Why did the europeans control such a small portion of Africa in the 1800s?

Answer 1

This is totally wrong
The vast majority of Africa was under the control of European nations by the end of the 1800s.
The colonial countries included Britain, France Belgium, Germany, Portugal, Spain

Answer 2

The word 1800s is far too broad. While slavery still was acceptable for the European powers, there was no need to control the entire continent. Since slaves were the principle export from sub-Saharan Africa, the Europeans needed only to manipulate existing hatreds between the existing African political structure to get the petty little kings to do the dirty work for them.

After the 1830s when England abolished slavery and tried to get rid of the slave trade (for economic reasons against France, not for love of mankind), it was only then that Europeans started to look at Africa as a horn of plenty for actual resources such as rubber and copper. The colonial manipulation of populations after that was not called slavery, but it certainly seemed like it.

Answer 3

It was a difficult continent for European military forces to operate in and most major European countries had conflicts to fight in other places. Africa didn't provide the riches the Spaniards and Dutch sought and the French were not willing to invest manpower into a jungle. The English were busy trying to keep the Empire together, and the Germans were trying to put their country together. The British held great tracts of land in the Transvaal and the Dutch were big in South Africa until the Boer war. The Zulu nation pushed the Brits away and the Boers and South Africans eliminated the Dutch rule. Up North, the Arab held sway and the Europeans were loathe to make inroads there after the slaughter of the crusades. Egypt was out of reach but for diplomatic use to maintain trade routes. In central Africa, the Belgians had a short foothold in Congo but were also displaced by native Africans. It is so complicated, we could talk about it for 2 years and not cover all the bases.

Answer 4

Because they didn't. They controlled practically all of it. Where did you get your information? You better re-check it, because it is fallacious.

According to Wikipedia, Britain's first protectorate was established in Egypt in 1801. If you care to check it out, go to that website and click on "Evolution of the British Empire": it shows a chart of what area and when they first took control of it.

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