Africa...why is it the poorest continent?

yes but those rich places like early Ethiopia, medieval Zimbabwe, and Mali where isolated pockets amist a sea of poor and or scattered peoples.  In the case of Zimbabwe and Ethiopia it was because they were located on some of the only good land in the continent, in the case of Mali and Songhai it was because they were located between two commerical groups, once again these things all have to do with geography.But even the most powerful empire in Africa (Mali) was not so wealthy comparitively.  WHen it was at its height Europe wasnt anything important so in comparrison it looked great, but if you compare Mali to its contemporaries in northern India or China it does not meet the criteria for glorious wealth.

Im not bashing African empires, Im an African studies minor, just stating the truth, the vast expanse of the sahara coupled with barely navigatible rivers and the shortest coastline of any continent with few indentations or natural harbors really did more to Africa than colonialism did, though I agree colonialism too played a part int he poorness of the continent.

Well said! ...except maybe their geography made them lag behind in technological developement which led to their own enslavement over time when more advanced people from different regions conquered them. For this reason, it al falls back to georgraphy...and this 2% is mostly white business men, somewhat like the nobility of 2 centuries ago and what were beginning to see here back home with Bush's business tax cuts.

Now here's a thougth, is it really georgraphy that makes a people lag behind, or is it the people itself? My personal theory would be the peopel are defined by what they have lived, thus its the geography but I'm not sure.