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Historical region

Sub-Saharan Africa

Mali, Songhai, Ethiopia, Kongo and Zimbabwe built rich states long before European contact.

48 countries·4 civilizations·5 major empires

Overview

Iron-working spread across the continent by the first millennium BCE. The Sahel produced Ghana, Mali and Songhai; East Africa the Aksumite and Ethiopian empires; Central Africa the Kongo; and the Swahili Coast a maritime trading world.

Historical timeline

c. 100 – 940 CEKingdom of Aksum
1235 – 1670Mali and Songhai empires
1270 – 1974Ethiopian Empire
1884 – 1960Colonial partition

Civilizations

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Kingdom of Aksum

c. 100 – 940 CE

Late antique African power on the Red Sea trade route.

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Mali Empire

c. 1235 – 1670

West African gold empire made famous by Mansa Musa.

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Songhai Empire

c. 1464 – 1591

The last and largest of the medieval West African empires.

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Great Zimbabwe

c. 1100 – 1450

Southern Africa's largest medieval stone city.

Countries in this region

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Ethiopia

Addis Ababa · 126 million

The only African state never colonized, heir to the Aksumite civilization and one of the world's oldest Christian nations.

Home of the Nok, Ife, Benin, Hausa and Sokoto civilizations; Africa's most populous nation.

Cradle of humanity; Swahili coast trading city-states; British colony to Mau Mau independence.

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South Africa

Pretoria / Cape Town / Bloemfontein · 60 million

Land of the San, the Zulu Kingdom, Dutch and British colonies, apartheid and Mandela's rainbow nation.

Ashanti gold kingdom; first sub-Saharan African colony to gain independence (1957).

Successor to the medieval Ghana, Mali and Songhai empires of the western Sahel.

Namesake of Great Zimbabwe; a settler colony until 1980.

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