Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record. A "documentary film" was originally a movie shot on film stock—the only medium available—but now includes video and digital productions that can be either direct-to-video or made for a television program. "Documentary" has been described as a "filmmaking practice, a cinematic tradition, and mode of audience reception" that is continually evolving and is without clear boundaries.

Defining ''documentary''

In popular myth, the word, ''documentary'' was coined by Scottish documentarian John Grierson in his review of Robert Flaherty's film ''Moana'' (1926), published in the ''New York Sun'' on 8 February 1926, written by "The Moviegoer" (a pen name for Grierson).

Grierson's principles of documentary were that cinema's potential for observing life could be exploited in a new art form; that the "original" actor and "original" scene are better guides than their fiction counterparts to interpreting the modern world; and that materials "thus taken from the raw" can be more real than the acted article. In this regard, Grierson's views align with Vertov's contempt for dramatic fiction as "bourgeois excess", though with considerably more subtlety. Grierson's definition of documentary as "creative treatment of actuality" has gained some acceptance, though it presents philosophical questions about documentaries containing stagings and reenactments.

In his essays, Dziga Vertov argued for presenting "life as it is" (that is, life filmed surreptitiously) and "life caught unawares" (life provoked or surprised by the camera).

Pare Lorentz defines a documentary film as "a factual film which is dramatic." Others further state that a documentary stands out from the other types of non-fiction films for providing an opinion, and a specific message, along with the facts it presents.

Documentary Practice is the complex process of creating documentary projects. It refers to what people do with media devices, content, form, and production strategies in order to address the creative, ethical, and conceptual problems and choices that arise as they make documentaries.

There are clear connections in terms of practice with magazine and newspaper feature-writing and indeed to non-fiction literature. Many of the generic forms of documentary, for example the biopic or profile; or the observational piece. These generic forms are explored on the University of Winchester Journalism Department 'features web' where 'long form journalism' is classified by genre or content, rather than in terms of production as film, radio or 'print'.

History

Pre-1900

Early film (pre-1900) was dominated by the novelty of showing an event. They were single-shot moments captured on film: a train entering a station, a boat docking, or factory workers leaving work. These short films were called "actuality" films; the term "documentary" was not coined until 1926. Many of the first films, such as those made by Auguste and Louis Lumière, were a minute or less in length, due to technological limitations.

Films showing many people (for example,, leaving a factory) were often made for commercial reasons: the people being filmed were eager to see, for payment, the film showing them. One notable film clocked in at over an hour and a half, ''The Corbett-Fitzsimmons Fight''. Using pioneering film-looping technology, Enoch J. Rector presented the entirety of a famous 1897 prize-fight on cinema screens across the country.

The French surgeon Eugène-Louis Doyen started a series of surgical films sometime before July 1898. Until 1906, the year of his last film, Doyen recorded more than 60 operations. As Doyen said that his first films taught him how to correct professional errors he had been unaware of. For scientific purposes, after 1906 Doyen combined 15 of his films into three compilations, two of which survive, the six-film series ''Extirpation des tumeurs encapsulées'' (1906), and the four-film ''Les Opérations sur la cavité crânienne'' (1911). These and five other of Doyen's films survive.

Between July 1898 and 1901 the Romanian professor Gheorghe Marinescu made several science films in his neurology clinic in Bucharest: ''The walking troubles of organic hemiplegy'' (1898), ''The walking troubles of organic paraplegies'' (1899), ''A case of hysteric hemiplegy healed through hypnosis'' (1899), ''The walking troubles of progressive locomotion ataxy'' (1900) and ''Illnesses of the muscles'' (1901). All these short films have been preserved. The professor called his works "studies with the help of the cinematograph", and published the results, along with several consecutive frames, in issues of "La Semaine Médicale" magazine from Paris, between 1899 and 1902. In 1924, Auguste Lumiere recognized the merits of Marinescu's science films: "I've seen your scientific reports about the usage of the cinematograph in studies of nervous illnesses, when I was still receiving "La Semaine Médicale", but back then I had other concerns, which left me no spare time to begin biological studies. I must say I forgot those works and I am thankful to you that you reminded them to me. Unfortunately, not many scientists have followed your way."

1900–1920

Travelogue films were very popular in the early part of the 20th century. They were infrequently known as "scenics." Scenics were among the most popular sort of films at the time. An important early film to move beyond the concept of the scenic was ''In the Land of the Head Hunters'' (1914), which embraced primitivism and exoticism in a staged story presented as truthful re-enactments of the life of Native Americans.

Early color motion picture processes such as Kinemacolor and Prizmacolor used travelogues to promote the new color process. (In contrast, Technicolor concentrated primarily on getting their process adopted by Hollywood studios for fictional feature films.)

Also during this period Frank Hurley's documentary film, ''South'' (1919), about the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, was released. It documented the failed Antarctic expedition led by Ernest Shackleton in 1914.

1920s

Romanticism

With Robert J. Flaherty's ''Nanook of the North'' in 1922, documentary film embraced romanticism; Flaherty filmed a number of heavily staged romantic films during this time period, often showing how his subjects would have lived 100 years earlier and not how they lived right then. For instance, in ''Nanook of the North'' Flaherty did not allow his subjects to shoot a walrus with a nearby shotgun, but had them use a harpoon instead. Some of Flaherty's staging, such as building a roofless igloo for interior shots, was done to accommodate the filming technology of the time.

Paramount Pictures tried to repeat the success of Flaherty's ''Nanook'' and ''Moana'' with two romanticized documentaries, ''Grass'' (1925) and ''Chang'' (1927), both directed by Merian Cooper and Ernest Schoedsack.

The city symphony

The continental, or realist, tradition focused on humans within human-made environments, and included the so-called "city symphony" films such as Walter Ruttmann's ''Berlin, Symphony of a City'' (of which Grierson noted in an article that ''Berlin'' represented what a documentary should not be), Alberto Cavalcanti's ''Rien que les heures'', and Dziga Vertov's ''Man with the Movie Camera''. These films tend to feature people as products of their environment, and lean towards the avant-garde.

Kino-Pravda

Dziga Vertov was central to the Soviet Kino-Pravda (literally, "cinematic truth") newsreel series of the 1920s. Vertov believed the camera — with its varied lenses, shot-counter shot editing, time-lapse, ability to slow motion, stop motion and fast-motion — could render reality more accurately than the human eye, and made a film philosophy out of it.

Newsreel tradition

The newsreel tradition is important in documentary film; newsreels were also sometimes staged but were usually re-enactments of events that had already happened, not attempts to steer events as they were in the process of happening. For instance, much of the battle footage from the early 20th century was staged; the cameramen would usually arrive on site after a major battle and re-enact scenes to film them.

