Historical population

Lara Logan, South African journalist and war correspondent

Guy Scott, Vice President of Zambia from September 2011 to January 2015 and Interim President from October 2014 -January 2015.

• European percentage peaks from total population during the colonial era:^[35][36]
  • South Africa: 21%^[35]
  • French Algeria: 16%^[35]
  • South-West Africa (current Namibia): 14%^[35]
  • Italian Libya: 13%^[35]
  • Tunisia Protectorate: 10%^[35]
  • Southern Rhodesia (current Zimbabwe): 8%^[35][37]
  • Spanish Morocco: 5–10%^[35]
  • Portuguese Angola: 6.6%^[35][38]
  • French Morocco: 1–5%^[35]
  • Swaziland Protectorate: 1–5%^[35]
  • Spanish Sahara (current Western Sahara): 1–5%^[35]
  • Northern Rhodesia (current Zambia): 2%^[35][39]
  • Kenya: 1%
  • Rest of Africa: <1%

In most of colonial Africa, Europeans accounted for under 1% of the population,^[40][35] except for the colonies in Northern and Southern Africa, which had the highest proportion of European colonists.^[35]

Current population

There are 4.5 million white South Africans. Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Namibia all have white communities numbering in the tens of thousands, and thousands more are scattered among Angola, Zambia, Mozambique, Tanzania, Congo, Senegal, Gabon, and beyond. Many hold onto their British, Portuguese, German, French or Italian citizenships, but most have been on this continent all their lives.

— Christian Science Monitor correspondent Danna Harman, on Africa's white population of European descent in 2003.^[41]

It is impossible to verify the number of white Africans of European ancestry, as a number of African nations do not publish census data on race or ethnic origin.^[42] In 1989, the Encyclopædia Britannica editorial team estimated the size of Africa's total white population of European descent at 4.6 million, with the vast majority residing in coastal regions of North Africa or in the Republic of South Africa.^[1]

The white population of Zimbabwe was much higher in the 1960s and 1970s (when the country was known as Rhodesia); about 296,000 in 1975.^[43] This peak of around 4.3% of the population in 1975^[44] dropped to possibly 120,000 in 1999, and had fallen to under 50,000 people by 2002.^[45]

South Africa

Painting depicting the arrival of Jan van Riebeeck, founder of Cape Town, and one of the earliest European colonists in sub-Saharan Africa.

In the late sixteenth century, the Dutch East India Company (known more formally as the Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie, or VOC) began routinely searching for sites on the African continent where its trading fleets could obtain fresh water and other supplies while en route to the Orient.^[46][47] Dutch ships began calling at the Cape of Good Hope as early as 1595, since the shoreline was not treacherous and fresh water could be easily obtained by landing parties without venturing too far inland.^[48] In 1651, the company built a storage facility and watering station, which included a vegetable garden to resupply its passing ships, at the Cape.^[48] Under the direction of Jan van Riebeeck, a small Dutch party also constructed a fort known as the Castle of Good Hope.^[48] Van Riebeeck obtained permission to bring Dutch immigrants to the Cape, and resettle former company employees there as farmers.^[48] The colonists were known as "vrijlieden", also denoted as vrijburgers (free citizens), to differentiate them from bonded VOC employees still serving on contracts.^[49] Since the primary purpose of the Cape colony at the time was to stock provisions for passing Dutch ships, the VOC offered grants of farmland to the vrijburgers on the condition they would cultivate crops for company warehouses.^[50] The vrijburgers were granted tax-exempt status for twelve years and loaned all the necessary seeds and farming implements they requested.^[51]

The VOC initially had strict requirements which the prospective vrijburgers had to fulfill: they were to be married Dutch citizens, of good character, and had to undertake to spend twenty years at the Cape.^[50] During the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, however, many foreigners were amongst those who boarded ships in the Netherlands to settle in the Dutch sphere.^[52] As a result, by 1691 a third of the vrijburger population of the fledgling colony was not ethnically Dutch. The heterogeneous European community included large numbers of German military recruits in the service of the VOC, as well as French Huguenot refugees driven into overseas exile by the Edict of Fontainebleau.^[52][53] As the size of the vrijburger population expanded, the colonists began expanding deeper into the interior of Southern Africa; by 1800 the size of the fledgling Dutch Cape Colony was about 170,000 square kilometers; about six times the area of the Netherlands.^[46]

The vast size of the colony made it almost impossible for the VOC to control the vrijburger population, and the colonists became increasingly independent.^[48] Attempts by the company administration to reassert its authority and regulate the vrijburgers' activities was met with resistance.^[54] Successive generations of colonists born in the colony became localised in their loyalties and national identity and regarded the colonial government with a mixture of apathy and suspicion.^[54] In the early 1700s, this emerging class of people began identifying as Afrikaners, rather than Dutch subjects, after their adopted homeland.^[55] Afrikaners who settled directly on the colony's frontiers were also known collectively as Boers, to describe their agricultural way of life.^[48]

In 1769, the northward migration of Boers was met by a southward migration of Xhosa, a Bantu people which laid claim to the Cape region north of the Great Fish River.^[48] This triggered a series of bloody frontier conflicts which raged until 1879, known as the Xhosa Wars.^[48] Both the Boers and Xhosa organised raiding parties that frequently crossed the river and stole livestock from the other group.^[48] Meanwhile, the VOC had been forced to declare bankruptcy and the Dutch government assumed direct responsibility for the Cape in 1794.^[48] After Napoleon's occupation of the Netherlands during the Flanders Campaign, Great Britain captured the Cape Colony to prevent France from laying claim to its strategic harbour.^[56] Although the Dutch authorities were permitted to administer the Cape again for a brief interlude between 1803 and 1806, the British launched another invasion of the colony as a result of political developments in Europe and became permanent.^[56] Relations between the new colonial leadership and the Boers soon began to deteriorate when the British refused to subsidise the Cape Colony, insisting that it pay for itself by levying larger taxes on the white population.^[48] In addition to raising taxes, the British administration abolished the burgher senate, the only Dutch-era form of government at the Cape.^[57] It also took measures to bring the Boer population under control by establishing new courts and judiciaries along the frontier.^[57]

Boer resentment of the British peaked in 1834, when the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 was passed, outlawing slavery throughout the British Empire.^[48] All 35,000 enslaved people registered with the Cape governor were to be freed and given rights on par with other citizens, although in most cases the slavers could retain them as paid apprentices until 1838.^[58] Many Boers, especially those involved in grain and wine production, had enslaved people at the time, and the number of people they had enslaved correlated greatly to their production output.^[58] The British government offered preexisting slavers compensation for the freeing of enslaved people, but payment had to be claimed in person in London, and few Boers possessed the funds to travel there.^[48] The abolition of slavery, along with Boer grievances over taxation and the perceived Anglicisation of the Cape judiciary, triggered the Great Trek: an eastward migration of 15,000 Boers determined to escape British rule by homesteading beyond the Cape Colony's frontiers.^[48] The Great Trek brought the migrating Boers, known as voortrekkers, into direct conflict with the Zulu Empire, upon which they inflicted a decisive defeat at the Battle of Blood River in February 1838.^[59] The voortrekkers eventually established several independent Boer republics deep in the southern African interior, the most prominent of which were the Natalia Republic, the Orange Free State, and the South African Republic (also known simply as the Transvaal).^[60]

Boer guerrillas during the Second Boer War, 1900.

