Chapter 1064 Population and Cities
In 1909, the decennial census in East Africa was launched again, and the experienced East African government quickly obtained approximate population data.
The data that the East African government attaches great importance to are the latest total national population, current urbanization level, urban population size, etc.
Although East Africa's industry developed rapidly during the First Five-Year Plan, there were no relatively detailed statistical data on East Africa at that time, which makes the current urbanization level in East Africa shrouded in a layer of fog.
For example, in 1905, the East African government estimated that the urbanization rate at that time was about 27%. However, this was just a guess. With the launch of a large-scale census in East Africa, it will be clearer and clearer this time. Comprehensive understanding of the national development situation in East Africa in the past ten years.
This census is still led by the East African Statistics Department, covering both rural and urban areas, including special systems and departments such as the military.
Luo Song, Director of the National Bureau of Statistics of the Rhine Empire: "As of October 11, 1909, our country's native population totaled 112.36 million, and the population exceeded 100 million for the first time. It firmly ranks as the fourth most populous country in the world, only in the Far East. After the Empire, Britain, and Russia, it ranks before the United States and France. "
This data obviously includes the colonial population of other countries. Among them, the British plus colonial population exceeds 400 million, and India alone exceeds 2. billion, while France plus its colonies had a population of nearly 100 million.
The population of France has still not exceeded 40 million. You must know that as early as the early 19th century, the population of France exceeded 30 million, which was higher than that of Germany, which was not yet unified at the time. Regardless of colonial factors, the population of France at that time Only after the Far Eastern Empire, Russia and India.
Even in the mid-19th century, France's population was still higher than Germany's. At that time, France's population was about 35 million, while Germany's area was almost 27 million. In 1910, France's population was about 39 million. , close to 40 million, while Germany has exceeded 60 million, and even Britain's native population exceeds France by a slight margin.
In recent decades, France's population has grown less than nearly 4 million, and slow population growth is also the main reason why France's industrial development has been severely restricted. The most direct manifestation is that French cities cannot obtain a large number of domestic labor. In contrast, Germany has not only The dividends brought by population growth have stimulated the development of the country's industry. At the same time, the spillover population has also made great contributions to East Africa, the United States, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Argentina and other countries.
In the past ten years, the U.S. population has grown at an exaggerated rate, from more than 70 million to more than 90 million. In addition to the natural growth of the native population, the United States has regained the world's largest immigrant population from East Africa. The name of the destination country, and this decade happens to be the peak period of the new population in the United States. With the blessing of high fertility rate and immigration, the population growth of the United States can be said to be no less than that of East Africa. In the past ten years alone, the population growth of the United States is not inferior to that of East Africa. The population increase is almost equivalent to that of more than half of the United States.
As for Russia, its performance is still stable. According to the predictions of the East African government, Russia's population may have exceeded the 150 million mark.
“As of this year, my country’s urbanization rate has reached 28.7%, and the country’s urban population has exceeded the 30 million mark, once again taking a solid step forward in urbanization.”< br>
Before the First Five-Year Plan, the urbanization level in East Africa was around 23%. When the Second Five-Year Plan was completed, the urbanization level in East Africa had increased by approximately five percentage points.
This achievement is quite outstanding. In the first two five-year plans of the former Soviet Union, the urbanization level increased by about 10%, although East Africa only reached half of that of the Soviet Union.
But the main reason is that the East African Five-Year Plan formulation strategy is different from that of the Soviet Union. The East African Five-Year Plan focuses more on stability, while the Soviet Union's first two Five-Year Plans are more radical in comparison, so the Soviet Union focuses on the whole country. It is normal to develop industries with high intensity in a short period of time and achieve higher results than those in East Africa.
Furthermore, the national conditions faced by the two countries in the early stages of the Five-Year Plan were different. During the Tsarist Russia, the highest urbanization rate in Russia reached about 18%, while East Africa had already reached 100% before the First Five-Year Plan. Twenty-three points.
During the Soviet Russia period, due to the turmoil in the country, the war had a serious negative impact on the initial regime. The level of urbanization declined instead of increasing, reaching a minimum of less than 16%. By the time the Soviet Union launched its Five-Year Plan Only then did the Soviet Union’s urbanization level return to 18%, which was Russia’s pre-war level.
The low level of urbanization made the Soviet Union’s Five-Year Plan more effective to a certain extent. Just like an exam, low-scoring candidates have high room for improvement and great potential. This is not the case in East Africa. The industrial development in East Africa has been continuous. In the 1990s, preliminary exploration of the five-year plan was actually launched. It was also more capable in the 20th century and was less affected by external factors.
In addition to the invasion of other countries, this external factor also includes the impact of the world market. The Soviet Union’s Five-Year Plan coincided with the Great Depression in the capitalist countries, but East Africa did not have such opportunities, so the development of the East African industrial plan was relatively As far as the Soviet Union is concerned, it is relatively satisfactory.
Luo Song continued: "The urban population has continued to grow in the past ten years, and the population size has nearly doubled from more than 10 million."
The First Five-Year Plan Previously, the urban population of East Africa was about 18 million. By the end of the Second Five-Year Plan, the industrial population of East Africa had increased to more than 30 million. In addition to the increase in urbanization level, the growth of the national population in East Africa is also a factor that cannot be ignored. .
In 1900, the population of East Africa was only over 80 million, but now it has exceeded 100 million. If the urbanization rate remains unchanged, the urban population of East Africa will also increase significantly. Therefore, the urban population growth of East Africa and the country's industrial development policy Closely related, without good policy guidance, population growth will even become a burden for industrial development.
“As of October this year, the number of cities in our country with a population of over 100,000 has reached 63. Among them, the population of Dar es Salaam has exceeded one million for the first time, and the population of Mombasa has also increased to 900,000. At the same time, there are 12 cities The urban population has exceeded 500,000. "
East African cities are developing relatively rapidly. Although there is only one city in East Africa with over one million, and it only just exceeds one million, it is still not very conspicuous in other countries. East Africa has a large number of medium-sized cities with a population of more than half a million, and many cities with a population of more than 100,000.
In the same period, there were more than 40 cities in Germany with a population of more than 100,000. Berlin’s population was close to 3 million, and its urbanization level reached over 60%.
This also shows the gap between East African industry and Germany today. The population of East Africa is nearly double that of Germany, but the urban population only reaches the level of Germany in the late last century.
“my country’s medium and large cities are mainly concentrated in the east and west coasts and the central region. Among them, the urban population growth rate in the west and Mozambique is the fastest, while the urban population growth in other regions is relatively slow.”
The industrial and transportation layout makes the development of East African cities relatively balanced, which is especially conducive to the development of emerging cities such as Beira, Cabinda, Luanda and the East African capital Rhine.
This has also tilted East African policies towards these regions. Otherwise, the population of old cities such as Dar es Salaam would have exceeded one million in the last century.
The urbanization rate in East Africa still has a lot of room to increase. For example, the urbanization rate in the United States is also around 50%, which is nearly 20 percentage points higher than that in East Africa. However, the urbanization level in East Africa is also more than has exceeded the world average level and is firmly moving towards becoming an industrialized power.
In addition to its own citizens, the East African government is also more concerned about black population data. However, with the implementation of the two five-year plans, the number of black people in East Africa may once again suffer a huge loss.
Sure enough, Luo Song said: "As of 1909, the number of illegal workers in our country was about seven million, most of which were distributed in the west, south and north."
The black population in East Africa has completely dropped by tens of millions, and it has almost no impact on the population structure of East Africa. Even if there is an East African version of the "liberation of black slaves" movement at this time, it is unlikely to have an impact on East African society.
(End of this chapter)