1920s–1940s

The propagandist tradition consists of films made with the explicit purpose of persuading an audience of a point. One of the most notorious propaganda films is Leni Riefenstahl's film ''Triumph of the Will'' (1935), which chronicled the 1934 Nazi Party Congress and was commissioned by Adolf Hitler. Leftist filmmakers Joris Ivens and Henri Storck directed ''Borinage'' (1931) about the Belgian coal mining region. Luis Buñuel directed a "surrealist" documentary ''Las Hurdes'' (1933).

Pare Lorentz's ''The Plow That Broke the Plains'' (1936) and ''The River'' (1938) and Willard Van Dyke's ''The City'' (1939) are notable New Deal productions, each presenting complex combinations of social and ecological awareness, government propaganda, and leftist viewpoints. Frank Capra's ''Why We Fight'' (1942–1944) series was a newsreel series in the United States, commissioned by the government to convince the U.S. public that it was time to go to war. Constance Bennett and her husband Henri de la Falaise produced two feature length documentaries, ''Legong: Dance of the Virgins'' (1935) filmed in Bali, and ''Kilou the Killer Tiger'' (1936) filmed in Indochina.

In Canada the Film Board, set up by John Grierson, was created for the same propaganda reasons. It also created newsreels that were seen by their national governments as legitimate counter-propaganda to the psychological warfare of Nazi Germany (orchestrated by Joseph Goebbels).

In Britain, a number of different filmmakers came together under John Grierson. They became known as the Documentary Film Movement. Grierson, Alberto Cavalcanti, Harry Watt, Basil Wright, and Humphrey Jennings amongst others succeeded in blending propaganda, information, and education with a more poetic aesthetic approach to documentary. Examples of their work include ''Drifters'' (John Grierson), ''Song of Ceylon'' (Basil Wright), ''Fires Were Started'' and ''A Diary for Timothy'' (Humphrey Jennings). Their work involved poets such as W. H. Auden, composers such as Benjamin Britten, and writers such as J. B. Priestley. Among the best known films of the movement are ''Night Mail'' and ''Coal Face''.

1950s–1970s

Cinéma-vérité

Cinéma vérité (or the closely related direct cinema) was dependent on some technical advances in order to exist: light, quiet and reliable cameras, and portable sync sound.

Cinéma vérité and similar documentary traditions can thus be seen, in a broader perspective, as a reaction against studio-based film production constraints. Shooting on location, with smaller crews, would also happen in the French New Wave, the filmmakers taking advantage of advances in technology allowing smaller, handheld cameras and synchronized sound to film events on location as they unfolded.

Although the terms are sometimes used interchangeably, there are important differences between cinéma vérité (Jean Rouch) and the North American "Direct Cinema" (or more accurately "Cinéma direct"), pioneered by, among others, Canadians Allan King, Michel Brault and Pierre Perrault, and Americans Robert Drew, Richard Leacock, Frederick Wiseman and Albert and David Maysles.

The directors of the movement take different viewpoints on their degree of involvement with their subjects. Kopple and Pennebaker, for instance, choose non-involvement (or at least no overt involvement), and Perrault, Rouch, Koenig, and Kroitor favor direct involvement or even provocation when they deem it necessary.

The films ''Primary'' and ''Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment'' (both produced by Robert Drew), ''Harlan County, USA'' (directed by Barbara Kopple), ''Dont Look Back'' (D. A. Pennebaker), ''Lonely Boy'' (Wolf Koenig and Roman Kroitor) are all frequently deemed cinéma vérité films.

The fundamentals of the style include following a person during a crisis with a moving, often handheld, camera to capture more personal reactions. There are no sit-down interviews, and the shooting ratio (the amount of film shot to the finished product) is very high, often reaching 80 to one. From there, editors find and sculpt the work into a film. The editors of the movement — such as Werner Nold, Charlotte Zwerin, Muffie Myers, Susan Froemke, and Ellen Hovde — are often overlooked, but their input to the films was so vital that they were often given co-director credits.

Famous cinéma vérité/direct cinema films include ''Les Raquetteurs'', ''Showman'', ''Salesman'', ''Near Death'', ''The Children Were Watching'', and ''Grey Gardens''.

Political weapons

In the 1960s and 1970s, documentary film was often conceived as a political weapon against neocolonialism and capitalism in general, especially in Latin America, but also in a changing Quebec society. ''La Hora de los hornos'' (''The Hour of the Furnaces'', from 1968), directed by Octavio Getino and Fernando E. Solanas, influenced a whole generation of filmmakers. Among the many political documentaries early 1970s; "Chile: A Special Report," a public television's first in depth expository look of the September 1973 overthrow of the legitimate Salvador Allende, Chilean government by the Pinochet armed forces, who ruled by terror. With the support of the Nixon administration, produced by documentarians Ari Martinez and José Garcia.

Modern documentaries

Box office analysts have noted that this film genre has become increasingly successful in theatrical release with films such as ''Fahrenheit 9/11'', ''Super Size Me'', ''Earth'', ''March of the Penguins'', and ''An Inconvenient Truth'' among the most prominent examples. Compared to dramatic narrative films, documentaries typically have far lower budgets which makes them attractive to film companies because even a limited theatrical release can be highly profitable.

The nature of documentary films has expanded in the past 20 years from the cinema verité style introduced in the 1960s in which the use of portable camera and sound equipment allowed an intimate relationship between filmmaker and subject. The line blurs between documentary and narrative and some works are very personal, such as the late Marlon Riggs's ''Tongues Untied'' (1989) and ''Black Is...Black Ain't'' (1995), which mix expressive, poetic, and rhetorical elements and stresses subjectivities rather than historical materials.Historical documentaries, such as the landmark 14-hour ''Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Years'' (1986 – Part 1 and 1989 – Part 2) by Henry Hampton, ''Four Little Girls'' (1997) by Spike Lee, and ''The Civil War'' by Ken Burns, UNESCO awarded independent film on slavery 500 Years Later, expressed not only a distinctive voice but also a perspective and point of views. Some films such as ''The Thin Blue Line'' by Errol Morris incorporated stylized re-enactments, and Michael Moore's ''Roger & Me'' placed far more interpretive control with the director. The commercial success of these documentaries may derive from this narrative shift in the documentary form, leading some critics to question whether such films can truly be called documentaries; critics sometimes refer to these works as "mondo films" or "docu-ganda." However, directorial manipulation of documentary subjects has been noted since the work of Flaherty, and may be endemic to the form due to problematic ontological foundations.

Although the increasing popularity of the documentary genre, and the advent of DVDs, has made documentaries financially more viable, funding for documentary film production remains elusive. Within the past decade the largest exhibition opportunities have emerged from within the broadcast market, making filmmakers beholden to the tastes and influences of the broadcasters who have become their largest funding source.

Modern documentaries have some overlap with television forms, with the development of "''reality television''" that occasionally verges on the documentary but more often veers to the fictional or staged. The ''making-of'' documentary shows how a movie or a computer game was produced. Usually made for promotional purposes, it is closer to an advertisement than a classic documentary.

