little German architecture can be seen in the capital and from the Hinterlandbahn, a huge German railway which went deep into the thin country.^[64]

The colony’s infrastructure was developed to one of the highest levels in Africa. Colonial officials built roads and bridges to the interior mountain ranges and three rail lines from the capital Lomé. Virtually all German influence present, and almost all German colonial activity took place in Lomé, and only ever reached deep inland when the Hinterlandbahn would voyage in the jungle for resources. Estimates for the current German population are as high as 700.^[64]

Cameroon[link]

Kamerun was a German colony in present day Cameroon between 1884 and 1916. During German control, few Germans migrated, but many trading posts and infrastructure was built to aid the growing German Empire with goods, such as bananas and important minerals. These trading posts were most abundant around the former capital city, and largest city in Cameroon: Douala.

Douala itself was known as Kamerunstadt (German for 'Cameroon City') between 1884 and 1907. Most trading took place with Hamburg and Bremen, and was later made easier by the construction of an extensive postal and telegraph system. Like all German colonies (except South West Africa), after World War I, most Germans left for Europe, America, or South Africa.

Former Portuguese colonies[link]

A number of German settlers stayed in Portuguese African colonies as World War II refugees when the Portuguese government tried to request Europeans of other nationalities to increase the very tiny Portuguese population and during the war, although that plan of the Portuguese government was unsuccessful.^[32] They were assimilated to the Portuguese population. There is a recorded German population of Mozambique numbering 2,200.^[19]

Spanish in Africa[link]

The Spanish have resided in many African countries (mostly former colonies), including Equatorial Guinea, Western Sahara, South Africa, Morocco, Ceuta, and Melilla. 94,000 Spaniards chose to go to Algeria in the last years of the 19th century; 250,000 Spaniards lived in Morocco at the beginning of the 20th century. Most Spaniards left Morocco after its independence in 1956 and their numbers were reduced to 13,000.^[65][66]

An estimated 90,000 Spaniards live in Spain's North African enclaves Ceuta and Melilla.^[67] Western Sahara is home to 10 000 Spanish expatriates, all of them against the rule of Francisco Franco. Most Spanish expatriates officially went away after negotiation with the Madrid Accords.

Equatorial Guinea[link]

A stamp depicting a usual Spanish Owned plantation in 1924

The Spanish have resided in Equatorial Guinea (when under Spanish rule known as Spanish Guinea) for many years and first started as temporary plantation owners originally from Valencia, before returning to Spain. Few Spaniards remained in Spanish Guinea permanently and left only after a few years. At independence in 1968 Spanish Guinea had one of the highest per capita incomes in Africa (332 USD).^[68] The Spanish also helped Equatorial Guinea achieve one of the continent's highest literacy rates and developed a good network of health care facilities.^[68]

Many left Spanish Guinea when the colony gained independence in 1968, and current figures of the Spaniard population range from 5,000 (1% of the population) to 16,000 (roughly over 3%).^[69] After independence, many Spanish-named cities and places in Equatorial Guinea were changed to more 'African' names, the most obvious one being the capital city, Malabo (formerly Santa Isabel), and the island it is located on, Bioko (formerly Fernando Pó).

Despite a large loss of Spaniards during the brutal rule of Masie Nguema Biyogo, who wrecked the nation into debt and abolished education, the number of Spaniards have somewhat increased after he was overthrown. They almost exclusively speak Spanish as their first language; French or Portuguese, which are official languages, are often spoken as a second language, sometimes alongside the indigenous Bantu languages. Their religion is 100% Catholic, and this can be reflected by the population, which also remains Catholic. Since the discovery of oil, and an economic 'boom', a large number of Europeans, not just Spaniards, have migrated here for business and in Malabo, they are located in the western half of the city and in new housing estates.

Belgians in Africa[link]

Ethnically speaking, the term Belgian is dubious, since it can refer to the Flemish (Dutch-speaking), the Walloons (French-speaking), or to a lesser extent, to German-speaking Belgians.

Belgian Congo[link]

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 led to fear amongst the approximately 120,000 whites still resident in the Congo and mass exodus from the country.^[70] In 1965, there were 60,000 Belgians spread throughout the Congo.^[71]

Flemish in Africa[link]

Thousands of Flemings, along with the Dutch, migrated to the Republic of South Africa for many years between the 17th century and the 20th century. Immigration to RSA has slowed down drastically, but the remnants of a huge Flemish population still exist in Southern Africa. Many Flemish colonials, including farmers and mineowners, moved to the Belgian Congo to seek their fortunes during the colonial era, entrenching a system of racial segregation not unlike those practiced in most other European-ruled African territories. The old segregated Belgian neighborhoods, in fact, are still visible in Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of Congo's capital city. Despite the mass emigration of white people to Belgium, the Netherlands, and South Africa during the Congo Crisis, there are still a little under 50,000 Flemings estimated to be living in the Congo.^[72] It has also been observed that there were roughly 3,000 Flemish settlers in Rwanda,^[72] although many were targeted for extermination as part of the Rwandan Genocide. This seemed to be largely because Belgian administrators were often regarded by resentful Hutus as having offered better education and employment opportunities to Tutsi tribesmen under colonial rule. Radio messages broadcast by Hutu extremists during the genocide advocated the killing of white Rwandans on basis of their Belgian ancestry, despite the fact that Belgium itself attempted to remain neutral during the conflict.^[73]

Norwegians in Africa[link]

Southern Africa[link]

Although Norwegians in Africa are one of the smallest immigrant communities, they are not unheard of. However it is almost certain that the vast majority of them live in Southern Africa (most likely South Africa). One incident involving Norwegians in Africa was the Debora Expedition, where Norwegian families left Bergen in 1879 to establish a Norwegian colony on an Indian Ocean atoll called Aldabra^[74] (now located in the Seychelles). However the mission was aborted and the families instead settled in Madagascar or Port Natal (modern day Durban) in South Africa. They were the first Norwegians to settle in Port Natal.^[74]

A number of Norwegian settlers stayed in Portuguese African colonies when the Portuguese government tried to request Europeans of other nationalities to increase the very tiny Portuguese population, although that plan of the Portuguese government was unsuccessful.^[32] They were already acculturated to the Portuguese population.

Other European African groups[link]

The huge vast diversity of European ethnic groups in Africa were once more scattered, however currently every European ethnic group is greatest in South Africa. Virtually all European ethnic groups can be found in South Africa.

Zimbabwean women, 1982.

In 1948, approximately 600,000 Jews lived in North Africa, most of the Jews in Morocco and Algeria were Sephardi Jews whose ancestors were expelled from Spain in 1492, while most of the other Jews in north Africa Mizrahi Jews who were not of European origin; today only around 6,000 Jews remain. There is a substantial, mostly Ashkenazic Jewish community in South Africa. These Jews arrived mostly from Lithuania prior to World War II.^[75] Although the Jewish community peaked in the 1970s, about 80,000 remain in South Africa.^[76]

Armenians 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. Before 1952 there were around 75,000 Armenians in Egypt.^[77]

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.^[78]

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, most are French with some Italians.^[79] Morocco has about 100,000 Europeans, most of them French.^[80]