African Regions in Historical Perspective

There are many maps of Africa that illustrate geographic features, linguistic groupings, colonial landscapes, or modern countries, and beyond. This tool is directed at historical periods between circa 1500 and 1900, for which there are few inland maps other than depictions often based on incomplete or inaccurate information drawn up from hearsay and speculation. The aim here is to provide a basic geographic understanding of the continent and its peoples from perspectives rooted in African and African diaspora history.

AfricanRegions.org is helpful for researching and teaching this continent’s complex history in broad, regional terms. It centers on a geographic hierarchy that divides Africa into six broad regions that are sub-divided into 34 subregions, including major offshore islands. By definition, a region is an area or division with definable characteristics but not always fixed boundaries. Design concepts here attempt to portray fluid, fuzzy, and non-linear edges, which are difficult to represent on an interactive map. In essence, loose borders shift depending on historical contexts, interpretations, and periods. 

There are various ways to map Africa. Linear boundaries unavoidably divide socio-political similarities and ethnolinguistic groupings that have fluctuated over time. The regions presented here might be contentious for some, such as people opposed to yet another socio-political map that may seem to perpetuate the fragmentation of Africa, or indeed others who consider North Africa an extension of the Middle East, or still others who might misconstrue how regionalization enhances research and teaching. Such considerations mean that drawing African regions requires constant reflection and revision.

This regionalization is created from primary sources and the scholarly literature following rigorous academic standards. They are primarily devised as a neutral guide to the continent with labels that are easy to input and translate for database construction and historical reconstruction. The intention is to avoid terms that might be confused with ethnolinguistic groups, the jargon of slave traders, colonial places, modern countries, and other perspectives. As a controlled vocabulary, regional categories can consolidate, link, and display larger datasets about people, events, and places in African and African diaspora history, which derive from archival collections, digitized primary sources, scholarly analysis, and other multimedia. 

This website is meant to stimulate and facilitate discussion, debate, and inquiry about historical maps of Africa found on the internet today. For comparative and educational purposes, the regional polygons are overlaid on top of the following four base maps: elevation, vegetation, colonial boundaries, and modern-day countries. There are added layers for major landforms, lakes, and rivers, as well as equatorial lines. Although in English, this website is accessible via Google Translate in a variety of languages. For a collection of 5,000 historical maps of Africa found in primary sources, users are also encouraged to register at Afriterra: The Cartographic Free Library.