African Climate and Vegetation from 9000 to 6700 BCE (Ehret)

African Climate and Vegetation from 9000 to 6700 BCE

Map Creator: Christopher Ehret
Source: The Civilizations of Africa: A History to 1800. 2002. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia. P. 32.
Date Created: 2002.

Map Description:
This map displays the changes in African climate and vegetation between 9,000 and 6,700 BCE as shown by Ehret.

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African Economic Statistics

Economic Maps of Africa

Map Creator: Wikimedia User: Psych3
Contact: Wikimedia User: Psych3
Map Description:
Two maps showing economic measures of Africa. These maps are files from Wikimedia Commons. 'Africa by GDP' shows African nations' per capita GDP as of 2002. Numbers are in U.S. dollars and the data is from the World Bank. 'Africa by HDI' shows the position of African countries on the UNDP's 2004 list of countries by quality of life, based on the Human Development Index (first: best, last: worst).

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African Ethnic Groups (Public Content)

Ethnic Groups of Africa

Map Creator: United States Central Intelligence Agency
Source: Africa Ethnic Groups
Data Source: Murdock, G. P. 1959. Africa, Its Peoples and Their Culture History. McGraw Hill.
Usage Notes/Copyright Status: This work is in the public domain in the United States under the terms of Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 105 of the US Code.
Date Created: 1996

Map Description:
This map displays the ethnic groups of Africa as researched by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency in 1996. Areas with large populations of two or more major ethnic groups have been represented with one feature being superimposed over the other as represented by the Shared Areas layer.

Please note that the classification presented does not reflect current scholarly consensus.

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African Genetic Populations (Newman)

African Genetic Types in the Late Stone Age

Map Creator: James L. Newman
Source: The Peopling of Africa. 1995. New Haven: Yale University Press: 37.
Date Created: 1995

Map Description:
This map shows four regional genetic populations from which virtually all Africans descended. According to Newman, these populations had formed by the close of the late Stone Age. In addition to finding capoid remains in conjunction with the Nachikufan and Wilton industries, archeologists have also unearthed thirty three skeletons in Southern Zambia. In the Northern region of Africa, skeletal remains demonstrate that Cro-Magnon precursors to modern Mediterranean causaoids inhabited the area from the Lower Nile into the Maghrib. Although skeletons of tall negroids are few, those that exist exihibit characteristics of the sedentarizing lakeside and riverside peoples of the Sahara, the Sahel, the Middle Nile and Eastern Africa. No one has yet discovered definitive Late Stone Age pygmoid skeletons; however, surviving groups have often been described as exhibiting "ultra-African" genetic characteristics of antiquity, dating as far back as 20,000 years.

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Approximate Area of Bantu Nasal Harmony (Greenberg)

Approximate Area of Bantu Nasal Harmony

Map Creator: Joseph Harold Greenberg
Source: Greenberg, Joseph Harold. "Vowel and Nasal Harmony in Bantu Languages." Revue Congolaise, vol. 8. Pp. 813-820.
Date Created: 1951

Map Description:
This work outlines the region of southern Africa where Bantu languages are spoken, and highlights the area where these languages make use of nasal harmony, a phenomenon in which some affixes have alternative forms to use when the root contains a nasal sound. In the case of the Bantu languages, it can be observed with either a nasalized vowel or a consonant. Greenberg uses this map to support his hypothesis regarding whether or not this may have been a trait inherited from Proto-Bantu or if it was introduced in another way (Greenberg). Outside of Africa, this form of harmony is heard in many other languages, including Guaraní and Aguaruna.

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Bantu Origins and Dispersals (Newman)

Bantu Expansion

Source: Newman, James L. 1995. The Peopling of Africa. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Date Digitized: 2009

Map Description:
This map primarily illustrates Bantu origins and dispersals. It also shows the expansion patterns of both the Central Sudanic and Ubangian people. Newman suggests two reasons for some Bantu moving eastward: 1) food-producing sites might have been lacking and/or 2) the Bantu were moving due to the expansion of Ubangian peoples.
Newman also talks about how expansions affected one another positively. For example, Ubangians learned about grain cultivation from Central Sudanic farmers along their northern boundary, enabling them to colonize both moist and dry woodland habitats. They reached their maximum geographic range 2,000 years ago.

