The following are short descriptions of the major places which have contributed to the shaping of Global African history. These encyclopedia entries serve as a starting point for much more inclusive descriptions and discussions that appear in other sources. For additional information please consult the print or website sources cited in the entry.
From approximately 1000 to 1500 AD, a number of city-states on the eastern coast of Africa participated in an international trade network and became cosmopolitan Islamic cultural centers. The major autonomous, but symbiotic, city-states stretched over 1,500 miles from Mogadishu (in modern day Somalia) in … Read MoreEast African City States (1000-1500)
A city at the mouth of the Escondido River and the Caribbean Sea, Bluefields is home to a large black settlement on the east coast of Nicaragua and is strongly associated with Black Creole culture. Nicaragua has the largest population of African descent in Central … Read MoreBluefields, Nicaragua (ca. 1650- )
The city of Gao, situated near the north bend of the Niger River, served as the capital city of the Songhai state in West Africa from the 11th century until the fall of the Songhai Empire at the end of the 16th century. Gao emerged … Read MoreGao, West Africa (ca. 1450- )
Cape Coast Castle is a European-built fortress situated on the central coastline of Ghana. Since its initial construction in 1652, the Castle served as a trading post for European nations and as the headquarters of British colonial administration for the Gold Coast Colony. Today the … Read MoreCape Coast Castle (1652- )
The Kingdom of Kush with its three major cities of Meroe, Kerma, and Napata, emerged in the Nubian Desert south of Egypt along the Upper Nile River Valley from the 2nd millennium B.C. to the fourth century A.D. Archaeology, architecture, art, and burials provide the most … Read MoreAncient Kush (2nd millennium B.C. – 4th century A.D.)
The Hausa City States were independent political entities in what is now northern Nigeria. The first of the states, Gobir and Rano, emerged around 1000. All of the states remained independent until they were conquered by the Sultanate of Sokoto between 1804 and 1815. The … Read MoreHausa City States (ca. 1000-1815)
The Sokoto Caliphate in Northern Nigeria was one of the largest empires in Africa during the 19th century. The empire developed as a result of the Fulani jihads (holy wars) which took place in the first decade of the 19th century across what is now … Read MoreSultanate of Sokoto (Sokoto Caliphate)
Soweto, an acronym for “South Western Townships,” is a grouping of townships scattered across twenty kilometers southwest of Johannesburg, South Africa. A quintessential example of segregationist planning, Soweto initially was the result of mass evictions and evacuations of black residents of the city of Brickfields … Read MoreSoweto, South Africa (1904- )
São Tomé, an African plantation society and slave trading post, lies in the Gulf of Guinea. First discovered around 1470, São Tomé was not officially settled until the 1490s by Portuguese explorer Alvaro Caminha, who received the island as a land grant from the Portuguese … Read MoreSão Tomé Island
The Republic of Biafra was a short-lived Nigerian secessionist state which came into existence on May 30, 1967 when the Igbo-dominated southeastern corner of Nigeria seceded in the formation of its own independent country. Following its defeat in the Nigerian Civil War (1967-1970), on January … Read MoreRepublic of Biafra (1967-1970)
