Map of Africa in 1898

On 1 July 1898, IntMap’s historical map draws 70 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 3 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.

NameDrawn area in view (km²)
French West Africa5,600,000
Ottoman Empire2,530,000
Congo Free State2,390,000
French Congo (France)2,240,000
Mahdist State2,090,000
Angola (Portugal)1,350,000
Egypt (UK)1,170,000
Southern Rhodesia (UK)1,050,000
German East Africa996,000
Ethiopian Empire994,000
German South-West Africa827,000
Mozambique (Portugal)790,000
Cape Colony717,000
Emirate of Jabal Shammar674,000
British East Africa (UK)663,000
Algeria (France)656,000
Sokoto Caliphate612,000
Madagascar (France)596,000
Bechuanaland (UK)580,000
Kamerun513,000
Persia463,000
Uganda (UK)383,000
Morocco375,000
Italian Somaliland373,000
Cote d'Ivoire (France)323,000
Transvaal302,000
Gabon (France)263,000
French Guinea (France)246,000
Aden Protectorate226,000
British Raj (British India)219,000
Gold Coast (UK)213,000
Senegal (France)197,000
Spanish West Africa177,000
British Somaliland (UK)173,000
Tunisia (France)156,000
British Empire134,000
Oil Rivers Protectorate (UK)131,000
Orange Free State130,000
Eritrea (Italy)122,000
Nyasaland (UK)119,000
Dahomey (France)117,000
Liberia96,500
British Africa93,100
Spain86,100
German Togoland84,100
Sierra Leone (UK)72,900
Natal72,500
Lagos Colony (UK)72,000
Portuguese Guinea (Portugal)33,600
Basutoland (UK)30,600
Spanish Guinea (Spain)27,200
Kingdom of Italy22,900
Greece22,800
French Somaliland (France)21,600
Swaziland (UK)17,100
Kingdom of Portugal13,700
Gambia (UK)10,900
Mayotte and Dependencies6,400
Lagos Colony6,020
Sultanate of Lahej5,980
Zanzibar Protectorate5,780
Sultanate of Zanzibar2,600
Portuguese São Tomé and Príncipe2,560
Protectorate of Bahrain2,180
Sultanate of Ndzuwani1,260
Trucial Oman (UK)1,190
Sultanate of Mwali924
Saint Helena Crown Colony507
Malta292
Muscat and Oman<1

What changed since 1897

Now drawn

none

No longer drawn

Wadai Empire, French Congo, French Africa, French Third Republic, Upper-Ubangi, Sultanate of Dar al Kuti, Togoland Protectorate, German Cameroon

The same date elsewhere

World map · 1898 Map of Europe · 1890–1904 Map of the Middle East · 1898 Map of South Asia · 1888–1911 Map of East Asia · 1898 Map of Southeast Asia · 1898 Map of Central Asia · 1886–1911 Map of North America · 1894–1898 Map of Central America and the Caribbean · 1886–1898 Map of South America · 1890–1903 Map of Oceania · 1898

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.

All data sources →

Share this page

X Bluesky Threads Facebook LINE Reddit

Each link opens that service in a new tab with the address of this page filled in. Nothing is sent until you post it there yourself.