White Africans of European ancestry

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White Africans of European ancestry refers to citizens or residents in

The African country with the largest population of European descendants both numerically and proportionally is South Africa, where white South Africans number 4.3 million people (9% of the population).^[11] The second-largest European population proportionally is in Namibia, at about 150,000 or 8%,^[12][13] while the second-largest European population numerically is in Angola with about 200,000 people but only comprising 1% of the population.^[14][15] Smaller European-descended populations exist in Madagascar, Morocco, Kenya, Senegal, Tunisia, Zambia, Zimbabwe and elsewhere. Although white minorities no longer hold exclusive political power, some continue to retain key positions in industry and commercial agriculture in a number of African states.^[16]

Overview

During the

Before 1914, colonial governments encouraged European settlement on a grand scale, based on the assumption that this was a prerequisite to long-term development and economic growth.[23] The concept lost popularity when it became clear that multinational corporations financed by overseas capital, coupled with cheap African labour, were far more productive and efficient at building export-oriented economies for the benefit of the metropolitan powers.^[23] During the Great Depression, locally owned, small-scale businesses managed by individual whites suffered immense losses attempting to compete with large commercial enterprises and the lower costs of black labour (South Africa being the sole exception to the rule, as its white businesses and labour were heavily subsidised by the state).^[23]

Unlike other former colonies such as those in the Americas and Australia, Europeans and their descendants on the African continent never outnumbered the indigenous people; nevertheless, they found ways to consolidate power and exert a disproportionate influence on the administrative policies of their respective metropolitan countries.^[19] Some lost their sense of identification with Europe and created their own nationalist movements, namely in South Africa and Rhodesia (now known as Zimbabwe).^[19] Permanent white residents were regarded as an increasing liability by colonial administrations as they sought to dominate their adopted African homelands.^[23] They were also likely to involve the government in conflict with Africans, which required expensive military campaigns and inextricably damaged relations between the latter and the metropolitan powers.^[23] This was a common trend throughout African colonies from the late eighteenth to early twentieth centuries. In the Dutch Cape Colony for instance, governor Joachim van Plettenberg demarcated the territory's boundaries around 1778 with approval from the Xhosa chiefdoms; the following year Dutch colonists violated the border and attacked the Xhosa, sparking the bloody Xhosa Wars.^[24] Disputes between German colonists and the Matumbi and Ngoni peoples contributed significantly to the Maji Maji Rebellion of 1905–07.^[25] During the same period, Colonial Kenya's European residents were largely responsible for provoking a revolt by the Masai.^[23]

White settlers wielded enormous influence over many colonial administrations; for example, they often occupied influential positions on elected legislatures and held most of the senior administrative posts in the civil service.

The advent of global decolonisation ushered in a radical change of perspectives towards European settlement in Africa. Metropolitan governments began to place more emphasis on their relations with the indigenous peoples rather than the progressively independent colonist populations.^[23] In direct opposition to the growing tide of African nationalism, whites of European descent in colonies such as Algeria began to forge new nationalist identities of their own.^[27] Attitudes towards rapid decolonisation among individual white African communities were hardened by fears of irresponsible or incompetent postcolonial governments, coupled to a parallel decline in public infrastructure, service delivery, and consequently, their own standards of living.^[17]

On some occasions the granting of independence to African states under majority rule was influenced by the desire to preempt unilateral declarations of independence or secession attempts by white nationalists.

A white flight phenomenon accompanied regional decolonisation and to a lesser extent, the termination of white minority rule in Rhodesia and South Africa.^[33] A considerable reverse exodus of former colonials returning to Western Europe occurred; because they had controlled key sectors of many African economies prior to independence, their abrupt departure often resulted in devastating economic repercussions for the emerging states.^[34] Consequently, some African governments have made a concerted attempt to retain sizable white communities in the interests of preserving their capital and much-needed technical skills.^[35]

A few colonies had no permanent white populations at all, and in such cases the European powers preferred to construct forts and trading posts rather than large settlements accordingly.^[21] Transient administrators and soldiers were posted there initially as deterrents to rival governments attempting to effectuate treaties concerning land and other resources with local African populations.^[21] Their numbers were sometimes bolstered by civilian expatriates employed as missionaries, public servants, or employees of large transnational companies with headquarters located aside the African continent.^[26] Few of these expatriates came to immigrate permanently, and typically worked in the colonies for a short period before returning to Europe.^[26] This made them less embedded in the economy and social structure, less interested in influencing local politics, and less likely to form cohesive communities than the colonist populations elsewhere.^[26]

