Chapter 348 Urbanization Rate
“Beep…beep…beep…”
A sharp whistle broke the tranquility of the early morning, wandering back and forth in the immigration transition point, and the sharp sound woke up the sleeping immigrants.
Twenty-three, dormitory 013.
Yuan Ye, who was sleeping soundly, suddenly stood up from the bed: "What's the noise?"
At this time, Li Ji also woke up. He rubbed his sleepy eyes and said, "Why are you disturbing my sweet dreams so early in the morning? And this sound must be made by a whistle! But it's too unpleasant."
Just as everyone was complaining, the whistle sound finally subsided, but then another melodious sound floated over faintly from a distance.
“Boom…boom…boom…”
This is the sound made by the Dar es Salaam clock tower. When the Dar es Salaam clock tower rings, it means it is six o'clock in the morning in East Africa.
However, the clock tower in Dar es Salaam can only be heard at the immigration transition point, that is, when people are awake, which is why the East African Immigration Agency uses whistles to wake people up.
In the immigrant residential area isolated by Li Ji and others, employees of the East African Immigration Agency are providing wake-up services to the immigrants.
Along the corridor, one after another, people hit the doors with batons, "bang, bang, bang..." The wooden doors seemed like they would explode at any time.
"Wake up! Don't sleep any more! Hurry up and wash up, or you'll miss dinner!"
The message was first shouted in German, and then in Chinese. When the originally lazy immigrants heard that it was time for dinner, they quickly put on their clothes and got out of bed. No one could stop the immigrants' enthusiasm for eating.
Ordinary people in this era have plenty of opportunities to sleep in. Most immigrants from East Africa come from rural areas and maintain a routine of working from sunrise to sunset, so they can sleep well.
The real problem is how to fill our stomachs. It can be said that once the seeds are planted, the rest is up to God. We can barely get by with good weather, but a slight disaster will cause famine.
The situation in Europe was better, as when faced with famine, they could work in factories and avoid starving to death. But in the Far East, most people had no choice but to flee.
Of course, the situation in Europe was not much better. In 1871, Germany's urbanization rate was only about 30.6%, France's was 31%, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire's was 25%, and these were still urbanization rates.
The urbanization level is even lower, because most towns rely on agricultural production, and a considerable number of townspeople are still engaged in the primary industry, but they just live in the town. This is the case with Heixinggen Town. If the year is bad, many people will face the risk of bankruptcy.
The people who lived the most comfortable life in this era were the British. Their local urbanization level exceeded 60%, and industry had become the main body of their economy. In recent years, due to the increase in agricultural production in East Africa, North America, and Tsarist Russia, and the continued decline in international food prices, food prices in industrial countries were quite stable, and even showed a downward trend.
In 1871, the urbanization rate of East Africa was 17.3%, exceeding the world average (the world urbanization rate was 12%), which was relatively high among agricultural countries. In the United States during the same period, the urbanization rate was around 25%, higher than East Africa. The urbanization rate of Tsarist Russia was around 11%, lower than East Africa, and the urbanization rate of the Far East, the world's most populous country, was only around 4%.
The reason why East Africa's urbanization rate is relatively high is very simple. First, the population is relatively small, and there are many immigrants. In order to accelerate the integration of various ethnic groups, East Africa will tend to concentrate the population and prevent a single ethnic group from living together. This is a policy consideration.
Secondly, agricultural development in East Africa focuses more on collaboration, so the population is relatively concentrated. Before the establishment of the East African colony, East Africa was a truly barren land with more wild beasts than humans. In such an environment, if there was no certain number of people on the reclaimed land, it would be reclaimed by nature within three months.
Therefore, East African agriculture has a flavor of a national system, requiring the central government to coordinate resources. Sometimes, militia organizations or even the army need to be mobilized to eliminate wild beasts, not to mention that there are still many indigenous regimes here.
Finally, the Hei Xingen Group has also invested in many industries in East Africa in recent years. The newly built Bagamoyo Shipyard alone employs more than 2,000 workers, and the sisal industry employs more than 5,000 workers.
However, the above reasons are not the main ones. The main reason for the high urbanization rate in East Africa is that a large number of blacks are not counted in the East African population.
The black population is almost four times the immigrant population of East Africa, and this is the result of driving a lot of blacks out of East Africa.
This also makes the lives of East Africans relatively monotonous, but their living standards are not bad in the world. After all, they have mines, land, and exploitable populations (black people). In addition, corporate governance prevents small farmers from going bankrupt. Even if food production in a certain area decreases, the loss can be spread out by allocating food from other regions.
What’s more, East Africa usually has more grain harvests per year, generally more than two harvests, so this factor is very important.
Just like why the population and industries in the Far East accelerated their concentration in the south after the Song Dynasty, even if the south suffered a disaster, it could replant in time to avoid a total harvest like the north. There would be no need to worry about the risk of freezing to death as there would be no extreme climate in winter.
