History Main / AfricaIsACountry

* ''Manga/Cyborg009'': In the original run, each member of the team had a home country, except for Pyunma, the token black character, whose home was listed as "Africa". In the 1992 series, he is specifically Kenyan.

** Joseph Joestar learns in ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders'' that Dio Brando's coffin was found near "The Coast of Africa". The entire arc is focused on the gang's trek through the Middle East & Egypt, the latter depicted more as a Middle-Eastern nation than an African one. Strangely Muhammad Avdol is a black man born and raised in Egypt the same way any white man would be born and raised in France or Germany.
** It is mentioned passingly in ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind'' that Polnareff and Jotaro were traveling the world looking for dangerous [[FightingSpirit Stand Users]]. Polnareff decides to search through Africa... then Europe. While Jotaro searches the Americas and Asia. A single person searching an entire continent seems a bit silly, even taking into account how Stand Users tend to be innately drawn to each other.

* One particular form of Pan-Africanism sees the current African countries as the arbitrary creations of European colonialism,[[note]]This is largely true; aside from Ethiopia and Liberia (itself a recent creation by former slaves in America who returned to the continent but not to their ancestral nations), nearly the entire continent was under colonial rule for generations. After decolonization, only a few of the resulting countries can truly be considered a successor to any particular precolonial nation. Most are amalgamations of the territories of multiple tribes or kingdoms that weren't necessarily friendly with each other.[[/note]] and seeks to unify Africa economically and politically, invoking the trope. However, Ghanaian president and revolutionary Kwame Nkrumah proposed a far more suitable arrangement: creating an economic and political union between all African states, similar to today's EU. An African Union actually does exist and includes all African nations, though so far it's a much looser organization than the EU.

** African-Americans and other displaced Africans are infrequent. You can count the amount of times Africa is mentioned throughout the entire 8 part manga on one hand, and no country is referenced).

** During ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind'', Polnareff and Jotaro travel the world looking for dangerous [[FightingSpirit Stand Users]]. Polnareff decides to search through Africa... then Europe. While Jotaro searches the Americas and Asia. A single person searching an entire continent seems a bit silly, even taking into account how Stand Users tend to be innately drawn to each other.

Christ there's a book about this somewhere. Right

... There it is!

'''''Ahem'''''

"Where in Africa?" you might ask? Well... Africa. It's just one big country, right? [[NationalStereotypes/{{Africa}} Full of starving black children?]]

* A meta example. In a [[http://onepiece.wikia.com/wiki/SBS SBS]] manga column for ''Franchise/OnePiece'', a fan asked Creator/EiichiroOda which real-world ''countries'' each of the Straw Hats would come from. He answers by saying that Luffy would be UsefulNotes/{{Brazil}}ian, Zoro is UsefulNotes/{{Japan}}ese, Nami's UsefulNotes/{{Swed|en}}ish, Sanji's UsefulNotes/{{Fr|ance}}ench, Chopper's UsefulNotes/{{Canad|a}}ian, Robin's UsefulNotes/{{Russia}}n, Franky's [[UsefulNotes/TheUnitedStates American]], Brook's UsefulNotes/{{Austria}}n... and Usopp? Oda says that he's ''UsefulNotes/{{Africa}}n''.

* Zig-Zagged in ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure''. African-Americans and other displaced Africans are infrequent. You can count the amount of times Africa is mentioned throughout the entire 8 part manga on one hand, and no country is referenced).

* In the original run of ''Manga/{{Cyborg 009}}'', each member of the team had a home country, except for Pyunma, the token black character, whose home was listed as "Africa". In 1992, he was finally retconned into being Kenyan.

* ''{{ComicBook/Hellboy}}'': During his soul-searching wanderings, Hellboy speaks to the "spirit of Africa" at one point, who appears as a gigantic rhinoceros.

* The ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'' universe has two Mega-Cities in Africa: Luxor City, which is Egypt (and [[EgyptIsStillAncient is still ancient]]), and Simba City, which is everywhere else, plus the even more vaguely defined region of "Pan-Africa". To be fair, some writers have attempted to give "Pan-Africa" a bit more depth, and it's not like the portrayal of other areas is much different (there's also a single Euro City).