Modern lightweight digital video cameras and computer-based editing have greatly aided documentary makers, as has the dramatic drop in equipment prices. The first film to take full advantage of this change was Martin Kunert and Eric Manes' ''Voices of Iraq'', where 150 DV cameras were sent to Iraq during the war and passed out to Iraqis to record themselves.

Documentaries without words

Films in the documentary form without words have been made. From 1982, the Qatsi trilogy and the similar ''Baraka'' could be described as visual tone poems, with music related to the images, but no spoken content. ''Koyaanisqatsi'' (part of the Qatsi trilogy) consists primarily of slow motion and time-lapse photography of cities and many natural landscapes across the United States. ''Baraka'' tries to capture the great pulse of humanity as it flocks and swarms in daily activity and religious ceremonies.

''Bodysong'' was made in 2003 and won a British Independent Film Award for "Best British Documentary".

The 2004 film ''Genesis'' shows animal and plant life in states of expansion, decay, sex, and death, with some, but little, narration.

Other documentary forms

Compilation films

Compilation films were pioneered in 1927 by Esfir Schub with ''The Fall of the Romanov Dynasty''. More recent examples include ''Point of Order'' (1964), directed by Emile de Antonio about the McCarthy hearings and ''The Atomic Cafe'' which is made entirely out of found footage that various agencies of the U.S. government made about the safety of nuclear radiation (for example,, telling troops at one point that it's safe to be irradiated as long as they keep their eyes and mouths shut). Similarly, ''The Last Cigarette'' combines the testimony of various tobacco company executives before the U.S. Congress with archival propaganda extolling the virtues of smoking.

See also

Animated documentary

Citizen media

Concert film

Docudrama

Docufiction

Documentary film festivals

Documentary mode

Documentary Practice

Ethnofiction

Ethnographic film

Filmmaking

List of documentaries

List of motion picture-related topics

Lists of directors and producers of documentaries

Mockumentary

Mondo film

Nature documentary

Participatory video

Political Cinema

Public-access television

Reality film

Rockumentary

Travel documentary

Visual anthropology

Web documentary

Women's Cinema

Some Documentary Film Awards

Academy Award for Documentary Feature

Joris Ivens Award, International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), (named after Joris Ivens)

Grand Prize Visions du Réel

Notes and references

Sources and bibliography

Aitken, Ian (ed.). ''Encyclopedia of the Documentary Film''. New York: Routledge, 2005. ISBN 978-1-57958-445-0.

Barnouw, Erik. ''Documentary: A History of the Non-Fiction Film'', 2nd rev. ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993. ISBN 978-0-19-507898-5. Still a useful introduction.

Ron Burnett. "Reflections on the Documentary Cinema"

Burton, Julianne (ed.). ''The Social Documentary in Latin America''. Pittsburgh, Penn.: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1990. ISBN 978-0-8229-3621-3.

Dawson, Jonathan. "Dziga Vertov".

Ellis, Jack C., and Betsy A. McLane. "A New History of Documentary Film". New York: Continuum International, 2005. ISBN 978-0-8264-1750-3, ISBN 978-0-8264-1751-0.

Goldsmith, David A. ''The Documentary Makers: Interviews with 15 of the Best in the Business''. Hove, East Sussex: RotoVision, 2003. ISBN 978-2-88046-730-2.

Klotman, Phyllis R. and Culter, Janet K.(eds.). ''Struggles for Representation – African American Documentary Film and Video'' Bloomington and Indianapolis, IN: Indiana University Press, 1999. ISBN 978-0-253-21347-1.

Leach, Jim, and Jeannette Sloniowski (eds.). ''Candid Eyes: Essays on Canadian Documentaries''. Toronto; Buffalo: University of Toronto Press, 2003. ISBN 978-0-8020-4732-8, ISBN 978-0-8020-8299-2.

Nichols, Bill. ''Introduction to Documentary'', Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press, 2001. ISBN 978-0-253-33954-6, ISBN 978-0-253-21469-0.

Nichols, Bill. ''Representing Reality: Issues and Concepts in Documentary''. Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press, 1991. ISBN 978-0-253-34060-3, ISBN 978-0-253-20681-7.

Nornes, Markus. ''Forest of Pressure: Ogawa Shinsuke and Postwar Japanese Documentary''. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2007. ISBN 978-0-8166-4907-5, ISBN 978-0-8166-4908-2.

Nornes, Markus. ''Japanese Documentary Film: The Meiji Era through Hiroshima''. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2003. ISBN 978-0-8166-4045-4, ISBN 978-0-8166-4046-1.

Rotha, Paul, ''Documentary diary; An Informal History of the British Documentary Film, 1928–1939''. New York: Hill and Wang, 1973. ISBN 978-0-8090-3933-3.

Saunders, Dave. ''Direct Cinema: Observational Documentary and the Politics of the Sixties''. London: Wallflower Press, 2007. ISBN 978-1-905674-16-9, ISBN 978-1-905674-15-2.

Saunders, Dave. ''Documentary: The Routledge Film Guidebook''. London: Routledge, 2010.

Tobias, Michael. ''The Search for Reality – the Art of Documentary Filmmaking''. Studio City, CA: Michael Wiese Productions 1997. ISBN 0-941188-62-0

Walker, Janet, and Diane Waldeman (eds.). ''Feminism and Documentary''. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1999. ISBN 978-0-8166-3006-6, ISBN 978-0-8166-3007-3.

Wyver, John. ''The Moving Image: An International History of Film, Television & Radio''. Oxford: Basil Blackwell Ltd. in association with the British Film Institute, 1989. ISBN 978-0-631-15529-4.

Murdoch.edu, Documentary – reading list

Ethnographic film

Emilie de Brigard, "The History of Ethnographic Film", in ''Principles of Visual Anthropology'', ed. Paul Hockings. Berlin and New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 1995, pp. 13–43.

Leslie Devereaux, "Cultures, Disciplines, Cinemas", in ''Fields of Vision. Essays in Film Studies, Visual Anthropology and Photography'', ed. Leslie Devereaux & Roger Hillman. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995, pp. 329–339.

Faye Ginsburg, Lila Abu-Lughod and Brian Larkin (eds.), ''Media Worlds: Anthropology on New Terrain''. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2002. ISBN 978-0-520-23231-0.

Anna Grimshaw, ''The Ethnographer’s Eye: Ways of Seeing in Modern Anthropology''. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2001. ISBN 978-0-521-77310-2.

Karl G. Heider, ''Ethnographic Film''. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1994.

Luc de Heusch, ''Cinéma et Sciences Sociales'', Paris: UNESCO, 1962. Published in English as ''The Cinema and Social Science. A Survey of Ethnographic and Sociological Films''. UNESCO, 1962.

Fredric Jameson, ''Signatures of the Visible''. New York & London: Routledge, 1990.