Demographics

Historical population

• European percentage peaks from total population during the colonial era:^[36][37]
  • South Africa: 21%^[36]
  • French Algeria: 16%^[36]
  • South-West Africa (current Namibia): 14%^[36]
  • Italian Libya: 13%^[36]
  • Tunisia Protectorate: 10%^[36]
  • Southern Rhodesia (current Zimbabwe): 8%^[36][38]
  • Spanish Morocco: 5–10%^[36]
  • Portuguese Angola: 6.6%^[36][39]
  • French Morocco: 1–5%^[36]
  • Swaziland Protectorate: 1–5%^[36]
  • Spanish Sahara (current Western Sahara): 1–5%^[36]
  • Northern Rhodesia (current Zambia): 2%^[36][40]
  • Kenya: 1%
  • Rest of Africa: <1%

In most of colonial Africa, Europeans accounted for under 1% of the population,^[41][36] except for the colonies in Northern and Southern Africa, which had the highest proportion of European colonists.^[36]

Current population

There are 4.5 million white South Africans. Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Namibia all have white communities numbering in the tens of thousands, and thousands more are scattered among Angola, Zambia, Mozambique, Tanzania, Congo, Senegal, Gabon, and beyond. Many hold onto their British, Portuguese, German, French or Italian citizenships, but most have been on this continent all their lives.

— 

Christian Science Monitor correspondent Danna Harman, on Africa's white population of European descent in 2003.^[42]

It is impossible to verify the number of white Africans of European ancestry, as a number of African nations do not publish census data on race or ethnic origin.[43] In 1989, the Encyclopædia Britannica editorial team estimated the size of Africa's total white population of European descent at 4.6 million, with the vast majority residing in coastal regions of North Africa or in the Republic of South Africa.^[2]

The white population of Zimbabwe was much higher in the 1960s and 1970s (when the country was known as Rhodesia); about 296,000 in 1975.^[44] This peak of around 4.3% of the population in 1975^[45] dropped to possibly 120,000 in 1999, and had fallen to under 50,000 people by 2002.^[46] As of 2024, white Zimbabweans number slightly above 30,000, an increase from 2022 due to the easing of Zimbabwean laws restricting land ownership by whites.^[47]

Afrikaners

South Africa

In the late sixteenth century, the Dutch East India Company (known more formally as the Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie, or VOC) began routinely searching for sites on the African continent where its trading fleets could obtain fresh water and other supplies while en route to the Orient.^[48][49] Dutch ships began calling at the Cape of Good Hope as early as 1595, since the shoreline was not treacherous and fresh water could be easily obtained by landing parties without venturing too far inland.^[50] In 1651, the company built a storage facility and watering station, which included a vegetable garden to resupply its passing ships, at the Cape.^[50] Under the direction of Jan van Riebeeck, a small Dutch party also constructed a fort known as the Castle of Good Hope.^[50] Van Riebeeck obtained permission to bring Dutch immigrants to the Cape, and resettle former company employees there as farmers.^[50] The colonists were known as "vrijlieden", also denoted as vrijburgers (free citizens), to differentiate them from bonded VOC employees still serving on contracts.^[51] Since the primary purpose of the Cape colony at the time was to stock provisions for passing Dutch ships, the VOC offered grants of farmland to the vrijburgers on the condition they would cultivate crops for company warehouses.^[52] The vrijburgers were granted tax-exempt status for twelve years and loaned all the necessary seeds and farming implements they requested.^[53]

The VOC initially had strict requirements which the prospective vrijburgers had to fulfill: they were to be married Dutch citizens, of good character, and had to undertake to spend twenty years at the Cape.^[52] During the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, however, many foreigners were amongst those who boarded ships in the Netherlands to settle in the Dutch sphere.^[54] As a result, by 1691 a third of the vrijburger population of the fledgling colony was not ethnically Dutch. The heterogeneous European community included large numbers of German military recruits in the service of the VOC, as well as French Huguenot refugees driven into overseas exile by the Edict of Fontainebleau.^[54][55] As the size of the vrijburger population expanded, the colonists began expanding deeper into the interior of Southern Africa; by 1800 the size of the fledgling Dutch Cape Colony was about 170,000 square kilometers; about six times the area of the Netherlands.^[48]

The vast size of the colony made it almost impossible for the VOC to control the vrijburger population, and the colonists became increasingly independent.