* The film ''Film/AFarOffPlace'' was shot in Namibia and Zimbabwe, but when the character Harry lands at the Parkers’ preserve, it is not made clear which country he’s in and he just refers to Africa itself. Later, Nonnie’s father arguably invokes the trope when he is in a heated conversation with the film’s BigBad.
-->'''Ricketts''': I really don't think you understand the kind of men you're dealing with.
-->'''Mr. Parker''': I understand they're butchering the soul of Africa.
-->'''Ricketts''': You talk like a bloody missionary.
-->'''Mr. Parker''': And why not? This is the last country with a soul.

* In ''Film/SantaClaus1959'', Santa's workshop is staffed with children from all over the world, with some of them grouped by country, some by continent, and some by subcontinental regions. Naturally the kids from Africa are all lumped together, with "the Orient". The Caribbean, South America, and "Central America" also getting the same treatment. Meanwhile China, Japan, Russia, England, France, Germany, The USA, and Mexico all get individually featured (with some of the kids in multiple groups just to make it confusing).

** Zig-Zagged. Many local characters refer to Africa as their homeland, but it's obvious that by Africa they mean [[NoTrueScotsman "the country of Botswana", where the stories are set, and have their own prejudices against various African ethnic groups]]. Similarly, many references to African attitudes (compared to, for example, European or American) generally only apply to the specific language, climate and culture of that region of UsefulNotes/{{Botswana}}.

* Happens InUniverse in ''Literature/ThePillarsOfTheEarth''. One of the "natives" Jack brings home along with a new idol claims that he comes from a country called Africa. The ignorant townspeople buy it, but Philip, who is more educated, realises that they're just some random Englishmen that Jack has recruited to add more dazzle to the idol.
* There is a FantasyCounterpartCulture example in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''. Westeros and Essos, the series' counterpart of Great Britain and Eurasia, are explored in detail and have many places identified. In contrast, Sothoryos, the equivalent of Africa, has no named regions, places, or cities. The islands around it are identified (the Summer Isles is mentioned quite often, while Naath is where Daenerys' translator, Missandei, came from), but not the continent itself. ''Literature/TheWorldOfIceAndFire'' namedrops several cities in northern Sothoryos, but all of them have been long abandoned, hence why they are never mentioned in the main series. Because of the pre-modern tech, no one from Westeros and Essos have managed to chart the entire world, though. Presumably, there are cities in southern Sothoryos. A DragonRider from the former Valyrian Freehold attempted to explore the continent on dragonback for three full years, but only found endless jungle and desert before turning back.

* In one episode of ''Series/WhoseLineIsItAnyway'', Drew Carey called Africa a great country. Creator/GregProops responds "It's also a ''continent'' if you're a geographer!" The contestants turned it into a RunningGag for the rest of the episode.

Such misconceptions about Africa comes from a widespread lack of cultural awareness regarding the continent. When a work takes place in a country or culture other than the target audience's, creators will often just go with what they know. The average American is usually much more aware of the familiar cultures of UsefulNotes/{{France}} and UsefulNotes/{{Germany}} than of faraway places like UsefulNotes/{{Mauritania}}and UsefulNotes/{{Tanzania}}. When tasked with creating depictions of Africa, a mostly-white team catering to a mostly-white audience will often just lump the whole continent together.

Even African-Americans are sometimes guilty of this trope, because they are thoroughly Westernized and consume Western media. A perennial failure is the attempt to "reclaim the culture of their homeland" with zero knowledge of what it means, resulting in cultural appropriation. An example is the erroneous usage of Swahili, a language from Eastern Africa that would have been totally foreign to the ancestors of most African-Americans, who came from Western Africa.[[note]]although Swahili is known within Africa for being the closest thing to an official language of pan-Africanism, so there may be some overlap with that concept.[[/note]] In fact, the very term "African-American" became so much more prevalent than "European-American" for white Americans in part because of this trope. While European-Americans are usually well aware of which European country their ancestors came from and thus are more likely to call themselves "Irish-American", "German-American" etc, the descendants of slaves usually only know their ancestors were abducted or purchased from ''somewhere'' in Africa.

