Chapter 671 Opportunities in the Northwest
The population of East Africa mainly flows to the three central provinces, and the secondary direction is the northern region. The enemies in East Africa in the south are all lined up, but the north does not have this concern, so the north orderly.
Now that the western section of the Northern Railway is under construction, this has further accelerated the flow of population to the northwest, with the Great Lakes region and the northern industrial belt being the main force.
“The western section of the Northern Railway is less difficult than the Hessian Railway, but the resources along the line are relatively scarce and the return rate is destined to be low. However, if it is connected to the royal territory of Sigmaringen, the future prospects are still good.”
"At present, 30% of the western section of the Northern Railway has been completed. It is expected that the entire line will be completed later and can be put into operation before 1887. By then, it will start from Mombasa in the east and Kabo and Bangui in the west. A northern artery has been formally formed, which will have an important impact on the economy, transportation and national defense of the entire northern region. ”
There are two terminals for the Northern Railway. One is the city of Bangui, which is the capital of Azande Oriental Province and an important river port on the Ubangi River.
The Port of Bangui is an important tributary channel of the Congo River. From here you can reach Kinshasa directly. The navigable reach of the Ubangi River reaches more than 600 kilometers throughout the year. If it is the rainy season, it can directly reach more than 1,400 kilometers. kilometer.
Every year from April to June, the rainy season causes the river water to surge, and the Ubangi River will flow backwards. This is the same reason that the Amazon rainforest rivers directly turn into "oceans" during the rainy season.
The Congo Rainforest is, after all, the second largest tropical rainforest in the world after the Amazon Rainforest, but the Congo Rainforest is mainly located in the Congo Basin, making it very different from the Amazon Rainforest.
This also makes the precipitation in the Congo rainforest an order of magnitude lower than that in the Amazon rainforest, which is directly five times that of the Congo rainforest. This is also the reason why the population of the Congolese rainforest was so much larger than the Amazon rainforest in the previous life.
The Amazon rainforest has almost no population distribution. The two Congolese countries have a population of over 100 million. In fact, it is more appropriate to compare the Congolese rainforest to northeastern India.
The Ganges River in northeastern India, the Brahmaputra River in the Far Eastern Empire, and the Meghna River in Bangladesh share the same outlet, so they are sometimes regarded as one river, with a flow rate that directly exceeds the Congo River. However, this This division scheme has not become mainstream.
But just the small area of Bangladesh has a population of 100 million. The world’s rain pole is also in Cherrapunji in the northeastern region of South Asia. Therefore, the water volume in the Congo River Basin is really not comparable to that in the northeastern region of South Asia. , which has to mention the strong effects of the Himalayas and the South Asian monsoon.
After all, the Congo River Basin covers an area of more than three million square kilometers, and the entire South Asia is almost the same area. The rainfall in the Congo River Basin exceeds 1,500 millimeters, while the northeastern part of South Asia exceeds 2,000 millimeters, and the northeastern part of Bangladesh is even more directly affected. Breaking through 3,000 millimeters, there is no comparison between the two under the same area.
But this is okay. The precipitation in the Congo River Basin can barely meet the standards for human habitation, and it will not be as difficult to develop as the Amazon rainforest.
This is also an important reason why Bangui City has great development prospects in the future. The difficulty of development is not as difficult as imagined, and the transportation conditions are also good. It can not only connect to northwest Angola and the Atlantic Ocean through shipping, but also can undertake the future land transportation between East Africa and West Africa. transportation.
This is very important. There are only two major land countries in northeastern East Africa, the Abyssinian Empire and Egypt. As for the size of even a bunch of colonial economies, they are almost negligible.
West Africa is almost the same area as East Africa and is comparable in resources, especially in iron ore, bauxite, oil and gas resources, etc. It has advantages.
These three resources are relatively lacking in East Africa and can form a complementary relationship with the East African economy. Therefore, it is particularly important to connect Bangui City in East and West Africa. In addition, the most important thing about Bangui City is its military attributes. Only by controlling the upper reaches of the Ubangi River can East Africa ensure that the lower reaches of the Congo River will not be threatened in the future. This is why both sides of the Ubangi River are under East Africa's control.
As for the second terminus of the Northern Railway, which is the city of Kabo, it was completely invested by the Royal Territory of Sigmaringen. Once completed, it will accelerate the development progress of the Royal Territory of Sigmaringen.
“Moreover, the railway is connected to the Hessian Railway in Kisan City (Kisangani), forming a network of the Central Railway and the Northern Railway. The resources of inland industrial provinces such as Matabele Province can be directly passed through Kisan City is transferred to the northern region, and grain is circulated to the northwest region through the Great Lakes Region. Resources from northwest East Africa and West Africa are then spread to the northern industrial belt and the three central provinces through Kisan City. The domestic transportation framework in the central and northern parts is basically the same. "
The central part of East Africa, that is, between the provinces of Swabia, Hohenzollern, Matabele, and the northern provinces of East Azande, New Bavaria, and the Nile Province. separated by the Congo Basin.
After the Hessian Railway (Central Railway) and the Northern Railway are connected in series, a large railway pattern in the central and northern regions can be formed.
The only areas that are not connected are the Somali region and northern Angola. The economies of Somalia and East Africa mainly rely on roads and sea transportation, and rely on the Juba River and the Shabelle River. The population and economy are distributed in a long and narrow way. Sea-river intermodal transportation is easy to achieve, so railways are not very urgent for the Somali region.
Northern Angola is in the hands of the Portuguese, so the end point of the western section of the Central Province Railway has always been in the design blueprint of the Ministry of Railways.
“According to the current construction progress of the Northern Railway, we can also carry out industrial planning for the three northwest provinces and the royal territory of Sigmaringen along the railway, mainly including the three provinces of the Northern Industrial Belt, the two provinces of the Great Lakes Region, and the The three northwest provinces will provide counterpart support. "
"The first is to increase the population of the three northwest provinces and build a group of farmland and villages along the railway line to realize the development of the land in the three northwest provinces. Secondly, because of the railway construction, it is also necessary. Replan the original transportation pattern within the three northwest provinces and reconstruct the transportation layout of the three northwest provinces through highways. "
After the railway passes through, the cities of the immigration strongholds and villages in the three northwest provinces that were originally distributed based on terrain and highways will inevitably be re-planned. , the most important thing is to open up the connection with the Northern Railway, so that the three northwest provinces can be effectively utilized and developed.
“The Immigration Department’s plan is to import at least 300,000 people to the three northwest provinces within three years after the railway is put into operation, 20% of which will be dispatched from the relatively densely populated northern industrial belt and the Great Lakes region, plus Sigmaringen With the development of the royal territory, the population of the three northwest provinces will reach one million by the end of this century, around 1890.”
The development history of the three northwest provinces is not short. They were incorporated into East Africa at the same time as the three central provinces. However, their development mainly relied on the military and trade with the indigenous countries and tribes of West Africa.
However, since East Africa supported the construction of the Sigmaringen royal territory, the trade between East Africa and West Africa has been basically cut off. If you want to rebuild the trade channel, you must at least wait until the Sigmaringen royal territory is completely stabilized.
According to the calculations of the East African government, optimistic estimates suggest that this may take up to several years, because after all, Sigmaringen cannot be as wealthy as East Africa, and it will take a lot of money for the Sigmaringen Royal Territory just to learn from the experience of East Africa. less time.
However, this is an early stage investment for East Africa. Although the royal territory of Sigmaringen cannot bring value to East Africa now, once it takes shape, the value it creates will definitely be much stronger than that of the indigenous people. In this way, It can drive the future development of northwestern East Africa.
(End of this chapter)