Soma

@somasacademy

Soma (Any/All). History Educator. BA in History and Anthropology, MA in Precolonial West African History. I'll be able to call myself a Youtuber if I ever develop a reliable upload schedule (Channel:

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Soma@somasacademy· 4d

Just using the 4 countries you mentioned, there's actually a surprisingly decent overlap in scale with the countries shown on Thornton's 1850 map, let alone if you use the most expansive definitions, the largest of which even has decent overlap with the DRC, ROC, Angola, and Zambia in their entirety

A screenshot of France, Germany, the UK, and the Netherlands overlaid on the DRC, Angola, and Zambia on thetruesize.com, with a green outline representing the boundaries of John Thornton's map of West Central Africa

The same map with the mass of polities (and some of the space between them) from Thornton's map of WCA in 1850 (the map with the most polities mapped out) highlighted in green, showing a strong overlap with the overlaid European states.

Another version of the same map adding in Belgium, Swizterland, Austria, Ireland, and Liechtenstein to match the EuroVoc map

A final screenshot showing all of the non-microstate countries defined as making up "Western Europe" by the National Geographic definition (the most expansive) overlapping the DRC, ROC Angola, and Zambia, showing a very high degree of coverage even with some overlap between the European countries. The green box remains present to highlight how this area spills outside of the area included in Thornton's maps, with enough European land outside the box to potentially cover all the featured land, including all the lands beyond the states Thornton included in West Central Africa.

Soma@somasacademy· 4d

"Western Europe" is itself another label that can be defined in multiple ways (incidentally it's a label that sometimes excludes either the UK, Germany, or both, but always seems to include the Netherlands), so that doesn't necessarily clarify anything here.

Western Europe according to the UN Geoscheme

Western Europe as defined by the National Geographic society

Western Europe according to the CIA Factbook (in light blue)

Western Europe according to EuroVoc (in Green)

Soma@somasacademy· 5d

You've probably read more sources on WCA than I have, so maybe you're right, but I've never seen coverage of WCA include the whole of Zambia or the RoC, only the northwestern edge and the southern half, respectively. I've never seen WCA defined based on the borders of any modern states.

One of the maps from Jan Vansina's "How Societies are Born: Governance in West Central Africa Before 1600," showing ancient sites relevant to the prehistory of WCA, with the Kasai River at the northern tip of the map, and the Makgadikgadi Pan as the southeasternmost point.

A map from Vansina's chapter, "Raffia Cloth in West Central Africa," in "Textiles: Production, Trade, and Demand," showing raffia cloth production in West Central Africa. The region shown is even more narrow, extending only slightly south of the Cuanza river, slightly north of the Kasai, and slightly east of the Inzia.

One of the maps of WCA from John Thornton's "A History of West Central Africa to 1850," showing the lower Kunene at the southern edge, Bolia at the north, and extending to Lake Victoria in the East, with Kazembe as the easternmost highlighted state.

John Thornton's definition of WCA in the aforementioned book, with several sections highlighted, the most significant of which reading:
"For the purposes of this study I am defining West Central Africa largely by the watershed of the Congo River. If the region has a hydrographic center, it is the Lunda Plateau in eastern Angola, [...] origin of many of the largest effluents of the Congo. This highland continues eastward until it reaches the great range of mountains that define the Rift Valley [...]"

"The area includes the northern two-thirds of Angola, most of the
Democratic Republic of Congo, the southern half of the Republic of
Congo, and a small part of Zambia’s northern and western territory."

Soma@somasacademy· 6d

The northern DRC is at least as distinct from the south in culture and environment as Scotland is from Spain. West Africa is about as large as the entire EU, and even Southern Africa, the smallest region by the UN's definition, is about as large as Western Europe and the Balkans combined

Soma@somasacademy· 11d

Soma@somasacademy· Jul 1

Profoundly ironic to say that *to Bernie supporters* "Everyone else is to blame for everything. Accountability is anathema" while deflecting blame and accountability from Hillary Clinton for her own loss in 2016, but I'd expect nothing less from a Zionist.

Soma@somasacademy· Jun 29

Also I found this very funny to read with modern eyes

"I send you, sir, a tale about some fed’s"

Soma@somasacademy· Jun 28

I feel like I'm more of a Pomni than a Gangle tbh

Soma@somasacademy· Jun 27

twinzies

Soma@somasacademy· Jun 21

Hold on, lemme get a clip for this...

