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Colonialism In Africa

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Colonialism In Africa
10. Africa and the International Community The continent of Africa has faced and continues to deal with many problems due to its geography, colonialism, and economic exploitation. Africa contains roughly 1/3 of the primary commodities in the world, yet it is one of the poorest regions. Geography on the African continent is diverse from deserts to rain forests and beaches to mountain ranges. The pure size of the continent and some extreme environments has made it challenging to develop infrastructure and regional international trade. Ethnic conflict on the continent, primarily due to colonialism and arbitrary boundaries, has also hindered the development of the region. Africans often have a stronger allegiance to their ethnic group than their …show more content…
This region stems from the United States-Mexico border south to the end of Argentina and Chile. Latin America contains many wonderful geographical elements, such as the Andes mountain range, and Amazon River. This region has a miraculous history with innovative civilizations like the Mayas, Aztecs, and Incas. Unfortunately, European explorers wiped much of these civilizations out. Many modern Latin American countries face obstacles due to their history of colonization. Land in this region has become a problem with many corrupt political leaders taking land from ordinary citizens and churches, distributing it to caudillo, wealthy landowners, for a cheap price in return for their support. Another issue that Latin America faces is that of racial hierarchy. Many indigenous and African members of the population are kept in the lowest levels of society with limited resources available to help them improve their quality of life. Latin America’s economy has struggled to keep up with the developed economies of other nations, even though Latin America joined the free-market earlier than many other regions. In order to remedy this problem, the Economic Commission for Latin America attempted import substitution industrialization to prioritize national development. At first, Latin America experienced success from this new economic strategy in the 1950’s through the 1970’s, but in the long term it failed because of structural defects. After this period of time, Latin America entered into what is known as “the lost decade” because of its debt. International financial institutions tried to help Latin America with its debt, but were ultimately unsuccessful due to institutions inability to keep Latin Americans best interest in mind. Many of the Latin America nations also struggle with corrupt governments run by dictators, though most of their constitutions are founded on

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