Countries and Their Cultures: Asians of Africa

The Asian population of Africa is a small but significant minority. Whereas there have been Asians, primarily merchants, who lived on the east coast of Africa for hundreds, if not thousands, of years, a great influx of Asians came to Africa during the British colonial period. Asians in Africa are primarily from the Indian subcontinent, although there is a small proportion, perhaps 2 percent, who are from China. The Asians were a very visible minority. Their skin color, in the mid-range of the colonial scale of color prejudice, set them off from both Europeans and Africans. Likewise, their distinctive style of dress, the smell of their cooking, the sound of their language and music, the architecture of their churches -- and, generally speaking, their entire culture -- were very distinct from both African and European cultures.