Africa
On ne commerce gueres que sur les côtes de l’Afrique ; le dedans de cette partie du monde n’est pas encore assez connu, & les Européens n’ont gueres commencé ce commerce que vers le milieu du XIVe siecle.
(AFRIQUE, Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers)
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent (the first being Asia in each category). At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million sq mi) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area and 20% of its total land area. The continent is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, both the Suez Canal and the Red Sea along the Sinai Peninsula to the northeast, the Indian Ocean to the southeast and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. The continent includes the island of Madagascar and various archipelagos.
Background
Pre-colonial Africa possessed many different states and polities characterized by many different sorts of political organization and rule. These included small family groups of hunter-gatherers, larger, more structured groups, heavily structured clan groups and autonomous city-states and kingdoms and coastal trading towns.
Worldwide distribution of malaria
Malaria is widespread in the tropical and subtropical regions around the equato, this includes much of sub-Saharan Africa.
Besides several independent native and Muslim polities, there are also the Ottoman provinces of North Africa and its vassals and also Western European colonial possessions of the Commonwealth, Dutch Republic, Iberia (Portuguese and Spanish territories) and France.
European colonialism had several consequences throughout its military, political and economical power it exercise on African polities and society.
African States
Northern Africa
Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. Also known by Arabs as the Maghreb ("West", The western part of Arab World).
North Africa includes a number of French, Iberian (Spanish and Portuguese) possessions, this besides Ottoman autonomous vassals. The countries of North Africa share a common ethnic, cultural and linguistic identity with the Muslim culture of the west.
Northwest Africa has been inhabited by Berbers since the beginning of recorded history, while the eastern part of North Africa has been home to the Egyptians. These peoples formed a single population in many areas, as Berbers and Egyptians merged into Arabic and Muslim culture. This process of Arabization and Islamization has defined the cultural landscape of North Africa ever since.
| Flag | Coat of Arms | Country | Regime | Capital | Established | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Egypt | Autonomous Ottoman vassal (Khedive) | Cairo | 1517 to date | Vilayet -> Khedivate | |
|
|
Tripolitania | Autonomous vilayet of Ottoman Empire | Tripoli | 1551 to date | |
|
Beylik of Tunis | Autonomous Ottoman vassal (Bey) | Tunis | |||
|
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Alawite Sultanate of Morocco | Monarchy (Sultan) | Rabat and Casablanca | 1666 to date | Iberian protectorate |
|
Republic of Egypt | Republic | Cairo | 1803-1806 | French sister republic (de facto protectorate) | |
|
Berber or Barbary Coast Republic | Directorial
republic |
Algiers, later moved to Tunis and finally Tripoli | Short-lived client republic of France. Recovered by Ottomans and Spain. |
Western Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is characterized by the development of centralized states and civilizations and their contact influence Europeans had over then. Portuguese traders began establishing settlements along the coast in 1445, followed by the French, British, Spanish, Danish and Dutch. African slave trade began not long after, which over the following centuries would debilitate the region's economy and population.
Due to its strategic importance for sea shipping and its proximity to the Golf of Guinea and also an important slave trade did the Netherlands, the Commonwealth and France establish coastal settlements.
The slave trade also encouraged the strengthening and further development of states such as the Ashanti Empire, Bambara Empire and Dahomey, whose economic activities include but not limited to exchanging slaves for European firearms. Some of them like the Ashanti and Dahomey severely affected by slave trade and its abolition signed treaties with France, Dutch and Commonwealth that allowed open trade and coastal trading ports. The Ashanti also began to inform themselves about Western culture, science and religion. The already extensive Ashanti bureaucracy began to develop accounting methods and writing.
An exception to slave trade in Western Africa was the Freetown settlement that was accidentally established as a refugee for formerly enslaved taken from slave ships and free Africans from Europe that were transported or migrated, becoming the present African Commonwealth of Liberia.
