South Africa: Did you mean...?

The ancient and medieval Mediterranean might have been a bustling stage of ever-changing empires but, across the inhospitable barrier of the Sahara Desert, West Africans were equally busy building up and toppling down their own kingdoms and...

The Wolof (aka Jolof or Djolof) Empire was a state on the coast of West Africa, located between the Senegal and Gambia rivers, which thrived from the mid-14th to mid-16th century CE. The empire prospered on trade thanks to the two rivers...

The Kingdom of Benin, located in the southern forests of West Africa (modern Nigeria) and formed by the Edo people, flourished from the 13th to 19th century CE. The capital, also called Benin, was the hub of a trade network exclusively controlled...

Portuguese Angola in southwest Africa was the first European colony on that continent. While settlement from 1571 proved problematic in the interior, the Portuguese did obtain a large number of slaves which they shipped to their Atlantic...

Africa became a central arena in the global struggle of the Second World War (1939–1945), where imperial rivalry, strategic geography, and colonial governance converged. Campaigns in North Africa (1940–1943) pitted Axis forces, initially...

The Berlin Conference (1884–1885), also known as the Congo Conference, marked a defining moment in the Scramble for Africa—the competitive colonization of the continent by European powers during the late 19th century. Convened in Berlin under...

In the aftermath of World War I (1914–1918), Africa remained overwhelmingly under European colonial domination, despite widespread African participation in the war effort. While the conflict weakened several European powers, it did not dismantle...

The British authorities controversially used concentration camps for civilians during the Boer War (1899-1902) in Southern Africa. The reason was to deprive Boer guerrilla fighters of logistical support and provide some sort of accommodation...

The Songhai Empire (aka Songhay, c. 1460 - c. 1591) covered what is today southern Mauritania and Mali. It replaced the Mali Empire (1240-1645) as the most important state in West Africa. Originating as a smaller kingdom along the eastern...

A late-18th century map of the South China Sea. Drawn by Rigobert Bonne and G. Raynal