British expansion of the Cape Colony into South Africa's interior followed the Boer migration within the subsequent decades; in 1843 Britain annexed the Natalia Republic, and in 1877 it annexed the Transvaal.^[60] The Transvaal Boers subsequently went to war with the British in 1880, which became known as the First Boer War.^[60] The war was resolved with the Pretoria Convention, by which Great Britain restored independence to the Transvaal and withdrew from the territory.^[60] However, relations between the Boer republics and the British administration at the Cape remained poor, with the latter concerned that Boer independence was a lingering threat to the Cape's strategic security.^[60] In 1899, the Second Boer War broke out when the British rejected an ultimatum by the Transvaal to remove its military presence from the latter's borders.^[60] The first stages of the war consisted of several unsuccessful Boer sieges of British colonies, followed by a British push into the two Boer republics. The last stage of the war consisted of Boer guerrillas, termed "bitter-enders", who refused to lay down their arms and took several years to defeat.^[61] In early 1902, the Boers finally surrendered under the terms of the Treaty of Vereeniging, which annexed the Transvaal and Orange Free State into the Cape (forming the Union of South Africa) in exchange for allowing the former Boer republics some form of political autonomy and granting financial assistance to aid in postwar reconstruction.^[61]

The postwar years saw the dramatic rise of Afrikaner nationalism, as many of the former Boer military leaders turned to politics and came to dominate the legislatures of the Transvaal and Orange Free State.^[61] An Afrikaner party was also elected for the first time in the Cape Colony in 1908.^[62] Afrikaner politicians heavily promoted the use of Afrikaans, a language derived from the Middle Dutch dialect spoken by the colonial vrijburger population, as a fundamental part of Afrikaner identity and national consciousness.^[61] In 1908 and 1909, a constitutional convention was held for the establishment of a self-governing dominion which incorporated the old Boer republics into a unitary state with the Cape Colony and the Natal.^[62] This emerged as the Union of South Africa in 1910.^[61] Due to the fact that the electorate was limited predominantly to white South Africans, Afrikaners–which composed over half the white population at the time–quickly achieved political ascendancy.^[62] Afrikaners occupied the top political positions in South African government from 1910 until 1994, when the country held its first multiracial elections under a universal franchise.^[63] Prior to 1994, the Afrikaner ruling party with the longest tenure in South Africa was the National Party, which was noted for introducing a strict system of racial segregation known as apartheid in 1948, and declaring the country a republic in 1961.^[62]

The size of the Afrikaner population in South Africa was estimated at 2.5 million people in 1985.^[64] According to the country's 2011 census, there were about 2.7 million white South Africans who spoke Afrikaans as a first language, or slightly over 5% of the total population.^[65]

Namibia

Oliver Risser, former Namibian footballer of German origin

In the mid to late 19th century and beforehand, South African trekboers found their way into Namibia (then South-West Africa) and established colonies. A significant number even penetrated as far north as Angola during the Dorsland Trek.

The South-West became a German colony during the late 19th century, and with the onset of the First World War a number of local Boers volunteered to serve with the imperial authorities against invading Allied troops.^[66] After that conflict left the territory under South African occupation, thousands of fresh Afrikaner migrants poured into the region to occupy available plots of prime stock-farming land and exploit untapped resources.^[47] Their government further encouraged new colonists by offering easy loans, necessary infrastructure, and more expropriated land to white newcomers. This policy was generally considered a success, as South-West Africa's white population more than doubled between 1913 and 1936.^[67]

Current estimates for the Afrikaner population in Namibia range from 60,000 to 120,000; they continue to make up the majority of the country's white citizens.^[47] 45% of the best ranging and agricultural land is presently owned by Namibians of European background, mostly Afrikaner ranchers.^[47]

Botswana

As early as 1815, individual Afrikaners had begun to arrive in what is today modern Botswana, mainly traders and ivory hunters from the Cape of Good Hope.^[68] By the mid nineteenth century, some of these itinerant Afrikaners had settled in Molepolole.^[68] In 1852, the Transvaal Boers organised a failed expedition against the Northern Tswana people which included several relatively large engagements such as the Battle of Dimawe.^[68] As a result of this raid, the Tswana launched a series of retaliatory raids into the northern Transvaal which forced the Boers to evacuate Swartruggens.^[68] In 1853, Transvaal President Paul Kruger signed an armistice with Tswana chief Sechele I, ending the state of war and checking further Boer expansion into Botswana for decades.^[68]

Ghanzi, Botswana, home to a large Afrikaner community.

A notable voortrekker community was established inadvertently near Ghanzi in 1877.^[68] Ghanzi was settled by migrating Boers from the Dorsland Trek who had lost their wagons and supplies in the central Kalahari, and were forced to seek sanctuary near the water source there.^[13]

After the establishment of the Bechuanaland Protectorate in the 1880s, the British colonial authorities and the British South Africa Company (BSAC) designated several parts of the region as freehold farming areas, open to white farmers of any nationality.^[68] This induced hundreds of Boer migrants to resettle there.^[68]

