Map of Africa in 1500
For 1500, IntMap draws the Cliopatria, Seshat Global History Databank (by year), then historical-basemaps — each drawn only where the records before it are silent map of that year: 58 names within Africa. The map also draws 7 outlines here that the source gives no name.
Names on the map
As the map labels them, largest first by the area of the outline drawn inside this view. Areas are of the drawn outline, rounded, and approximate.
| Name | Drawn area in view (km²) |
|---|---|
| Bantou | 8,160,000 |
| West African cereal farmers (a description by the source, not a name) | 3,750,000 |
| Khoiasan | 2,350,000 |
| Mamluk Sultanate | 1,490,000 |
| Arabs | 1,430,000 |
| Aq Qoyunlu | 854,000 |
| Songhai Empire | 631,000 |
| Mwenemutapa | 490,000 |
| Madagascar | 431,000 |
| Ethiopian Empire | 394,000 |
| Wattasid dynasty | 384,000 |
| Tahirid Sultanate | 376,000 |
| Mali Empire | 348,000 |
| Mamluke Sultanate | 337,000 |
| Mali | 282,000 |
| Islamic city-states (a description by the source, not a name) | 241,000 |
| Hausa States | 240,000 |
| Hafsid Dynasty | 226,000 |
| Makuria Kingdom | 213,000 |
| Songhai | 207,000 |
| Bornu Empire | 202,000 |
| Bornu-Kanem | 201,000 |
| Ethiopia | 193,000 |
| Zayyanid Caliphate | 153,000 |
| Adal Sultanate | 150,000 |
| Expansionist Kingdom of Merina | 149,000 |
| Ottoman Empire | 133,000 |
| Kingdom of Kongo | 132,000 |
| Funj | 128,000 |
| Zayyanid dynasty | 126,000 |
| Alodia | 124,000 |
| Mossi States | 110,000 |
| Benin | 108,000 |
| Hafsid Caliphate | 98,900 |
| Crown of Castile | 86,100 |
| Oyo | 70,700 |
| Emirate of the White Sheep Turks | 64,500 |
| Akan | 47,700 |
| Bahrani Dynasty | 42,300 |
| Hadramaut | 28,500 |
| Kingdom of Portugal | 25,400 |
| Ramadanid Emirate | 24,500 |
| Crown of Aragon | 20,500 |
| Republic of Venice | 20,100 |
| Ndongo | 15,200 |
| Congo | 13,900 |
| Beylik of Dulkadir | 10,300 |
| Wattasid Caliphate | 9,310 |
| Muscat | 5,440 |
| Castille | 3,110 |
| Aragón | 2,670 |
| Republic of Genoa | 843 |
| Guanches | 268 |
| Yemen | 238 |
| Portugal | 156 |
| Kingdom of Naples | 91.6 |
| Cyprus | 45.4 |
| Adal | 35 |
What changed since 1492
Now drawn
none
No longer drawn
none
The same date elsewhere
World map · 1500 Map of Europe · 1500 Map of the Middle East · 1500 Map of South Asia · 1500 Map of East Asia · 1500 Map of Southeast Asia · 1500 Map of Central Asia · 1500 Map of North America · 1500 Map of Central America and the Caribbean · 1500 Map of South America · 1500 Map of Oceania · 1500
Source and method
Borders and names: Cliopatria v0.2.1 (Seshat Global History Databank, github.com/Seshat-Global-History-Databank/cliopatria) · CC BY 4.0 · adapted by IntMap: simplified, BC years made astronomical, and the ground OpenHistoricalMap (1689–1885, and from 1886 where CShapes is silent) and CShapes (1886–2019) state removed on their own dates + aourednik/historical-basemaps (github.com/aourednik/historical-basemaps) · GPL-3.0 · adapted by IntMap: each sheet before 1886 less the ground OpenHistoricalMap and Cliopatria state at that sheet's year.
Listed: every name whose outline IntMap draws inside 20°W–52°E, 36°S–38°N on this date, with the name the map writes on it. The list is worked out when the site is built, from the same records and the same code the map uses, so it says what the map shows — not more. Names are the source’s own, translated where the source or IntMap’s name table has a translation.