East Africa goes even further. The climate across the region does not differ much. Although precipitation is seasonal, it is sufficient and not as extreme as in the Far East. The overall grain output will not fluctuate too much (excluding the factor of continuous land reclamation).
In the past, the Far East divided arable land quality into 15 grades, among which the best land was mainly distributed in the south. The top three areas with the best overall arable land quality were the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, South China, and Jiangnan. An important factor was that the arable land in the south had more sufficient heat and could be harvested three times a year. The medium land was mainly distributed in Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Sichuan, Shanxi and other regions. Although the black soil in the three northeastern provinces was fertile and the grain quality was high, insufficient heat was a big problem. It can only be said that there were gains and losses.
In the words of agricultural experts, "The black soil in Northeast China produces oil when squeezed, but due to the light and water conditions, it can only be harvested once a year, which is a congenital deficiency. No matter what technology is used, the yield per mu of rice in a season is more than one ton, and the yield of corn is also more than one ton. This can only be the champion of single yield and one season. The quality of cultivated land is based on the annual yield. The south, which can harvest three times a year, has more advantages."
According to the standards of the Far East in the previous life, most of the arable land in East Africa is of upper-middle quality, while the Great Lakes region is of excellent quality, so East Africa is destined to be a major agricultural country.
Although the immigrants are motivated to get up and eat, the Immigration Department, which has always attached great importance to order and hygiene, will make it more difficult for them.
"Make sure the bedding is in order! Don't leave things piled up randomly. Someone will come to check soon. If anyone dares to be sloppy, don't blame me for not reminding you. You will bear the consequences at your own risk!"
"What's wrong with your dormitory 041? There's so much dust on the floor. Clean it up quickly, or you won't have dinner."
"Whose clothes are these? They're numbered 8856 and were just issued a few days ago! Smell the smell, is it normal? Go wash them quickly!"
…
The bustle of the health inspection soon attracted the attention of the aid group members, who could only hear roars from the immigrant residential area and the noise of the immigrants washing themselves.
Ander: "Brother Shiyan! There's so much noise in the east! And it seems like someone is scolding, using both bird language (German) and Chinese. Could it be that East Africa is abusing immigrants?"
Li Ge: "Brother Hou, I'll go ask and you'll know!"
So Li Ge walked towards the house where the guide arranged for them by the East African Immigration Office lived.
“Boom boom boom…”
"Who is it? Up so early?"
"..." Li Ge was a little confused because the other party spoke German.
After a while, the door was opened and the guide saw Liger standing outside. Then he remembered that these people did not speak German.
Guide: "Mr. Liger! What can I do for you?"
Li Ge: "Oh, that's right, why is the eastern residential area so noisy in the morning?"
"That's all you're asking? It actually has nothing to do with you. Those are new immigrants. They naturally need to receive some East African education, otherwise it will be difficult for them to adapt to the living environment in East Africa. If there's nothing else, just go back to sleep! Don't worry about them."
Li Ge: "That's not the case. We are just curious. Can we go over there and take a look?"
"Ah! What's so interesting over there? They are just people with two eyes and one nose. But if you are really curious, you can go and take a look. But you must come back quickly, or you will forget to eat."
Li Ge: "No problem, I'm sorry to bother you."
"No, no! I'm here to provide you with consulting services, ah..." The guide yawned and said, "I'm going to wash up first. You can make your own decisions if you have any problems! Just stay within the immigration transition point." After that, the guide went back to the house to look for a towel and toothbrush.
Li Ge came back with the news: "Brother Hou, let's go and see what's going on over there!"
Ander: "Brother Shiyan, is this allowed?"
Li Ge: "No problem, I have already asked, as long as we do not leave the immigration transition point, we can move freely."
Ander: "Then let's go together!"
So the two of them went to where the immigrants lived. This was the first time they saw East African immigrants. They were very busy, and there was nothing to see like the immigrants in Dar es Salaam who had settled in East Africa for many years.
The immigrants live mainly in the east, where people come and go and it is very lively. Now everyone is busy washing and cleaning.
Many people were washing in the public bathroom with towels hung around their necks and toothbrushes in hand; some were folding quilts and sweeping the floor.
Li Ge and Ander noticed that the place was very crowded, but in good order. There were eight people living in the small dormitory, but it was not dirty or messy. It might be because the immigrants did not have much luggage.
Li Ge: "Thickness! I feel like this is not an immigration site, but a military camp!"
Ender: "Indeed, their uniform style, if I remember correctly, is the same as the military and police uniforms in East Africa, with only slight differences in color and other details!"
Li Ge: "Also, have you noticed that the appearance of the immigrants here is very different from that of the residents of Da City. They are generally thinner."
This is inevitable. The situation is particularly serious for immigrants from the Far East. If Li Ge and others saw the immigrants who had just disembarked, they would be almost half dead. Most of the immigrants in the immigration transition point have been recuperating for a period of time, and it is good enough for them to be in their current mental state.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
