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The consequences of ethnic diversity in Africa have been widely noted. However, the sources of this diversity remain unexplained, which is surprising in light of Africa's high level of ethnic diversity as well as its large internal variation. Here I show that ethnic diversity in Africa is a result of its tropical location, the pre-colonial slave trade, the colonial creation of large states, and low levels of urbanization, and that my results are robust to various controls. I also show that controlling for the slave trade eliminates the statistical significance of an Africa dummy variable in regressions using data on global ethnic diversity.

The consequences of ethnic diversity in Africa have been widely noted. However, the sources of this diversity remain unexplained, which is surprising in light of Africa's high level of ethnic diversity as well as its large internal variation. Here I show that ethnic diversity in Africa is a result of its tropical location, the pre-colonial slave trade, the colonial creation of large states, and low levels of urbanization, and that my results are robust to various controls. I also show that controlling for the slave trade eliminates the statistical significance of an Africa dummy variable in regressions using data on global ethnic diversity. [Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications Ltd., copyright, the International Political Science Association.]

The historical development of the modern state is marked by, among other important changes, the transformation of political legitimacy from the authority of princes to the mandate of the people, from dynastic to popular legitimacy. Since states are the creatures not only of their domestic environment but also of international society, we must distinguish between internal and international legitimacy. Martin Wight defines the latter as 'the collective judgement of international society [i.e. other states] about rightful membership of the family of nations'. According to him, the convention of international legitimation that has predominated since 1945 is based on the combined and paradoxical principles of majority rule, which rejects the legitimacy of colonialism, and territorial integrity, which nevertheless accepts territorial divisions established under colonialism. We define internal legitimacy as the recognition of a state and its government as rightful by its population, which during the modern era has increasingly meant a popular recognition democratically expressed.

Interne (durch das Volk) und externe (durch die internationale Gemeinschaft) Legitimierung der afrikanischen multi-ethnischen Staaten innerhalb ihrer verbliebenen kolonialen Grenzen. Selbstbestimmung führte zur Unabhängigkeit von Kolonien, nicht von Ethnien. Nur einer repräsentativen und starken Führung (meist über den Einparteienstaat und/oder Personenkult) ist es möglich, den internen staatlichen Zusammenhalt trotz ethnischer Vielfalt zu sichern. (DÜI-Hlb)