Map of Africa in 1840
On 1 July 1840, IntMap’s historical map draws 102 names within Africa. The borders for this date come from OpenHistoricalMap (day by day), then Cliopatria, Seshat Global History Databank (by year), then historical-basemaps — each drawn only where the records before it are silent. The map also draws 4 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) |
|---|---|
| Ottoman Empire | 3,210,000 |
| Turco-Egyptian Sudan | 2,060,000 |
| Sokoto Caliphate | 828,000 |
| Province of Mozambique | 811,000 |
| Muhammad Ali dynasty | 703,000 |
| Kingdom of Imerina | 626,000 |
| Emirate of Nejd | 525,000 |
| Cape Colony | 513,000 |
| Persia | 469,000 |
| Kaarta | 450,000 |
| Alawi Sultanate | 392,000 |
| Nejd | 380,000 |
| Fulani Empire | 351,000 |
| Lozi | 327,000 |
| Wadai Empire | 279,000 |
| Mossi States | 260,000 |
| Ethiopian Empire | 241,000 |
| French Algeria | 231,000 |
| Bornu Empire | 228,000 |
| Somalia | 225,000 |
| Ottoman Tripolitania | 217,000 |
| Burundi | 199,000 |
| Rwanda | 190,000 |
| Bunyoro | 162,000 |
| Morocco | 146,000 |
| Omani Slave Coast | 135,000 |
| Zanzibar | 122,000 |
| Majeerteen Sultanate | 115,000 |
| Kingdom of Lunda | 113,000 |
| Zulu | 110,000 |
| Massina Empire | 105,000 |
| Ashanti Empire | 104,000 |
| Sultanate of Dar al Kuti | 100,000 |
| Colony of Liberia | 99,700 |
| Buganda | 98,400 |
| Spain | 96,800 |
| Emirate of Jabal Shammar | 84,400 |
| Kazembe | 81,500 |
| Colony of Sierra Leone | 76,500 |
| British Cape Colony | 69,400 |
| British Empire | 69,400 |
| Asante | 61,200 |
| Nkore | 61,200 |
| Angola | 53,200 |
| Lunda | 53,000 |
| Ethiopia | 52,400 |
| Gold Coast Colony | 49,400 |
| Imamate of Futa Toro | 47,000 |
| Imamate of Yemen | 42,900 |
| Sultanate of Qishn and Socotra | 42,700 |
| Sotho | 42,000 |
| Portuguese Guinea | 41,700 |
| Kingdom of Portugal | 41,100 |
| Kingdom of Rwanda | 40,000 |
| Kingdom of Greece | 38,600 |
| Natalia Republic | 37,700 |
| Egypt | 35,600 |
| Bahrain | 33,600 |
| Kingdom of Burundi | 26,900 |
| Portuguese Empire | 26,900 |
| Kingdom of the Two Sicilies | 26,400 |
| Zululand | 25,700 |
| Oyo | 23,700 |
| Kingdom of Jolof | 20,500 |
| Kingdom of Dahomey | 20,400 |
| Bundu | 18,900 |
| Kingdom of Saloum | 17,200 |
| Shilluk Kingdom | 16,800 |
| Yemen | 15,800 |
| Xhosa | 15,300 |
| Kingdom of Cayor | 14,100 |
| Sultanate of Darfur | 12,700 |
| Imbangala | 12,300 |
| Gambia Colony and Protectorate | 11,700 |
| Kingdom of Niani | 11,700 |
| Regency of Algiers | 8,930 |
| Kingdom of Baol | 8,170 |
| Sultanate of Lahej | 8,120 |
| Danish Gold Coast | 6,910 |
| Kingdom of Kakongo | 6,050 |
| Spanish Empire | 5,980 |
| Spanish Possessions on the Gulf of Guinea | 5,750 |
| Kingdom of Waalo | 5,570 |
| Kingdom of Wuli | 5,410 |
| Portuguese East Africa | 4,710 |
| Kingdom of Ngoyo | 3,920 |
| Bornu-Kanem | 3,490 |
| British Mauritius | 2,750 |
| Portuguese São Tomé and Príncipe | 2,560 |
| Colony of Maryland | 2,520 |
| Trucial States | 2,370 |
| Kingdom of Sine | 2,320 |
| United States of the Ionian Islands | 2,290 |
| Haushabi Sultanate | 1,860 |
| Congo | 1,610 |
| Walvis Bay Colony | 1,610 |
| Company Raj | 1,510 |
| Sultanate of Ndzuwani | 1,260 |
| Crown Colony of Malta | 925 |
| Sultanate of Mwali | 923 |
| Nosy Boraha | 888 |
| Saint Helena Crown Colony | 508 |
What changed since 1839
Now drawn
Ottoman Tripolitania, Emirate of Jabal Shammar, Natalia Republic, Bahrain
No longer drawn
none
The same date elsewhere
World map · 1840 Map of Europe · 1839–1840 Map of the Middle East · 1840–1845 Map of South Asia · 1840–1842 Map of East Asia · 1840 Map of Southeast Asia · 1840 Map of Central Asia · 1840–1845 Map of North America · 1840 Map of Central America and the Caribbean · 1840 Map of South America · 1840 Map of Oceania · 1840
Source and method
Borders and names: OpenHistoricalMap (openhistoricalmap.org) · CC0 1.0 + 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.