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I've just seen Black Panther and I was thinking about Wakanda.

In the movie we see Wakanda as one of the most technologically advanced nations in the world. Its capital resembles a kind of African Dubai with a futuristic appearance, and probably the same wealth.

So I'm wondering: how did they get so rich? Where does that technology come from?

In the movie king T'Challa states that they don't sell weapons to other nations; they own tons of Vibranium which they secretly keep hidden (agent Everett Ross thought they had only few quintals of it) so they don't even export that, nobody in the world knows about the real Wakanda.

Is there any explanation?

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    In the MCU, who knows? In the comics it's because they've used vibranium as the basis for their tech for centuries; marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Wakanda
    – Valorum
    Feb 18, 2018 at 23:27
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    The comparison with Dubai is interesting: though Dubai and other oil wealthy countries can exhibit some impressive prowess (ski resort in the desert, giant towers,...), they are not considered as technology advanced. They just buy their technology from other countries.
    – Taladris
    Feb 19, 2018 at 1:58
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    Isn't this a basic premise of the movie? It's even explicitly explained.
    – ThePopMachine
    Feb 21, 2018 at 19:46
  • Also, this title is very spoiler-y.
    – ThePopMachine
    Feb 21, 2018 at 19:46
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    @pinckerman, what does not trading or selling have to do with it? You asked where the technology comes from. It's shown that they developed it themselves independently. You seem to have presupposed that their level of technology required trade when in fact the divergent development of their technology relative to the rest of the world is exactly the point.
    – ThePopMachine
    Feb 23, 2018 at 6:07

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The movie glosses over this during the opening monologue (the "history of Wakanda" story), but it does explain that the presence of vibranium has allowed Wakanda to advance faster technologically than any other country. It's also clear as the movie progresses that Wakanda rarely, if ever, gets into conflicts with other neighboring countries -- early on, vibranium would have given them a major arms advantage, until they were able to develop their cloaking technology.

With a massive source of a very advanced metal, and no outside conflicts to worry about, Wakanda was able to apply all of their energy to internal development, allowing them to advance rapidly from a very early time period.

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    While this is the justification given in the film, it seems insufficient. Are all those skyscrapers made of vibranium? Or do they also have vast supplies of iron, aluminum, and so on within Wakanda? Where is all the food a city like that needs coming from? Where are they getting the oil for plastics? In reality global trade is pretty much required for modern technology because no one area has all the resources needed.
    – HamHamJ
    Feb 21, 2018 at 20:07
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    @HamHamJ The movie answers this, yes the buildings are built out of vibranium. Also the movie makes it clear that even though Wakanda is secretive, they do have considerable dealings with the outside world through a massive spy network. If you want a better answer, I suggest asking a question.
    – Kosmos
    Feb 22, 2018 at 21:14
  • Putting vibranium aside for a second... imagine how advanced the world would be right now had we not seen the slowing of scientific advancement after the fall of the Roman empire and the middle ages. Advancement still happened but was slowed due to wars and avenues of knowledge being cut off. According to the prologue in Black Panther, Wakanda never had to contend with that. Now, add in the increased rate of scientific advancement due to the properties of Vibranium and boom... advancement rate far exceeding the rest of the world
    – WizardKnight
    Mar 5, 2018 at 19:48
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    Ludicrous! Technology NEVER advances faster than during wartime.
    – D rich
    Mar 17, 2018 at 5:36
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They made their technology themselves. Klaue states it himself, every form of tech, down to their cars and even clothes, is either made of vibranium or has a vibranium component. They don't need outside resources because they already have it. Ultron wasn't kidding when he said it was the most versatile metal on the planet.

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  • Having an advanced metal doesn't make people supremely intelligent lol. This is totally not acceptable to explained on wakanda advancement. Clearly not explained in the movie properly. If vibranium is fall on gulf continent then it's acceptable coz iranian people for centuries is accepted as intelligent race. Look at the ancient babylon and all the present iranian nuclear scientist. I don't see any intelligent country on african continent nowadays that can be compared to Iran. I accept there are full of bad people but they are intelligent.
    – jumper rbk
    Mar 24, 2020 at 14:23
  • How can vibranium attribute to the technology on cloaking for example, unless they are descendant from Atlantean people. Atlantis is just beside africa on the west. I mean on their intelligence
    – jumper rbk
    Mar 24, 2020 at 14:27

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