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Africa in 1453

1453 is the year Constantinople fell to the Ottomans. This map shows the 29 states and peoples the data has for Africa in that year.

Map of Africa in 1453 with 29 states and peoples
Borders: Cliopatria, Seshat Global History Databank (CC BY 4.0). Coarse outlines: check and adjust them for your story.

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States and peoples in Africa in 1453

Largest first, by area on this map.

  • Mamluk Sultanate
  • Mali Empire
  • Timurid Empire
  • Marinid Sultanate
  • Qara Qoyunlu
  • Ethiopian Empire
  • Rasulid Dynasty
  • Hafsid Dynasty
  • Aq Qoyunlu
  • Makuria Kingdom
  • Zayyanid dynasty
  • Adal Sultanate
  • Alodia
  • Kingdom of Kongo
  • Ottoman Empire
  • Crown of Castile
  • Beylik of Karaman
  • Bahrani Dynasty
  • Emirate of Granada
  • Ramadanid Emirate
  • Crown of Aragon
  • Byzantine Empire
  • Kingdom of Portugal
  • Bornu Empire
  • Kingdom of Cyprus
  • Beylik of Dulkadir
  • Republic of Venice
  • Republic of Genoa
  • Despotate of Epirus

New on the map since 1403

Qara Qoyunlu · Aq Qoyunlu · Makuria Kingdom · Adal Sultanate · Kingdom of Kongo · Byzantine Empire · Despotate of Epirus

Gone from the map by 1503

Marinid Sultanate · Qara Qoyunlu · Rasulid Dynasty · Beylik of Karaman · Emirate of Granada · Byzantine Empire · Kingdom of Cyprus · Despotate of Epirus

Animated maps of this time

Africa in other years

Other regions in 1453

The outlines are coarse and follow the Cliopatria dataset: borders before modern surveys are estimates, and a blank area means the data has no state on record there, not that nobody lived there. A state that changed hands during the year can appear together with its successor.