Map of Africa in 1959
On 1 July 1959, IntMap’s historical map draws 71 names within Africa. The borders for this date come from CShapes 2.0 (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) |
|---|---|
| Sudan (incl. South Sudan) | 2,500,000 |
| Belgian Congo (Belgium) | 2,340,000 |
| Algeria (France) | 2,320,000 |
| Saudi Arabia | 1,830,000 |
| Libya | 1,620,000 |
| French Sudan (France) | 1,450,000 |
| Chad (France) | 1,280,000 |
| Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland | 1,260,000 |
| Ethiopia (incl. Eritrea) | 1,250,000 |
| Angola (Portugal) | 1,250,000 |
| Union of South Africa | 1,220,000 |
| Niger (France) | 1,190,000 |
| Mauritania (France) | 1,040,000 |
| Egypt | 1,000,000 |
| Tanganyika (UK) | 943,000 |
| Nigeria (UK) | 867,000 |
| South West Africa (South Africa) | 827,000 |
| Mozambique (Portugal) | 790,000 |
| Ubangi-Shari (France) | 621,000 |
| Madagascar (France) | 596,000 |
| Kenya (UK) | 585,000 |
| Bechuanaland (UK) | 580,000 |
| Italian Somaliland | 467,000 |
| Imperial State of Iran | 463,000 |
| Iraq | 436,000 |
| French Cameroons (France) | 425,000 |
| Morocco | 404,000 |
| French Congo (France) | 346,000 |
| Cote d'Ivoire (France) | 323,000 |
| Upper Volta (France) | 273,000 |
| Spanish Sahara | 270,000 |
| Gabon (France) | 263,000 |
| Guinea | 246,000 |
| Uganda (UK) | 243,000 |
| Ghana | 240,000 |
| East Aden Protectorate | 218,000 |
| Turkey | 217,000 |
| Syria | 188,000 |
| British Somaliland (UK) | 173,000 |
| Tunisia | 156,000 |
| Yemen | 137,000 |
| Dahomey (France) | 117,000 |
| Liberia | 96,500 |
| Jordan | 89,300 |
| British Cameroons | 87,900 |
| Francoist Spain | 86,100 |
| Sierra Leone (UK) | 72,900 |
| French Togoland (France) | 57,300 |
| Ruanda-Urundi (Belgium) | 52,600 |
| Aden (UK) | 46,700 |
| Greece | 34,500 |
| Portuguese Guinea (Portugal) | 33,600 |
| Basutoland (UK) | 30,600 |
| Spanish Guinea (Spain) | 27,200 |
| Italy | 22,900 |
| French Somaliland (France) | 21,600 |
| Israel | 20,800 |
| Swaziland (UK) | 17,100 |
| British Empire | 14,000 |
| Portugal | 13,700 |
| Qatar (UK) | 11,200 |
| Gambia (UK) | 10,900 |
| Lebanon | 10,300 |
| Cyprus | 9,300 |
| West Bank (Jordan) | 5,880 |
| Sultanate of Zanzibar | 2,690 |
| Comoros (France) | 1,770 |
| Trucial Oman (UK) | 1,190 |
| Gaza (Egypt) | 382 |
| Malta | 292 |
| Muscat and Oman | <1 |
What changed since 1958
Now drawn
Spanish Sahara, Guinea
No longer drawn
Spanish West Africa, French Guinea (France), Senegal (France)
The same date elsewhere
World map · 1959 Map of Europe · 1956–1962 Map of the Middle East · 1956–1960 Map of South Asia · 1951–1964 Map of East Asia · 1954–1971 Map of Southeast Asia · 1958–1962 Map of Central Asia · 1951–1971 Map of North America · 1959–1973 Map of Central America and the Caribbean · 1924–1962 Map of South America · 1946–1962 Map of Oceania · 1950–1959
Source and method
Borders and names: CShapes 2.0 (Schvitz et al. 2022, icr.ethz.ch/data/cshapes) · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 + 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.
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.