Pierre-L. Jordan, ''Premier Contact-Premier Regard'', Marseille: Musées de Marseille. Images en Manoeuvres Editions, 1992.

André Leroi-Gourhan, "Cinéma et Sciences Humaines. Le Film Ethnologique Existe-t-il?", ''Revue de Géographie Humaine et d'Ethnologie'' 3 (1948), pp. 42–50.

David MacDougall, ''Transcultural Cinema''. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1998. ISBN 978-0-691-01234-6.

David MacDougall, "Whose Story Is It?", in ''Ethnographic Film Aesthetics and Narrative Traditions'', ed. Peter I. Crawford and Jan K. Simonsen. Aarhus, Intervention Press, 1992, pp. 25–42.

Fatimah Tobing Rony, ''The Third Eye: Race, Cinema and Ethnographic Spectacle''. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1996. ISBN 978-0-8223-1840-8.

Georges Sadoul, ''Histoire Générale du Cinéma''. Vol. 1, ''L'Invention du Cinéma 1832–1897''. Paris: Denöel, 1977, pp. 73–110.

Pierre Sorlin, ''Sociologie du Cinéma'', Paris: Aubier Montaigne, 1977, pp. 7–74.

Charles Warren, "Introduction, with a Brief History of Nonfiction Film", in ''Beyond Document. Essays on Nonfiction Film'', ed. Charles Warren. Hanover and London: Wesleyan University Press, 1996, pp. 1–22.

Ismail Xavier, "Cinema: Revelação e Engano", in ''O Olhar'', ed. Adauto Novaes. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 1993, pp. 367–384.

External links

Berkeley.edu, Documentary Classics – Videography of essential documentary films via UC Berkeley Media Resources Center

Documentary films database for educational purpose - online database of documentaries and social impact films

Documentary film Research Database - research database of documentaries online

DFGdocs.com, The Documentary Filmmakers Group, UK's largest documentary organisation

Documentary Films.net, news, reviews, and filmmaker resources

Documentary.org, International Documentary Association

Doculink - Online listserv for documentarians

Category:Film genres Film Category:Investigative journalism Category:Journalism genres

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Coordinates	3°8′51″N101°41′36″N
background	#FFA07A
name	A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
sanskrit
religion	Gaudiya Vaishnavism, Hinduism
other name	Abhay Charanaravinda, Abhay Charan De
birth name	Abhay Charan De
birth date	September 01, 1896
birth place	Kolkata (formerly known as Calcutta), West Bengal, India
death date	November 14, 1977
death place	Vrindavan, India
resting place	Prabhupada's Samadhi, Vrindavan
resting place coordinates
location	Vrindavan, India
title	Founder-acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
period	1966 - 1977
predecessor	Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura
successor	The Governing Body Commission
initiation	Diksa–1932, Sannyasa–1959
post	Guru, Sannyasi, Acharya
website	ISKCON Worldwide }}

Abhay Charanaravinda Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (, Sanskrit: , '''') (1 September 1896 – 14 November 1977) was a Gaudiya Vaishnava teacher and the founder-acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, commonly known as the "Hare Krishna Movement". His mission was to propagate Gaudiya Vaishnavism, a form of Hinduism that had been taught to him by his guru, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, throughout the world. Born Abhay Charan De in Kolkata, he was educated at the prestigious local Scottish Church College. Before adopting the life of a pious renunciant (vanaprastha) in 1950, he was married with children and owned a small pharmaceutical business. In 1959 he took a vow of renunciation (sannyasa) and started writing commentaries on Vaishnava scriptures. In his later years, as a traveling Vaishnava monk, he became an influential communicator of Gaudiya Vaishnava theology to India and specifically to the West through his leadership of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), founded in 1966. As the founder of ISKCON, he "emerged as a major figure of the Western counterculture, initiating thousands of young Americans." Despite attacks from anti-cult groups, he received a favorable welcome from many religious scholars, such as J. Stillson Judah, Harvey Cox, Larry Shinn and Thomas Hopkins, who praised Prabhupada's translations and defended the group against distorted media images and misinterpretations. In respect to his achievements, religious leaders from other Gaudiya Vaishnava movements have also given him credit.

He has been described as a charismatic leader, in the sense used by the sociologist Max Weber, as he was successful in acquiring followers in the United States, Europe, India and elsewhere. After his death in 1977, ISKCON, the society he founded based on a type of Hindu Krishnaism using the ''Bhagavata Purana'' as a central scripture, continued to grow and is respected in India, though there have been disputes about leadership among his followers.

Biography

Early life

Born on September 1, 1896, the day after Janmastami, one of the most important Vaishnava holidays, in a humble house in the Tollygunge suburb of Kolkata, he was named Abhay Charan, "''one who is fearless'', ''having taken shelter at Lord Krishna's feet''." Since he was born on the day of Nandotsava ("the celebration of Nanda," Krishna's father, a traditional festival in honor of Krishna's birth) he was also called Nandulal. His parents, Sriman Gour Mohan De and Srimati Rajani De, were devout Vaishnavas (devotees of Vishnu). In accordance with Bengali tradition, his mother had gone to the home of her parents for the delivery, and only a few days later Abhay returned with parents to his home at 151 Harrison Road in Kokata, where he was brought up and educated.

He received a European led education in the Scottish Church College, Kolkata. This school was well reputed among Bengalis; many Vaishnava families sent their sons there. The professors, most of whom were Europeans, were known as sober, moral men, and it is believed that the students received a good education. The college was located in north Kolkata, not far from Harrison Road where Abhay's family lived. During his years in the college, Prabhupada was a member of the English Society as well as that of the Sanskrit Society, and it has been suggested that his education provided him a foundation for his future leadership. He graduated in 1920 with majors in English, philosophy and economics. However he refused to accept his diploma, being a devout follower of Gandhi at the time. His refusal to accept the diploma he had earned was in protest of the British. He also wore the homespun cotton cloth the followers of Gandhi wore in protest of British clothes.

Religious career

In 1922, when Prabhupada first met his spiritual master, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, he was requested to spread the message of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in the English language. Later in 1932 Prabhupada became a formally initiated disciple of Bhaktisiddhanta. In 1944, (from his front room at Sita Kanta Banerjee, Kolkata), Prabhupada started the publication called ''Back to Godhead'', for which he acted as designer, publisher, editor, copy editor and distributor. He personally designed the logo, an effulgent figure of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in the upper left corner, with the motto: "''Godhead is Light, Nescience is darkness''" greeting the readers. In his first magazine he wrote:

In 1947, the Gaudiya Vaishnava Society recognised Prabhupada's scholarship with the title ''Bhaktivedanta,'' ('''') meaning "one who has realised that devotional service to the Supreme Lord is the end of all knowledge" (with the words Bhakti, indicating devotion and Vedanta indicating conclusive knowledge). His later well known name, '''', is a Sanskrit title, literally meaning "he who has taken the position of the Lord" where'' '' denotes "Lord", and '''' means "position." Also, "''at whose feet masters sit''". This name was used as a respectful form of address by his disciples from late 1967 early 1968 onwards. Previous to this, as with his early disciples, followers used to call him "Swamiji".