In 1769, the northward migration of Boers was met by a southward migration of Xhosa, a Bantu people which laid claim to the Cape region north of the Great Fish River.^[50] This triggered a series of bloody frontier conflicts which raged until 1879, known as the Xhosa Wars.^[50] Both the Boers and Xhosa organised raiding parties that frequently crossed the river and stole livestock from the other group.^[50] Meanwhile, the VOC had been forced to declare bankruptcy and the Dutch government assumed direct responsibility for the Cape in 1794.^[50] After Napoleon's occupation of the Netherlands during the Flanders Campaign, Great Britain captured the Cape Colony to prevent France from laying claim to its strategic harbour.^[58] Although the Dutch authorities were permitted to administer the Cape again for a brief interlude between 1803 and 1806, the British launched another invasion of the colony as a result of political developments in Europe and became permanent.^[58] Relations between the new colonial leadership and the Boers soon began to deteriorate when the British refused to subsidise the Cape Colony, insisting that it pay for itself by levying larger taxes on the white population.^[50] In addition to raising taxes, the British administration abolished the burgher senate, the only Dutch-era form of government at the Cape.^[59] It also took measures to bring the Boer population under control by establishing new courts and judiciaries along the frontier.^[59]

Boer resentment of the British peaked in 1834, when the

British expansion of the Cape Colony into South Africa's interior followed the Boer migration within the subsequent decades; in 1843 Britain annexed the

The postwar years saw the dramatic rise of Afrikaner nationalism, as many of the former Boer military leaders turned to politics and came to dominate the legislatures of the Transvaal and Orange Free State.^[63] An Afrikaner party was also elected for the first time in the Cape Colony in 1908.^[64] Afrikaner politicians heavily promoted the use of Afrikaans, a language derived from the Middle Dutch dialect spoken by the colonial vrijburger population, as a fundamental part of Afrikaner identity and national consciousness.^[63] In 1908 and 1909, a constitutional convention was held for the establishment of a self-governing dominion which incorporated the old Boer republics into a unitary state with the Cape Colony and the Natal.^[64] This emerged as the Union of South Africa in 1910.^[63] Due to the fact that the electorate was limited predominantly to white South Africans, Afrikaners–which composed over half the white population at the time–quickly achieved political ascendancy.^[64] Afrikaners occupied the top political positions in South African government from 1910 until 1994, when the country held its first multiracial elections under a universal franchise.^[65] Prior to 1994, the Afrikaner ruling party with the longest tenure in South Africa was the National Party, which was noted for introducing a strict system of racial segregation known as apartheid in 1948, and declaring the country a republic in 1961.^[64]

The size of the Afrikaner population in South Africa was estimated at 2.5 million people in 1985.^[66] According to the country's 2011 census, there were about 2.7 million white South Africans who spoke Afrikaans as a first language, or slightly over 5% of the total population.^[67]

Namibia

In the mid to late 19th century and beforehand, South African trekboers found their way into Namibia (then South-West Africa) and established colonies. A significant number even penetrated as far north as Angola during the Dorsland Trek.

The South-West became a German colony during the late 19th century, and with the onset of the First World War a number of local Boers volunteered to serve with the imperial authorities against invading Allied troops.^[68] After that conflict left the territory under South African occupation, thousands of fresh Afrikaner migrants poured into the region to occupy available plots of prime stock-farming land and exploit untapped resources.^[49] Their government further encouraged new colonists by offering easy loans, necessary infrastructure, and more expropriated land to white newcomers. This policy was generally considered a success, as South-West Africa's white population more than doubled between 1913 and 1936.^[69]

Current estimates for the Afrikaner population in Namibia range from 60,000 to 120,000; they continue to make up the majority of the country's white citizens.^[49] 45% of the best ranging and agricultural land is presently owned by Namibians of European background, mostly Afrikaner ranchers.^[49]

Botswana

As early as 1815, individual Afrikaners had begun to arrive in what is today modern Botswana, mainly traders and ivory hunters from the Cape of Good Hope.^[70] By the mid nineteenth century, some of these itinerant Afrikaners had settled in Molepolole.^[70] In 1852, the Transvaal Boers organised a failed expedition against the Northern Tswana people which included several relatively large engagements such as the Battle of Dimawe.^[70] As a result of this raid, the Tswana launched a series of retaliatory raids into the northern Transvaal which forced the Boers to evacuate Swartruggens.^[70] In 1853, Transvaal President Paul Kruger signed an armistice with Tswana chief Sechele I, ending the state of war and checking further Boer expansion into Botswana for decades.^[70]

A notable voortrekker community was established inadvertently near Ghanzi in 1877.^[70] Ghanzi was settled by migrating Boers from the Dorsland Trek who had lost their wagons and supplies in the central Kalahari, and were forced to seek sanctuary near the water source there.^[16]

After the establishment of the Bechuanaland Protectorate in the 1880s, the British colonial authorities and the British South Africa Company (BSAC) designated several parts of the region as freehold farming areas, open to white farmers of any nationality.^[70] This induced hundreds of Boer migrants to resettle there.^[70]