In 1894 the BSAC made a concentrated attempt to recruit Boers from the Transvaal and Orange Free State to settle the area around Lake Ngami.^[13] This was an attempt to control the large numbers of wandering trekboers in both regions by diverting them into territory already under British control rather than risk them establishing new Boer republics further abroad.^[13] The British also hoped that a large Boer population along the frontiers of Bechuaneland would serve as a potential buffer to German colonial expansionism from the west.^[13] From 1898 until the early 1900s, a small but steady stream of Boers began trekking towards Lake Ngami from South Africa, with the vast majority concentrating around the previously established Afrikaans-speaking community at Ghanzi.^[13] In 1928, the size of Ghanzi's population was bolstered by the arrival of a number of Boer exiles from Angola, who had departed that territory due to disputes with the Portuguese colonial government there.^[13] Most of the Boers were engaged in cattle ranching, using the vast, unpopulated lands around Ghanzi as a massive range to drive their herds.^[13] For a number of years, one of Botswana's most prominent white politicians was Christian de Graaff, who represented Ghanzi's southern district in the National Assembly.^[68]

Aside from those engaged in ranching and farming, a small number of recent Afrikaner migrants have moved to Botswana in the postcolonial era to manage small businesses.^[68]

As a group, Afrikaners formed 1.2% of Botswana's total population in 2009.^[69]

Zimbabwe

While Afrikaners were always a small minority in Zimbabwe's population, some did arrive with the early pioneer columns and permanently settled, especially in the Enkeldoorn farming areas.^[70] After 1907, an increasing number of dispossessed Boers arrived in what was then the British territory of Southern Rhodesia, seeking better economic opportunities.^[71] They soon found themselves discriminated against by the other Europeans, who expressed alarm at an "invasion" of "poor Dutch" and what they described as the "human wreckage of the Union". This aversion was condemned by elements in the South African press, which charged that "the settlement of Afrikaners in Rhodesia is being emphatically worked against".^[71]

During World War I, the Maritz Rebellion in South Africa caused consternation among Rhodesian authorities, prompting them to conclude that their colony's Afrikaner inhabitants could not be relied upon against the German Empire.^[71] In the following decades a sharp cleavage continued to divide Afrikaners from their English-speaking countrymen,^[72] reflecting entrenched divisions in class and culture. The former generally earned lower incomes, and never advanced far in capital, education, and influence. They were also considered to be Rhodesia's single most conservative white community, almost unanimously opposing a multiracial school system and any concessions to black Africans regarding land apportionment.^[72][73]

With the ensuing Rhodesian Bush War and Zimbabwean independence under Prime Minister Robert Mugabe by 1980, over one-fifth of white Rhodesians, including most resident Afrikaners, emigrated from the country.^[74]

Kenya

During and following the Boer Wars some Afrikaners chose to leave South Africa. The first 700 Afrikaner colonists that migrated to British East Africa were supporters of the British during the various conflicts. This first wave settled in the fertile Rift Valley.^[75] The community founded the colony of Eldoret in 1903 and played an important part in establishing agriculture in the region. An additional 100 Afrikaners arrived in 1911.^[76] At the height of British rule in the colony, the population composed of several thousand Afrikaners farming 2,600 square kilometres (1,000 square miles) around Eldoret. The Mau Mau Rebellion sparked great panic among the white community in the country and much of the Afrikaner community left the country and mostly returned to South Africa. However some continued to farm in the region long after independence, and were very successful in doing so.^[76]

Angola

There were originally around 2,000 Afrikaners in Angola, descendants of those who had survived Namibia's unforgiving Dorsland Trek. For fifty years they formed a distinct enclave in the underdeveloped Portuguese territory, joined by new Afrikaner migrants in 1893 and 1905.^[77] By 1928, however, the South African authorities arranged to have 300 such households repatriated to Outjo, where they settled comfortably into farming. The few Afrikaners who remained fled their homes during Angola's subsequent colonial and civil wars.^[78]

Tanzania and elsewhere

In the early 20th century a number of Afrikaners trekked into German Tanganyika, where they were parceled land by colonial authorities then attempting to boost agricultural production. After Tanganyika became a British trust territory on Germany's defeat during World War I, London reaffirmed such grants as they existed. Few Afrikaners stayed beyond the eve of Tanzanian independence in 1961.^[79]

With the retreat of European colonialism, Afrikaner communities outside South Africa and its immediate neighbours generally diminished in size and a significant number of colonists returned to their countries of origin during the decades which followed the Second World War.

South Africa and the Cape Colony

Cecil John Rhodes, the 6th Prime Minister of the Cape Colony and founder of the De Beers diamond company.

Although there were small British colonies along the West African coast from the 18th century onwards, mostly consisting of trading posts and castles, British colonisation of Africa began in earnest only at the end of the 18th century, in the Cape of Good Hope. It gained momentum following British annexation of the Cape from the Dutch East India Company, and the subsequent encouragement of migrating colonists in the Eastern Cape in an effort to consolidate the colony's eastern border.

In the late 19th century, the discovery of gold and diamonds further encouraged colonisation of South Africa by the British. The search for gold drove expansion north into the Rhodesias (now Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Malawi). Simultaneously, British colonists began expansion into the fertile uplands (often called the "White Highlands") of British East Africa (in Kenya). Most of these colonies were not planned by the British government, with many colonial officials concluding they upset the balance of power in the region and left the long-established British interests vulnerable.

Cecil Rhodes utilized his wealth and connections towards organizing this ad hoc movement and colonisation into a unified British policy. This policy had as its general aim the securing of a Cairo to Cape Town railway system, and colonising the upper highlands of East Africa and the whole of Southern Africa south of the Zambezi with British colonies in a manner akin to that of North America and Australasia.

However, prioritization of British power around the globe in the years before World War I, initially reduced the resources appropriated toward colonisation. World War I and the Great Depression and the general decline of British and European birthrates further hobbled the expected colonist numbers. Nonetheless, thousands of colonists arrived each year during the decades preceding World War II, mostly in South Africa, where the birthrates of British Africans increased suddenly. Despite a general change in British policy against supporting the establishment of European colonies in Africa, and a slow abandonment in the overall British ruling and common classes for a separate European identity, large colonial appendages of European separatist supporters of continued colonial rule were well entrenched in South Africa, Rhodesia, and Kenya.

In keeping with the general trend toward non-European rule evident throughout most of the globe during the Cold War and the abandonment of colonial possessions in the face of American and Soviet pressure, the vestigial remnants of Cecil Rhodes' vision was abruptly ended, leaving British colonists in an exposed, isolated, and weak position. Black Nationalist guerrilla forces aided by Soviet expertise and weapons soon drove the colonists into a fortress mentality which led to the break-off of ties with perceived collaborationist governments in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth.

The result was a series of conflicts which eventually led to a reduced presence of White Africans due to emigration and natural death.