From 1950 onwards, Prabhupada lived at the medieval Radha-Damodar mandir in the holy town of Vrindavan, where he began his commentary and translation work of the Sanskrit work Bhagavata Purana. Of all notable Vrindavana's temples, the Radha-Damodara mandir had at the time the largest collection of various copies of the original writings of the Six Gosvamis and their followers - more than two thousand separate manuscripts, many of them three hundred, some even four hundred years old. His guru, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, had always encouraged Prabhupada that "If you ever get money, print books", referring to the need of literary presentation of the Vaishnava culture.

Renunciation

Keshavaji Gaudiya Matha was the place where Prabhupada used to live, he had written and studied in the library of this building, here he edited the '''' magazine and this is the place where he donated the murti of Lord Chaitanya who stands on the altar beside the Deities of Radha Krishna (named ''Śrī Śrī Rādhā Vinodavihārījī''). During his visit in September 1959 he entered the doors of this ''matha'' dressed in white, as Abhay Babu, but would be leaving dressed in saffron, a swami. In this ''matha'', in Mathura Vrindavana, Prabhupada took Vaishnava renunciate vows,''sannyasa'', from his friend and godbrother Bhakti Prajnana Keshava Maharaja , and following this he singlehandedly published the first three volumes covering seventeen chapters of the first book of Bhagavata Purana, filling three volumes of four hundred pages each with a detailed commentary. Introduction to the first volume was a biographical sketch of Chaitanya Mahāprabhu. He then left India, obtaining free passage on a freight ship called the ''Jaladuta'', with the aim and a hope of fulfilling his spiritual master's instruction to spread the message of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu around the world. In his possession were a suitcase, an umbrella, a supply of dry cereal, about eight dollars worth of Indian currency, and several boxes of books.

Mission to the West

Prabhupada sailed to the USA in 1965. His trip to the United States was not sponsored by any religious organization, nor was he met upon arrival by a group of loyal followers. As he neared his destination on the ship, the Indian freighter ''Jaladuta'', the enormity of his intended task weighed on him. On September 13 he wrote in his diary, "Today I have disclosed my mind to my companion, Lord Sri Krishna." On this occasion and on a number of others, Prabhupada, called on Krishna for help in his native Bengali. Examining these compositions, academics regard them as "intimate records of his prayerful preparation for what lay ahead" and a view on "how Bhaktivedanta Swami understood his own identity and mission." By journeying to America, he was attempting to fulfill the wish of his guru, possible only by the grace of "his dear Lord Krishna". It is in July 1966 "global missionary Vaishnavism" was brought to the West by Prabhupada, "the soul agent", founding the International Society for Krishna Consciousness in New York City. Prabhupada spent much of the last decade of his life setting up the institution of ISKCON. Since he was the Society's leader, his personality and management were responsible for much of ISKCON's growth and the reach of his mission.

When it was suggested to Bhaktivedanta Swami at the time of founding the International Society for Krishna Consciousness in 1966 that a broader term "God Consciousness" would be preferable to "Krishna Consciousness" in the title, he rejected this recommendation, suggesting that name ''Krishna'' includes all other forms and concepts of God.

After a group of devotees and a temple had been established in New York another center was started in San Francisco in 1967. From here Prabhupada traveled throughout America with his disciples, popularizing the movement through street chanting (''sankirtana''), book distribution and public speeches.

Once ISKCON was more established in America a small number of devotees from the San Francisco temple were sent to London, England. After a short time of being in London they came into contact with The Beatles, of whom George Harrison took the greatest interest, spending a significant time speaking with Prabhupada and producing a record with members of the later London Radha Krsna Temple. Over the following years Prabhupada's continuing leadership role took him around the world some several times setting up temples and communities in all of the major continents. By the time of his death in Vrindavan eleven years later in 1977, ISKCON became a widely known expression of Vaishnavism on an international basis.

In the twelve years from his arrival in New York until his final days he: circled the globe fourteen times on lecture tours that took him to six continents initiated many disciples, awarding sannyasa and babaji initiations. introduced Vedic ''gurukul'' education to a Western audience directed the founding of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, which claims to be the world's largest publisher of ancient and classical Vaishnava religious texts founded the religious colony New Vrindavan in West Virginia, authored more than eighty books (with many available online) on Vedantic philosophy, religion, literature and culture (including four published originally in Bengali) introduced international celebrations in the capitals of the world like that of Jagannatha processions watched ISKCON grow to a confederation of more than 108 temples, various institutes and farm communities

In his discussion with a historian Arnold J. Toynbee in London, Prabhupada is quoted as saying: "I have started this Krishna Conscious Movement among the Indians and Americans and for the next ten thousand years it will increase."

Books and publishing

It is believed that Prabhupada's most significant contribution are his books. Within the final twenty years of his life Prabhupada translated over sixty volumes of classic Vedic scriptures (such as the ''Bhagavad Gita'' and the ''Srimad Bhagavatam'') into the English language. and his ''Bhagavad-Gītā As It Is'' was published by Macmillan Publishers, in 1968 and unabridged edition in 1972, and is now available in over sixty languages around the world and some other books by Prabhupada are available in over eighty different languages.

The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust was established in 1972 to publish his works, it has also published massively researched multivolume biography, ''Srila Prabhupada-lilamrta'', that in opinion of Larry Shinn will "certainly be one of the most complete records of the life and work of any modern religious figure". Prabhupada reminded his devotees before his disappearance that he would live forever in his books, and through them would remain present as a spiritual master or guru. Prabhupada had instilled in his followers an understanding of the importance of writing and publishing not only with regard to his works, but also their own initiatives. His early disciples felt Prabhupada had given them ''Back To Godhead'' for their own writings from the very start.

A prominent Gaudiya Vaishnava figure, Shrivatsa Goswami, who as a young man had met Prabhupada in 1972, affirmed the significance of book publishing and distribution in spreading the message of Chaitanya in an interview with Steven Gelberg: }}

Views on other religious traditions

Prabhupada considered Moses, Jesus, and Mohamed to be empowered representatives of God, describing them within his writings as pioneers of the same essential message of dedication to God with love and devotion.

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Other typical expression presents a different perspective, where Prabhupada would point out that "today I may be a Hindu, but tomorrow I may become a Christian or Muslim. In this way faiths can be changed, but dharma" is a natural sequence, a natural occupation or a connection and it can not be changed, because it is permanent, according to him. Prabhupada's approach to modern knowledge is also seen in sectarian Orthodox Judaism, where the skills and technical knowledge of modernity are encouraged, but the values rejected. Prabhupada stated "devotees should not be lazy, idle...we are not afraid to work. Whatever our engagement is, by offering the result to Krishna we become Krishna conscious". Some of his representations are believed to affect women adversely and are male-centred, others are tender and celebratory. Prabhupada himself taught a dualism of body and soul and that of the genders. Similar to many traditional religions he considered sexuality and spirituality as conflicting opposites. However among some liberal male followers there is a positive recognition of Prabhupada's own example in applying the spirit of the law according to time, place, person and circumstance, rather than literal tracing of the tradition.