The theocratic states of Futa Jallon, Futa Toro, Massina and the Sokoto Caliphate rose out of Jihadist wars of the Islamic Hausa and Fula people against their heathen neighbors. Thought strong tribal and religious differences had kept them as rivals.
| Flag | Coat of Arms | Country | Regime | Capital | Established | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oyo Empire | Monarchy (Alaafin) | Oyo-lle | 1300 to date | |||
|
Bornu Empire | Monarchy (mai) | Ngazargamu | 1380s to date | ||
|
Kingdom of Dahomey | Monarchy (Ahosu) | Abomey | 1600 to date | ||
|
Ashanti Empire | Monarchy (Asantehene) | Kumasi | 1670 to date | ||
| Imamate of Futa Jallon | Theocratic monarchy (Almamy) | Timbo | 1725 to ... | |||
| Imamate of Futa Toro | Theocratic monarchy (Almaami) | Orefonde | 1776 to ... | |||
|
Sokoto Caliphate | Theocratic monarchy (Caliph) | Gudu, later Sokoto | 1804 to ... | ||
|
|
African Commonwealth of Liberia | Republic (Supreme Protector) | Freetown | ||
| Massina Empire | Monarchy (Almami) | Hamdullahi | Conquered by the Toucouleur Empire | |||
| Toucouleur Empire | Monarchy (Sultan) | Segou |
Eastern Africa
Eastern Africa is the home of several empires and states centuries old such as Ethiopia (or Abyssian as it was once called by European) and numerous Somali proto-states centered on the Horn of Africa and the Somali coast.
Further south along the Somali coast the main states are the Ajuran Sultanate and its successor states and the Swahili League, The Portuguese were incapable of claiming this region due to the resistance of the warring local polities helped by the Ottoman Empire that had an strategic hold on the vilayet of Habesh[1] and provided with naval and armed supplies to the several warring sultanates with the double purpose of warding off European expansion and fueling the rivalries of the Somali states and preventing the emerge of a a unified state that could military and commercially control the Horn of Africa and the Somali coast.
Madagascar became a unified island state by the early 18th century.
| Flag | Coat of Arms | Country | Regime | Capital | Established | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Ethiopian Empire | Absolute
monarchy (Emperor) |
Gondar | 1137 to date | |
|
Ajuran Sultanate | Monarchy (Suldaan) | Mareeg, Qelafo and Merca (seasonal) | 13th century to late 17th century | Successor states Gelede and Hoybo | |
| Kingdom of Maravi | Monarchy (Karonga) | Manthimba | c 1480 | |||
|
Mubuso Bulozi / Kingdom of Barotseland | Monarchy (Mbumu wa Litunga) | Lealui and Limulunga (seasonal) | c.1550 | ||
| Emirate of Harar | Monarchy (Emir) | Ge | 1647 to date | |||
| Sultanate of the Geledi | Monarchy (Suldaan) | Afgooye | late 17th century | |||
| Sultanate of Hobyo | Monarchy (Suldaan) | late 17th century | ||||
|
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Imerina Kingdom (or Merina Kingdom) | Monarchy (King) | Antananarivo | ||
|
Sultanate of Kilwa / Swahili League | Confederation (Rais wa Shirikisho, i.e. Sultan of Kilwa) | Kilwa | |||
| Majeerteen Sultanate | Monarchy (Suldaan) | Alula and Bargal (seasonal) | 19th century to date |
Central Africa
Central Africa or the Congo, a name referring to the area covered by the basin of the Congo (Zari as called by natives) river, is mostly occupied in the Coast. The early Portuguese contact with the Kongo Kingdom and its conversion to Catholicism and due to commercial and technological exchange with the Portuguese enable Kongo to conquer its rivals and expand and control the Congo basin establishing one of the largest organized states of Africa.
Matamba, a kingdom also converted to Catholicism, was ruled by the Guterres dynasty that claimed sovereignty over Ndongo that was split between Kongo and the Portuguese. Afonso V of Kongo forced Matamba to be a vassal in 1744 and finally incorporated as a province under Henrique II (1798). Only the bellicose Kasanje Kingdom remained independent.
Further inland the Zari river, specifically the Lualaba River, is the territory of the Luba and Lunbda kingdoms.
Slave trade was not a stranger to Kongo were it provided wealth and motivation to conquer its neighbours. The worldwide abolition of slavery was meet with unrest that tested the stability of the region having Kongo triumphant.
