Africa Is a Country

Mapo do mundo

Mapo do mundo

By
Sean Jacobs

Remember the Mapping Stereotypes Project and the Afrographique project? (The former maps popular national stereotypes from around the world, while the latter turns any set of data about the continent into a graphic, including a series of maps.) A reader of this blog points us towards this “map” of stereotypes that’s been circulating online among Brazilians.

Here’s a translation for those who don’t speak Portuguese.

Canada: polar bears
USA: fat people
Central America: Pirates of the Caribbean
South America: llamas, stash, humble people, us (Brazil)
Greenland: Wally’s house
Europe: mustache, pasta, money
Africa: The Clone (Brazilian telenovela), desert, kuduro, “I like to move it” (Madagascar, the movie)
Middle East: Mohamed
Central Asia: bin Laden
China: many people and a lot of rice
India: cows
South East Asia: Rambo
Japan: weird people
Australia: weird animals

* Thanks to Tom for the translation.

Further Reading

Not exactly at arm’s length

Despite South Africa’s ban on arms exports to Israel and its condemnation of Israel’s actions in Palestine, local arms companies continue to send weapons to Israel’s allies and its major arms suppliers.

Ruto’s Kenya

Since June’s anti-finance bill protests, dozens of people remain unaccounted for—a stark reminder of the Kenyan state’s long history of abductions and assassinations.

Between Harlem and home

African postcolonial cinema serves as a mirror, revealing the limits of escape—whether through migration or personal defiance—and exposing the tensions between dreams and reality.

The real Rwanda

The world is slowly opening its eyes to how Paul Kagame’s regime abuses human rights, suppresses dissent, and exploits neighboring countries.

In the shadow of Mondlane

After a historic election and on the eve of celebrating fifty years of independence, Mozambicans need to ask whether the values, symbols, and institutions created to give shape to “national unity” are still legitimate today.

À sombra de Mondlane

Depois de uma eleição histórica e em vésperas de celebrar os 50 anos de independência, os moçambicanos precisam de perguntar se os valores, símbolos e instituições criados para dar forma à “unidade nacional” ainda são legítimos hoje.