Soma@somasacademy· May 18

If you see this, I implore you to post a pic from your device without context.

An illustration of the Persian religious leader Mazdak overlaid with the flag of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)

Soma@somasacademy· Mar 17

Um nice try, India's Constitution says right there that it's a Socialist State, you gotdang Liberals just can't handle Comrade Modi's Actually Existing Socialism 😤

Soma@somasacademy· Mar 8

I refuse to click on Hazbin Hotel hate videos but I have to admit labelling Peter as "White" as his character flaw in this thumbnail is very funny

Soma@somasacademy· Mar 7

losing it at this AI slop Assassin's Creed video that treats "ibn" as Altair's entire surname

Soma@somasacademy· Mar 2

Okay, looks like I'm doing a Q&A lol, send me any Qs you want me to A in a video

Soma@somasacademy· Feb 28

Just realized @thehistocrat.bsky.social has now uploaded the funny number of videos

Soma@somasacademy· Feb 25

HOLY SHIT

Soma@somasacademy· Jan 27

I...

A YouTube playlist titled "Mix - Christian music" with the artists listed being "Weathers, RUSTAGE, Hazbin Hotel, and..." and the thumbnail being from the Hazbin Hotel Christmas album

Soma@somasacademy· Jan 21

mon dieu

Soma@somasacademy· Jan 20

I'm reading Fourth Wing for research purposes and I'm actually losing my mind at this sex scene like what do you MEAN he used his fUCKING TEETH VIOLET NOOOOOOOOOOO

Soma@somasacademy· Jan 7

Designing some fantasy armor for a Southern and Southeast African-inspired setting

Soma@somasacademy· Dec 20

UMMMMM

Soma@somasacademy· Dec 8

My Atlas Pro response video is currently my best performing video by a decent margin, supporting my fear that debunking videos are the best way to get views.

Soma@somasacademy· Dec 2

people who don't leave cis women alone vs people who don't leave trans women alone

Soma@somasacademy· Nov 22

Okay this isn't actually as baseless as it sounds, John Adams was in fact a prototypical Christian Zionist - he explicitly voiced his support for forming a Jewish army to colonize Palestine, with part of his hope being that having a state would turn Jews into "liberal Unitarian Christians"

Soma@somasacademy· Nov 5

I'm going to kill and murder

YouTube notification with a hideous corporate artstyle cartoon of a purple-skinned person with a tiny head and giant hands turning some knobs and the text "We've changed some of your settings; We couldn't verify that you're an adult. Learn More" followed by the options "Got it" and "Verify age"

Soma@somasacademy· Sep 20

The question every parent dreads hearing

Soma@somasacademy· Jul 19

I like how MAGAs keep accidentally arguing that we should do things the Patriots listed as blatant tyranny in the Declaration of Independence

Tweet reading "Last night’s J7 Democrat insurrection has left me LITERALLY SHAKING. The violent attacks against law enforcement cannot go unpunished. At a minimum, every one of these individuals should face life in prison—after being tried in a federal court located in a deep-red district." with the last sentence highlighted

Screenshot from Wikipedia showing Grievance 19 of the Declaration of Independence:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offenses."

On the fifteenth of April, 1774, Lord North introduced a bill in Parliament, entitled "A bill for the impartial administration of justice in the cases of persons questioned for any acts done by them in the execution of the laws, or for the suppression of riots and tumults in the province of Massachusetts Bay, in New England." This bill, known as the Administration of Justice Act, provided that in case any person indicted for murder in that province, or any other capital offense, or an indictment for riot, the resistance of the magistrate, or impeding the revenue laws in the smallest degree, he might, at the option of the Governor, or, in his absence, of the Lieutenant Governor, be taken to another colony, or transported from the colonies, for trial.

Soma@somasacademy· Jun 22

The US census at least classifies Spain and Portugal as "Hispanic or Latino" along with Latin America (although the US census also has "White Latino" and "Non-White Latino" options)

Soma@somasacademy· Jun 15

Anyway I'm gonna block her now since at this point she just keeps repeating the same insults over and over, so I guess this'll be the end of the thread lol, sorry I'm closing your window into the unhinged shit she posts. Here's one for the road: