34 countries
Map of Africa in 1500
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Africa around 1500
Africa around 1500: the Portuguese had reached the coasts, but the interior was still entirely in African hands, from the sultanates of the north to the Sahel's empires, the kingdoms of the forest and the cities of the Swahili coast.
- In the Sahel the Songhai Empire, led by Askia Muhammad from 1493, had taken over from the Mali Empire; Timbuktu and Gao were centres of trade and learning.
- The Kingdom of Kongo was the first Central African state to meet the Portuguese (1483): its king was baptised in 1491 and later wrote to the kings of Portugal as an equal.
- Ethiopia was a Christian empire with a travelling court, facing the Muslim Adal Sultanate; Egypt and Syria were Mamluk until the Ottomans took them in 1516–1517.
- Swahili city-states such as Kilwa and Mombasa traded gold and ivory across the Indian Ocean until the Portuguese attacked them from 1505. Where there is no state with a known capital the map shows peoples (“no capital”); the outlines are a rough guide, above all in the Sahara and the interior, and the population figures are estimates used only to compare.
How it is made: the coasts are today's, and the borders follow today's divisions where they match those of the time and, where they do not, lines drawn by hand, good to about 10 km. Shapes: Natural Earth (public domain). Compare with today's Africa →
Facts: the map of Africa in 1500
- On the map
- 34 countries · 1 is so small it shows as a dot (complete level)
- Largest country
- Saharan peoples (Tuareg, Tubu, Moors) (≈ 5,900,000 km²)
- Smallest country
- Portuguese Atlantic islands (≈ 5,000 km²)
- Most populous country
- Ethiopian Empire (≈ 5,000,000 people)
- Least populous country
- Portuguese Atlantic islands (≈ 5,000 people)
- Northernmost capital
- Tunis (Hafsid Sultanate)
- Southernmost capital
- No capital (Peoples of the south (Khoisan, Nguni, Herero))
- Most neighbours
- Bantu peoples of the interior (Maravi, Bemba, Kikuyu…) and Saharan peoples (Tuareg, Tubu, Moors): 10
- No land border with another country on the map
- Madagascar (chiefdoms and kingdoms) and Portuguese Atlantic islands
Fun facts: Map of Africa in 1500
- Timbuktu, in the Songhai Empire, was a renowned centre of Islamic learning, with libraries of manuscripts.
- Nzinga Mbemba, baptised Afonso I, ruled Kongo from 1506 and wrote letters to the kings of Portugal.
- Kilwa, on an island off today's Tanzania, minted its own coins and traded gold from Zimbabwe.
- Benin's artists cast bronze plaques and heads for the oba, the king; many are now in museums abroad.
- The rock-hewn churches of Lalibela, in Ethiopia, were carved around 1200 and were still in use in 1500.
Test yourself
Which was the largest country of Africa in 1500?
Saharan peoples (Tuareg, Tubu, Moors).
Which was the most populous country of Africa in 1500?
Ethiopian Empire.
Which was the smallest country of Africa in 1500?
Portuguese Atlantic islands.
Which was the least populous country of Africa in 1500?
Portuguese Atlantic islands.
Learn the countries of Africa in 1500 → Geography fun facts →
More maps
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The countries on the map of Africa in 1500, and what they are today
Today's countries that cover a good part of its land, largest share first.
Show the table (34)
| Country | Capital | Today part of |
|---|---|---|
| Adal Sultanate | Dakkar | Ethiopia, Somalia, Djibouti |
| Ajuran Sultanate | Mogadishu | Somalia |
| Akan states and Ewe peoples | No capital | Ghana, Togo |
| Bantu peoples of the interior (Maravi, Bemba, Kikuyu…) | No capital | Tanzania, Zambia, Kenya, Mozambique, Malawi |
| Bunyoro-Kitara Kingdom | No capital | Uganda |
| Ethiopian Empire | No fixed capital (itinerant court) | Ethiopia, Eritrea |
| Great Lakes kingdoms (Rwanda, Burundi) | No capital | Burundi, Rwanda |
| Hafsid Sultanate | Tunis | Libya, Algeria, Tunisia |
| Hausa city-states | Kano | Nigeria, Niger |
| Igbo, Nupe and other peoples of the Niger–Benue | No capital | Nigeria |
| Jolof Empire | Linguère | Senegal |
| Kanem–Bornu Empire | Ngazargamu | Chad, Niger, Nigeria |
| Kingdom of Alodia (Nubia) | Soba | Sudan |
| Kingdom of Benin | Benin City | Nigeria |
| Kingdom of Kongo | Mbanza Kongo | Angola, DR Congo |
| Kingdom of Loango | Loango | Republic of the Congo, Gabon |
| Madagascar (chiefdoms and kingdoms) | No capital | Madagascar |
| Mali Empire (in decline) | Kangaba | Mali, Guinea, Gambia |
| Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt | Cairo | Egypt, Libya |
| Mossi kingdoms | Ouagadougou | Burkina Faso |
| Mutapa Empire | No fixed capital (itinerant court) | Zimbabwe, Mozambique |
| Nilotic peoples (Shilluk, Dinka, Nuer) | No capital | South Sudan |
| Peoples of the Congo basin (Luba and others) | No capital | DR Congo |
| Peoples of the equatorial forest (Fang, Tikar, Bantu) | No capital | Central African Republic, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea |
| Peoples of the south (Khoisan, Nguni, Herero) | No capital | South Africa, Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique, Lesotho, Eswatini |
| Peoples of the Upper Guinea coast (Sapi, Kru, Mande) | No capital | Ivory Coast, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea-Bissau |
| Portuguese Atlantic islands | Ribeira Grande (Cidade Velha) | Cape Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe |
| Saharan peoples (Tuareg, Tubu, Moors) | No capital | Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad |
| Songhai Empire | Gao | Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso |
| Sultanate of Agadez (Aïr) | Agadez | Niger |
| Swahili city-states (Kilwa, Mombasa, Malindi) | Kilwa Kisiwani | Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique |
| Wattasid Sultanate of Morocco | Fez | Morocco |
| Yoruba kingdoms (Oyo and Ife) | Ife | Benin, Nigeria |
| Zayyanid Kingdom of Tlemcen | Tlemcen | Algeria |