In line with traditional Vaishnava theology, Prabhupada was critical of the monist philosophies of Hinduism representing the Gaudiya Vaishnava point of view and often insulting the orthodox Vedanta adherents of monism with 'cruel words'. In the view of some, the Gaudiya-Vaishnava philosophy he followed is neither fully dualistic nor monist (this is known as Achintya Bheda Abheda). As a school of thought, Gaudiya Vaishnavism has much more in common with the Dvaita, as opposed to the Advaita schools.

Within India

Initially, Srila Prabhupada began his public preaching mission in India. He founded the League of Devotees in Jhansi in 1953.

Following the establishment of temples and centres in the United States and Europe, Prabhupada returned to India in 1971, holding many public programs which were well attended. From 1971 onwards, the movement became increasingly popular and spread throughout the country, Prabhupada was particularly eager to see the progress at "the impressive temple project in" Mumbai which he and his disciples had fought very hard to establish, with large temples in Mayapur and Vrindavan to follow in mid 1970s.

In 1996, the Government of India recognized Prabhupada's accomplishments by issuing a commemorative stamp in his honour as a part of Prabhupada Centennial celebrations.

Speaking at the inauguration of ISKCON's cultural center in New Delhi on 5 April on occasion of Ramnavmi in 1998, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, then India's prime minister, said:

Monuments

A number of memorial samadhis or shrines to Prabhupada were constructed by the members of ISKCON in his remembrance. The largest of which are in Mayapur, Vrindavan and at the larger sized temples in America. Prabhupada's Palace of Gold was designed and constructed by devotees of the New Vrindavan community and dedicated on September 2, 1979. Back in 1972 it was intended to be simply a residence for Prabhupada, but over time the plans evolved into an ornate marble and gold palace which is now visited by thousands of Hindu pilgrims each year, visiting this centerpiece of the community strongly relying upon tourist trade.

Selected bibliography

Translations with commentary

''Bhagavad-Gītā As It Is'' (1968) ''Śrī Īśopanishad'' (1969) ''Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam'' (1972–77) (Vols.) ''Caitanya-caritāmrta'' (1974) (Vols.) ''The Nectar of Instruction'' (1975)

Summary studies

''Teachings of Lord Caitanya'' (1969) ''Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead'' (1970) ''The Nectar of Devotion'' (1970)

Other works published within Prabhupada's lifetime

''Beyond Illusion and Doubt (1967)''

''Search for Liberation (1969)''

''Easy Journey to Other Planets (1970)''

''Krishņa Consciousness: The Topmost Yoga System (1970)''

''Beyond Birth and Death (1972)''

''The Perfection of Yoga (1972)''

''On The Way to Krishņa (1973)''

''Rāja-vidyā: The King of Knowledge (1973)''

''Elevation to Krishņa Consciousness (1973)''

''Krishņa Consciousness: The Matchless Gift (1974)''

''Perfect Questions, Perfect Answers (1977)''

''Teachings of Lord Kapila, the Son of Devahūtī (1977)''

''The Science of Self-Realization (1977)''

''Back to Godhead'' magazine (founder)

Bengali writings

Geetār-gan

Vairāgya-vidyā

Buddhi-yoga

Bhakti-ratna-boli

Published posthumously

''Light of the Bhāgavata'' (1978)''

''Teachings of Queen Kuntī'' (1978) ''Life Comes From Life (1978)''

''Krishņa, The Reservoir of Pleasure'' (1972)''

''Chant and Be Happy'' (1982) ''Coming Back'' (1983?) ''Path of Perfection'' (1989) ''Nārada bhakti sūtra'' (1991) ''Mukunda-mālā-stotra'' (1989)

''A Second Chance'' (1991)''

''Journey of Self Discovery'' (1991)''

''Laws of Nature: An Infallible Justice'' (1991)

''Renunciation Through Wisdom'' (1992)''

''Quest for Enlightenment'' (1993)''

''The Path of Yoga'' (1995)''

''Message of Godhead'' (1996?)''

''Civilization and Transcendence'' (1998)

''Dharma: The Way of Transcendence'' (1998)''

''Introduction to Bhagavad-gītā'' (2005)''

See also

International Society for Krishna Consciousness

Bhagavad-Gītā As It Is

Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead

Krishnaism

Gaudiya Vaishnavism

International Society for Krishna Consciousness

List of ISKCON members and patrons

Footnotes

References

External links

Category:Article Feedback Pilot Category:1896 births Category:1977 deaths Category:Hindu gurus Category:Hindu monks Category:International Society for Krishna Consciousness Category:Indian religious leaders Category:People from Kolkata Category:Gaudiya religious figures Category:Hindu revivalist writers Category:Krishnology Category:Krishna Category:Bengali people Category:Alumni of Scottish Church College, Calcutta Category:University of Calcutta alumni Category:Indian Hare Krishnas Category:Khol players

bn:অভয়চরণারবিন্দ ভক্তিবেদান্ত স্বামী প্রভুপাদ bg:Бхактиведанта Свами Прабхупада cs:A. C. Bhaktivédánta Svámí Prabhupáda de:A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada es:Bhaktivedānta Swami eo:A.C. Bhaktivedanta Svami Prabhupada fr:A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada gu:એ.સી. ભક્તિવેદાંત સ્વામી પ્રભુપાદ hi:भक्तिवेदान्त स्वामी प्रभुपाद hr:Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada id:A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada it:A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada lt:Abhay Charanaravinda Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada hu:A. C. Bhaktivedánta Szvámi Prabhupáda mk:А. Ч. Бхактиведанта Свами Прабхупада ml:സ്വാമി പ്രഭുപാദ് mr:प्रभुपाद ms:A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada nl:A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Praphupada ja:A・C・バクティヴェーダンタ・スワミ・プラブパーダ no:A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada pl:Bhaktiwedanta Swami Prabhupada pt:Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada ru:Бхактиведанта Свами Прабхупада simple:A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada sl:A. C. Bhaktivedanta Svami Prabhupada fi:A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami sv:Srila Prabhupada ta:பக்திவேதாந்த சுவாமி பிரபுபாதா uk:Бгактіведанта Свамі Прабгупада

Coordinates	3°8′51″N101°41′36″N
Group	White Africans''africano branco''''wit afrikane''''africain blanc''''africano blanco''''africano bianco''
Pop	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, Saint Helena)
Region1
Pop1	4,400,000 - 5,000,000 (9-11%)
Region2
Pop2	124,000 - 250,000 (5-12%)
Region3
Pop3	120,000 (0.57%)
Region4
Pop4	>50,000 (1.15%)
Region5
Pop5	40,000 (>0.5-1%)
Region6
Pop6	62,000 (0.1-0.2%)
Region7
Pop7	5,000 (0.1-0.2%)
Region8
Pop8	8,000
Region9
Pop9	12,000
Region10
Pop10	20,000 (<1%)
Region11
Pop11	7,000 (0.45%)
Region12
Pop12	9,000
Region13
Pop13	9,000
Region14	All other areas
Pop14	20,000
Languages	Afrikaans, Dutch, English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and others
Religions	Predominantly Christian; very small minorities practicing Judaism or no religion
Related	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 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. These individuals are mostly of Dutch, British, French, Portuguese, German, Flemish, and to a lesser extent, Italian, Spanish, 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, Algeria, and Rhodesia. However, many left during and after the independence of the colonies. 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).

