Update's done! It's a lot bigger than I thought it would be for only having two sections.
The World in a New Century, Section IX: Northern Africa
Published by the McNally Corporation in Chicago, 1901.
Mediterranean North Africa:
The Mediterranean coast of Africa is the most civilized region of Africa, as it has had the most prolonged contact with Europe and other advanced countries on the continent. Unlike much of the remainder of Africa, the people of North Africa are primarily Mohammedans. This is partly the reason why some of the countries in northern Africa have been able to resist colonization by Europeans, despite being so close to Europe. The cities of the Mediterranean coast were formerly host to fierce pirates who preyed on Mediterranean shipping, but in the past century this piracy has waned. These pirates were the cause of the United States' first international action, in which the Union defeated the pirates of Tripoli.
The two independent countries on the northern coast of Africa are Morocco and Egypt. Morocco, at the northwestern tip of the African continent, is ruled by a Sultan, and like most of the rulers of Mohammedan countries, governs with absolute power. Historically, Morocco has been invaded by the Spanish and Portuguese many times. However, the Sultan has played the colonizing powers off of each other to maintain the country's independence. Egypt, like Morocco, has retained its independence, but the Egyptians have been more friendly to Europe and are more civilized. After gaining independence from the Turks, the Egyptian rulers have used French assistance to modernize the country. Textile manufacturing in Cairo and Alexandria using the large domestic cotton production drive what industry there is in Egypt. The construction of the Suez Canal with French financing has also led to the modernization of Egypt in the past few decades, and has increased Egypt's importance on the world stage as the canal drastically cuts the distance to travel by sea between Europe and the ports in the Indian Ocean.
Besides the kingdoms of Morocco and Egypt, the remainder of the Mediterranean coast of Africa is controlled by foreign powers. The coast of Algeria has been controlled by the French since the 1830s. Since then, many Frenchmen have moved to the Algerian coast and settled in the bustling cities. A large majority of the population of Algeria are native Muslims. These people are concentrated near the coasts, however, and the interior is a sparse desert inhabited only by nomadic tribesmen. Recently, France has integrated Algeria fully into the French government under four departments centered in the cities of Oran, Alger, Bougie, and Bone. Citizenship has been extended to Europeans living in Algeria and those natives who have fully accepted French authority.
Aside from France, the Turks also control a portion of the northern African coastline between Algeria and Egypt. The Turks true control over the area is lacking, however, and local tribes dominate the system. Only a few modernized cities exist in the Turkish lands. Among these are primarily the cities of Tunis and Tripoli on the coast, which provide much of the economic activity of the area. Much of the interior is still uncivilized and very few of the local population is literate.
Colonial North Africa:
South of the Mediterranean coast of Africa, the remainder of the continent has been almost fully colonized by Europeans in the past century. While there had been numerous trading posts on the west African coast, colonization in earnest only began recently as technological innovations diminished the danger of tropical diseases and allowed penetration further into the continent. North of the equator, the colonization of Africa has been dominated by the French. While France had a few outposts on the Guinea coast prior to the 1800s, including the major colonial center in Senegal, the push into the interior of Africa did not begin until the presidency of Louis Napoleon. Louis Napoleon and his successors encouraged expansion into the interior with exploratory and military expeditions, conquering the empires of the Niger River and Abyssinia and establishing protectorates over smaller tribes. After the Congo Conference, the French lands in Africa below the Sahara were consolidated into large districts, though native protectorates still retained some sovereignty within the French colonial system.
The French African colonies are very backward aside from the colonial administrative centers, owing to the tropical climate and the uncivilized nature of the African natives. Some attempts to civilize the locals have been made through education in French and the granting of French citizenship to natives who fully adopted French customs. However, many of the tribal protectorates have forbidden their people from doing so, and these civilizing efforts have only marginally succeeded in a few locations. Other attempts at investment in the colonies has come via steamer routes and railroad construction. These have been more successful, and steamships run regularly along the Niger and Congo Rivers, but railroad efforts have stalled. Grand plans to construct a railway connecting Dakar to Grand Bassam and Massawa to Khartoum and Libreville have been slow going due to disease and difficulties in surmounting the thick jungles of the continent.
While the French dominate the region, a number of other countries have also established colonies in west and central Africa. The Portuguese maintain small territory of Bissao in western Guinea and various islands in Cabo Verde and Sao Tome. The Spanish control the Canary Islands and smaller mainland forts in Morocco and the Rio Muni colony in the Congo region. The Danes have a small amount of territory on the Guinea coast, while Liberia keeps its independence under the protection of the United States. The main competitor with France in west Africa is the British. Great Britain controls the territory along the coast north of Liberia, a colony in the Gold Coast, and the large colony of British Cameroon east of the Niger Delta.
