George of the Jungle Deep in the Heart of Africa

As a kid in the 1960's, I was a fan of the wacky humor in the George of the Jungle cartoon show (including Tom Slick and Super Chicken!). I never saw the Brendan Fraser live-action Disney film version that was made in 1997 (and doubt I ever will) however, I happened across a YouTube video of the intro and caught sight of this goofy little map that shows they still retain the wacky sentiment....

Deep in the heart of Africa:


Here's the Disney version video:


But I still prefer the original:


"Ah ah ee ee tooky tooky!"

The Onion: Andorra Not In Africa

Nation Of Andorra Not In Africa, Shocked U.S. State Dept. Reports

Meanwhile:


Breaking News: Series Of Concentric Circles Emanating From Glowing Red Dot

Hawaii IS in Africa

Pinko Magazine offers an exclusive peak at Rejected Town Hall Rally Posters, including this one, sure to have been popular among birthers:

Empire: Striding Across Africa

I've been reading Empire: The Rise and Demise of the British World Order and the Lessons for Global Power by Niall Ferguson wherein he explains how "an archipelago of rainy islands... came to rule the world." Richly illustrated with maps charts and drawings, this book relates the events that led to British domination in India and Africa, and a presence on every continent. It was not hyperbole to say that the sun never set on the British Empire. Some critics have called Ferguson's work "revisionist", as he often defends the actions of the Empire as an overall good thing for its subjects (contrary to other recent scholarship). His final chapter is directed at the United States. What lessons can be learned from British successes and errors by the inheritors of the new "world empire" as that power is challenged?

Several chapters are devoted to the British advances across Africa; to the South from Egypt and to the North from The Cape. Cecil Rhodes, the diamond magnate and founder of the state of Rhodesia (later Zimbabwe and Zambia), had a vision of the Empire in Africa connected, north and south. In the illustration below, Rhodes can be seen sneering at his critics.



Lord Salisbury, the Foreign Secretary and later Prime Minister, was opposed to this vision: "I can imagine no more uncomfortable position than the possession of a narrow strip of territory in the very heart of Africa, three month's distance from the coast, which should be separating the forces of a powerful empire like Germany and... another European Power." He did not believe that territory should be acquired, simply because it looks good on a map. Speaking of Rhodes, he said, "I think that the constant study of maps is apt to disturb men’s reasoning powers"

This quote has of course become the motto for Cartophilia.

Rhodes' vision of connecting African holdings, North and South, came to fruition after the First World War and the acquisition (by League of Nations "mandate") of Tanganyika (later Tanzania).



Thanks to Pascal for tipping me off to this one.

Bulungi

An oldie-but-goodie from The Onion, October 2, 1996:

U.S. Ambassador to Bulungi Suspected of Making the Country Up



WASHINGTON, DC—Chad Halpern, U.S. Ambassador to the West African nation of Bulungi since 1994, has been asked to return to Washington to face allegations that the country does not exist.

"I want to stress that nothing has been substantiated as of yet," President Clinton told reporters at a press conference Monday. "But there is a possibility that Ambassador Halpern made the country up."

Read the rest...

Wearing Maps

Looking for a piece of fabric with a map on it? Who doesn't want to wear a shirt made of out map fabric?

From the The True Up blog:


From J & O Fabrics:


From Geography Matters:


From Warm Biscuit:


A former associate of mine made this shirt for me from some map fabric she found:


#288

National Geographic Exploration Experience

The good folks at National Geographic sent me a book that is both interesting and fun: National Geographic Society Exploration Experience: The Heroic Exploits of the World's Greatest Explorers, by Beau Riffenburgh. At first I thought it would simply be a rehash of all the famous explorers I learned about in school (Columbus, Magellan, Coronado and Champlain) and they are here, but also included are explorers of Australia, Siberia, Africa, Antarctica and the Arctic. But wait! There's more! When I opened this book, I became very excited, like a kid with his first pop-up book. Not only does each page offer historical and biographical information on each explorer, and the obligatory red, blue and black lines on maps tracing their routes of exploration, but nearly every page also includes an insert. Neatly devised pockets contain reproductions and facsimiles of maps, letters, drawings, treaties, journals and news articles:

Here is an example of the traditional exploration map found in the book. Different colored solid and dotted lines. Exploration of Australia! Now that's a chapter I missed in high school geography class:



Here are two examples of the inserts.

A sketch map drawn by Alexander von Humboldt, of part of the Orinoco River, in what is now Venezuela:



A map of the route taken by the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition through central Africa, redrawn for Henry Stanley after his return:



In addition to rich narrative, beautiful illustrations and intriguing inserts, this book also included a bonus CD-ROM with an additional 35 rare historical maps from the archives of the Royal Geographic Society.

Henry Stanley's 1875 hand drawn pencil sketch of Lake Victoria Nyanza:



A Tibetan picture map of the Mount Everest Range, from 1898, by Laurence Austine Waddell:



I love this book and I haven't even finished reading about all of the explorers... Highly recommended as a holiday gift for that history buff or map lover in your family.

Nova Hibernia

Another of Michael5000's Forgotten Lands with maps by Cartophiliac.

Nova Hibernia
Capital: N'koutou (formerly St. Patrick, Karlsburg)
Population: 1,443,000 (2000 estimate)

Economy: Produces cashews, cotton, sugar, citrus, timber, and fish. Imports include machinery and equipment, metals, staple foodstuffs, and textiles. Subsistence agricultural is practiced by a significant portion of the population.

The country of Nova Hibernia came into being in 1882 as the colony of German Central Africa. Like most other territories that were created by the Treaty of Berlin, German Central Africa contained a heterogeneous population drawn from disparate peoples who shared no common language, culture, or history. The Germans established a port at Karlsberg, but in their 30 years of rule did not manage to extend practical authority past its hinterlands. Stripped from Germany along with its other colonial possessions after World War I, the now nameless colony existed for several years as a League of Nations Protectorate. After several years of the British and French blocking each other's moves to absorb the little territory, administration was finally handed over in 1924 as something of a gift to the fledgling Irish Free State.



Absorbed in their own lengthy struggle for full independence, the Irish devoted little attention to their "overseas empire." As a result, the Irish administration had an even lighter footstep than had the German. Although adopting some Western innovations, most inhabitants of the newly-renamed Nova Hibernia tended to continue to live and govern themselves according to well-established indigenous systems. When a provisional government set up by native schoolteacher Brian Ktombe petitioned for and was granted independence by the Irish Parliament in 1963, the event failed to make the front page of the Irish Times.

Since independence, Nova Hibernia has suffered two periods of military rule, once for three months in 1969 and again from 1978 to 1984. Ktombe's nephew, Brian Ktombe III, became president in 1985 in elections that restored democratic rule. Since that time, he has been re-elected every six years in elections that, by the standards of sub-Saharan Africa, have been relatively free and fairly contested.
Nova Hibernia is also unusual in Africa in that it never acquired a large international debt. Instead, the country's political elite have long pursued a policy of small-scale local development and grassroots education. Perhaps not coincidentally, Nova Hibernia enters the third millennium with one of the continent's highest standards of living.

Flag: Older colonial banners, like the capital city's name, were replaced at independence. The new design was clearly inspired by the flag of the United States, the country on which Nova Hibernia's federal system was modeled. The ten colored stripes represent the ten federal districts, and the blue field represents the common blood* of all Nova Hibernia's people. Some have speculated that the lack of green, orange, or white in the flag suggests a rejection of all things Irish by the newly independant colony.

*In local tradition, blue is the color of "living blood" (as it is seen in the vein). Red represents "dead blood," and is generally avoided in decoration.