West Africa: Did you mean...?

Owen Roe as Odo of West Francia in the TV series Vikings. Photo by Bernard Walsh/HISTORY - © 2016 The HISTORY Channel

Algeria, Africa's largest country, stretches from the Mediterranean coastline to the Saharan desert interior. The country has some of the finest and most diverse Roman sites, including Timgad and Djémila, both well-preserved and UNESCO-listed...

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

Did you know that salt was literally worth its weight in gold in ancient West Africa? This video is all about the lucrative trade of salt in West African history. Salt from the Sahara desert was one of the major trade goods of ancient...

The Battle of Kasserine Pass in Tunisia (18-22 February 1943) was won by Axis German and Italian forces led by field marshal Erwin Rommel (1891-1944) against a combined Allied army of British, French, and US troops. The last fling of 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...

Charles the Simple (Charles III of France, l. 879-929, r. 893-923) was king of West Francia (roughly modern-day France) toward the end of the period of Viking raids in the region. His epithet `the simple' refers to his habit of being straightforward...

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...

This map illustrates the scope and administrative organization of the Roman provinces in North Africa, from the initial conquest in 146 BCE to their full integration into the empire. Following the destruction of Carthage at the end of the...

Mansa Musa I was the ruler of the Mali Empire in West Africa from 1312 to 1337. Controlling territories rich in gold and copper, and monopolising trade between the north and interior of the continent, Mali grew extremely wealthy. Mansa Musa...