In 1894 the BSAC made a concentrated attempt to recruit Boers from the Transvaal and Orange Free State to settle the area around

Aside from those engaged in ranching and farming, a small number of recent Afrikaner migrants have moved to Botswana in the postcolonial era to manage small businesses.[70]

As a group, Afrikaners formed 1.2% of Botswana's total population in 2009.^[71]

Zimbabwe

While Afrikaners were always a small minority in

With the ensuing Rhodesian Bush War and Zimbabwean independence under Prime Minister Robert Mugabe by 1980, over one-fifth of white Rhodesians, including most resident Afrikaners, emigrated from the country.^[76]

Kenya

During and following the

There were originally around 2,000 Afrikaners in Angola, descendants of those who had survived Namibia's unforgiving Dorsland Trek. For fifty years they formed a distinct enclave in the underdeveloped Portuguese territory, joined by new Afrikaner migrants in 1893 and 1905.^[79] By 1928, however, the South African authorities arranged to have 300 such households repatriated to Outjo, where they settled comfortably into farming. The few Afrikaners who remained fled their homes during Angola's subsequent colonial and civil wars.^[80]

Tanzania and elsewhere

In the early 20th century a number of Afrikaners trekked into German Tanganyika, where they were parceled land by colonial authorities then attempting to boost agricultural production. After Tanganyika became a British trust territory on Germany's defeat during World War I, London reaffirmed such grants as they existed. Few Afrikaners stayed beyond the eve of Tanzanian independence in 1961.^[81]

With the retreat of European colonialism, Afrikaner communities outside South Africa and its immediate neighbours generally diminished in size and a significant number of colonists returned to their countries of origin during the decades which followed the Second World War.

British diaspora in Africa

South Africa and the Cape Colony

Although there were small British colonies along the West African coast from the 18th century onwards, mostly consisting of trading posts and castles, British colonisation of 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 migrating colonists in the Eastern Cape in an effort to consolidate the colony's eastern border.^{[citation needed]}

In the late 19th century, the discovery of

Cecil Rhodes utilized his wealth and connections towards organizing this ad hoc movement and colonisation into a unified British policy. This policy had as its general aim the securing of a Cairo to Cape Town railway system, and colonising 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 colonisation. World War I and the Great Depression and the general decline of British and European birthrates further hobbled the expected colonist 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 colonies in Africa, and a slow abandonment in the overall British ruling and common classes for a separate European identity, large colonial appendages of European separatist supporters of continued colonial rule 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 possessions in the face of American and Soviet pressure, the vestigial remnants of Cecil Rhodes' vision was abruptly ended, leaving British colonists 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.

Since 1994

Hundreds of thousands of British-South Africans left the nation to start new lives abroad, settling in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, United States, Canada, and the Netherlands. 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.^[82] 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 was also a significant number of arrivals of

Zambia

At the brink of the country's independence in 1964, there were roughly 70,000 Europeans (mostly British) in

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

Vice President

A good example of segregation in Zambia before independence was in the city of Livingstone, on the border with Zimbabwe. This 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 influence was 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 colonists left for Rhodesia, just by crossing the border. An almost identical town of Victoria Falls lies on the other side.

Kenya

There were 60,000 mostly Anglophone

In contrast to the rest of Central Africa, Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) was once intended to become a "white man's country" – to be settled and ruled by European colonists who would remain there permanently.^[87] Until Zimbabwean independence in 1980, White Rhodesians prevailed over the nation politically, socially, and economically. They numbered some 240,000 by late-1979.^[88] Most were fairly recent immigrants, particularly blue collar workers attracted by the promise Rhodesia's economic opportunities offered. Throughout the 1960s they were joined by White South Africans and white colonists fleeing independent colonies elsewhere.^[88]

The white population in Zimbabwe dropped from a peak of around 300,000 in 1975 to 170,000 in 1982^[88] and was estimated at no more than 50,000 in 2002, possibly much lower.^[46]

Angola

When Angola won independence from Portugal in 1975, most British people in Angola resettled in the United Kingdom, South Africa, Namibia (South-West Africa), Zimbabwe (Rhodesia), Portugal or Brazil. Meanwhile, most from Mozambique left for either Zimbabwe (Rhodesia), South Africa or the UK. However, even before 1975, the number of British people in Angola and Mozambique was small, especially compared to the inhabiting Portuguese population.^{[citation needed]}

Mozambique

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. 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 people of British descent are also nationals of

After Nyasaland became independent (and upon adopting a new name, Malawi), many Scots returned to Scotland or moved to South Africa or Rhodesia (formerly Southern Rhodesia and later known as Zimbabwe). Despite this, Scots had an enormous South African community (compared to that of Nyasaland).

