Dr. Clooney, I Presume?

An interactive map of the celebrity recolonization of Africa.

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OVERSIZED SHADES have replaced pith helmets, but the new scramble for Africa has its share of adventurers, would-be saviors, and even turf battles. As Madonna’s publicist explains, “She’s focusing on Malawi. South Africa is Oprah’s territory.”

The map below takes a lighter look at the sometimes serious, sometimes silly business of celebrity altruism. For more on how Africa became the hottest continent for A-list do-gooders like Bono and Brangelina, see here. And if you’re looking for a more sober approach, check out our recent package on human rights.

Click on a country to learn which celebrity has claimed it, and how.

 

—Photos: Affleck, Aiken, Akon: Reuters; Bono: Rémy Steinegger/WEF/swiss-image.ch; Brangelina: Reuters; Branson: Kim Shiflett/NASA; Bruni-Sarkozy: Rémi Jouan; Campbell: Jesse Gross; Cheadle: Reuters; Clinton: Monika Flueckiger/WEF/swiss-image.ch; Clooney: Nicolas Genin; Damon: Miguel Ángel Azúa García; DiCaprio: Colin Chau; Eggers: David Shankbone; Farrow: Pierre Holtz; Gates: Sebastian Derungs/WEF/swiss-image.ch; Geldof: Stephen Jaffe/IMF; Glover: Matt Stoller; Hayek: Reuters; Hayes: Starstock/Photoshot/Newscom; Hilton: Glenn Francis/PacificProDigital.com; Hilton (w/child): Kim Ludbrook/epa/Corbis; Jackson (w/children): Peter Morey/WENN; Jackson, Jay-Z: Reuters; Johansson: Sgt. Bryson K. Jones/US Marine corps; John: Richard Mushet; Jolie: Rémy Steinegger/WEF/swiss-image.ch; Kardashian: Glenn Francis/PacificProDigital.com; Keys: José Goulão; Lange, Legend, Liu, Lohan: Reuters; Macpherson: Manfred Werner; Madden: Reuters; Madonna: David Shankbone; Martin: Reuters; M.I.A.: Juan Soliz/PacificCoastNews.com/Newscom; Milano: Jennifer H (flickr); Oprah: Alan Light; Parker: Reuters; Portman: Makoto2007 (flickr); Princess Diana, Prince Harry: Reuters; Raekwon: Patrick Staubesand/Action Press/ZUMA Press; Simpson: Reuters; Smith: Paul K. Stanley; Turlington: Luke Ford; West: David Shankbone; Whitaker: Pierre Omidyar; Williams: Reuters

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Mother Jones was founded to do journalism differently. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after stories others don’t. We’re a nonprofit newsroom, because the kind of truth-telling investigations we do doesn’t happen under corporate ownership.

And the essential ingredient that makes all this possible? Readers like you.

It’s reader support that enables Mother Jones to devote the time and resources to report the facts that are too difficult, expensive, or inconvenient for other news outlets to uncover. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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