The African country with the largest White African population (and arguably the highest percentage) is South Africa, at approximately 4.6 million (9.2% of the population). 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

South 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 nineteenth 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

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

Over many years, 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 to be Afrikaners).

Rhodesia/Zimbabwe

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.

Kenya

During both Boer wars, Afrikaners traveled deep into Africa, to modern-day Kenya, where they settled along with the British and created hundreds of new farms in the western portion of the country. The majority of both the Afrikaner and the British settlers in Kenya lived in Kenya's fertile Rift Valley. The 30,000 white Kenyans (almost exclusively of British ancestry) are an economically powerful minority. Some Afrikaners also remain, and some still own farmland around the Afrikaner-founded city of Eldoret.

Angola

There are reported to be 2,700 Afrikaners in Angola, most probably desendents 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

In the early 20th century, following the Anglo-Boer War, large numbers of Afrikaners traveled north to British East Africa and settled in what is now Kenya and Tanzania, as well as in Angola. Following the Mau Mau insurgency and general collapse of colonial authorities in the decades after World War II, Afrikaner colonies outside South Africa, Namibia, and Rhodesia diminished in size and the majority of settlers and their descendants returned to South Africa.

British in Africa

English in Africa

South Africa and the Cape Colony

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.

During Apartheid

During apartheid, they kept a 'silent' role in politics, with Afrikaners being heavily dominant in the South African parliament. The South African Britons did not revolt, accepting their status, but still keeping to the good quality of life which they shared with the Afrikaners. The acceptance, many say , was a matter of sympathy towards the Afrikaners, after killing many of them in concentration camps during the Second Boer War, but also was to many somewhat due to a common conception that the Anglo-Africans were more against apartheid than the Afrikaners, therefore not taking part in their politics. However, there is little evidence to prove this.

Since 1994

After the apartheid laws were abolished, Anglo-Africans enjoyed more respect than Afrikaners from the new black community, being related to their role in politics during apartheid. The new South African government in many ways even praised the English. This can be shown as almost all names changed are directed against Afrikaans names, not English (however, Butterworth and Stanger were both English places that were renamed).

Furthermore, English was greatly encouraged as a language of communication in the ''New South Africa'', because Afrikaans was said to be 'offensive' because of its enforcement during apartheid. However, both English and Afrikaners are both affected by affirmative action, which gives non-whites a greater chance in the job market. Because of this, 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. 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 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

Zambia/Northern Rhodesia

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. 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

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

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

Zimbabwe/Rhodesia

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.

Madagascar

There is a reported English population of 300 in Madagascar.

Angola

The British population of Angola is estimated at around 700. 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

In Mozambique, the British population numbers 1,500. 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

Sizable numbers of Anglo-Africans also live in Ghana, Namibia, Tanzania, Uganda, Swaziland (3% of the population), Nigeria, and Botswana.

Scottish in Africa

Nyasaland (Malawi)

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.

White 38,200 80,500

+Numbers of white and black inhabitants in the federation
rowspan=2	Southern Rhodesia !! colspan=2 >Northern Rhodesia !! colspan=2		Nyasaland
White	Black	|	Black	White	Black
1927	|	922,000	4,000	1,000,000	1,700	1,350,000
1946	|	1,600,000	21,919	1,634,980	2,300	2,340,000

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

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. There were 255,000 Europeans in Tunisia in 1956. Morocco was home to half a million Europeans.

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, although 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.

Madagascar

A sizeable number of French people reside in Madagascar. An estimated 18,000 French citizens lived and worked in Madagascar in the early 1990s. Currently, approximately 120,000 people, or 0.6% of the total population, are French. 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%. 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

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.

Huguenots (French South Africans)

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

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

There are a reported number of 4,000 French people in Angola.

Portuguese in Africa

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 sixteenth 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.

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. In 1975, Angola had a community of approximately 400,000 Portuguese, while Mozambique had approximately more than 350,000 settlers from Portugal.

Most Portuguese settlers returned to Portugal (the ''retornados'') as the country's African possessions gained independence in the mid 1970s, while others moved south to South Africa, which now has the largest Portuguese-African population (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. In 2008, Angola was the preferred destination for Portuguese migrants in Africa.

Portuguese South Africans

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. Eventually they ended up setting up businesses in Johannesburg or coastal fisheries, and soon intermarriage between whites began.

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. 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

Libya

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

13.26% 108,419 35,000 1,500 22,530

Year!! Italians !! Percentage !! Total Libya !! Source for data on population
1936	112,600	|	848,600	''Enciclopedia Geografica Mondiale K-Z, De Agostini, 1996''
1939	|	12.37%	876,563	''Guida Breve d'Italia Vol.III, C.T.I., 1939 (Censimento Ufficiale)''
1962	|	2.1%	1,681,739	''Enciclopedia Motta, Vol.VIII, Motta Editore, 1969''
1982	|	0.05%	2,856,000	''Atlante Geografico Universale, Fabbri Editori, 1988''
2004	|	0.4%	5,631,585	''L'Aménagement Linguistique dans le Monde''

South African Italians

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.

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 and 28,059.

Other

:''See also: Italian Eritreans, Italians of Ethiopia, Italian Somalians, Italian Egyptians, Italian Tunisians'' 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). Former Italian communities also once thrived in the Horn of Africa, with about 50,000 Italian settlers living in Eritrea in 1935, 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.

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. They were assimilated to the Portuguese population.

Greeks in Africa

Egypt

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. 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.

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.

South Africa

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. Today the number of Greeks in South Africa is estimated between 60,000 - 120,000.

Zimbabwe

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. Today the Greek community in Zimbabwe comprises about 2,500 of Greek origin. Zimbabwe currently hosts eleven Greek Orthodox churches and fifteen Greek associations and humanitarian organizations.

Other

:''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), Zambia (800 people), Ethiopia (500 people), Uganda (450 people), Democratic Republic of Congo (300 people), Kenya (100 families), Nigeria (300 people), Tanzania (300 people), Gambia (300 people), Sudan (200 people), Botswana (200-300 people), Malawi (200 people), and Morocco (150 people).

