Published for the first time, the "Africa Yearbook 2004" is the result of a joint undertaking by the African Studies Centre (Leiden), the Institute of African Affairs (Hamburg) and the Nordic Africa Institute (Uppsala) emerging from their collaboration within the Africa-Europe Group for Interdisciplinary Studies (AEGIS). Articles on all countries of Sub Saharan Africa cover domestic political developments, foreign policy and socio-economic trends during the calendar year under review. The country cases are completed by introductory overview articles on all four sub-regions, focussing on major cross border developments and sub-regional organisations. Two more overview articles analyse continental developments and European-African relations. The length of each country article aims to reflect the appropriate relative political, economic, and/or demographic weight. A total of 49 authors from a variety of disciplines and countries with intimate local knowledge have contributed to this first volume, which seeks to establish a valid reference book for the years to come on a regular annual basis.