Malthus, the 18th century European explorers and the principle of population in Africa.
Reniers, Georges;
(2011)
Malthus, the 18th century European explorers and the principle of population in Africa.
Etude de la population africaine = African population studies, 25 (2).
pp. 181-193.
ISSN 0850-5780
DOI: https://doi.org/10.11564/25-2-226
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In the second edition of his Essay on the Principle of Population, Malthus included twelve chapters that offer a remarkable description of population dynamics from all corners of the world. His discussion of (sub-Saharan) Africa was almost entirely based on the travel accounts of James Bruce and Mungo Park, two late eighteenth century British explorers. In this essay, I introduce these sources and discuss the insights that Malthus did, or perhaps should have, derived from both.