Map of Africa in 1887
On 1 July 1887, IntMap’s historical map draws 86 names within Africa. The borders for this date come from CShapes 2.0 (day by day), then OpenHistoricalMap (day by day), then Cliopatria, Seshat Global History Databank (by year) — each drawn only where the records before it are silent. The map also draws 2 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 | 2,530,000 |
| Congo Free State | 2,340,000 |
| Mahdist State | 2,230,000 |
| Upper River | 1,260,000 |
| Egypt (UK) | 1,170,000 |
| German East Africa | 956,000 |
| German South-West Africa | 827,000 |
| Sokoto Caliphate | 694,000 |
| Algeria (France) | 656,000 |
| Mozambique (Portugal) | 637,000 |
| Portuguese Angola | 612,000 |
| Cape Colony | 602,000 |
| Madagascar (France) | 596,000 |
| Kamerun | 513,000 |
| Persia | 463,000 |
| Angola (Portugal) | 412,000 |
| Morocco | 375,000 |
| French Congo (France) | 346,000 |
| Bechuanaland (UK) | 309,000 |
| Transvaal | 302,000 |
| Ethiopian Empire | 297,000 |
| Wadai Empire | 281,000 |
| French Africa | 271,000 |
| French Congo | 271,000 |
| French Third Republic | 271,000 |
| Emirate of Nejd | 266,000 |
| Gabon (France) | 263,000 |
| Aden Protectorate | 225,000 |
| Emirate of Jabal Shammar | 222,000 |
| British Raj (British India) | 219,000 |
| Senegal (France) | 197,000 |
| Bornu Empire | 178,000 |
| Spanish West Africa | 177,000 |
| British Somaliland (UK) | 173,000 |
| Tunisia (France) | 156,000 |
| Province of Mozambique | 143,000 |
| Sultanate of Hobyo | 134,000 |
| Oil Rivers Protectorate (UK) | 131,000 |
| Orange Free State | 130,000 |
| Kingdom of Portugal | 119,000 |
| British Bechuanaland | 117,000 |
| Portuguese Empire | 106,000 |
| Majeerteen Sultanate | 100,000 |
| Sultanate of Dar al Kuti | 100,000 |
| Liberia | 96,500 |
| Ashanti Empire | 96,200 |
| Spain | 86,100 |
| Sierra Leone (UK) | 83,800 |
| British Empire | 75,700 |
| Togoland Protectorate | 73,800 |
| Lagos Colony (UK) | 72,000 |
| Gold Coast (UK) | 68,700 |
| Natal | 43,700 |
| British Colonial Empire | 40,900 |
| Portuguese Guinea (Portugal) | 33,600 |
| British Africa | 32,900 |
| Kingdom of Rwanda | 32,500 |
| Basutoland (UK) | 30,600 |
| Spanish Guinea (Spain) | 27,200 |
| Kingdom of Burundi | 26,900 |
| Kingdom of Spain | 23,600 |
| Spanish Empire | 23,600 |
| Kingdom of Italy | 22,900 |
| Greece | 22,800 |
| French Somaliland (France) | 21,600 |
| Kingdom of Dahomey | 20,400 |
| Eritrea (Italy) | 19,300 |
| Zululand | 18,000 |
| Swaziland | 17,200 |
| German Cameroon | 14,800 |
| Nieuwe Republiek | 10,200 |
| Protectorate of Wituland | 8,030 |
| Sultanate of Zanzibar | 7,260 |
| German Togoland | 6,850 |
| Lagos Colony | 6,020 |
| Sultanate of Lahej | 5,980 |
| Mayotte and Dependencies | 5,870 |
| People's Republic of Zanzibar | 4,350 |
| Portuguese São Tomé and Príncipe | 2,560 |
| Trucial States | 2,370 |
| Protectorate of Bahrain | 2,180 |
| Sultanate of Ndzuwani | 1,260 |
| Sultanate of Mwali | 924 |
| Saint Helena Crown Colony | 507 |
| Malta | 292 |
| Muscat and Oman | <1 |
What changed since 1886
Now drawn
none
No longer drawn
Sultanate of Qishn and Socotra
The same date elsewhere
World map · 1887 Map of Europe · 1886–1889 Map of the Middle East · 1887–1889 Map of South Asia · 1887 Map of East Asia · 1887–1893 Map of Southeast Asia · 1887 Map of Central Asia · 1886–1911 Map of North America · 1886–1893 Map of Central America and the Caribbean · 1886–1898 Map of South America · 1886–1889 Map of Oceania · 1886–1888
Source and method
Borders and names: CShapes 2.0 (Schvitz et al. 2022, icr.ethz.ch/data/cshapes) · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 + OpenHistoricalMap (openhistoricalmap.org) · CC0 1.0 · adapted by IntMap: the admin_level=2 relations in force from 1886, less the ground CShapes states on its own dates + 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.
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.