Why is Africa called the Dark Continent?
by 
Jenny's Gone On Vacation
ANSWERS: 2
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In 1980 the answer would of been beacause thats where darkies come from. Can you still say that or is that too offensive these days?
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Originally...it had nothing to do with the skin color of its native occupants (compare, for example, India and Australia). Instead: it had to do primarily with the unexplored nature of the continent, and the dangerousness of it. It was "dark" because the "light" of civilization had not yet penetrated farther than its edges...and because it appeared "empty" and "unseen" on maps...until Livingstone successfully explored and mapped a considerable amount of the interior. Prior expeditions intent on exploring and/or exploiting the interior ***typically*** ended in ruin (and, indeed, Stanley's expedition was at the verge of ruin when he finally found Livingstone. Livingstone, despite several previous successful missions hallmarked by overcoming remarkable adversity, had failed to complete his current expedition due to cholera and other diseases).
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