Zambia

At the brink of the country's independence in 1964, there were roughly 70,000 Europeans (mostly British) in Zambia (Northern Rhodesia before independence), making up roughly 2.3% of the 3 million inhabitants at the time.^[81] Zambia had a different situation compared to other African countries. It included segregation, similar to South Africa, Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) and South-West Africa (Namibia); but as the Europeans constituted a smaller fraction of the population they did not dominate politics. There were a few cities in Northern Rhodesia that had British place names, but all except one (Livingstone) were changed when the country became independent or soon after. These included:

• Abercorn → Mbala (1964)
• Bancroft → Chililabombwe
• Broken Hill → Kabwe (1966)
• Feira → Luangwa (1964)
• Fort Jameson → Chipata
• Fort Rosebery → Mansa

Vice President Guy Scott served as acting president of Zambia after the death of Michael Sata, the first (and so far only) white head of state of an African country since FW de Klerk in 1994, and the first outside South Africa since Henry Everard in 1979.^[82]

Kenya

There were 60,000 mostly Anglophone white people living in Kenya in 1965. However, encouraged by the fear brought by the Mau Mau Uprising, nearly half of Kenya's European population emigrated out of the country after Kenya's independence from colonial rule.^[83] Today, they are estimated to be around 30,000.^[84] Well known white people born in Kenya include road racing cyclist Chris Froome, Richard Dawkins, and evolutionary scientist Richard Leakey.

Zimbabwe

In contrast to the rest of Central Africa, Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) was once intended to become a "white man's country" – to be settled and ruled by European colonists who would remain there permanently.^[85] Until Zimbabwean independence in 1980, White Rhodesians prevailed over the nation politically, socially, and economically. They numbered some 240,000 by late-1979.^[86] Most were fairly recent immigrants, particularly blue collar workers attracted by the promise Rhodesia's economic opportunities offered. Throughout the 1960s they were joined by White South Africans and white colonists fleeing independent colonies elsewhere.^[86]

The white population in Zimbabwe dropped from a peak of around 300,000 in 1975 to 170,000 in 1982^[86] and was estimated at no more than 50,000 in 2002, possibly much lower.^[45]

Angola

When Angola won independence from Portugal in 1975, most British people in Angola resettled in the United Kingdom, South Africa, Namibia (South-West Africa), Zimbabwe (Rhodesia), Portugal or Brazil. Meanwhile, most from Mozambique left for either Zimbabwe (Rhodesia), South Africa or the UK. However, even before 1975, the number of British people in Angola and Mozambique was small, especially compared to the inhabiting Portuguese population.

Mozambique

When Mozambique gained independence from Portugal in 1975, most British people left for either Rhodesia or South Africa, while others resettled in Portugal and Brazil. However, just like Angola, the British population in Mozambique is/was tiny compared to both their share of the nation's population and in comparison to the Portuguese.

Elsewhere

Sizable numbers of people of British descent are also nationals of Ghana, Namibia, Tanzania, Swaziland (3% of the population),^[87] Nigeria,^[88] and Botswana.^[89] In addition, nearly 10,000 white Ugandans of British extraction were living under the regime of Idi Amin as recorded by Time Magazine in 1972. Due to the subsequent deterioration of conditions under Amin (Including the constant threat of forced expulsion), most of the local British diaspora emigrated to the United Kingdom and South Africa.^[90] 2,500 people from the United Kingdom currently live in Uganda.^[91]

Scots in Africa

North Africa

Notre Dame d'Afrique, a church built by the French Pieds-Noirs in Algeria.

Large numbers of French people settled in French North Africa from the 1840s onward. By the end of French rule in the early 1960s there were over one million European Algerians, mostly of French origin and Catholic^[92] (known as pieds noirs, or "black feet"), living in Algeria, consisting about 16% of the population in 1962.^[93]

There were 255,000 Europeans in Tunisia in 1956,^[94] while Morocco was home to half a million Europeans.^[95] French law made it easy for thousands of colons, ethnic or national French from former colonies of Africa, French India and French Indochina, to live in mainland France. After Algeria became independent in 1962, about 800,000 Pieds-Noirs of French nationality were evacuated to mainland France while about 200,000 chose to remain in Algeria. Of the latter, there were still about 100,000 in 1965 and about 50,000 by the end of the 1960s.^[96] 1.6 million European colons migrated from Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco.^[97] As of December 31, 2011, there were 94,382 French citizens in all three countries, Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia.

Francophone West Africa

A European child in Gabon

Unlike Algeria, permanent European colonisation in most of France's tropical African colonies was not especially successful; during World War II the entire white population of French West Africa numbered only about 22,000.^[98] Immigration to French West Africa spiked after the war due to an influx of French people seeking to escape depressed economic opportunities at home.^[98] In June 1951, there were 49,904 whites of French origin in French West Africa, as well as an undetermined number of Europeans of other nationalities.^[98] The total number of white residents in these colonies never exceeded 0.3% of the population, and was predominantly urban: two-thirds of them lived in one of French West Africa's nine administrative capitals.^[98] Their most popular destination was Senegal, where over half the French-speaking whites resided.^[98] Nevertheless, French West Africa's white population remained subject to a high turnover rate; in 1951 78% of this group had been born in France, and the number of European families which had lived in Dakar for more than a generation was described as "negligible".^[98] The postwar influx also introduced the phenomenon of unemployed whites in French West Africa, who were mostly unskilled workers that secured only temporary jobs or were not engaged in any specific profession, and found themselves having to compete with a growing skilled black workforce.^[98] It also contributed to a rise in housing segregation as exclusively white neighbourhoods became more common.^[98]

Following the dissolution of French West Africa and the independence of its constituent states, sizable white minorities survived in Gabon and the Ivory Coast.^[99] 2,500 French people reside in Chad.^[100] 4,500 French soldiers reside in Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger.^[101] 3,000 French reside in Mali and 1,000 French soldiers reside in Niger.^[102]

Djibouti

In 1917, Djibouti (then French Somaliland) had a European population of 294, of which 107 were French.^[103] In 1974, 10,255 Europeans lived in the colony, which gained independence just 3 years later.^[104]

Madagascar

A sizeable number of French people reside in Madagascar, many of whom trace their ties to Madagascar back to the colonial period. An estimated 20,000 French citizens lived and worked in Madagascar in 2011.^[105] The numbers make Madagascar the home of the largest ethnic French population in terms of absolute numbers in Sub-Saharan Africa, other than the French département Réunion.

