Borders over time
Africa’s borders, 2000 BCE to 2024
Carthage and Kush, Aksum, the Sahel empires of Ghana, Mali and Songhai, the European scramble for Africa and independence in the 20th century.
every year drawn: 4,024 years
the borders change in 490 of them
Loading 4,024 years of borders…
2000BCE
Largest on the map
Elam, Middle Kingdom of Egypt, Sumerian City-States
The big changes, year by year
178 changesEvery year in which a large state — over 100,000 km² inside this view — appears on the map or vanishes from it. Smaller shifts happen in many more years; press play above to see them all.
- 1600 BCE
Gone: Middle Kingdom of Egypt
- 1500 BCE
New: Mitanni, New Kingdom of Egypt
- 1220 BCE
Gone: Babylonia
- 1200 BCE
New: Babylonia
- 1150 BCE
- 1100 BCE
New: Babylonia
- 1000 BCE
New: Kingdom of Kush
- 900 BCE
New: Neo-Assyrian Empire
- 800 BCE
New: Twenty-second Dynasty of Egypt
Gone: New Kingdom of Egypt, Babylonia
- 700 BCE
Gone: Twenty-second Dynasty of Egypt
- 650 BCE
New: Babylonia, Assyrian Egypt
- 630 BCE
Gone: Babylonia
- 615 BCE
New: Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt, Median Kingdom, Babylonia
Gone: Assyrian Egypt
- 600 BCE
New: Neo-Babylonian Empire
Gone: Neo-Assyrian Empire, Babylonia
- 550 BCE
New: Achaemenid Empire
Gone: Median Kingdom
- 530 BCE
Gone: Neo-Babylonian Empire
- 500 BCE
Gone: Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt
- 383 BCE
New: Thirtieth Dynasty of Egypt
- 337 BCE
Gone: Thirtieth Dynasty of Egypt
- 333 BCE
New: Macedonian Empire
- 331 BCE
New: Ptolemaic Kingdom
Gone: Macedonian Empire
- 326 BCE
Gone: Achaemenid Empire
- 323 BCE
New: Laomedon, Perdiccas, Macedonian Empire
Gone: Ptolemaic Kingdom
- 318 BCE
New: Seleucid Empire
Gone: Laomedon, Perdiccas
- 315 BCE
Gone: Seleucid Empire
- 307 BCE
- 272 BCE
New: Cyrenaica
- 247 BCE
Gone: Cyrenaica
- 197 BCE
New: Ankhwennefer, Kingdom of Numidia
- 170 BCE
Gone: Ankhwennefer
- 164 BCE
New: Nabataeans, Parthian Empire
Gone: Atropatene
- 110 BCE
New: Cyrenaica
- 91 BCE
Gone: Cyrenaica
- 66 BCE
Gone: Minaeans
- 46 BCE
Gone: Kingdom of Numidia
- 31 BCE
New: Roman Empire
Gone: Roman Republic
- 27 BCE
Gone: Ptolemaic Kingdom
- 43
Gone: Mauretania
- 238
Gone: Parthian Empire
- 261
New: Palmyrene Empire
- 270
New: Lakhmid Kingdom
Gone: Palmyrene Empire
- 347
New: Alodia, Nobatia
Gone: Kingdom of Kush
- 395
New: Eastern Roman Empire, Western Roman Empire
Gone: Roman Empire
- 510
New: Ghassanids
- 534
Gone: Vandal Kingdom
- 602
Gone: Lakhmid Kingdom, Himyarite Kingdom
- 617
Gone: Ghassanids
- 629
New: Ghassanids, Lakhmid Kingdom
- 633
- 634
Gone: Lakhmid Kingdom, Ghassanids
- 644
Gone: Sasanian Empire
- 656
New: Umayyad Caliphate
Gone: Nobatia
- 666
Gone: Rashidun Caliphate
- 750
New: Abbasid Caliphate, Fihrids
- 751
New: Kharijites
- 755
Gone: Kharijites
- 757
New: Kharijites
Gone: Fihrids
- 763
Gone: Kharijites
- 778
New: Rustamid dynasty
- 793
New: Idrisids, Ghana Empire
- 800
New: Aghlabid Dynasty
- 866
New: Ziyadid dynasty
- 875
New: Tulunids, Saffarid Dynasty
- 899
Gone: Saffarid Dynasty
- 911
New: Fatimid Caliphate
Gone: Aghlabid Dynasty, Rustamid dynasty, Tulunids
- 922
Gone: Idrisids
- 926
New: Idrisids
- 936
New: Hamdanid Emirates, Buyid Dynasty
Gone: Idrisids
- 947
New: Abbasid Caliphate/Buyid Dynasty, Idrisids
Gone: Buyid Dynasty
- 970
New: Buyid Dynasty
Gone: Abbasid Caliphate, Abbasid Caliphate/Buyid Dynasty
- 980
Gone: Idrisids
- 1018
New: Hammadid Dynasty