To this day most Scots in Africa reside in South Africa and until the 21st century, also in Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia). Most Scottish colonists 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

French in Africa

There were 255,000 Europeans in Tunisia in 1956,^[96] while Morocco was home to half a million Europeans.^[97] French law made it easy for thousands of colons, ethnic or national French from former colonies of Africa, French India and French Indochina, to live in mainland France. After Algeria became independent in 1962, about 800,000 Pieds-Noirs of French nationality were evacuated to mainland France while about 200,000 chose to remain in Algeria. Of the latter, there were still about 100,000 in 1965 and about 50,000 by the end of the 1960s.^[98] 1.6 million European colons migrated from Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco.^[99] As of December 31, 2011, there were 94,382 French citizens in all three countries, Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia.

Francophone West Africa

Unlike Algeria, permanent European colonisation in most of France's tropical African colonies was not especially successful; during World War II the entire white population of French West Africa numbered only about 22,000.^[100] Immigration to French West Africa spiked after the war due to an influx of French people seeking to escape depressed economic opportunities at home.^[100] In June 1951, there were 49,904 whites of French origin in French West Africa, as well as an undetermined number of Europeans of other nationalities.^[100] The total number of white residents in these colonies never exceeded 0.3% of the population, and was predominantly urban: two-thirds of them lived in one of French West Africa's nine administrative capitals.^[100] Their most popular destination was Senegal, where over half the French-speaking whites resided.^[100] Nevertheless, French West Africa's white population remained subject to a high turnover rate; in 1951 78% of this group had been born in France, and the number of European families which had lived in Dakar for more than a generation was described as "negligible".^[100] The postwar influx also introduced the phenomenon of unemployed whites in French West Africa, who were mostly unskilled workers that secured only temporary jobs or were not engaged in any specific profession, and found themselves having to compete with a growing skilled black workforce.^[100] It also contributed to a rise in housing segregation as exclusively white neighbourhoods became more common.^[100]

Following the dissolution of French West Africa and the independence of its constituent states, sizable white minorities survived in Gabon and the Ivory Coast.^[101] 2,500 French people reside in Chad.^[102] 4,500 French soldiers reside in Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger.^[103] 3,000 French reside in Mali and 1,000 French soldiers reside in Niger.^[104]

Djibouti

In 1917, Djibouti (then French Somaliland) had a European population of 294, of which 107 were French.^[105] In 1974, 10,255 Europeans lived in the colony, which gained independence just 3 years later.^[106]

Madagascar

A sizeable number of

Franco-Mauritians account for approximately 2% of the population of Mauritius.^[108]

Mayotte

Réunion

In Réunion, a French island in the Indian Ocean, white islanders, mostly of ethnic French origin, are estimated to make up approximately 30% of the population.^[109] 260,000 white people live in Réunion.

South Africa

Huguenots

A large number of French

Franschhoek (meaning French Corner 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-dedicated buildings have been erected in Franschhoek, the major one being the Huguenot Monument.

In 1979, there were 49 Huguenot congregations in South Africa.

Franco Mauritians

Between 1945 and 1969, many Franco-Mauritians emigrated to South Africa. In 1981, their population in the

Portuguese in Africa

The first

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, prime minister Hendrik Verwoerd encouraged immigration from Protestant northern Europeans, such as his own ethnic group the Dutch, to bolster the white population. He later began to approve immigration policies also favouring Southern Europeans, including Madeirans, who were facing high unemployment rates. Many Madeirans and other Portuguese who immigrated were at first isolated from other white populations due to their differences, such as the fact that few could speak English or Afrikaans and were Roman Catholic.^[111] Eventually they ended up setting up businesses in Johannesburg or coastal fisheries, and a substantial number intermarried with other white South African groups.^[115]

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. There is currently a 300,000-strong Portuguese community in South Africa.^[116]

Italians in Africa

Libya

Libya had some 150,000 Italian colonists until World War II, constituting about 18% of the total population in Italian Libya.^[117] The Italians in Libya resided (and many still do) in most major cities like Tripoli (37% of the city was Italian), Benghazi (31%), and Hun (3%). Their numbers decreased after World War II. Most of Libya's Italians were expelled from the North African country in 1970, a year after Muammar Gaddafi seized power (a "day of vengeance" on 7 October 1970),^[118] but a few hundred Italian colonists returned to Libya in the 2000s.

