Western sahara: Did you mean...?

As the cradle of European civilization and a meeting place of diverse cultures, Crete is a magical island that stands apart in the heart of the Mediterranean sea. Its prominent place in world history dates back to the mysterious and fascinating...

Timbuktu (Timbuctoo) is a city in Mali, West Africa which was an important trade centre of the Mali Empire which flourished between the 13th and 15th centuries CE. The city, founded c. 1100 CE, gained wealth from access to and control of...

West Africa was one of the world's greatest producers of gold in the Middle Ages. Trade in the metal went back to antiquity but when the camel caravans of the Sahara linked North Africa to the savannah interior, the trade really took off...

A map illustrating the gradual process of disintegration known as the Fall of the Western Roman Empire. During the Migration Period (a period of accelerated movement of peoples across Europe between the 5th and 9th centuries, also known as...

A July 1941 photograph showing a South African desert patrol in North Africa during the Western Desert Campaigns of the Second World War (1939-45). (Imperial War Museums)

The bronze and its inscription were cast for the Duke of Xing, a descendant of a famous historical figure, the Duke of Zhou. The long inscription inside dedicates the vessel to the Duke of Zhou. It records the gift of three groups of men...

This map shows the division of the Roman Empire into the Western Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire, circa 395 CE under the reign of Emperor Theodosius I.

Map of the western Mediterranean at the time of the First Punic War in 264 BCE.

The states during the Western Zhou period (1046-771 BCE) in China.

A map of the principal locations involved in the Western Desert Campaigns of the Second World War (1939-45).