Only France and Portugal have been able to gain territories with the colonies of Gabon, a refuge of fleeing Kongolese slaves and Portuguese Angola.
| Flag | Coat of Arms | Country | Regime | Capital | Established | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kingdom of Ndongo | Monarchy (Ngola) | Ngola | c.1358-1675 | Vassal -1556, Independent State Guterres dynasty 1556-1675, northern half vassal 1675-1680, Province of Kongo (1680 to date) | ||
|
|
Kingdom of Kongo | Monarchy (Manikongo) | M'banza-Kongo (São Salvador) | 1390 to date | |
|
Kingdom of Kakongo | Monarchy | Kinguele | 15th century- | Vassal of Kongo, later annexed. | |
|
Kingdom of Loango | Monarchy | Buali (or Mbanza Loango) | c. 1550- | Vassal of Kongo, later annexed. | |
| Kingdom of Luba | Monarchy (muLopwe) | 1585 to date | ||||
| Kingdom of Matamba | Monarchy (Muhongo) | Matamba | c. 1590 to 1798 | Ruled by Guterres dynasty that claimed Ndongo. Conquered by Kongo | ||
| Kasanje Kingdom | Monarchy (Jaga) | c. 1620 to date | ||||
| Kuba or Bakuba Kingdom | Monarchy (nyim) | c. 1625 to date | ||||
| Kingdom of Lunda | Monarchy (Kyambvu) | c. 1660 to date | ||||
|
|
Free Republic of Gabon | Republic (Supreme Director) | Libreville | Established as a refuge for liberated slaves by French authorities, later became an independent state | |
|
State of Katanga | Elective monarchy | Mwibele | Union of the Kingdoms of Lunda and Luba |
Southern Africa
In Southern Africa colonialism has left its mark due to its strategic geography being the sea route to the East. Dutch, British an French had possessions and intricate system of alliances with native kingdoms. It is also the home of the Boers, the descendants of the Dutch and proto-Afrikaans-speaking settlers and farmers who left Kaapland and settled to the northeast of the Orange river.
In terms of natural resources, the region has the world's largest mineral resources and its temperare climate allows to grow grains and other cash crops.
Southern Africa was an important war theatre of the European Revolutionary Wars (1790-1810) as the Commonwealth, the Netherlands and republican France fought over the control of passage between Europe and Asia in the Cape of Good Hope.
| Flag | Coat of Arms | Country | Regime | Capital | Established | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Kingdom of Mutapa | Monarchy (Mwenemutapa) | Zvongombe | 1430 to date | ||
| Rozwi Empire | Monarchy (Changamire) | Danamombe, Guruuswa | 1660 to date | |||
|
|
Kaapland | Associated state of the Netherlands | Kaapstad | 1652 as Dutch colony, gained autonomy in 1817 | |
|
Natalia (Republic of Natal) | Boer republic (President) | Pietermaritzburg | Occupied and annexed as colony by the British | ||
|
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Kingdom of Zululand (KwaZulu) | Monarchy (King) | kwaBulawayo | British protectorate | |
|
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Transvaal | Boer republic (State President) | Pretoria | United in Orange-Transvaal | |
|
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Orange Free State | Boer republic (State President) | Bloemfontein | United in Orange-Transvaal | |
|
Goshen Free State | Boer republic (State President) | Vryburg | United in Orange-Transvaal | ||
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Orange-Transvaal | Boer republic (State President) | Pretoria | |||
| Swaziland | Monarchy (Ngwenyama) | Mbabane | Orange-Transvaal and British condominium, later British protectorate | |||
| Basutoland / Lesotho | Monarchy (Paramount Chief) | Maseru | Dutch-British Condominium | |||
| Pondoland | Monarchy (Paramount Chief) | British protectorate | ||||
|
Xhosaland (kwaXhosa), also called iMpuma-Kapa (Eastern Cape) | Monarchy -> parliamentary monarchy (Paramount Chief[2]) | Umtata | Recognized by the Great Fish River Treaty | ||
| Griqualand | Republic Capitan (Kaptein) | Dutch protectorate |
Notable Polities
Notable African polities that keep an uneasy balance of not being made European colonies and forms of independent economic, social and political exchange with Europe and to a lesser degree with the rest of the world.
Colonies and Territories in Africa
The European colonisation of Sub-Saharan Africa can be dated to the Early Modern period with the Portuguese and Spanish explorations and circumnavigation of the continent. The Portuguese and Spanish established trading post and ports mainly were engaged in slave trade. However the Dutch East India Company was the first to begin a the process of settling lands with colonist in Cape Colony (Dutch: Kaapkolonie) making Southern Africa an important trading and colonization hub.