Somalia

Although Italians did not immigrate to South Africa in large numbers, those who have arrived have nevertheless made an impact on the host country.

Before World War II, relatively few Italian immigrants arrived, though there were some prominent exceptions, such as the

Today there are roughly 77,400 South Africans of Italian descent.[124]

Ethiopia

During the Italian occupation of Ethiopia, roughly 300,000 Italians settled in Italian East Africa (1936-1947). Over 49,000 lived in Asmara (now located in and the capital of Eritrea) in 1939 (around 10% of the city's population), and over 38,000 resided in Addis Ababa. After independence, many Italians remained for decades after receiving full pardon by Emperor Selassie, as he saw the opportunity to continue the modernization efforts of the country.^[125] However, due to the Ethiopian Civil War in 1974, nearly 22,000 Italo-Ethiopians left the country.^[125] 80 original Italian colonists remained alive in 2007, and nearly 2000 mixed descendants of Italians and Ethiopians. In the 2000s, some Italian companies returned to operate in Ethiopia, and a large number of Italian technicians and managers arrived with their families, residing mainly in the metropolitan area of the capital.^[126] 3,400 Italians still live in Ethiopia.^[127] and 1,300 British people live in Ethiopia.

Elsewhere in Africa

The Italians had a significantly large, but very quickly diminished population in Africa. In 1926, there were 90,000

A few Italian colonists stayed in Portuguese colonies in Africa after World War II. As the Portuguese government had sought to enlarge the small Portuguese population through emigration from Europe,^[110] the Italian migrants gradually assimilated into the Angolan Portuguese community.

The first Italian presence in Morocco dates back to the times of the

Greeks have been living in Egypt since and even before

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 for 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

The Greeks have had a presence in South Africa since the late 19th century. After the flight of the Greeks from Egypt in reaction to Nasser's nationalization policy the Greek population of South Africa dramatically increased to around 250,000.^[138] Today the number of Greeks in South Africa is estimated between 60,000 – 120,000.^[139]

Zimbabwe

The Greek community in Zimbabwe numbered between 13,000 and 15,000 people in 1972 and once comprised Rhodesia's second largest white community after individuals of British origin.^[140] Today the Greek community in Zimbabwe numbers under 3,000.^[140] Zimbabwe currently hosts eleven Greek Orthodox churches and fifteen Greek associations and humanitarian organizations.^[141]

Elsewhere

The Greeks have a presence in a number of African countries such as Cameroon (1,200 people),[142] Zambia (800 people),^[143] Ethiopia (500 people),^[144] Uganda (450 people),^[145] Democratic Republic of Congo (300 people),^[146] Kenya (100 families),^[147] Nigeria (300 people),^[148] Tanzania (300 people),^[142] Sudan (200 people),^[149] Botswana (200–300 people),^[150] Malawi (200 people),^[151] and Morocco (150 people).^[142]

Germans in Africa

Namibia

When

Togoland was a German colony from 1884 to 1914.^{[citation needed]}

Cameroon

Kamerun was a German colony in present-day Cameroon between 1884 and 1916. During German control, few German families migrated in comparison with Germany's other colonies, but plantations, trading posts, and infrastructure projects were 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

After World War I, the colony of Kamerun was split between British and French administrations. Once Germany was admitted to the League of Nations, the new colonial administrations were forced to allow German colonists and missionaries to return and repossess their land beginning in 1925. The German-run factories and plantations in Southern Cameroon employed over 25,000 Cameroonians at this time.^[152] Sentiment among native Cameroonians at the time remained overwhelmingly pro-German, which was made most evident when only 3,500 Cameroonians enlisted to fight for the British at the outbreak of World War II.^[153] By the 1930s, Germans accounted for more than 60% of the white population in British Cameroon and owned more than 300,000 acres of cocoa plantations in both the French and British Cameroons.^[154]

• 
  German Settlers enjoying Christmas in Kamerun.
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  Bananas heading for Germany in 1912.
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  German surveyor in Kamerun, 1884.
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  A Police force on the Kaiser's birthday, 1901.
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  German men in Douala, Kamerun.
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  A German built workshop in Kamerun.
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  Oil in Kamerun, one of the many resources that the German Empire needed.
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  German settlers in the rainforest.
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  Governor's home in Buea, with Mount Cameroon in the background.
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  A German cemetery in Kamerun.
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  The schloss (palace) of Jesko von Puttkamer, governor of German Kamerun.
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  The proposed flag for German Kamerun

Former Portuguese colonies

A number of German colonists 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.^[110] Prior to the Angolan Civil War, the German population in Benguela and Moçâmedes was very active and had a German-language school in Benguela.^[155] The German families remaining in Angola today live mainly in Luanda and Calulo.^[156]

