The Library recently purchased Colonial Africa in Official Statistics, 1821-1953 as an online resource. This resource is also referred to as the “African Blue Books, 1821-1953”.
The resource provides rich statistical information about thirteen colonies across Africa during the colonial period. Statistics include the revenue and expenditure, population, education, trade, agriculture, and land of a colony. The Cape of Good Hope is one of the colonies included in the resource, with statistics provided for the period 1821 to 1909. Other colonies covered include Basutoland (Lesotho), Gold Coast (Ghana), East Africa Protectorate (Kenya), Lagos (Nigeria), Nyasaland (Malawi) and Tanganyika (Tanzania).
Colonial Africa in Official Statistics, 1821-1953 will be particularly useful to researchers who, equipped with new statistical tools, explore historical datasets to answer new questions about the African past.
Colonial Africa in Official Statistics, 1821-1953 is available via the Databases A-Z list on the Library website, on campus as well as off campus.
For more information, please contact Naomi Visser at nrv@sun.ac.za or 021 808 4433.
Sources:
Governing Africa: British records from African countries under colonial rule. British Online Archives. https://microform-digital.ez.sun.ac.za/boa/series/18/governing-africa-british-records-from-african-countries-under-colonial-rule. Accessed 13 September 2019.