Mauritius

Franco-Mauritians account for approximately 2% of the population of Mauritius.^[106]

Mayotte

Réunion

In Réunion, a French island in the Indian Ocean, white islanders, mostly of ethnic French origin, are estimated to make up approximately 30% of the population.^[107] 260,000 white people live in Réunion.

South Africa

Portuguese South Africans

South Africa largely featured two Portuguese waves of immigration, one was a constant but small flow of Portuguese from Madeira and Portugal itself, while the second was ethnic Portuguese fleeing from Angola and Mozambique after their respective independences. The reason behind the immigration of Madeirans to South Africa was both a political and economic one. After 1950, prime minister Hendrik Verwoerd encouraged immigration from Protestant northern Europeans, such as his own ethnic group the Dutch, to bolster the white population. He later began to approve immigration policies also favouring Southern Europeans, including Madeirans, who were facing high unemployment rates. Many Madeirans and other Portuguese who immigrated were at first isolated from other white populations due to their differences, such as the fact that few could speak English or Afrikaans and were Roman Catholic.^[109] Eventually they ended up setting up businesses in Johannesburg or coastal fisheries, and a substantial number intermarried with other white South African groups.^[113]

One known Portuguese South African creation was the restaurant chain Nando's, created in 1987, which incorporated influences from former Portuguese colonists from Mozambique, many of whom had settled on the south-eastern side of Johannesburg, after Mozambique's independence in 1975. Currently there's a 300,000-strong Portuguese community in South Africa.^[114]

Libya

Arrival of the first Italian locomotive in Tripoli, Italian Tripolitania, in 1912.

Libya had some 150,000 Italian colonists until World War II, constituting about 18% of the total population in Italian Libya.^[115] The Italians in Libya resided (and many still do) in most major cities like Tripoli (37% of the city was Italian), Benghazi (31%), and Hun (3%). Their numbers decreased after World War II. Most of Libya's Italians were expelled from the North African country in 1970, a year after Muammar Gaddafi seized power (a "day of vengeance" on 7 October 1970),^[116] but a few hundred Italian colonists returned to Libya in the 2000s (decade).

Somalia

Somalia had over 50,000 Italian Somali colonists during World War II, constituting more than 5% of the total population in Italian Somaliland.^[117][118] The Italians resided in most major cities in the central and southern parts of the territory, with around 22,000 living in the capital Mogadishu. Other major areas of colonisation included Jowhar, which was founded by the Italian prince Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi. Italian used to be a major language, but its influence significantly diminished following independence. It is now most frequently heard among older generations and the educated.^[119] 1,000 Italian Somalis currently live in Somalia.

South African Italians

Italian Club in Boksburg

Although Italians did not immigrate to South Africa in large numbers, those who have arrived have nevertheless made an impact on the host country.

Before World War II, relatively few Italian immigrants arrived, though there were some prominent exceptions, such as the Cape's first Prime Minister John Molteno, who was of Anglo-Italian descent. South African Italians made big headlines during World War II, when Italians captured in Italian East Africa needed to be sent to a safe stronghold to be kept as prisoners of war (POWs). South Africa was the perfect destination, and the first POWs arrived in Durban, in 1941.^[120][121]

Despite being POWs, the Italians were treated well, with a good food diet and friendly hospitality. These factors, along with the peaceful, cheap, and sunny landscape, made it very attractive for Italians to settle down, and therefore, the Italian South African community was born. Although over 100,000 Italian POW were sent to South Africa, only a handful decided to stay. During their capture, they were given the opportunity to build chapels, churches, dams, and many more structures. Most Italian influence and architecture can be seen in the Natal and Transvaal area. Esselenpark (Railway College) is particularly notable.

Today there are roughly 77,400 South Africans of Italian descent.^[122]

Ethiopia

During the Italian occupation of Ethiopia, roughly 300,000 Italians settled in Italian East Africa (1936-1947). Over 49,000 lived in Asmara (now located in and the capital of Eritrea) in 1939 (around 10% of the city's population), and over 38,000 resided in Addis Ababa. After independence, many Italians remained for decades after receiving full pardon by Emperor Selassie, as he saw the opportunity to continue the modernization efforts of the country.^[123] However, due to the Ethiopian Civil War in 1974, nearly 22,000 Italo-Ethiopians left the country.^[123] 80 original Italian colonists remained alive in 2007, and nearly 2000 mixed descendants of Italians and Ethiopians. In the 2000s, some Italian companies returned to operate in Ethiopia, and a large number of Italian technicians and managers arrived with their families, residing mainly in the metropolitan area of the capital.^[124] 3,400 Italians still live in Ethiopia.^[125] and 1,300 British people live in Ethiopia.

Elsewhere in Africa

Church of Our Lady of the Rosary in Asmara, built by Italian Eritreans in 1923.

The Italians had a significantly large, but very quickly diminished population in Africa. In 1926, there were 90,000 Italians in Tunisia, compared to 70,000 Frenchmen (unusual since Tunisia was a French protectorate).^[126] Former Italian communities also once thrived in the Horn of Africa, with about 50,000 Italian colonists living in Italian Eritrea in 1935,^[127] with 49,000 of them lived in Asmara, like mentioned above. The Italian Eritrean population grew from 4,000 during World War I to nearly 100,000 at the beginning of World War II.^[128] Of all the former Italian territories, Eritrea is the only one where the educated population can speak Italian, as there is 1 Italian-language school in Asmara, the Scuola Italiana di Asmara, and the Italian language is still spoken in Eritrean commerce. The size of the Italian Egyptian community had also reached around 55,000 just before World War II, forming the second-largest expatriate community in Egypt. 100,000 people in Italian Eritreans living in Eritrea have at least one Italian ancestor, accounting for 2.2% of its total population.

A few Italian colonists stayed in Portuguese colonies in Africa after World War II. As the Portuguese government had sought to enlarge the small Portuguese population through emigration from Europe,^[108] the Italian migrants gradually assimilated into the Angolan Portuguese community.

Italian Catholic church in Tangier.