- 1028
New: Ghaznavid Empire
- 1040
New: Great Seljuk Empire
Gone: Ghaznavid Empire
- 1056
New: Zirid dynasty, Almoravid Dynasty
Gone: Buyid Dynasty
- 1066
New: Najahid Dynasty
Gone: Ziyadid dynasty
- 1072
New: Ziyadid dynasty
- 1094
New: Sultanate of Rum
- 1126
Gone: Hamdanid Emirates
- 1139
New: Zengid dynasty, Almohad Caliphate
- 1152
Gone: Almoravid Dynasty
- 1169
New: Nabhani Dynasty
Gone: Najahid Dynasty
- 1177
New: Ayyubid Sultanate
Gone: Nabhani Dynasty
- 1192
Gone: Zengid dynasty
- 1202
New: Hamdanid Emirates, Zengid dynasty, Abbasid Caliphate, Sosso Empire, Khwarezmid Empire
Gone: Ghana Empire, Great Seljuk Empire
- 1236
New: Rasulid Dynasty, Mali Empire, Hafsid Dynasty, Zayyanid dynasty
Gone: Sosso Empire, Khwarezmid Empire
- 1241
New: Mamluk Sultanate
- 1250
New: Marinid Sultanate
- 1260
New: Almohad Caliphate
Gone: Abbasid Caliphate, Zengid dynasty, Marinid Sultanate
- 1272
New: Ethiopian Empire
- 1279
Gone: Makuria
- 1285
New: Ifat Sultanate
- 1294
Gone: Mongol Empire
- 1344
New: Chobanids, Marinid Sultanate, Jalayirid Sultanate
Gone: Zayyanid dynasty, Almohad Caliphate, Ilkhanate
- 1352
Gone: Hafsid Dynasty
- 1363
New: Zayyanid dynasty, Hafsid Dynasty
Gone: Chobanids
- 1375
New: Qara Qoyunlu
- 1395
Gone: Muzaffarids
- 1402
Gone: Jalayirid Sultanate
- 1415
New: Qara Qoyunlu, Hashemite Arab Federation, Adal Sultanate, Makuria Kingdom
Gone: Makuria, Ifat Sultanate
- 1440
New: Kingdom of Kongo
Gone: Hashemite Arab Federation
- 1459
New: Tahirid Sultanate
Gone: Rasulid Dynasty
- 1463
New: Songhai Empire
- 1468
New: Wattasid dynasty
Gone: Qara Qoyunlu, Marinid Sultanate
- 1507
New: Funj Sultanate
Gone: Alodia
- 1512
Gone: Aq Qoyunlu
- 1516
Gone: Tahirid Sultanate
- 1519
Gone: Makuria Kingdom, Mamluk Sultanate
- 1547
Gone: Adal Sultanate
- 1556
New: Saadi Sultanate
Gone: Wattasid dynasty, Zayyanid dynasty
- 1582
New: Iberian Union
- 1609
New: Sultanate of Darfur
- 1612
Gone: Mali Empire
- 1636
New: Qasimids, Wadai Empire
- 1640
Gone: Iberian Union
- 1670
New: Morocco
Gone: Kingdom of Kongo
- 1706
New: Regency of Algiers
- 1709
New: Kingdom of Lunda
- 1727
New: Hotaki Dynasty
Gone: Safavid Dynasty
- 1734
New: Afsharid Iran
Gone: Hotaki Dynasty
- 1748
New: Zand Dynasty
- 1757
Gone: Afsharid Iran
- 1788
New: Qajar Dynasty
- 1796
New: British Cape Colony
Gone: Dutch Cape Colony
- 1803
New: Napoleonic Batavia Republic
Gone: Qasimids
- 1805
New: Sokoto Caliphate
- 1806
Gone: Napoleonic Batavia Republic
- 1820
Gone: Emirate of Diriyah
- 1822
Gone: Funj Sultanate
- 1840
New: Ottoman Tripolitania
- 1846
Gone: Emirate of Jabal Shammar, Regency of Algiers
- 1848
New: Republic of Liberia
Gone: French Algeria, United States of America
- 1856
New: Free Orange State, South African Republic
Gone: Omani Slave Coast
- 1862
Gone: Massina Empire
- 1866
New: Khedivate of Egypt
Gone: Muhammad Ali dynasty
- 1870
New: British Colonial Empire
- 1877
- 1880
New: Sultanate of Hobyo
- 1885
New: South African Republic, British Africa
Gone: Khedivate of Egypt, British Cape Colony
- 1890
New: Italian Africa, Belgian Congo, Mahdist State
Gone: Kingdom of Lunda
- 1895
New: Dutch East Indies
Gone: Emirate of Nejd, Bornu Empire, Sultanate of Hobyo
- 1898
Gone: Ashanti Empire, Dutch East Indies, Merina Kingdom
- 1900
Gone: South African Republic, Free Orange State, Mahdist State
- 1905
New: Emirate of Nejd
Gone: Sokoto Caliphate
- 1911
New: Portuguese Republic
Gone: Wadai Empire, Kingdom of Portugal