Germans in Africa

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). 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

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, these Germans were only ever here to try and implement German technology and science, and never to fully settle or ''Germanise'' the country.

However, much of the community has disappeared and there are practically no more Germans left in Tanzania. Their influence was once stronger though. 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. Unlike other colonial powers in Africa, the Germans established an education system for the Africans, which after World War I was demolished. 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.

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. Ironically, current estimates for the German population in Tanzania, stand more than double than that under German colonial rule (estimates put the figure at 8,500).

Togo

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.

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.

Cameroon

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

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. They were assimilated to the Portuguese population. There is a recorded German population of Mozambique numbering 2,200.

Spanish in Africa

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.

An estimated 90,000 Spaniards live in Spain's North African enclaves Ceuta and Melilla. 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

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). The Spanish also helped Equatorial Guinea achieve one of the continent's highest literacy rates and developed a good network of health care facilities.

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%). 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

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

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 100,000 whites still resident in the Congo and mass exodus from the country. In 1965, there were 60,000 Belgians spread throughout the Congo.

Flemish in Africa

Thousands of Flemings, along with the Dutch, migrated to South Africa for many years between the 17th century and the 20th century. Immigration to South Africa has slowed down drastically, but the remnants of a huge Flemish population still exist in Southern Africa. However, due to the Democratic Republic of Congo being a former Belgian colony, they received a large series of all types of Belgians arriving, and very much setting a 'segregated' colonial system, which can still be seen in cities like the Capital, Kinshasa, where the former segregated neighborhoods are still visible. Despite their mass return to Belgium, or immigrating to the Netherlands or South Africa, there are still around 52,000 Flemings in the Congo. It is also thought that there are roughly 3,000 Flemings in Rwanda.

Norwegians in Africa

Southern Africa

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 (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. Although the Jewish community peaked in the 1970s, about 80,000 remain in South Africa.

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.

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.

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. Morocco has about 100,000 Europeans, most of them French.

Current populations

White African population by country (2005 est. From CIA)

South Africa: 5,265,300 (as of July 2008)

Namibia: 124,000 ~ 160,000

Angola: 100 000 (as of March 2009)

Mozambique: 50,000 (as of July 2010)

Zimbabwe: 20,000

Kenya: 62,000

Zambia: 8,000

Botswana: 10,000

Senegal: 5,000

Other African nations: 10,000~15,000

The White African population of Zimbabwe was much higher in the 1960s and 1970s (when the country was known as Rhodesia); the largest was 300,000. After the introduction of majority rule in 1980, and the downturn due to a new economic system during the late 1990s that was brought on by expulsion of white farmers and the economic mismanagement by the Mugabe regime, many white people left the country.

By September 2007, it is thought that as few as 22,000 whites remain in Zimbabwe as the economic and political crisis deepens. It is thought that if economic and political conditions improve, some of the former white population will return.

The white African population in Mozambique was at its peak with about 370,000 Portuguese Mozambicans residing in Mozambique during the 1970s but political crisis and violence drastically decreased its population in a matter of weeks. Most Portuguese Mozambicans were expelled or fled to Portugal or to neighboring South Africa and Zimbabwe with some also going to Brazil. However, there has been an increase in the white African population of Mozambique in the last 10 years due to the immense Brazilian presence and intercultural Lusophone presence in Mozambique.

Languages

White Africans speak Indo-European languages as their first languages (English, Portuguese, French, German, Spanish, Italian, and Afrikaans).

Afrikaans

[[File:South Africa Afrikaans speakers proportion map.svg|thumb|Geographical distribution of Afrikaans in South Africa: proportion of the population that speaks Afrikaans at home. ]] The most spoken language at home by white Africans is Afrikaans. It is spoken by 60% of South Africa's, 60% of Namibia's, and about 5% of Zimbabwe's white populations. In South Africa they make up a major white speaking group in all provinces except KwaZulu-Natal, and even there they make up 1.5% of the population. In English dominated Zimbabwe (and in Rhodesia), the Afrikaans created an Afrikaans stronghold in the center of the nation named Enkeldoorn (renamed Chivhu in 1982). However almost all Afrikaans people (sometimes known as Afrikaners) in Zimbabwe have immigrated to South Africa or First World countries.

English

:''See also: English language, South African English'' English is often cited the second most spoken language among white Africans, spoken by 39% of South Africa's, 7% of Namibia's, and 90% of Zimbabwe's white population. In South Africa they remain the dominant white ethnic group in KwaZulu-Natal, while in Gauteng and the Western Cape they also contribute to a large percentage of the English-speaking population.

It is here that they challenge the Afrikaans in being the white dominant ethnic group. English is a second language of many non-British white Africans with higher education in predominantly non-English-speaking African nations. Outside of South Africa, Namibia, and Zimbabwe, British Africans make up a large minority in Zambia, Kenya, Botswana, and Swaziland, therefore increasing the presence of English in these countries.

German

German is spoken by 32% of Namibia's white population (making up 2% of the Namibian population). There is also a now nearly extinct German dialect in Namibia known as Namibian Black German (or in German as ''Küchendeutsch'' or ''Kitchen German''), and used to be spoken by black domestic servants to German colonists. However, the government has tried to lower the use of German and Afrikaans due to its colonial roots, and instead try and enforce English, the sole official language, and Bantu languages. There is also known to be a German dialect, spoken in the south-east of South Africa, known as Nataler German (German from Natal).

Other languages

Most of all whites in Angola and Mozambique use Portuguese as their first language. The other 1% of whites in South Africa (who don't speak Afrikaans or English) mostly speak Portuguese (from immigrant communities who come from Angola and Mozambique), or German and Dutch (from European immigration). Equally, in Namibia, the remaining 1% of the white population speaks mostly Portuguese because of the immigration from Angola following independence of all Portuguese colonies in 1975.

Only a small white population in Libya, Tunisia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Somalia has the fluency of Italian, because it is no longer the official language there. Very few White Africans speak Bantu languages (languages spoken by Black people) at home, but still a small percentage of white Africans speak Bantu languages as second languages.

Sports

White Africans in East and Southern Africa are largely of British descent, hence the most popular sport with them is cricket. Rugby and hockey are also popular with them.

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

See also

List of White Africans

Muzungu

Diaspora:

Anglo-African

Afrikaner

White South African

Whites in Namibia

Whites in Zimbabwe

Whites in Kenya

French people in Madagascar

Portuguese Angolans

Portuguese Mozambicans

References

"The White African" Poem by Ross Dix-Peek

Category:Ethnic groups in Africa Category:People of European descent Category:European colonisation in Africa

bg:Бели африканци fr:Africains blancs de descendance européenne ms:Orang Putih keturunan Eropah no:Hvite afrikanere zh:欧裔非洲白人