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Africa History Atlas Diachronic map showing pre-colonial cultures of Africa (spanning roughly 500 BCE to 1500 CE) This map is "an artistic interpretation" using multiple and disparate sources. Date: 1 May 2007: Source: Own work: Author: Jeff Israel : Other versions: Derivative works of this file: African-civilizations-map-imperial.png
There were many kingdoms and empires in all regions of the continent of Africa throughout history. A kingdom is a state with a king or queen as its head. [1] An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant centre and subordinate peripheries".
The 7th to 13th centuries in West Africa were a period of relatively abundant rainfall that saw the explosive growth of trade, particularly across the Sahara desert, and the flourishing of numerous important states. [153] The introduction of the camel to the western Sahel was a watershed moment, allowing more merchandise to move more easily. [104]
The Fra Mauro map of 1459 shows a more detailed picture of Africa as a continent, including the Cape of Diab at its southernmost point, reflecting an expedition of 1420. Sebastian Münster 's Cosmographia (1545) labels the Cape of Good Hope , reached by Bartolomeu Dias in 1488, as caput bonae spei .
The terms African civilizations, also classical African civilizations, or African empires are terms that generally refer to the various pre-colonial African kingdoms.The civilizations usually include Egypt, Carthage, Axum, [1] Numidia, and Nubia, [1] but may also be extended to the prehistoric Land of Punt and others: Kingdom of Dagbon, the Empire of Ashanti, Kingdom of Kongo, Empire of Mali ...
The history of East Africa has been divided into its prehistory, the major polities flourishing, the colonial period, and the post-colonial period, in which the current nations were formed. East Africa is the eastern region of Africa , bordered by North Africa , Central Africa , Southern Africa , the Indian Ocean , and the Sahara Desert .
The modern, arid Sahara. The Sahara was not a desert during the African humid period. Instead, most of northern Africa was covered by grass, trees, and lakes. The African humid period (AHP; also known by other names) was a climate period in Africa during the late Pleistocene and Holocene geologic epochs, when northern Africa was wetter than today.
The history of the territories which since ca. 1900 have been known under the name of Nigeria during the pre-colonial period (16th to 18th centuries) was dominated by several powerful West African kingdoms or empires, such as the Benin Kingdom, Oyo Empire and the Islamic Kanem-Bornu Empire in the northeast.