Later, the Commonwealth and France began to establish trade post for slave trade and with their industrialization to trade with the native sates natural resources such as coffee, cotton, rubber, sugar and minerals in exchange for industrial goods ranging from textiles to railroads. An example of the consequences of this trade is the Kingdom of Kongo that emerged as major state and its expansion and wars against its neighbors. The abolition of slavery and its enforcement by the West Africa Squadron unintentionally led to the creation of the freed slaves republics of Liberia and Gabon.
The European Revolutionary Wars had all major powers fight the control of sea route and the coasts of West, Central and Western Africa. All the present day colonies of the Commonwealth and France were established by trade or force.
| Polity | Status | Capital | Established | Region and Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Iberian colonies and territories
| ||||
| Angola | Colony | Luanda[3] | 1576 to date | Western Africa |
| Cabo Verde | Colony | Praia | 1462 to date | Western Africa |
| Fernando Po | Colony | Santa Isabel | 1648 to date | Central Africa |
| Annobón | Colony | San Antonio de Palé | 1474 to date | Central Africa |
| São Tomé and Príncipe | Colony | São Tomé | 1493 to date | Central Africa |
| Guinea-Bissau | Colony | Bissau | 1482 to date | Western Africa |
| Rio Muni | Colony | Bata | 1778 to date | Central Africa |
| Moçambique | Colony | Moçambique, later Beira | 1507 to date | Southern Africa |
| Mauritania | Colony | Nuakchot | Western Africa. Disputed by France and Iberia | |
| Western Sahara (Spanish Sahara) | Colony | El Aaiún | 1852 to date | Northern Africa. Consolidation of Ifni, Río de Oro and Saguia el-Hamra |
| Iberian Morocco | Colony | Tetuán | 1850 to date | Northern Africa. Consolidation of Melilla, Ceuta, Tangier and Rif |
| Iberian Barbary Coast | Colony | Alger, later Mazalquivir | Northern Africa. Partially ceded to France the territories of Alger and Bugia | |
 Commonwealth colonies and territories
| ||||
| Coastal settlements of Guinea and Gold Coast | Coastal settlements and protectorates | Cape Castle | 1665 to date | Western Africa. Several coastal settlements and protectorates in Gambia, Guinea and Gold Coast |
| Senegambia | Colony and protectorate | Bathurst | 1664 to date | Western Africa. |
| British West Africa | Colony and protectorate | Western Africa. | ||
| Natal | Colony | Durban | Southern Africa. Durban established by Zulu land cession to the Commonwealth. Later enlarged by the incorporation of the former Boer state of Natalia after the British-Natal War. | |
 Dutch associated states, colonies and territories
| ||||
| Dutch Coast of Guinea[4] (or Gold Coast[5]) | Coastal settlements and protectorates | Elmina | Western Africa. | |
| Kaapland (former Cape Colony) | Associated state | Kaapstad (Cape Town) | 1652 to date | Southern Africa. Colony 1652-1817, associated state 1817 to date |
| Swellendam | semi-independent Boer State | Swellendam | Southern Africa. Semi-autonomous Boer State. Autonomy annulled and annexed to Kaapland as a district | |
| Graaff-Reinet | semi-independent Boer State | Graaff-Reinet | Southern Africa. Semi autonomous Boer State. Autonomy annulled and annexed to Kaapland as a district | |
 French colonies and territories
| ||||
| Algeria | Colony, French department | Alger | Northern Africa. | |
| Cap-Vert / Gorée / Dakar | Colony | Gorée later Dakar | Western Africa. Former Portuguese colony | |
| Rivières du Sud | Coastal settlements | Conakry | Western Africa. | |
| Coast of Ivory (Côte d'Ivoire) | Coastal settlements | Assinie | Western Africa. | |
| Gabon | Coastal settlements | Libreville | Western Africa. Began as a settlement for freed slaves, later declared its independence. | |
| Namib | Coastal settlements | Capricorne | Southern Africa. Includes Orangeville, former Port Orange | |
| Sofala | Coastal settlements | Maputo[6] | Southern Africa. Former Portuguese colony (part of Mozambique) occupied by France | |
 Scandinavian colonies and territories.
| ||||
| Scandinavian Gold Coast | Coastal settlements | Osu (Christiansborg) | 1766 to --- | Western Africa. Consolidation of Swedish and Danish Gold Coast settlements |
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