The two largest colonial powers in Africa were France and Britain, both of which controlled two-thirds of Africa before World War I and more than 70 percent after the war. The period from the mid-1800s to the early 1900s marked the zenith of imperial rule in Africa. The formalization of colonial rule was accomplished at the Berlin Conference of 1884–1885 when all the European powers met and partitioned Africa, recognizing each other’s share of the continent.
