Southern Nigerian protectorate was placed under that of Lagos at the

same time as the name of the latter was changed to the Colony of Southern Nigeria, this being a step towards the eventual amalgamation of all three dependencies under one governor or Organiza-
tion of the
British
and French
pro-
tectorates. governor-general. In French West Africa changes in the internal frontiers have been numerous and important. The coast colonies have all been increased in size at the expense of the French Sudan, which has vanished from the maps as an administrative entity. There are carved out of the territories comprised in what is officially known as French West Africa five colonies—Senegal, French Guinea, the Ivory Coast, Dahomey and the Upper Senegal and Niger, this last being entirely cut off from the sea—and the civil territory of Mauritania. To the colony of the Upper Senegal and Niger is attached the military territory of the Niger, embracing the French Sahara up to the limit of the Algerian sphere of influence. Not only are all these divisions of French West Africa connected territorially, but administratively they are united under a governor-general. Similarly the French Congo territories have been divided into three colonies—the Gabun, the Middle Congo and the Ubangi-Shari-Chad—all united administratively under a commissioner-general.

There are, around the coast, numerous islands or groups of islands, which are regarded by geographers as outliers of the African mainland. The majority of these African islands were occupied by one or other of the European powers long before Ownership
of the
African
Islands. the period of continental partition. The Madeira Islands to the west of Morocco, the Bissagos Islands, off the Guinea coast, and Prince’s Island and St Thomas’ Island, in the Gulf of Guinea, are Portuguese possessions of old standing; while in the Canary Islands and Fernando Po Spain possesses remnants of her ancient colonial empire which are a more valuable asset than any she has acquired in recent times on the mainland. St Helena in the Atlantic, Mauritius and some small groups north of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean, are British possessions acquired long before the opening of the last quarter of the 19th century. Zanzibar, Pemba and some smaller islands which the sultan was allowed to retain were, as has already been stated, placed under British protection in 1890, and the island of Sokotra was placed under the “gracious favour and protection” of Great Britain on the 23rd of April 1886. France’s ownership of Reunion dates back to the 17th century, but the Comoro archipelago was not placed under French protection until April 1886. None of these islands, with the exception of the Zanzibar group, have, however, materially affected the partition of the continent, and they need not be enumerated in the table which follows. But the important island of Madagascar stands in a different category, both on account of its size and because it was during the period under review that it passed through the various stages which led to its becoming a French colony. The first step was the placing of the foreign relations of the island under French control, which was effected by the treaty of the 17th of December 1885, after the Franco-Malagasy war that had broken out in 1883. In 1890 Great Britain and Germany recognized a French protectorate over the island, but the Hova government declined to acquiesce in this view, and in May 1895 France sent an expedition to enforce her claims. The capital was occupied on the 30th of September in the same year, and on the day following Queen Ranavalona signed a convention recognizing the French protectorate. In January 1896 the island was declared a French possession, and on the 6th of August was declared to be a French colony. In February 1897 the last vestige of ancient rule was swept away by the deportation of the queen.

Thus in its broad outlines the partition of Africa was begun and ended in the short space of a quarter of a century. There are still many finishing touches to be put to the structure. The southern frontiers of Morocco and Tripoli remain undefined, while the mathematical lines by which the spheres of influence of the powers were separated one from the other are being variously modified on the do ut des principle as they come to be surveyed and as the effective occupation of the continent progresses. Much labour is necessary before the actual area of Africa and its subdivisions can be accurately determined, but in the following table the figures are at least approximately correct. Large areas of the spheres assigned to different European powers have still to be brought under European control; but this work is advancing by rapid strides.

British—                                      Sq. m.
  Cape Colony  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  276,995
  Natal and Zululand . . . . . . . . . . .   35,371
  Basutoland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   10,293
  Bechuanaland Protectorate  . . . . . . .  225,000
  Transvaal and Swaziland  . . . . . . . .  117,732
  Orange River Colony  . . . . . . . . . .   50,392
  Rhodesia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  450,000
  Nyasaland Protectorate . . . . . . . . .   43,608
  British East Africa Protectorate . . . .  240,000
  Uganda Protectorate  . . . . . . . . . .  125,000
  Zanzibar Protectorate  . . . . . . . . .    1,020
  Somaliland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   68,000
  Northern Nigeria   . . . . . . . . . . .  258,000
  Southern Nigeria (colony and protectorate) 80,000
  Gold Coast and hinterland      . . . . .   82,000
  Sierre Leone (colony and protectorate) .   34,000
  Gambia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    4,000

      Total British Africa . . . . . . .  2,101,411

  Egypt and Libyan Desert  . . . . . . . .  650,000
  Anglo-Egyptian Sudan . . . . . . . . . .  950,000
                                          1,600,000

French—
  Algeria and Algerian Sahara  . . . . . .  945,000
  Tunisia  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   51,000
  French West Africa—
    Senegal  . . . . . . . . .   74,000
    French Guinea  . . . . . .  107,000
    Ivory Coast  . . . . . . .  129,000
    Dahomey  . . . . . . . . .   40,000
    Upper Senegal and Niger, and
      Mauritania (including French West
      African Sahara)  . . .  1,581,000   1,931,000
  French Congo . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  700,000
  French Somaliland  . . . . . . . . . . .   12,000
  Madagascar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  227,950

      Total French Africa  . . . . . . .  3,866,950

German—
  East Africa  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  364,000
  South-West Africa  . . . . . . . . . . .  322,450
  Cameroon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  190,000
  Togoland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   33,700

      Total German Africa  . . . . . . . .  910,150

Italian—
  Eritrea  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   60,000 
  Somaliland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  140,000

      Total Italian Africa . . . . . . . .  200,000

Portuguese—
  Guinea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   14,000
  West Africa  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  480,000
  East Africa  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  293,500

      Total Portuguese Africa  . . . . . .  787,500

Spanish—
  Rio de Oro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70,000
  Muni River Settlements . . . . . . . . . .  9,800

        Total Spanish Africa . . . . . . . . 79,800

Belgian—
  Congo State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 900,000

Turkish—
  Tripoli and Benghazi  . . . . . . . . . . 400,000

Separate States—
  Liberia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  43,000
  Morocco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220,000
  Abyssinia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350,000

Total Independent Africa . . . . . . 613,000