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Difaqane - Routes of Diffusion of Sotho/Tswana Peoples (Nurse, Weiner and Jenkins)

Difaqane - Diffusion of Sotho/Tswana peoples in response to military incursion

Map Creators: G. T. Nurse, J. S. Weiner, Trefor Jenkins
Source: The Peoples of Southern Africa and Their Affinities. 1985. Clarendon Press. p. 74.
Date Created: 1985

Map Description:
This map displays the main routes of dispersal of Sotho/Tswana peoples during the Difaqane (1815-1840). This name is the word in Lesotho which refers to the same event as the Mfecane. During this period, the Zulu/Mtetwa state system rose in power and began military expansion. Consolidation was common for most groups, although some fled (see the Kololo migration route) and others chose to reciprocate military action, resulting in the circular path of the Taung of Mentatisi (Nurse, Weiner and Jenkins, 1985).

Other resources related to this project:
Mfecane - Routes of Diffusion of Nguni Peoples (Nurse, Weiner and Jenkins)
San Populations Then and Now (Nurse, Weiner and Jenkins)
The Khoi as Migrants and Nomads (Nurse, Weiner and Jenkins)

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HIV/AIDS in Africa (Public Content)

HIV/AIDS in Africa

Map Creator: Sascha Noyes
Source: Wikimedia Africa HIV/AIDS.
Usage Notes/Copyright Status: Gnu Free Documentation License.
Date Created: 2004

Map Description:
Labelled on this map are the percentages of people from each African country that carry the HIV or AIDS virus. For those countries labeled "unavailable", there was no information.

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Khoisan Groupings in the Early Colonial Period (Guldem) -test

No description available

Linguistic Differentiation among Bantu Groups in Southern Africa (Newman)

Linguistic differentiation among Bantu groups in southern Africa ca. 1500

Map Creator: James L. Newman
Source: 1995. The Peopling of Africa. New Haven: Yale University Press. 188.
Date Created: 1995

Map Description:
On this map, large language groups in southern Africa circa 1500 are shown, along with the names of some of the different groups that comprised them. Archaeological evidence from the cities located on the map indicate that throughout this period, trade and conquest had resulted in most groups becoming acquainted with Europeans (especially the Portuguese) and these foreign contacts greatly influenced the fate of most of these language group-states; for example, European trade with the Khoikhoi resulted in the decline of the Herero state, and colonial tactics of turning groups against one another saw to the fall of several other important powers (Newman 1995: 186-188).

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Mfecane - Routes of Diffusion of Nguni Peoples (Nurse, Weiner and Jenkins)

Mfecane - Diffusion of Nguni peoples in response to military incursion

Map Creators: G. T. Nurse, J. S. Weiner, Trefor Jenkins
Source: The Peoples of Southern Africa and Their Affinities. 1985. Clarendon Press. p. 73.
Date Created: 1985

Map Description:
This map displays the main routes of dispersal of Nguni peoples during the Mfecane (1815-1840). This Zulu name of the period can be loosely translated as "the crushing" or "the scattering", and is an apt description for what the Nguni peoples did. It came to pass primarily due to the military pressure from the rising Zulu/Mtetwa militarist state system, the consolidation of the Swati and the defeat of the Ndwandwe military power. (Note: although lines may intersect, the groups may not have actually met. The exception to this is the Maseko Ngoni, who fought with Shoshangane's people, the Jele Ngoni, the Rowzi and the Kololo/Lozi.) (Nurse, Weiner and Jenkins, 1985).

