International records / OpenAlex research

Introduction: African Politics since Independence

Africa is a vast and diverse continent, comprising fifty-one independent states (this number increases to fifty-three if the Saharan Arab Democratic Republic and South Africa are included, and will increase to fifty-five if two other states in the process of formation — Eritrea and Northern Somalia — secure international recognition. With only a few exceptions, such as Egypt, Ethiopia and Liberia, these are ‘new’ states: most of them achieved independence in 1960, which was the annus mirabilis of African independence, or within a few years of that date. To lump these states together and talk a…