South Africa

There is a German community within South Africa, many of whom have been absorbed into the Afrikaner community, but some still maintain a German identity. Migration to South Africa from Germany has existed since the establishment of the first refreshment station in 1652. German missionaries were present throughout the region. Under British rule, there was increased immigration from Germany with significant numbers settling in the

There are some Germans remaining in Ghana. Most of them have ancestors from Brandenburg and Prussia.^{[citation needed]}

Spanish in Africa

The

In 1950, Catholics in Spanish protectorate in Morocco and Tangier constitute 14.5% of the population, and the Spanish Morocco was home to 113,000 Catholic settlers.^[160] Catholics in Spanish protectorate in Morocco and Tangier were mostly of Spanish descent, and to a lesser extent of Portuguese, French and Italian ancestry.^[161]

Prior to Spain's abandoning the Western Sahara in 1975, there were over 20,000 Spanish Catholics, who formed roughly 32% of the total population before the Moroccan occupation.^[162]

Equatorial Guinea

The Spanish have resided in

Many left Spanish Guinea when the colony gained independence in 1968. 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 Poo). 80,000 Mexicans live in the country.

Despite a large loss of Spanish residents during the rule of

The Canary Islands are part of the Macaronesia, Atlantic islands detached from the African mainland. The Canary Islanders are a mixture of the indigenous North African proto-Berber Guanches, Spanish and Portuguese people and the descendants of African slaves. There are many recent residents from Hispanic America, mainly Venezuela and Cuba, and Europe, mainly from Germany, Italy and the UK.

Plazas de soberanía

Spain holds the plazas de soberanía ("strongholds of sovereignty") on Northern African coast. They are small islands garrisoned by the Spanish Army and two autonomous cities: Ceuta and Melilla. About 60% of the population of Ceuta is "Christian",^[164] meaning the descendants of the Portuguese and Spanish ancestral people and recent immigrants mostly linked to the Spanish state. A similar proportion of "Christians" is present in Melilla.^[165]

Moriscos

The

Belgians in Africa

Belgian colonials and their descendants have been especially represented in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, although post-colonial instability in these states has led to exodus.

Belgian Congo

In the Belgian Congo, Belgium's largest overseas possession, European missionaries, corporations, and officials had entrenched a comprehensive political, social, economic, and cultural hegemony.^[167] This was disrupted as 1955 drew to a close, however, as mild proposals for a form of Congolese self-government provoked furious protests across the Belgian Congo. A Belgian-appointed study commission subsequently recommended a complicated formula which would lead to gradual self-government for the Congo by 1985, although this was opposed by the most militant nationalists, who demanded immediate and full independence.^[167]

On 5 July 1960, five days after the new

In 1965, there remained a mere 60,000 Belgians spread throughout the Congo.[169]

Flemings in Rwanda, South Africa, and the DRC

Many

Radio messages broadcast by Hutu extremists advocated the killing of white Rwandans should they be of Belgian ancestry, despite the fact that Belgium itself attempted to remain neutral during the 1994 conflict.^[171] Furthermore, one of the main radio propagandists was a white Belgian man who moved to Rwanda, Georges Ruggiu.

3,000 Belgians are living in Burundi,^[172] and 14,000 Belgians are living in Burundi, DR Congo and Rwanda together.

Norwegians in Africa

Southern Africa

Although Norwegians in Africa are one of the smallest immigrant communities, they are not unheard of. Emigration to South Africa from Norway in 1876–85 was dominated by emigrants from the districts of Romsdal and Sunnmøre.^[173]

One notable incident was the Debora Expedition [no], when a dozen families left Bergen in 1879 to establish a Norwegian colony on the Indian Ocean atoll of Aldabra (now part of Seychelles).^[174] The mission was aborted because of a lack of fresh water on the atoll, and they instead settled in Durban, with a few opting to settle in Madagascar.

The town of

A number of Norwegian colonists stayed in Portuguese African colonies when the Portuguese government tried to request Europeans of other nationalities to increase the very tiny Portuguese population, although the plan was unsuccessful. They were already acculturated to the Portuguese population.^[110]

Elsewhere

Most Scandinavians in Ghana are of Danish and Swedish descent, but there are some Norwegians living in Accra, Old Ningo, Keta, Ada, and Teshie.

