Research Help: Country Info and More! - Discovery Seminar - Shomade - Fall 2020

Researching African Countries

In this section you will learn about how to find information on African countries, which will help you complete your research for this class. See the tabs above for help finding country information, newspapers, and journal articles.

NEXT: Click on the tab Country Information

Country Information

Looking for country information like population, economic growth, or other statistics? These sites are good places to find facts and figures.

Afrobarometer
The Afrobarometers are an ongoing series of surveys conducted amongst countries in sub-Saharan Africa, focusing on topics such as political participation, national identity, civil society, and other such topics. Data from the Afrobarometers are available from the project site and also via the ICPSR.
CIA World Factbook
The World Factbook provides information on the history, people and society, government, economy, energy, geography, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues for 267 world entities.
U.S. Department of State
Contains information on the geography, people, government, economy, history, government and political conditions, principal government officials, foreign relations, defense, and more for each country with which the US has diplomatic relations.
World Bank Country Profiles
Includes statistics, charts, and indicators.

NEXT: Click on the tab Newspapers

Newspaper Databases

Looking for newspaper articles, current or historical? These databases are good places to search. Emory also has databases of publications on colonial law which may be helpful for your research.

Newspapers

All Africa.com
Current news from African media outlets, including newspapers, news agencies and publications across the African continent, and more.
World Newspaper Archive
An ongoing project to produce searchable full text of historical newspapers from around the world. Initially will contain selected newspapers from Latin America, Africa and South Asia.
African Newspapers: The British Library Collection
African Newspapers: The British Library Collection features 64 newspapers from throughout Africa, all published before 1901.

African Newspapers: The British Library Collection includes publications from Djibouti, Egypt, Mauritius and Saint Helena, as well as deep new coverage of Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and South Africa. Africa produced comparatively few newspapers in the 19th century, each page in this collection is significant, offering invaluable insight into the people, issues and events that shaped the continent. Through eyewitness reporting, editorials, letters, advertisements. obituaries and military reports, the newspapers in this one-of-a-kind collection chronicle African history and daily life as never before. Students and researchers will find news and analysis covering the European exploration of Africa, colonial exploitation, economics, Atlantic trade, the mapping of the continent, early moves towards self-governance, the growth of South Africa and much more.

Colonial Law Gazettes

Colonial Law in Africa, 1808-1919
Colonial Law in Africa, 1808-1919: These African laws cover the abolition of slavery and World War 1. Originally known as the 'Government Gazettes', each item contains the colonial laws for the year they were published.

The legal records also include property for sale, probate records and bankruptcy notices. This is the first part of the three part series 'Colonial Law in Africa'. These items cover the Napoleonic Wars, the Boer War and the First World War. They also cover the abolition of the legal status of slavery. These gazettes were published alongside the African Blue Books of Statistics during the 19th and 20th centuries. The territories covered by the collection include Kenya, Nigeria (Lagos), Zambia (Northern Rhodesia), Malawi (Nyasaland), Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe (Southern Rhodesia), The Gambia, Ghana (Gold Coast), Uganda, Tanzania (Zanzibar).
Colonial Law in Africa, 1920-1945
Colonial Law in Africa, 1920-1945: These years saw legal changes of ownership as the empire claimed more African countries. Originally known as the 'Government Gazettes', each item contains the colonial laws for the year they were published.

A series of legal notices also reveal the impact of the Treaty of Versailles on Tanzania. The Second World War then led to a series of new laws in these colonies. These gazettes were published alongside the African Blue Books of Statistics during the 19th and 20th centuries. the colonial laws for the year they were published. The legal records also include property for sale, probate records and bankruptcy notices. This is the second part of the three part series 'Colonial Law in Africa'. These records cover the transfer of Southern Rhodesia from the British South Africa The territories covered by the collection include: Kenya, Nigeria (Lagos), Zambia (Northern Rhodesia), Malawi (Nyasaland), Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe (Southern Rhodesia), Tanzania (Tanganyika), The Gambia, Ghana (Gold Coast), Uganda, and Tanzania (Zanzibar).
Colonial Law in Africa, 1946-1966
These African laws and ordinances cover the Mau Mau uprising & creation of the first legislative councils. These gazettes contain copies of the laws and ordinances which were introduced in the years they cover.

Each item was originally published as the Government Gazette for a colony and year. Their contents include tenders of property, probate records and insolvency notices. This is the third part of the three part series Colonial Law in Africa. These papers cover the Mau Mau uprising, the creation of the first legislative councils and legal changes to transfer power to those councils. These gazettes were published alongside the African Blue Books of Statistics during the 19th and 20th centuries. The territories covered by the collection include: Lesotho (Basutoland), Kenya, Nigeria (Lagos), Zambia (Northern Rhodesia), Malawi (Nyasaland), Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe (Southern Rhodesia), Tanzania (Tanganyika), The Gambia, Ghana (Gold Coast), Uganda, and Tanzania (Zanzibar).

NEXT: Click on the tab Journal Articles

Recommended Databases

Looking for scholarly journal articles? Search these databases!

Academic Search Complete
Provides indexing and abstracts for thousands of journals and other publications. Access broad ranging resources that include full-text journals, monographs, reports, conference proceedings, and video content from the Associate Press etc.

Access broad ranging resources that include full-text journals, monographs, reports, conference proceedings, and video content from the Associated Press, etc.
JSTOR
Access a wide variety of journal articles in the humanities and other disciplines. Note: You may not be able to access the most current 2–7 years of certain journals—but many of these recent publications are found in Project MUSE.
Africa Knowledge Project
Africa Knowledge Project promotes Critical African Studies and disseminates Africa-centered, evidence-based knowledge on Africa and African Diaspora

The Africa Knowledge Project provides access to select African Studies journals • JENdA: A Journal of Culture and African Women Studies • West Africa Review • Ijele: Art eJournal of the African World • ProudFlesh: New Afrikan Journal of Culture, Politics, and Consciousness • Journal on African Philosophy and Curated databases • African Music Database • Biafran war Database • Kiswahili Story Database • Enriching Resource on African Languages Database

Searching Practice

Complete the exercises below to practice using these resources to find information!