Then, with 100 million people, it represented 20% of the world’s population. By the middle of the nineteenth century, after more than 200 years of colonialism and slavery, Africa’s population had fallen to 95 million – just 9% of the world total – whereas other continents had experienced a large population increase over the same period.
与此形成对比的是，如今非洲正在走向重回历史主体（subject of history）之路。非洲有十亿多居民，占世界人口的18%，它正在重新获得十六世纪初的地位。当时的欧洲有一亿人，占世界人口的20%。到十九世纪中叶，在经历了200多年的殖民和奴役后，非洲人口下降到9,500万，只占世界总数的9%，与此同时，其他大洲经历了人口的大规模增长。