Africa, South of the Sahara
Jennifer Skinner, Centre of African Studies, Cambridge University
Overview
Description
Debates in universities across the world over analysing what African studies means, what its objectives are, what its disciplinary focus and geographical scope should be, what relations of power it is bound up with – and even whether it should exist at all, are more relevant than ever before. At the same time, demands for decolonisation of knowledge production on Africa today, and the many global struggles and movements around anti-racism and social justice in universities globally, raise questions which deserve to be taken seriously. This resource, specially curated to support the MPhil in African Studies at Cambridge University, provides a wide range of television and radio programmes to help students understand key aspects of African history, politics, and society. The resource is organised geographically by country and highlights both early materials from the BBC archive and current broadcasts from channels and stations available through BoB (Box of Broadcasts), including ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, Arte, Al Jazeera, Sky Arts and CNN, among others. Keeping this vast resource up to date presents numerous challenges, not least finding and selecting new material to be added. We hope this in turn will offer opportunities for students to develop their research skills in the use of audio-visual archival facilities.
Curator
Jennifer Skinner, Centre of African Studies, Cambridge University
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Ethiopia
Country in East Africa
Capital: Addis Ababa; Population: 117.9 million (2021); Official languages: Amharic, Somali, Oromo, Tigrina, Afar
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Ghana
Country in West Africa
Captial: Accra; Population: 31.73 million (2021); Official languages: English; other widely spoken languages include: Akan, Ewe, Ga, Dagaare, and Dagbani.
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Nigeria
Country on the Gulf of Guinea
Capital: Abuja; Population: 211.4 million (2021); Official languages: English; other widely spoken languages include: Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, Fulfulde, Ibibio, Kanuri, and Tiv
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Sierra Leone
Country in West Africa
Capital: Freetown; Population: 8.4 million (2021); Official language: English; Other widely spoken languages: Krio, Mende, Temne, Limba.
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Democratic Republic of Congo
Country in Central Africa
Capital: Kinshasa; Population: 95.8 million (2021); Official languages: French, Lingala, Swahili, Congo, Luba-Kasai.
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South Africa
Country in Southern Africa
Capitals: Cape Town, Pretoria, Bloemfontein; Population: 59.3 million (2021); Official languages: Afrikaans, English, Xhosa, Zulu, Southern Sotho, Tswana, Northern Sotho, Tsonga, Venda, Swati, Ndebele.
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Uganda
Country in East Africa
Capital: Kampala; Population: 45.8 million (2021); Official languages: Swahili, English; Other widely spoken languages: Luganda, Runyankore, Rutooro, Lusoga and Soo.
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Rwanda
Country in East Africa
Capital: Kigali; Population: 13.46 million (2021); Official language: Kinyarwanda, French, Swahili, English.
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Zimbabwe
Country in Southern Africa
Capital: Harare; Population: 15.99 million (2021); Official language: Shona, English, Tshwa, Xhosa, Chewa, Chibarwe, Kalanga, Koisan, Nambya, Ndau, Ndebele, Shangani, Sotho, Tonga, Tswana, Venda.
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Mozambique
Country in East Africa
Capital: Maputo; Population: 32.08 million (2021); Official language: Portuguese; Other widely spoken languages: Makhuwa, Changana, Nyanja, Ndau, Sena, Chwabo, and Tswa.
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Kenya
Country in East Africa
Capital: Nairobi; Population: 53.01 million (2021); Official languages: Swahili, English
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Tanzania
Country in East Africa
Capital: Dodoma; Population: 63.59 million (2021); Official languages: Swahili, English, Arabic
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Malawi
Country in East Africa
Capital: Lilongwe; Population: 19.89 million (2021); Official language: English; Other widely spoken languages: Chewa, Yao, Tonga, Sena, and Elomwe.
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Zambia
Country in Southern Africa
Capital: Lusaka; Population: 19.47 million (2021); Official languages: English, Bemba, Chewa
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Central African Republic
Country in Central Africa
Capital: Bangui; Population: 5.45 million (2021); Official language: French, Sango
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Namibia
Country in Southern Africa
Capital: Windhoek; Population: 2.5 million (2021); Official language: English; Other widely spoken languages: Oshiwambo, Afrikaans
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Liberia
Country in West Africa
Capital: Monrovia; Population: 5.1 million (2021); Official language: English; Other spoken languages: Kpelle, Bassa, Grebo, Dan, Kru, Mano, Loma, and Mandingo
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Benin
Country in West Africa
Capital: Porto-Novo; Population: 13 million (2021); Official language: French; Other widely spoken languages: Fon, Yom and Yoruba
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Gabon
Country in Central Africa
Capital: Libreville; Population: 2.3 million (2021); Official language: French; Other widely spoken language: Fang
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Cameroon
Country in Central Africa
Capital: Yaoundé; Population: 27.2 million (2021); Official language: French, English; Other spoken languages: Bantu, Fanji, Akum, Ambele
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Angola
Country in Central Africa
Capital: Luanda; Population: 34.5 million (2021); Official language: Portuguese; Other widely spoken languages: Umbundu, Kimbundu and Kikongo
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Mauritania
Country in Northwest Africa
Capital: Nouakchott; Population: 4.6 million (2021); Official language: Arabic; Other widely spoken language: Fula, Soninke, and Wolof
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Somalia
Country in East Africa
Capital: Mogadishu; Population: 17.07 million (2021); Official languages: Somali, Arabic; Other spoken languages: Beja, Oromo
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Mali
Country in West Africa
Capital: Bamako; Population: 21.9 million (2021); Official language: French; Other spoken languages: Arabic, Bambara, Bomu
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Botswana
Country in Southern Africa
Capital: Gaborone; Population: 17.6 million (2021); Official language: English; Other spoken language: Tswana
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Niger
Country in West Africa
Capital: Niamey; Population: 25.2 million (2021); Official language: French; Other spoken languages: Hausa, Arabic, Buduma
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eSwatini
Country in Southern Africa
Capital: Mbabane; Population: 1.19 million (2021); Official languages: Swati, English; Other spoken languages: SiSwati, Zulu, Tsonga, Afrikaans