Central Africa: Did you mean...?

Did you know that the Ghana king would automatically keep any gold nugget extracted that weighed between 25 grams and half a kilo? This video is all about the lucrative gold trade of ancient and medieval West Africa. West Africa was...

The Mali Empire (1240-1645) of West Africa was founded by Sundiata Keita (r. 1230-1255) following his victory over the kingdom of Sosso (c. 1180-1235). Sundiata's centralised government, diplomacy and well-trained army permitted a massive...

This map illustrates the North Africa Campaign of World War II, spanning from 1940 to 1943 - a series of operations and battles for control of the strategic region between the Allied forces (primarily the British Commonwealth) and the Axis...

A photograph showing Allied troops landing in Algeria, North Africa as part of Operation Torch, the Allied North Africa Landings of November 1942. (Imperial War Museums)

The Berlin Conference of 1884-1885, also known as the Congo Conference, was convened by European powers to regulate colonization and trade in Africa during the New Imperialism period. Led by German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck at the request...

Mauretania was an ancient kingdom in northwest Africa, encompassing regions of modern-day Morocco and Algeria. Although it shares a name with the modern country of Mauritania, they do not overlap. Ancient Mauretania was named after the Mauri...

An early title page from The History and Description of Africa by Leo Africanus (1485-1554), first published in 1526.

A map illustrating the geopolitical situation in Africa after World War I - the continent still under European colonial domination, with only a few areas having gained independence or achieved limited autonomy. Although many African soldiers...

The Portuguese Empire was established from the 15th century and eventually stretched from the Americas to Japan. Very often a string of coastal trading centres with defensive fortifications, there were larger territorial colonies like Brazil...

The Swahili Coast on the shores of East Africa was a region where Africans and Arabs mixed to create a unique identity from the 8th century called Swahili Culture. Swahili is the name of their language and means 'people of the coast.' The...