One The Challenge of State-Building in Africa The history of every continent is written clearly in its geographical features,but of no continent is this more true than of Africa. Lord Hailey,An African Survey THE FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEM facing state-builders in Africa-be they pre- colonial kings,colonial governors,or presidents in the independent era- has been to project authority over inhospitable territories that contain relatively low densities of people.Sub-Saharan Africa,with roughly 18 percent of the world's surface area,has always been sparsely settled.Af- rica had only 6 to 11 percent of the world's population in 1750,5 to 7 percent in 1900,and only 11 percent in 1997.'Rclatively low population densities in Africa have automatically meant that it always has been more expensive for states to exert control over a given number of people com- pared to Europe and other densely settled areas.As John Iliffe wrote,"In the West African savannah,underpopulation was the chief obstacle to state formation."2 In only a few places in Africa,including the Great Lakes region and the Ethiopian highlands,are there ccologies that have supported relatively high densities of people.Not surprisingly,these areas,with the longest traditions of relatively centralized state structures,have been periodically able to exercise direct control over their peripheries.However,ccologi- cal conditions throughout most of the continent do not allow high densi- ties of people to be easily supported.More than 50 percent of Africa has Calculated from John D.Durand,"Historical Estimates of World Population:An Eval- uation,"Population and Development Review 3 (September 1977):p.259 and World Bank, World Development Report 1998,p 191. John Iliffe,Africans The History of a Continent(Cambridge:Cambridge University Press,.1995),P.70. 3 While hampered by very poor data,Robert Bates found that,in the African polities he was able to code,"the higher the population density,the greater the level of political centralization."See his Essays on the Political Economy of Rural Africa (Cambridge:Cam- bridge University Press,1983),p.35.See also Robert F.Stevenson,Population and Politi- cal Systems in Tropical Africa (New York:Columbia University Press,1968).One The Challenge of State-Building in Africa The history of every continent is written clearly in its geographical features, but of no continent is this more true than of Africa. Lord Hailey, An African Survey THE FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEM facing state-builders in Africa—be they pre￾colonial kings, colonial governors, or presidents in the independent era— has been to project authority over inhospitable territories that contain relatively low densities of people. Sub-Saharan Africa, with roughly 18 percent of the world’s surface area, has always been sparsely settled. Af￾rica had only 6 to 11 percent of the world’s population in 1750, 5 to 7 percent in 1900, and only 11 percent in 1997.1 Relatively low population densities in Africa have automatically meant that it always has been more expensive for states to exert control over a given number of people com￾pared to Europe and other densely settled areas. As John Iliffe wrote, “In the West African savannah, underpopulation was the chief obstacle to state formation.”2 In only a few places in Africa, including the Great Lakes region and the Ethiopian highlands, are there ecologies that have supported relatively high densities of people. Not surprisingly, these areas, with the longest traditions of relatively centralized state structures, have been periodically able to exercise direct control over their peripheries.3 However, ecologi￾cal conditions throughout most of the continent do not allow high densi￾ties of people to be easily supported. More than 50 percent of Africa has 1 Calculated from John D. Durand, “Historical Estimates of World Population: An Eval￾uation,” Population and Development Review 3 (September 1977): p. 259 and World Bank, World Development Report 1998, p 191. 2 John Iliffe, Africans: The History of a Continent (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995), p. 70. 3 While hampered by very poor data, Robert Bates found that, in the African polities he was able to code, “the higher the population density, the greater the level of political centralization.” See his Essays on the Political Economy of Rural Africa (Cambridge: Cam￾bridge University Press, 1983), p. 35. See also Robert F. Stevenson, Population and Politi￾cal Systems in Tropical Africa (New York: Columbia University Press, 1968)