Though this has become a DiscreditedTrope, it still occasionally comes into play due to cultural ignorance and Africa's relatively small amount of representation in mass media. Longstanding racism and xenophobia from foreigners, not to mention widespread instability (or the perception thereof), mean that much of Africa is rarely visited by Westerners, perpetuating its status as an eternally unstable "country".

Website/{{Wikipedia}} includes this in its list of African stereotypes. Africa is home to over 50 different countries with their own distinct cultures, histories, and backgrounds. On scale to most of European history. 25% of the languages spoken in Africa are not recognized by international agencies like the United Nations, which is a testament to its diversity.

Subtrope to GlobalIgnorance. Compare InterchangeableAsianCultures and {{Mayincatec}}, where Asian and Native American cultures are treated similarly AncientGrome and {{Scotireland}} are where European sub-cultures are mixed for the sake of ease rather than stereotypes. {{Spexico}} is where Spain and Mexico (and by extension, other Hispanic countries) are seen as one and the same. See also DarkestAfrica, where the entire continent is depicted as a dark and mysterious place, and {{Bulungi}}, a fictitious African country which incorporates many of the same stereotypes. Often linked to DevelopingNationsLackCities when Africa is just seen as rural and poor with no metropolis area.

Such misconceptions about Africa comes from lack of cultural awareness regarding the continent compared to others. When a work takes place in a country or culture other than the target audience's, creators will go with what they know. The average American audience might be more aware of the familiar cultures of UsefulNotes/{{France}} and UsefulNotes/{{Germany}} than faraway places like UsefulNotes/{{Mauritania}}and UsefulNotes/{{Tanzania}}. When tasked with creating depictions of Africa, a mostly-white team catering to a mostly-white audience will often just lump the whole continent together.

"Where in Africa?" you might ask? Well... Africa. It's just one big country, right? [[NationalStereotypes/Africa Full of starving black children?]]

Such misconceptions about Africa comes from lack of cultural awareness regarding the continent compared to others. When a work takes place in a country or culture other than the target audience's, creators will go with what they know. The average American audience might be more aware of the distinctly European cultures of UsefulNotes/{{France}} and UsefulNotes/{{Germany}} than faraway places like UsefulNotes/{{Mauritania}}and UsefulNotes/{{Tanzania}}. When tasked with creating depictions of Africa, a mostly-white team catering to a mostly-white audience will often just lump the whole continent together.

The large collection of cultures in Africa might be stereotyped and crudely amalgamated. Most of the Africans in-story might be living in villages or mud-huts. And even if it's respected as an intelligent and innovative society (in possession of phones, having a local KFC, teeming with business), it will still be known as ''just'' Africa instead of a particular country. Good luck finding an average Joe who can name an African country other than "Egypt", "Nigeria" or "South Africa", and that's if he even considers them countries rather than regions.

Northern Africa is an exception to this stereotyping, because it is culturally, demographically, and historically distinct from sub-Saharan Africa, having experienced an extended period of Roman and Arab conquests since antiquity. That is not to say that it does not have [[{{Qurac}} its own problem of generalization]], though that means this trope rarely applies to it.

It is sad to say, but the trope is very much still in play in popular culture. Even satirical works often fall victim to this trap. In contrast, its sister trope, InterchangeableAsianCultures, is slowly going into DeadHorseTrope territory by this point. This is cyclical, as UsefulNotes/{{Asia}} has seen its population gaining more and more representations in Western pop culture, fighting off generalization. Africa, on the other hand, has little representation in mass media. Longstanding racism and xenophobia from foreigners, not to mention the appearance of instability or the perception thereof, mean that barring some places, it is rarely visited by foreigners, perpetuating its status as an eternally unstable "country".

This trope is for when the African continent and its people are generalized to the point of undermining their diversity. If Africa is seen as one big '''continent''' and not a country, this trope does not apply. Even when not demonstrated in-story calling it a continent comes with the pre-existing notion that there are multiple countries and cultures within it. Neglecting to portray Africa in any capacity counts as a complete aversion of the trope, if displaced Africans and Afro-American/British culture are present. This trope also does not apply if other nations are referenced by their continent name, this is GlobalIgnorance, as the whole world is being generalized for ease rather than out of ignorance. A particular country does not have to be mentioned for this trope to be averted, an understanding of Africa's diversity in the work or an equal level of ignorance presented when depicting other continents will do.