Other resources related to this project:
Difaqane - Routes of Diffusion of Sotho/Tswana Peoples (Nurse, Weiner and Jenkins)
San Populations Then and Now (Nurse, Weiner and Jenkins)
The Khoi as Migrants and Nomads (Nurse, Weiner and Jenkins)

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Peoples, States and Cities in Africa ca. 100 CE

Peoples, states and cities in Africa, ca. 100 CE

Map Creator: Christopher Ehret
Source: The Civilizations of Africa: A History to 1800. 2002. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia.
Date Created: 2002.

Map Description:
This map displays important groups, empires and cities in Africa circa 100 CE according to Christopher Ehret. As shown, the Roman Empire controlled a vast territory along the northern coast and the Nile river. Roman expansion and trade facilitated the transmission of new technologies throughout the continent, especially ironworking. Other major cultural changes were occurring as well; Christianity began spreading throughout Northern Africa and Aksum was one of the first major kingdoms to convert around 200 years later.

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Peoples, States and Cities in southern Africa ca. 1400 (Ehret)

Peoples, Cities and States in the Southern Half of Africa ca. 1400

Map Creator: Christopher Ehret
Source: Ehret, Christopher. 2002. The Civilizations of Africa: A History to 1800. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia.
Date Created: 2002.

Map Description:
This map displays cities, kingdoms and peoples in southern Africa circa 1400. The territories of many of the smaller groups are uncertain, and hence have not been outlined. These, along with several of the kingdoms pictured, continued expanding their borders and developing the southern half of Africa as Europeans began their explorations of the continent (Ehret). Peoples are indicated by white lettering on the map, states by polygons.

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Peoples, States and Cities in southern Africa ca. 1550 (Ehret)

Peoples, Cities and States in the Southern Half of Africa ca. 1550

Map Creator: Christopher Ehret
Source: Ehret, Christopher. 2002. The Civilizations of Africa: A History to 1800. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia.
Date Created: 2002.

Map Description:
This map displays cities, kingdoms and peoples in southern Africa circa 1550 as shown by Christopher Ehret. During this period, the Portuguese slave trade had begun rapid expansion, and rival European powers had begun colonization in an attempt to begin their own competing stations. Trade routes shifted due to the new influence, and many of the great savannah states began to decline in importance while those on the coasts flourished.

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Peoples, States and Cities in southern Africa from 1725-1775 (Ehret)

Peoples, states and cities in the southern half of Africa, ca. 1725-1775

Map Creator: Christopher Ehret
Source: 2002. The Civilizations of Africa: A History to 1800. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia. 430.
Date Created: 2002.

Map Description:
This map displays the important groups and locations in southern Africa from 1725-1775, including European colonies and African empires. At this time, the European slave trade was in full swing. Some African groups still resisted European colonization, and it was not long after this period that the first successful slave rebellion occurred in what is now Haiti, resulting in the formation of that country.

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San Populations Then and Now (Nurse, Weiner and Jenkins)

San Populations Then and Now

Map Creators: G. T. Nurse, J. S. Weiner, Trefor Jenkins
Source: The Peoples of Southern Africa and Their Affinities. 1985. Clarendon Press. p. 105.
Date Created: 1985

Map Description:
Each section of this map represents postulated locations of San populations, which are divided according to time period. The points indicate archeological sites where skeletal remains belonging to the San have been discovered and identified. This demonstrates the gradual condensing of the population over time due to a variety of factors. The San are a diverse group currently located in southern Africa, also known as "Bushmen", although this term is seen as racist and sexist. Their society was traditionally a hunter-gatherer one, however this is slowly changing now with some governments enforcing modernization programs aimed at integrating the San with the more popular cultures of their areas (Nurse, Weiner and Jenkins, 1985).