The first Italian presence in Morocco dates back to the times of the Italian maritime republics, when many merchants of the Republic of Venice and of the Republic of Genoa settled on the Maghreb coast.^[129] This presence lasted until the 19th century.^[129] The Italian community had a notable development in French Morocco; already in the 1913 census about 3,500 Italians were registered, almost all concentrated in Casablanca, and mostly employed as excavators and construction workers.^[130][129] The Italians were mainly dedicated to the trade and the Moroccan construction industry.^[131] The Italian presence in the Rif, included in Spanish Morocco, was minimal, except in Tangier, an international city, where there was an important community, as evidenced by the presence of the Italian School.^[132] A further increase of Italian immigrants in Morocco was recorded after World War I, reaching 12,000 people, who were employed among the workers and as farmers, unskilled workers, bricklayers and operators.^[130][129] In the 1930s, Italian-Moroccans, almost all of Sicilian origin, numbered over 15,600 and lived mainly in the Maarif district of Casablanca.^[129] With decolonization, most Italian Moroccans left Morocco for France and Spain.^[129]

Egypt

The geographer Ptolemy was a Greek born in Alexandria

Greeks have been living in Egypt since and even before Alexander the Great conquered Egypt at an early stage of his journey of conquests. Herodotus, who visited Egypt in the 5th century BC, wrote that the Greeks were the first foreigners that ever lived in Egypt.^[133] Diodorus Siculus attested that Rhodian Actis, one of the Heliadae, built the city of Heliopolis before the cataclysm; likewise the Athenians built Sais. While all Greek cities were destroyed during the cataclysm, the Egyptian cities including Heliopolis and Sais survived.^[134]

In modern times the official 1907 census showed 62,973 Greeks living in Egypt. The expulsion of 2.5 million Greeks from Turkey saw a large number of those Greeks move to Egypt and by 1940 Greeks were numbered at around 500,000. Today the Greek community numbers officially about 3,000 people although the real number is much higher since many Greeks have changed their nationality to Egyptian. In Alexandria, apart from the patriarchate, there is a patriarchal theology school that opened recently after being closed for 480 years. Saint Nicolas church and several other buildings in Alexandria have been recently renovated by the Greek Government and the Alexander S. Onassis Foundation.

During the last decade, there has been a new interest from the Egyptian government for a diplomatic rapprochement with Greece and this has positively affected the Greek diaspora. The diaspora has received official visits of many Greek politicians. Economic relationships have been blossoming between Greece and Egypt. Egypt has been recently the centre of major Greek investments in industries such as banking, tourism, paper, and oil. In 2009, a five years cooperation memorandum was signed among the NCSR Demokritos Institute in Agia Paraskevi, Athens and the University of Alexandreia, regarding Archeometry research and contextual sectors.^[135]

South Africa

The Greeks have had a presence in South Africa since the late 19th century. After the flight of the Greeks from Egypt in reaction to Nasser's nationalization policy the Greek population of South Africa dramatically increased to around 250,000.^[136] Today the number of Greeks in South Africa is estimated between 60,000 – 120,000.^[137]

Zimbabwe

The Greek community in Zimbabwe numbered between 13,000 and 15,000 people in 1972 and once comprised Rhodesia's second largest white community after individuals of British origin.^[138] Today the Greek community in Zimbabwe numbers under 3,000.^[138] Zimbabwe currently hosts eleven Greek Orthodox churches and fifteen Greek associations and humanitarian organizations.^[139]

Elsewhere

The Greeks have a presence in a number of African countries such as Cameroon (1,200 people),^[140] Zambia (800 people),^[141] Ethiopia (500 people),^[142] Uganda (450 people),^[143] Democratic Republic of Congo (300 people),^[144] Kenya (100 families),^[145] Nigeria (300 people),^[146] Tanzania (300 people),^[140] Sudan (200 people),^[147] Botswana (200–300 people),^[148] Malawi (200 people),^[149] and Morocco (150 people).^[140]

Namibia

Examples of daily use of German in Namibia.

Germany was late to colonize Africa (or to have an empire), mainly due to it not being a unified country until the late 19th century. However, many Germans settled in South West Africa (modern day Namibia) as well as South Africa. Those Germans who migrated to South West Africa retained German culture, religion, and even language, while those in South Africa often had to learn English or Afrikaans as a first language and adopt another culture.

Unlike other Europeans in Africa, when many African states gained independence, the Germans (along with the English and Dutch/Afrikaners) stayed in Southern Africa because they retained political dominance (now being a mandate under South African control). The country was administered as a province of South Africa during the apartheid era (though South African rule was not widely recognized internationally.) German influence in Namibia is very strong and noticeable. Because Namibia has not changed any town names since independence, many of the largest cities in the country retain their German names. These include Lüderitz, Grünau, Maltahöhe, Wasser, Schuckmannsburg, and even the capital city has a German name (Windhuk). In the southern Regions of Karas and especially Hardap, the vast majority of town names are German, or a mixture of German, Afrikaans and English. In the Hardap region, some 80% of colonies have a name of German origin.

Namibia is also the only nation outside Europe to have a Lutheran majority. This is due to many German missionaries during the 19th century who converted the Ovambo and Damara people to Christianity. Until 1990, German was an official language of Namibia, and is now a recognized regional language (the only one of its kind for the German language outside of Europe).

Today there are roughly 20,000–50,000 ethnic Germans in Namibia (32% of the white population, and 2% of the nation's population), and they greatly outnumber those of English and many Black ethnic origins. Their precise numbers are unclear because many Namibians of German ancestry no longer speak German, and sometimes would rather be classified as Afrikaners.

Tanzania

A classroom in a German East African school.

When mainland Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi were under German control they were named German East Africa and received some migration from German communities.

A number of locations in Tanzania formerly bore German names. The city of Tabora was formerly named Weidmannsheil and Kasanga was known as Bismarckburg. Mount Kilimanjaro was known as Kilimandscharo, a German way of spelling it. Despite virtually all German names being reverted since World War I, some places still hold German names. These include the majority of Glaciers on Mount Kilimanjaro, such as Rebmann Glacier and Furtwängler Glacier.

Some colonial German-style buildings still exist in some of Tanzania's largest cities and former German strongholds, but they are in bad condition and need extensive renovation.

Togo

A map of Togoland in 1885, with Lomé in the south-west. Note that all land above the coast is called 'Unexplored country', despite the whole territory being under German control.

Togoland was a German colony from 1884 to 1914.

Cameroon

Kamerun was a German colony in present-day Cameroon between 1884 and 1916. During German control, few German families migrated in comparison with Germany's other colonies, but plantations, trading posts, and infrastructure projects were built to aid the growing German Empire with goods, such as bananas and important minerals. These trading posts were most abundant around the former capital city, and largest city in Cameroon: Douala.

Douala itself was known as Kamerunstadt (German for 'Cameroon City') between 1884 and 1907. Most trading took place with Hamburg and Bremen, and was later made easier by the construction of an extensive postal and telegraph system. Like all German colonies (except South West Africa), after World War I, many Germans left for Europe, America, or South Africa.