Administrivia/TropesAreTools, of course. Like other continents, Africa is home to a variety of cultures, languages and countries, so creators might want to simplify things. That said, creators should do some research rather than generalizing a continent worth of people they do not know.

The main character and his crew journey to UsefulNotes/{{Britain}}, UsefulNotes/{{Croatia}}, UsefulNotes/{{Ukraine}}, and UsefulNotes/{{Poland}} in order to fight against evil. The work does its best to properly reflect the culture and diversity of UsefulNotes/{{Europe}} as long as it's relevant. But our heroes cannot stay in Europe. Now they must brave the land of Africa.

"Where in Africa?" You ask? Well... Africa. It's just one big country, right? Full of starving black children?

''No?'' Well there's a book about this right... there it is.

There is a longstanding misconception that Africa is just one giant country. This comes from lack of cultural awareness regarding the continent compared to others but some choose to remain ignorant. When a work takes place in a country or culture other than the target audience's, creators will go with what they know. The average American audience might be more aware of the love rich culture of UsefulNotes/{{France}} and the beef-rich cuisine in UsefulNotes/{{Germany}} than the urban cities of UsefulNotes/SouthAfrica or the dense rainforests of UsefulNotes/{{Madagascar}}. So a mostly white team to a mostly white audience would just lump the whole thing together. Or better yet refer to it as UsefulNotes/{{Nigeria}} when the story is clearly taking place in UsefulNotes/{{Sudan}}.

The very large motley of cultures in Africa might be stereotyped and crudely amalgamated. Most of the Africans in-story might be living in villages or mud-huts. And even if it's respected as an intelligent and innovative society (in possession of phones, having a local KFC, teeming with business), it will still be known as ''just'' Africa instead of a particular country. Good luck finding an average Joe who can name an African country other than "Egypt", "Nigeria" or "South Africa", and that's if he even considers them countries rather than regions.

* Played straight with ''Martial Champion'' for the Arcade: as usual for the time, the cast features stereotypical characters from around the world (e.g., a Kabuki man from Japan, a martial arts drunken master from China, etc.). There is even a character that hails from Kenya, named Mahambah. On his character profile screen, the Kenyan flag is clearly shown, but its profile lists his nationality as "African".

* Played straight with ''Martial Champion'' for the Arcade: as usual for the time, the cast features stereotypical characters from around the world (e.g., a Kabuki man from Japan, a martial master drunken master from China, etc.). There is even a character that hails from Kenya, named Mahambah. On his character profile screen, the Kenyan flag is clearly shown, but its profile lists his nationality as "African".

* While the rest of the ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' franchise is sensitive enough to specify an African country when relevant (Raiden is a Caucasian child soldier born in Liberia), ''VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance'' opens up with Raiden and Prime Minister N'mani talking about the effectiveness of threats of violence in reducing military conflict. The event is called "Ambush in Africa", while not identifying which country. Sundowner gives a rousing speech about "Africa" getting too peaceful, not only undermining the fact N'Mani is minister to a single country within Africa but also playing into "War-torn Africa" stereotypes without any ''Metal Gear'' lore to support it. Every character in the game simply refers to it as "Africa". The ''Metal Gear'' Wiki did a better job to just name it [[https://metalgear.fandom.com/wiki/N%27mani%27s_country_(Africa) "N'mani's country (Africa)"]]

* Satirized in ''VideoGame/{{Broforce}}'', where one of the later levels in the finished game is "the mysterious land of Afreeka" and the entire African continent is highlighted, rather than just a single country. However, the game has previously poked fun at [[BadassCrew the main characters]] and their [[MissionControl commanding officer]], implying that they're [[{{Eagleland}} well meaning but obnoxious Americans]] with a pretty severe case of GlobalIgnorance. As the game's developers are from UsefulNotes/SouthAfrica, it's pretty safe to assume that they're in on the joke.

* Averted throughout the ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}}'' series, which consistently portrays specific ''countries'' in Africa. Most of them are historical, however; the only one that leans towards modernity is Ethiopia in ''V'', and even then it's presented as it was under Haile Selassie.

