Africa in 1492
1492 is the year Columbus reached the Americas. This map shows the 25 states and peoples the data has for Africa in that year.
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States and peoples in Africa in 1492
Largest first, by area on this map.
- Mamluk Sultanate
- Aq Qoyunlu
- Songhai Empire
- Wattasid dynasty
- Ethiopian Empire
- Tahirid Sultanate
- Mali Empire
- Hafsid Dynasty
- Makuria Kingdom
- Bornu Empire
- Zayyanid dynasty
- Ottoman Empire
- Adal Sultanate
- Alodia
- Kingdom of Kongo
- Crown of Castile
- Bahrani Dynasty
- Timurid Empire
- Ramadanid Emirate
- Crown of Aragon
- Kingdom of Portugal
- Republic of Venice
- Beylik of Dulkadir
- Republic of Genoa
- Kingdom of Naples
New on the map since 1442
Songhai Empire · Wattasid dynasty · Tahirid Sultanate
Gone from the map by 1542
Mamluk Sultanate · Aq Qoyunlu · Tahirid Sultanate · Makuria Kingdom · Alodia · Crown of Castile · Bahrani Dynasty · Timurid Empire · Ramadanid Emirate · Crown of Aragon · Beylik of Dulkadir · Republic of Genoa · Kingdom of Naples
Animated maps of this time
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Africa in other years
Other regions in 1492
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.