Other resources related to this project:
Difaqane - Routes of Diffusion of Sotho/Tswana Peoples (Nurse, Weiner and Jenkins)
Mfecane - Routes of Diffusion of Nguni Peoples (Nurse, Weiner and Jenkins)
The Khoi as Migrants and Nomads (Nurse, Weiner and Jenkins)

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The Inter-Saharan Hypothesis (Blench)

The Inter-Saharan Hypothesis

Map Creator: Roger Blench
Source: Archeology, Language, and the African Past. 2006. Lanham: AltaMira Press. p. 162.
Date Created: 2006 (Blench)

Map Description:
This map illustrates the Inter-Saharan Hypothesis proposed by Roger Blench. This model emphasizes that the common agripastoral vocabulary shared by Cushitic pastoralists and Chadic speakers, along with the widespread archeological evidence of Cushitic migrations, explains their influence on the Afroasiatic language family. It differs from other postulations surrounding Afroasiatic because it focuses on east to west movement and its consequences, rather than exclusively on those which stemmed from North Africa and moved south, for which much more evidence is documented.

Other resources related to this project:
Early Dispersal of Afroasiatic (Blench)
Later Dispersal of Afroasiatic (Blench)

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The Khoi as Migrants and Nomads (Nurse, Weiner and Jenkins)

The Khoi as Migrants and Nomads

Map Creators: G. T. Nurse, J. S. Weiner, Trefor Jenkins
Source: The Peoples of Southern Africa and Their Affinities. 1985. Clarendon Press. p. 80.
Date Created: 1985

Map Description:
This map is a visual comparison of two theories of Khoi migration and evolution. The paths proposed by Elphick, which stem from the Kalahari desert where he postulates the people evolved, suggest that the Khoi developed among the forebears of the present "Central Bush" language speakers. In comparison with this, Cooke and Jenkins hypothesize that the group is of an east African origin (Nurse, Weiner and Jenkins, 1985).

Other resources related to this project:
Difaqane - Routes of Diffusion of Sotho/Tswana Peoples (Nurse, Weiner and Jenkins)
Mfecane - Routes of Diffusion of Nguni Peoples (Nurse, Weiner and Jenkins)
San Populations Then and Now (Nurse, Weiner and Jenkins)

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The Spread of Ironworking in Africa (Ehret)

The Spread of Ironworking in Africa

Map Creator: Christopher Ehret
Source: Ehret, Christopher. 2002. The Civilizations of Africa: A History to 1800. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia. 163.
Date Created: 2002.

Map Description:
These labels show Ehret's postulated dates regarding the transmission of ironworking practices thoughout the African continent. He cites current evidence which indicates that while ironworking undoubtedly developed in Anatolia (modern-day Turkey) sometime before 1500 BCE, it must have also been discovered in some areas of sub-Saharan Africa and in the African Great Lakes region independently before 1000 BCE. Within sub-Saharan Africa, only the Horn of Africa was reached first by Middle Eastern iron technologies, due to the Commercial Revolution and the development of new long-distance trade systems.

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The Spread of New Crops and Animals in the Southern Half of Africa (Ehret)

The Spread of New Crops and Animals in the Southern Half of Africa, 300 BCE to 300 CE

Map Creator: Christopher Ehret
Source: Ehret, Christopher. 2002. The Civilizations of Africa: A History to 1800, 198. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia.
Date Created: 2002

Map Description:
Pictured here are the main paths of migration taken by various crops and animals as they spread across the southern half of Africa. The labels for sorgum, finger millet and pearl millet indicate which paths these three particular grain crops took; their collection and harvesting provided support of much larger populations, and allowed group populations to grow steadily. Similarly important, the keeping of domestic animals began early in the first millenium BCE and traveled down the continent.

Please note that some details scale to the map's zoom level; zooming in will reveal more features.

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Maps of Zimbabwe

Advancement of Food-Producing Economies Accompanying Khoikhoi and Bantu Migrations

Economic Maps of Africa

African Civilizations, 9000-6700 B.C.E.

African Climate and Vegetation from 16,000 BCE to 11,000 BCE

African Climate and Vegetation After 2,000 BCE