* During the debut of the mobile game ''Salaam'' at the 2019 Game Awards, Sudanese video game developer Lual Mayen said he is "From Africa, as a refugee". Since he obviously knows he grew up in Sudan, he must've felt it wasn't important to specify, invoking this trope.

* Zig-Zagged in ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure''. African-Americans and other displaced Africans are infrequent, and the series demonstrates good knowledge of African-American struggles. Although Africa itself is only referred to twice through the entire manga, and no country is referenced.

* At [[Ride/WaltDisneyWorld Epcot]]'s World Showcase, the treatment of Africa seems to come off like this. The only African country with a pavilion dedicated to it is UsefulNotes/{{Morocco}}, a North African, Muslim nation. The rest of the continent is represented solely by a small "African-themed" snack stand called The Outpost, located between the China and Germany pavilions.

* There is a FantasyCounterpartCulture example in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''. Westeros and Essos, the series' counterpart of Great Britain and Eurasia, are explored in detail and have many places identified. In contrast, Sothoryos, the equivalent of Africa, has no named regions, places, or cities. The islands around it are identified (the Summer Isles is mentioned quite often, while Naath is where Daenerys' translator, Missandei, came from), but not the continent itself. ''Literature/TheWorldOfIceAndFire'' namedrops several cities in northern Sothoryos, but all of them have been long abandoned, hence why they are never mentioned in the main series. Because of the pre-modern tech, no one from Westeros and Essos have managed to chart the entire world, though. Presumably, there are cities in southern Sothoryos.

* Zig-zagged with Batwing in ''Comicbook/GrantMorrisonsBatman''. David Zavimbe is introduced as specifically operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but is also referred to as "the Batman of Africa", and appears to be the only Batman Incorporated representative on the entire continent. By contrast, there are three members based in the UK: Knight, Squire, and the Hood, while the US has almost the entire "core" Bat-Family, plus Man-of-Bats and Raven Red.
* The ''Comicbook/JudgeDredd'' universe has two Mega-Cities in Africa: Luxor City, which is Egypt (and [[EgyptIsStillAncient is still ancient]]), and Simba City, which is everywhere else, plus the even more vaguely defined region of "Pan-Africa". To be fair, some writers have attempted to give "Pan-Africa" a bit more depth, and it's not like the portrayal of other areas is much different (there's also a single Euro City).

* While the rest of the ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' franchise is sensitive enough to specify an African country when relevant (Raiden is a Caucasian child soldier born in Liberia), ''VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance'' opens up with Raiden and Prime Minister N'mani talking about the effectiveness of threats of violence in reducing military conflict. The event is called "Ambush in Africa", while not identifying which country. Sundowner gives a rousing speech about "Africa" getting too peaceful, not only undermining the fact N'Mani is minister to a single country within Africa but also playing into "War-torn Africa" stereotypes without any Metal Gear lore to support it. Every character in the game simply refers to it as "Africa". The Metal Gear Wiki did a better job to just name it [[https://metalgear.fandom.com/wiki/N%27mani%27s_country_(Africa) "N'mani's country (Africa)"]]

* The ''Comicbook/JudgeDredd'' universe has two Mega-Cities in Africa: Luxor City, which is EgyptIsAlwaysAncient, and Simba City, which is everywhere else, plus the even more vaguely defined region of "Pan-Africa". To be fair, some writers have attempted to give "Pan-Africa" a bit more depth, and it's not like the portrayal of other areas is much different (there's also a single Euro City).

* In AncientRome, the province of Africa Proconsularis, comprising modern-day Tunis, the north east of Algeria and north Lybia, was commonly known and referred to as just Africa.

* In AncientRome, the province of Africa Proconsularis, comprising modern-day Tunis, the north east of Algeria and north Lybia, was commonly known and referred to as Africa.

* While few stereotypes were in play, ''Manga/KenganAshura'' is a martial-arts focused [=anime/manga=] with mainly Japanese fighters. Although the Annihilation Tournament had few foreign fighters, Adam Dudley from Texas, USA, Julius Reinhold from Germany, Mokichi Robinson from the UK, and Muteba Gizenga from ''Africa''.