Saturday, June 4, 2011

The Central African Republic & Burkina Faso Look Alike.

Two of France's former African colonies, Burkina Faso and the Central African Republic, have territorial shapes that seem formed from the same mold.

Burkina Faso Satellite Map, courtesy Wikipedia

Central African Republic Satellite Map, courtesy Wikipedia

While both are landlocked countries, although Burkina Faso is only half the size of the CAR, and at a slightly more northernly latitude into the Sahel zone, is far drier, as can be seen from comparing the two maps above.

...which is at least curious contemplate, in the context of the infamous establishment of African national borders. It almost invites the image of a bored European bureaucrat, doodling the outline of a passing cloud or resting herd animal onto the uncharted frontiers at the center of the map, and these coming two nation states (Of course, not really. As culturally and ethnographically arbitrary as much of Africa's boundaries are, most country's extents evolved over decades).

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