After World War I, the colony of Kamerun was split between British and French administrations. Once Germany was admitted to the League of Nations, the new colonial administrations were forced to allow German colonists and missionaries to return and repossess their land beginning in 1925. The German-run factories and plantations in Southern Cameroon employed over 25,000 Cameroonians at this time.^[150] Sentiment among native Cameroonians at the time remained overwhelmingly pro-German, which was made most evident when only 3,500 Cameroonians enlisted to fight for the British at the outbreak of World War II.^[151] By the 1930s, Germans accounted for more than 60% of the white population in British Cameroon and owned more than 300,000 acres of cocoa plantations in both the French and British Cameroons.^[152]

• 
  German Settlers enjoying Christmas in Kamerun.
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  Bananas heading for Germany in 1912.
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  German surveyor in Kamerun, 1884.
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  A Police force on the Kaiser's birthday, 1901.
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  German men in Douala, Kamerun.
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  A German built workshop in Kamerun.
• 
  Oil in Kamerun, one of the many resources that the German Empire needed.
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  German settlers in the rainforest.
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  Governor's home in Buea, with Mount Cameroon in the background.
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  A German cemetery in Kamerun.
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  The schloss (palace) of Jesko von Puttkamer, governor of German Kamerun.
• 
  The proposed flag for German Kamerun

Former Portuguese colonies

A number of German colonists stayed in Portuguese African colonies as World War II refugees when the Portuguese government tried to request Europeans of other nationalities to increase the very tiny Portuguese population and during the war, although that plan of the Portuguese government was unsuccessful.^[108] Prior to the Angolan Civil War, the German population in Benguela and Moçâmedes was very active and had a German-language school in Benguela.^[153] The German families remaining in Angola today live mainly in Luanda and Calulo.^[154]

South Africa

There is a German community within South Africa, many of whom have been absorbed into the Afrikaner community, but some still maintain a German identity. Migration to South Africa from Germany has existed since the establishment of the first refreshment station in 1652. German missionaries were present throughout the region. Under British rule, there was increased immigration from Germany with significant numbers settling in the Natal and in the Eastern Cape. Under apartheid, much of the land given to German colonists was confiscated so many dispersed throughout the country.^[155][156]

Ghana

There are some Germans remaining in Ghana. Most of them have ancestors from Brandenburg and Prussia.

Equatorial Guinea

A 1924 stamp depicting a typical Spanish-owned plantation in Spanish Guinea

The Spanish have resided in Equatorial Guinea (when under Spanish rule known as Spanish Guinea) for many years and first started as temporary plantation owners originally from Valencia, before returning to Spain. Few Spaniards remained in Spanish Guinea permanently and left only after a few years. At independence in 1968 Spanish Guinea had one of the highest per capita incomes in Africa (US$332).^[163] The Spanish also helped Equatorial Guinea achieve one of the continent's highest literacy rates and developed a good network of health care facilities.^[163]

Many left Spanish Guinea when the colony gained independence in 1968. After independence, many Spanish-named cities and places in Equatorial Guinea were changed to more African names, the most obvious one being the capital city, Malabo (formerly Santa Isabel), and the island it is located on, Bioko (formerly Fernando Poo). 80,000 Mexicans live in the country.

Despite a large loss of Spanish residents during the rule of Masie Nguema Biyogo, their numbers have somewhat increased after he was overthrown. They almost exclusively speak Spanish as their first language; French or Portuguese, which are official languages, are often spoken as second languages, sometimes alongside the indigenous Bantu languages. Their religion is almost entirely Catholic, and this can be reflected by the population, which also remains Catholic. Since the discovery of oil, and an economic 'boom', a large number of Europeans of other ancestries have also migrated the country for business and in Malabo, they are located in the western half of the city and in new housing estates.

Canary Islands

The Canary Islands are part of the Macaronesia, Atlantic islands detached from the African mainland. The Canary Islanders are a mixture of the indigenous North African proto-Berber Guanches, Spanish and Portuguese settlers and the descendants of African slaves. There are many recent residents from Hispanic America, mainly Venezuela and Cuba, and Europe, mainly from Germany, Italy and the UK.

Plazas de soberanía

Spain holds the plazas de soberanía ("strongholds of sovereignty") on Northern African coast. They are small islands garrisoned by the Spanish Army and two autonomous cities: Ceuta and Melilla. About 60% of the population of Ceuta is "Christian",^[164] meaning the descendants of the Portuguese and Spanish ancestral settlers and recent immigrants mostly linked to the Spanish state. They are not necessarily believers or practitioners of Roman Catholicism. A similar proportion of "Christians" is present in Melilla.^[165]

Moriscos

The Moriscos (Christianized descendants of Iberian Muslims of mixed Hispano-Roman, Visigothic, Berber and Arab ancestry) were expelled from Spain between 1609 and 1614. Thousands of them settled in Muslim North Africa. Some number their descendants as high as 5 million people.^[166]

Belgian Congo

In the Belgian Congo, Belgium's largest overseas possession, European missionaries, corporations, and officials had entrenched a comprehensive political, social, economic, and cultural hegemony.^[167] This was disrupted as 1955 drew to a close, however, as mild proposals for a form of Congolese self-government provoked furious protests across the Belgian Congo. A Belgian-appointed study commission subsequently recommended a complicated formula which would lead to gradual self-government for the Congo by 1985, although this was opposed by the most militant nationalists, who demanded immediate and full independence.^[167]

On 5 July 1960, five days after the new Republic of the Congo gained independence from Belgium, members of the Force Publique (Dutch: Openbare Weermacht) garrison near Léopoldville/Leopoldstad mutinied.^[168] African soldiers, resentful over the fact that independence had brought little change to their status, ousted 1,000 of their Belgian officers from the command structure. The new government was slow to react, allowing a state of panic to develop among the 120,000 colonists still resident in the territory as roving bands of mutineers attacked numerous European targets, assaulting and killing with impunity.^[168] Belgium's attempt to defend her nationals with military force only aggravated the situation; within ten days of independence white civil servants were emigrating en masse. As Congo's infamous crisis developed further, the predominantly white magistrate corps also fled the growing chaos, dealing a severe blow to their nation's basic judicial apparatus – considered by several prominent observers to be "the worst catastrophe in this series of disasters".^[167]

In 1965, there remained a mere 60,000 Belgians spread throughout the Congo.^[169]

Flemings in Rwanda, South Africa, and the DRC

Many Flemish colonists in Rwanda were targeted for extermination as part of the Rwandan genocide. This seemed to be largely because Belgian colonists had offered better education and employment opportunities to Tutsi tribesmen under colonial rule than the Hutus, who controlled the government during the genocide. Many of those remaining today are of Flemish descent, and part of the large "reverse diaspora" currently occurring in Rwanda.^[170]

Radio messages broadcast by Hutu extremists advocated the killing of white Rwandans should they be of Belgian ancestry, despite the fact that Belgium itself attempted to remain neutral during the 1994 conflict.^[171] Furthermore, one of the main radio propagandists was a white Belgian man who moved to Rwanda, Georges Ruggiu.

