Question

By 1885 what were the only two African countries to remain independent

Answer 1

By 1885, the Kingdom of Ethiopia and Liberia were the only two African countries that remained independent after the Berlin Conference where other African territories were colonized by European powers.

Step-by-step explanation:

By 1885, the only two African countries to remain independent from European colonialism were the Kingdom of Ethiopia and Liberia. During the Berlin Conference of 1884, which was hosted by Otto von Bismarck of Germany, 14 European countries and the United States divided much of Africa among themselves for colonization. Ethiopia was able to maintain its independence through diplomatic skill and military resistance, whereas Liberia had been established by the United States as a nation for freed slaves and was therefore not colonized by European powers.

Answer 2

In what was known as the "scramble for Africa", many European nations sought to claim African countries, which they could do so as they had modern weaponry, Ethiopia and Liberia remained independant, although many scholars debate whether they were actually fully independant.