Map of Africa in 1891
On 1 July 1891, IntMap’s historical map draws 84 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 | 2,220,000 |
| French Republic | 1,660,000 |
| Angola (Portugal) | 1,350,000 |
| French Sudan | 1,260,000 |
| Egypt (UK) | 1,170,000 |
| Southern Rhodesia (UK) | 1,050,000 |
| British East Africa (UK) | 1,050,000 |
| German East Africa | 996,000 |
| Ethiopian Empire | 973,000 |
| German South-West Africa | 827,000 |
| Mozambique (Portugal) | 790,000 |
| Sokoto Caliphate | 694,000 |
| Algeria (France) | 656,000 |
| Cape Colony | 602,000 |
| Madagascar (France) | 596,000 |
| Bechuanaland (UK) | 578,000 |
| Kamerun | 513,000 |
| Persia | 463,000 |
| Emirate of Jabal Shammar | 376,000 |
| Morocco | 375,000 |
| Italian Somaliland | 373,000 |
| French Congo (France) | 346,000 |
| Cote d'Ivoire (France) | 323,000 |
| Transvaal | 302,000 |
| Wadai Empire | 281,000 |
| French Congo | 271,000 |
| Gabon (France) | 263,000 |
| French Guinea | 249,000 |
| Aden Protectorate | 225,000 |
| 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 |
| Oil Rivers Protectorate (UK) | 131,000 |
| Orange Free State | 130,000 |
| Gold Coast (UK) | 129,000 |
| Kingdom of Spain | 123,000 |
| Spanish Empire | 123,000 |
| Eritrea (Italy) | 122,000 |
| Nyasaland (UK) | 119,000 |
| British Bechuanaland | 117,000 |
| Emirate of Nejd | 112,000 |
| Sultanate of Dar al Kuti | 100,000 |
| Liberia | 96,500 |
| Spain | 86,100 |
| Sierra Leone (UK) | 72,900 |
| Lagos Colony (UK) | 72,000 |
| German Togoland | 53,600 |
| Natal | 43,700 |
| British Empire | 42,700 |
| Portuguese Guinea (Portugal) | 33,600 |
| Basutoland (UK) | 30,600 |
| Togoland Protectorate | 29,700 |
| Spanish Guinea (Spain) | 27,200 |
| Kingdom of Italy | 22,900 |
| Greece | 22,800 |
| French Africa | 22,800 |
| French Third Republic | 22,800 |
| French Somaliland (France) | 21,600 |
| Sultanate of Hobyo | 21,400 |
| Kingdom of Dahomey | 20,400 |
| Zululand | 18,000 |
| Swaziland | 17,200 |
| German Cameroon | 14,800 |
| Kingdom of Portugal | 13,700 |
| Gambia (UK) | 10,900 |
| South African Republic | 9,690 |
| Lagos Colony | 6,020 |
| Sultanate of Lahej | 5,980 |
| Mayotte and Dependencies | 5,870 |
| Zanzibar Protectorate | 5,780 |
| Sultanate of Zanzibar | 2,600 |
| 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 1890
Now drawn
French Guinea, Nyasaland (UK)
No longer drawn
Portuguese Angola, Barotziland, Imperial British East Africa Company, Province of Mozambique, North-Western Rhodesia, Portuguese Empire
The same date elsewhere
World map · 1891 Map of Europe · 1890–1904 Map of the Middle East · 1890–1891 Map of South Asia · 1888–1911 Map of East Asia · 1887–1893 Map of Southeast Asia · 1890–1893 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 · 1890–1903 Map of Oceania · 1890–1891
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.