- 1912
Gone: Morocco, Ottoman Tripolitania
- 1919
New: North Yemen
- 1920
New: French Mandate for Syria and Lebanon
- 1922
New: Kingdom of Egypt
Gone: Emirate of Jabal Shammar, British Colonial Empire
- 1924
New: Republic of Turkey, Pahlavi Dynasty
Gone: Qajar Dynasty, Ottoman Empire
- 1926
New: Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd, Estado Novo
Gone: Portuguese Republic, Kingdom of Hejaz, Emirate of Nejd
- 1932
New: South Africa, Kingdom of Iraq, Second Spanish Republic
Gone: Kingdom of Spain
- 1936
New: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Gone: Ethiopian Empire, Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd
- 1939
New: Francoist Spain
Gone: Second Spanish Republic
- 1940
New: Free French
- 1942
New: British Colonial Empire, Ethiopia, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
- 1943
Gone: Kingdom of Iraq
- 1944
Gone: Free French, Italian Africa
- 1946
New: Second Syrian Republic
Gone: French Mandate for Syria and Lebanon
- 1947
New: Kingdom of Iraq
Gone: British Colonial Empire, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
- 1953
New: Republic of Egypt, Kingdom of Libya
Gone: Kingdom of Egypt
- 1956
New: Republic of Tunisia, Morocco, Republic of Sudan
- 1958
New: Ghana, United Arab Republic, Arab Federation, French Fifth Republic
Gone: Kingdom of Jordan, Republic of Egypt, Second Syrian Republic, French Africa, Kingdom of Iraq
- 1960
New: Madagascar, Mali Federation, Guinea, Federal Republic of Somalia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraqi Republic, Kingdom of Jordan, Republic of Cameroon
Gone: Arab Federation
- 1961
New: Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Republic of Syria, Tanzania, British East Africa, Central African Republic, Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, Republic of Senegal and 6 more
Gone: British Africa, British Gold Coast
- 1963
New: Republic of Kenya, People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, Ba'athist Syria, Republic of Uganda
Gone: Republic of Syria
- 1967
New: Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, Zambia, Rhodesia, Republic of Botswana
Gone: Ba'athist Syria
- 1969
New: Libyan Arab Republic, People's Democratic Republic of Yemen
Gone: British East Africa, Kingdom of Libya
- 1973
New: Arab Republic of Egypt, Syria, Zaire
Gone: Democratic Republic of the Congo, Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, United Arab Republic
- 1976
New: People's Republic of Angola, Mozambique
Gone: Estado Novo, Francoist Spain
- 1979
New: Zimbabwe Rhodesia, Islamic Republic of Iran
Gone: Pahlavi Dynasty, Rhodesia
- 1983
New: Republic of Zimbabwe
Gone: Zimbabwe Rhodesia
- 1990
New: Republic of Yemen, Namibia
Gone: People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, North Yemen
- 1992
New: State of Eritrea
- 1996
New: Democratic Republic of the Congo
Gone: Zaire
- 2006
Gone: Iraqi Republic
- 2014
New: State of Libya, South Sudan, Republic of Iraq
Gone: Libyan Arab Republic
- 2024
Gone: French Fifth Republic, United States of America
More time-lapses
Borders from Cliopatria by the Seshat Global History Databank, licensed CC BY 4.0; simplified, clipped to this view and coloured by empire here. Each shape records the years it applies to, so every year has its own map; pre-modern borders are approximate. Areas are measured on the sphere. The full atlas uses a different source and may differ in places.