place across a larger geographic area. This process completely remade the cultural
landscapeof much of the colonial world, as Christianity, shaped byreligious
syncretism, displaced the existing religiousworldviews. In addition, the use of
European languages spread to all corners of the globe, in some cases virtually
completely replacing the indigenous tongue for a majority of the population, as in
Latin America, or becoming the language of the educated elite in Africa and
southern Asia. Other cultural elements, from sports and cuisine to modes of dress,
also diffused from the European center throughout the various empires. Imperialism
in this manner represents an early variation of coerciveglobalization.
The United States acquired overseas territories in the late 19th century, pri-
marily as a result of the Spanish-American War. In 1895 a revolt against the Span-
ish administration broke out in Cuba, an island territory that the United States had
attempted to purchase from the Spanish government several times in the mid-19th
century. The mysterious explosion of the battleshipMainein Havana harbor in
February 1898 set the stage for war with Spain, and after less than a year the
United States had acquired the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam as colonial ter-
ritories, with Cuba as a protectorate. Cuba was granted independence in 1902, but
the remaining islands all stayed under U.S. administration until after World War II,
when the Philippines became an independent country. Puerto Rico and Guam are
still part of U.S. sovereign territory, although Puerto Rico has held plebiscites
several times over the issue of independence.
One of the most evident geographical results of the Age of Imperialism was the
formation of a multitude ofnation-states, especially in Africa, the Middle East,
and Southeast Asia. The imperial powers that controlled these regions established
administrativeboundariesthat rarely took into account the political and ethnic
relationships that had existed before the advent of colonial authority. Rather, the
boundaries separating these territories were frequently based on natural features
such as rivers, mountain ranges, or some other aspect of the landscape; or in some
cases followed established lines of latitude and longitude, resulting in geometrical
patterns that had no relationship to the cultural histories of the groups living in the
region. For example, it was commonplace for imperial borders to divide ethnic
groups between various colonial powers, resulting in the political fragmentation of
such peoples. A case in point are the Yoruba, most of whom were incorporated into
Nigeria, a British colony, but sizable communities of Yoruba were included within
the colonies of Togoland (Togo), originally a German possession, later transferred
to France; and Benin, a part of the French colonial empire in West Africa. Today,
the Yoruba people remain divided among these three countries, because the borders
adopted by the European imperial governments were retained after the imperial
powers withdrew and granted their colonies independence. These political bounda-
ries, superimposed on the cultural geography of Africa, have been blamed for much
Imperialism 187