Chapter 671 Opportunities in the Northwest

The population of East Africa mainly flows to the three central provinces, with the secondary direction being the northern region. Enemies in East Africa in the south are all lined up, but the north does not have this concern, so the order in the north is orderly.

Now that the western section of the Northern Railway is under construction, this has further accelerated the flow of population to the northwest, with the Great Lakes region and the northern industrial belt being the main force.

"The western section of the Northern Railway is less difficult than the Hessian Railway, but the resources along the route are relatively scarce and the return rate is bound to be low. However, if it is connected to the royal territory of Sigmaringen, the future prospects are still good."

"At present, 30% of the western section of the Northern Railway has been completed. It is expected that the entire line will be completed later and can be put into operation before 1887. By then, a northern artery will officially start from Mombasa in the east and Kabo and Bangui in the west. It will take shape and have an important impact on the economy, transportation and national defense of the entire northern region."

There are two terminals for the Northern Railway. One is Bangui, the capital of Azande Oriental Province and an important river port on the Ubangi River.

Bangui Port is an important tributary channel of the Congo River. From here you can reach Kinshasa directly. The navigable reach of the Ubangi River reaches more than 600 kilometers throughout the year. If it is the rainy season, it can directly reach more than 1,400 kilometers.

Every year from April to June, the rainy season causes the river water to surge, and the Ubangi River will flow backwards. This is the same reason that the Amazon rainforest rivers directly turn into "oceans" during the rainy season.

After all, the Congo Rainforest is the second largest tropical rainforest in the world after the Amazon Rainforest, but the Congo Rainforest is mainly located in the Congo Basin, making it very different from the Amazon Rainforest.

This also makes the precipitation in the Congo rainforest an order of magnitude lower than that in the Amazon rainforest, which is directly five times that of the Congo rainforest. This is also the reason why the population of the Congolese rainforest was so much larger than the Amazon rainforest in the previous life.

The Amazon rainforest has almost no population distribution. The two Congolese countries have a population of over 100 million. In fact, it is more appropriate to compare the Congolese rainforest to northeastern India.

The Ganges River in northeastern India, the Brahmaputra River in the Far Eastern Empire, and the Meghna River in Bangladesh share an outlet, so they are sometimes regarded as one river, with a flow rate directly exceeding that of the Congo River. However, this division scheme has not become mainstream. .

However, just the small area of ​​Bangladesh has a population of 100 million. The world's rain pole is also in Cherrapunji in the northeastern region of South Asia. Therefore, the water volume in the Congo River Basin is really not as good as that in the northeastern region of South Asia. This must be mentioned. to the Himalayas and the strong effects of the South Asian monsoon.

After all, the Congo River Basin covers an area of ​​more than three million square kilometers, and the entire South Asia is almost the same area. The rainfall in the Congo River Basin exceeds 1,500 millimeters, while the northeastern part of South Asia exceeds 2,000 millimeters, and the northeastern part of Bangladesh directly exceeds 3,000 millimeters. The same There is no comparison between the two in terms of area.

But that’s fine. The precipitation in the Congo River Basin can barely meet the standards for human habitation, and it will not be as difficult to develop as the Amazon rainforest.

This is also an important reason why Bangui City has great development prospects in the future. The difficulty of development is not as difficult as imagined, and the transportation conditions are also good. It can not only connect to northwest Angola and the Atlantic Ocean through shipping, but also can undertake the future land transportation between East Africa and West Africa. transportation.

This is very important. There are only two major land countries in northeastern East Africa, the Abyssinian Empire and Egypt. As for the size of even a bunch of colonial economies, they are almost negligible.

West Africa is almost the same area as East Africa and has comparable resources, especially in iron ore, bauxite, oil and gas resources, etc. It has advantages.

These three resources are relatively lacking in East Africa and can form a complementary relationship with the East African economy. Therefore, it is particularly important to connect Bangui City in East and West Africa.

In addition, the most important thing about Bangui City is its military attributes. Only by controlling the upper reaches of the Ubangi River can East Africa ensure that the lower reaches of the Congo River will not be threatened in the future. This is why both sides of the Ubangi River are under East Africa's control.

As for the second terminus of the Northern Railway, which is the city of Kabo, it was completely invested by the Royal Territory of Sigmaringen. Once completed, it will accelerate the development progress of the Royal Territory of Sigmaringen.

“Moreover, the railway is connected to the Hesse Railway in Kisan City (Kisangani), forming a network of central railways and northern railways. Resources from inland industrial provinces such as Matabele Province can be directly transported to the northern region through Kisan City. The grain will be transferred to the northwest region through the Great Lakes region, and the resources in the northwest and west Africa regions will then spread to the northern industrial belt and the three central provinces through Kisan City, and the domestic transportation framework in the central and northern regions will basically be formed."

The central part of East Africa, that is, the provinces of Swabia, Hohenzollern, and Matabele, and the northern provinces of East Azande, New Bavaria, and the Nile River are separated by the Congo Basin.

With the Hessian Railway (Central Railway) and the Northern Railway connected in series, a large railway pattern in the central and northern regions can be formed.

The only areas that are not connected are the Somali region and northern Angola. The economies of Somalia and East Africa mainly rely on roads and maritime transport. Moreover, relying on the Juba River and the Shabelle River, the population and economy are distributed in a long and narrow way, so sea-river intermodal transport can be easily achieved. Railways are not very urgent for the Somali region.

Northern Angola is in the hands of the Portuguese, so the end point of the western section of the Central Province Railway has always been in the design blueprint of the Ministry of Railways.

“According to the current construction progress of the Northern Railway, we can also take advantage of the trend to carry out industrial planning for the three northwest provinces and the royal territory of Sigmaringen along the railway line. Mainly, the three provinces of the Northern Industrial Belt and the two provinces of the Great Lakes Region will provide counterpart support to the three northwest provinces. "

“The first is to increase the population of the three northwest provinces and build a group of cultivated land and villages along the railway line to realize the development of the land in the three northwest provinces. Secondly, because of the railway construction, the original transportation pattern within the three northwest provinces must also be re-planned, through highways Reconstruct the transportation layout of the three northwest provinces.”

After the railway passes through, the immigration strongholds and villages in the three northwest provinces that were originally distributed according to the terrain and roads will inevitably need to be re-planned. The most important thing is to open up the connection with the northern railway, so that the three northwest provinces can be effectively utilized and developed.

“The Immigration Agency’s plan is to import at least 300,000 people to the three northwest provinces within three years after the railway is put into operation, 20% of which will be dispatched from the relatively densely populated northern industrial belt and the Great Lakes region. In addition, coupled with the development of the royal territory of Sigmaringen, in the future The population of the three northwest provinces reached one million by the end of this century, around 1890."

The development history of the three northwest provinces is not short. They were incorporated into East Africa at the same time as the three central provinces. However, their development mainly relied on the military and trade with the indigenous countries and tribes of West Africa.

However, since East Africa supported the construction of the Sigmaringen royal territory, the trade between East Africa and West Africa has been basically cut off. If you want to rebuild the trade channel, you must at least wait until the Sigmaringen royal territory is completely stabilized.

According to the calculations of the East African government, optimistic estimates suggest that this may take as long as several years, because after all, Sigmaringen cannot be as wealthy as East Africa, and it will take a lot of time for the royal domain of Sigmaringen to just learn from the experience of East Africa.

However, this is an early investment for East Africa. Although the royal territory of Sigmaringen cannot bring value to East Africa now, once it takes shape, the value it creates will definitely be much stronger than that of the indigenous people. This will also drive the development of northwest East Africa in the future. development of the department.