Shapes of States

Countries have one of five basic shapes—compact, elongated, prorupted, fragmented, or perforated—and examples of each can be seen in sub-Saharan Africa. Each shape displays distinctive characteristics and challenges.

The shape of a state can have value as a centripetal force (see under Languages & Geography in Chapter 5). For example, the outline of the United States or Canada is part of its unique identity. The shape can also ease internal administration and encourage social unity.

The shape of a state can also be a centrifugal force (see under Languages & Geography in Chapter 5). Because the shape establishes the length of its boundaries with other states, the shape affects the potential for conflict with neighbors. The shape can also add to administrative difficulties and exacerbate conflict among people living in different regions of the country.

Compact States: Efficient

In a compact state, the distance from the center to any boundary does not vary significantly. An ideal theoretical compact state would be shaped like a circle, with the capital at the center and with the shortest possible boundaries to defend. Examples of compact states in sub-Saharan African include Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda

Examples of Compact States: Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda

Compactness can be a strong centripetal force in smaller states because good communications can be more easily established with all regions, especially if the capital is located near the center. However, compactness does not necessarily mean peacefulness, as compact states are just as likely as others to experience civil wars and ethnic rivalries.

Prorupted States: Access or Disruption

An otherwise compact state with a large projecting extension is a prorupted state. Proruptions are created for two principal reasons, and examples of both are found in sub-Saharan Africa:

• To provide a state with access to a resource. The Democratic Republic of Congo has a 500-kilometer (300-mile) proruption to the west along the Zaire (Congo) River. The Belgians created the proruption to give their colony access to the Atlantic.

• To separate two states that otherwise would share a boundary. Namibia has a 500-kilometer (300-mile) proruption to the east called the Caprivi Strip. When Namibia was a colony of Germany, the proruption disrupted communications among the British colonies of southern Africa. It also provided the Germans with access to the Zambezi, one of Africa’s most important rivers (Figure 8-65). Elsewhere, Afghanistan similarly has a proruption approximately 300 kilometers (200 miles) long and as narrow as 20 kilometers (12 miles) wide, created by the British to prevent Russia from sharing a border with Pakistan.

Examples of Prorupted States: Democratic Republic of the Congo and Namibia

Perforated State: South Africa

A state that completely surrounds another one is a perforated state. The surrounded state may face problems of dependence on, or interference from, the surrounding state. A clear example in sub-Saharan Africa is South Africa, which completely surrounds Lesotho, which is a compact state (Figure 8-66). Lesotho must depend almost entirely on South Africa for the import and export of goods. Dependency on South Africa was especially difficult for Lesotho when South Africa had a government controlled by whites who discriminated against the black majority population.

Example of Perforated State: South Africa

Elongated States: Potential Isolation

A handful of elongated states have a long and narrow shape. Examples in sub-Saharan Africa include:

• The Gambia, which extends along the banks of the Gambia River about 500 kilometers (300 miles) east–west but is only about 25 kilometers (15 miles) north–south (Figure 8-67); the shape was determined in the late nineteenth century, when the British controlled the mouth of the river and the French most of the surrounding area.

• Malawi, which measures about 850 kilometers (530 miles) north–south but only 100 kilometers (60 miles) east–west; in 1891, the British declared the territory a Protectorate in order to deter Portuguese on the west side of Lake Malawi from staking their own claim.

Example of Elongated State: The Gambia

Elongated states may suffer from poor internal communications. A region located at an extreme end of the elongation might be isolated from the capital, which is usually placed near the center.

Fragmented States: Problematic

A fragmented state includes several discontinuous pieces of territory. Technically, all states that have offshore islands as part of their territory are fragmented. However, fragmentation is particularly significant for some states that face problems and costs associated with communications and maintaining national unity.

There are two kinds of fragmented states, and both can be seen in sub-Saharan Africa:

• Fragmented by other states. Angola is divided into two fragments by the Democratic Republic of Congo. An independence movement is trying to detach Cabinda as a separate state from Angola, with the justification that its population belongs to distinct ethnic groups.

• Fragmented by water. Tanzania was created in 1964 as a union of the island of Zanzibar with the mainland territory of Tanganyika. Although home to different ethnic groups, the two entities agreed to join together because they shared common development goals and political priorities.

Example of Fragmented State: Angola

Landlocked States

A landlocked state lacks a direct outlet to a sea because it is completely surrounded by other countries. Direct access to an ocean is critical to states because it facilitates international trade. Bulky goods, such as petroleum, grain, ore, and vehicles, are normally transported long distances by ship. This means that a country needs a seaport where goods can be transferred between land and sea. To send and receive goods by sea, a landlocked state must arrange to use another country’s seaport.

Landlocked states are common in Africa, where 15 of the continent’s 55 states have no direct ocean access (Figure 8-69). The prevalence of landlocked states in Africa is a remnant of the colonial era, when Britain and France controlled extensive regions that were eventually divided into independent states without regard for whether they were landlocked. The European powers built railroads in their colonial empires to connect the interior of Africa with the sea. Railroads moved minerals from interior mines to seaports, and in the opposite direction, rail lines carried mining equipment and supplies from seaports to the interior

Landlocked States in Africa

Landlocked states must import and export goods by land-based transportation, primarily rail lines, to reach ocean ports in cooperating neighbor states. South Africa is the only state in Africa with a dense rail network.

Pause & Reflect 8.4.4

Name a landlocked state not in Africa.