Serbs in Africa

Southern Africa

Additionally, there are Serbian communities in Zambia numbering nearly 3,000 which has existed in Zambia for over six decades and Botswana. In 2009 the Rector of St. Thomas the Apostle Serbian Orthodox Church in Johannesburg visited the Serbian community of Zambia, who attend the local Greek church.^[180]

Hungarians in Africa

Maltese in Africa

Many of the European settlers in the French colonies of Algeria and Tunisia were ethnically Maltese, most of whom returned to Malta after decolonization.^{[citation needed]}

Other European diaspora in Africa

The vast diversity of European ethnic groups in Africa were once more scattered, however currently every European ethnic group is greatest in South Africa. Virtually all European ethnic groups can be found in South Africa. Several Sub-Saharan African countries are having more than one million inhabitants with at least one Eurasian ancestor, like Angola, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Madagascar, Mauritania, Mauritius, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia, South Africa and Sudan, according to DNA studies.^[181]

The 2,127,685 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.^[183]

There are an estimated 100,000

Liberia was founded and settled mostly by liberated African-Americans as well as West Indians, most of whom had varying degrees of European ancestry. Americo-Liberians comprise 2.5% of Liberia’s population, numbering about 150,000 people.^[188]

Languages

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

Afrikaans

Afrikaans is the most common language spoken at home by white South Africans. It is spoken by roughly 60% of South Africa's, 60% of Namibia's, and about 5% of Zimbabwe's white population. In South Africa they make up a major white speaking group in all provinces except KwaZulu-Natal, where Afrikaans speakers make up 1.5% of the population. In Rhodesia (and later Zimbabwe), Afrikaans was not as common and the country was dominated by English throughout its history. There were however a few Afrikaans inhabitants, mostly from South Africa. Afrikaans was also very limited culturally in Rhodesia and so only a few Afrikaans place names existed, most notably Enkeldoorn (renamed Chivhu in 1982). Most Afrikaners in Zimbabwe have now immigrated to South Africa or European countries.

English

English is 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.

English is a second language of many non-British white Africans with higher education in almost all non-English-speaking African nations. Outside of South Africa, Namibia, and Zimbabwe, British White Africans make up a large minority in Zambia, Kenya, Botswana, and Swaziland, therefore growing 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

Other languages

Most whites in Angola and Mozambique use Portuguese as their first language. The other 1% of whites in South Africa, who do not 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. Spanish is also spoken in some areas of Morocco, Western Sahara, Equatorial Guinea, as well as in those territories that form part of Spain such as the Canary Islands and the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla. Very few White Africans speak Bantu languages at home, but still a small percentage of white Africans speak Bantu languages as second languages.

The Greek language has long existed on the continent since antiquity. In South Africa the population estimates vary with the Greek government reporting that roughly 50,000 Greeks lived in the country in 2012.^[189] The South African constitution and Pan South African Language Board seeks to promote and respect the language. Zimbabwe also once held a large Greek-speaking community and there still is a Greek school.^[190] This is the case in South Africa. The language also was commonly spoken among Greeks in Egypt in both the ancient era and more recent times. There is a continued presence of the Greek language because of the small Greek community in the country as well as interest among cultural institutions.^[191]

Sport

The Namibia National Rugby team is largely white.

Many European sports have become popular in Africa after the arrival of Europeans on the continent.

Cricket was introduced by British serviceman shortly after the takeover of the Cape Colony from the Dutch. The first known match in South Africa took place in 1808.^[193] The sport continues to be popular amongst White Africans of British descent. Since the end of apartheid the sport has seen increased popularity with Afrikaners. Cricket was also played by Europeans in other countries on that are members of the commonwealth. The first recorded match of cricket in Zimbabwe took place in 1890. Following from this point the sport continued to grow with the arrival of more European colonists. The sport continued to be dominated by Europeans throughout much of the 20th century, and in 1983 they successfully defeated Australia in a stunning victory.^[194]

Field hockey is also popular amongst White Africans. In South Africa the majority of players at the Olympic level are of European descent. Similarly the Zimbabwean field hockey team famous for its 1980 gold medal match was historically dominated by white Africans. The sport has a long history on the continent, and its modern iteration was first introduced by European colonists.^[195]

Similarly to cricket, football, and field hockey; rugby was first introduced to the continent by the British. The sport was initially played in 1861 at Diocesan College but it quickly spread to the local population. The sport became popular among White Afrikaners after the first club outside of Cape Town had been created being in Stellenbosch. The expansion of European colonisation on the Cape towards the interior continued to increase the sports popularity.

Competitive swimming is also popular amongst white Africans. Such swimmers include Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe, and Jason Dunford of Kenya.

See also

• Afro-European
• Asian Africans
• List of White Africans
• Muzungu
• White Aethiopians
• Languages of Africa

Diaspora

• White people in Zambia
• White Namibians
• White Congolese
• White Ethiopians

References