3,000 Belgians are living in Burundi,^[172] and 14,000 Belgians are living in Burundi, DR Congo and Rwanda together.

Southern Africa

Although Norwegians in Africa are one of the smallest immigrant communities, they are not unheard of. Emigration to South Africa from Norway in 1876–85 was dominated by emigrants from the districts of Romsdal and Sunnmøre.^[173]

One notable incident was the Debora Expedition, when a dozen families left Bergen in 1879 to establish a Norwegian colony on the Indian Ocean atoll of Aldabra (now part of Seychelles).^[174] The mission was aborted because of a lack of fresh water on the atoll, and they instead settled in Durban, with a few opting to settle in Madagascar.

The town of Marburg in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal was founded by Norwegians in 1882. Marburg's founders were mostly from Ålesund in Sunnmøre.^[175] It was the only successful Scandinavian colony in southern Africa. Many of the original founders later left the colony, a number of them joining the other Norwegian community already in Durban and a smaller number moving on to Australia.^[176]

A number of Norwegian colonists stayed in Portuguese African colonies when the Portuguese government tried to request Europeans of other nationalities to increase the very tiny Portuguese population, although the plan was unsuccessful. They were already acculturated to the Portuguese population.^[108]

Elsewhere

Most Scandinavians in Ghana are of Danish and Swedish descent, but there are some Norwegians living in Accra, Old Ningo, Keta, Ada, and Teshie.

Southern Africa

Serbs and people of Serbian descent constitute a fairly large population in South Africa, accounting for 25–30,000 people, mostly residing in Gauteng. Over 22 Serbian folklore groups are active in South Africa, and participate in church-based activities. There are a number of diaspora clubs and associations, as well as several Serbian Orthodox churches in the country. The Serbian community in South Africa has existed since the 19th century, and during World War II the government of Yugoslavia sent agents to recruit Serbian immigrants, then mostly concentrated in Cape Town.^[177] In 1952, the Serbian community that left Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia after World War II founded a local Saint Sava church and school municipality in Johannesburg.^[178] In 1978, a local Serbian Orthodox Church dedicated to Thomas the Apostle was built.^[178] Today, a local school teaches students Serbian language with support under the program defined by the Ministry of Education of Serbia.^[179]

Additionally, there are Serbian communities in Zambia numbering nearly 3,000 which has existed in Zambia for over six decades and Botswana. In 2009 the Rector of St. Thomas the Apostle Serbian Orthodox Church in Johannesburg visited the Serbian community of Zambia, who attend the local Greek church.^[180]

Afrikaans

Geographical distribution of Afrikaans in South Africa: proportion of the population that speaks Afrikaans at home.

•   0–20%
•   20–40%
•   40–60%
•   60–80%
•   80–100%

Afrikaans is the most common language spoken at home by white South Africans. It is spoken by roughly 60% of South Africa's, 60% of Namibia's, and about 5% of Zimbabwe's white population. In South Africa they make up a major white speaking group in all provinces except KwaZulu-Natal, where Afrikaans speakers make up 1.5% of the population. In Rhodesia (and later Zimbabwe), Afrikaans was not as common and the country was dominated by English throughout its history. There were however a few Afrikaans inhabitants, mostly from South Africa. Afrikaans was also very limited culturally in Rhodesia and so only a few Afrikaans place names existed, most notably Enkeldoorn (renamed Chivhu in 1982). Most Afrikaners in Zimbabwe have now immigrated to South Africa or European countries.

English

English is the second most spoken language among white Africans, spoken by 39% of South Africa's, 7% of Namibia's, and 90% of Zimbabwe's white population. In South Africa they remain the dominant white ethnic group in KwaZulu-Natal, while in Gauteng and the Western Cape they also contribute to a large percentage of the English-speaking population.

English is a second language of many non-British white Africans with higher education in almost all non-English-speaking African nations. Outside of South Africa, Namibia, and Zimbabwe, British White Africans make up a large minority in Zambia, Kenya, Botswana, and Swaziland, therefore growing the presence of English in these countries.

German

German is spoken by 32% of Namibia's white population (making up 2% of the Namibian population). There is also a now nearly extinct German dialect in Namibia known as Namibian Black German (or in German as Küchendeutsch or Kitchen German), and used to be spoken by black domestic servants to German colonists. However, the government has tried to lower the use of German and Afrikaans due to its colonial roots, and instead try and enforce English, the sole official language, and Bantu languages. There is also known to be a German dialect, spoken in the south-east of South Africa, known as Nataler German (German from Natal).

Other languages

Most whites in Angola and Mozambique use Portuguese as their first language. The other 1% of whites in South Africa, who do not speak Afrikaans or English, mostly speak Portuguese (from immigrant communities who come from Angola and Mozambique), or German, and Dutch (from European immigration). Equally, in Namibia, the remaining 1% of the white population speaks mostly Portuguese because of the immigration from Angola following independence of all Portuguese colonies in 1975.

Only a small white population in Libya, Tunisia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Somalia has the fluency of Italian, because it is no longer the official language there. Spanish is also spoken in some areas of Morocco, Western Sahara, Equatorial Guinea, as well as in those territories that form part of Spain such as the Canary Islands and the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla. Very few White Africans speak Bantu languages at home, but still a small percentage of white Africans speak Bantu languages as second languages.

The Greek language has long existed on the continent since antiquity. In South Africa the population estimates vary with the Greek government reporting that roughly 50,000 Greeks lived in the country in 2012.^[188] The South African constitution and Pan South African Language Board seeks to promote and respect the language. Zimbabwe also once held a large Greek-speaking community and there still is a Greek school.^[189] This is the case in South Africa. The language also was commonly spoken among Greeks in Egypt in both the ancient era and more recent times. There is a continued presence of the Greek language because of the small Greek community in the country as well as interest among cultural institutions.^[190]