Baobab Square Origins Atlas Africa through space and time
Origins Atlas
Explore places, kingdoms, sites and people across the continent. Choose a country on the map or from the list.
Map of Africa
All of Africa
North Africa
West Africa
Central Africa
East Africa
Southern Africa
Africa: every country is a link
Modern country outlines for orientation, with major rivers and lakes. Every country and entry is also listed below the map.
Modern borders shown for orientation only; historical kingdoms, peoples and cultural regions did not follow them. Map data: Natural Earth (public domain).
Browse by region and country
Regions follow the UN geoscheme, one convention among several.
North Africa (1 entry)
West Africa (5 entries)
Central Africa (0 entries)
East Africa (8 entries)
Southern Africa (1 entry)
Also drawn on the map, not linked: Somaliland, Western Sahara (status disputed or not internationally recognised).
Western Sahara: a territory whose status is disputed. The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic has been a member of the African Union since 22 February 1982 (AU Member States page); it is not a UN member state, and Morocco claims the territory. Somaliland: declared independence from Somalia in 1991; it is not recognised as a state by the African Union or the United Nations.
Through time
Periods are conventional and approximate; scholars divide African history differently from region to region.
All periods
Human origins and prehistory
No entries yet
Ancient (to c. 500 CE)
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c. 500 – 1500 CE
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c. 1500 – 1800
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19th century
No entries yet
Colonial era (c. 1880s – 1960s)
No entries yet
Independence era (c. 1950s – 1990s)
No entries yet
Contemporary (1990s – today)
No entries yet
What CCAF has collected about Nigeria Story The oral heritage of Gelede Masks, dances and chants in Yoruba that honour mothers, from the Yoruba-Nago of Benin, Nigeria and Togo. Story Ifa: the verses of the Yoruba divination system A vast oral literature of 256 odu and their verses, kept by babalawo priests in Nigeria and the diaspora. Story Adìyẹ àti Ọ̀ọ̀kùn (Chicken and Millipede), in Yoruba Two rivals, a football match and the start of an old enmity, told in Yoruba. Story Mitsitsin Iri: Labarin Wangari Maathai (A Tiny Seed), in Hausa The life of Wangari Maathai, from a girl on the slopes of Mount Kenya to the woman who inspired millions of trees,… Story Mbuk Adama Idiok Awan: an Ibibio folktale (podcast) An episode of Mbaganire, an African folktales podcast: a story of jealousy and justice, told in Ibibio. Library Resource The Benin Bronzes The 'Benin Bronzes' are plaques, commemorative heads, figures and regalia made from at least the 1500s by a specialist guild working for…
Country facts: Nigeria
Checked at the sources on October 24, 2026. World Bank figures are the latest available for each country (World Development Indicators, updated October 8, 2026) and are published under CC BY 4.0. UN and AU facts are as published on their member-state pages. UNESCO’s World Heritage list is linked rather than copied, because UNESCO requires written permission to republish it.