South Africa: Did you mean...?

The First Battle of El Alamein (1-27 July 1942) was a series of encounters during the Second World War (1939-1945) in Egypt between Allied and Axis forces. The battle, focussed around the El Alamein defensive line, ended without a decisive...

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 siege of Mafeking (1899-1900) was a major engagement in the Boer War (aka South Africa War, 1899-1902). 8,000 Boers besieged the British-held town, which had fewer than 2,000 armed men to defend it. Commanded by Robert Baden-Powell, the...

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)

Prince Henry the Navigator (aka Infante Dom Henrique, 1394-1460) was a Portuguese prince who famously helped capture the North African city of Ceuta, sponsored voyages of exploration with the aim of building colonies in the North Atlantic...

The North Africa Campaign (1940–1943) formed a decisive theater of the World War II (1939–1945), centered on control of the strategic corridor linking the Mediterranean Sea to the Suez Canal and the Middle Eastern oil fields. The conflict...

A photograph showing a parade of African Askari troops commanded by German officers in German East Africa. Taken some time during the First World War (1914-18). German Federal Archives

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

The Battle of Isandlwana on 22 January 1879 was the opening encounter of the Anglo-Zulu War and a famous Zulu victory against the British Army. Over 25,000 Zulu warriors attacked and destroyed a British-led force of 1,700 men camped at the...

Eritrea, located on the Red Sea coast of the Horn of Africa, was the ‘firstborn’ colony of Italy. The potential of a trade centre and naval base at Assab first attracted Italian interests in 1869. The Kingdom of Italy, however, did not officially...