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The history of West Africa has been divided into its prehistory, the Iron Age in Africa, the period of major polities flourishing, the colonial period, and finally the post-independence era, in which the current nations were formed.
There were many kingdoms and empires in all regions of the continent of Africa throughout history. A kingdom is a state with a king or queen as its head. [1] An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant centre and subordinate peripheries".
The prehistory of West Africa timespan from the earliest human presence in the region to the emergence of the Iron Age in West Africa. West African populations were considerably mobile and interacted with one another throughout the population history of West Africa. [2]
Map of the western Sahel and Sudan (northern West Africa) c. 1200. (Songhai is Gao) Kingdoms in this era were centred around cities and cores, with variations of influence radiating out from these points, borders here are estimates. The arrival of Islam in West Africa had seismic consequences for the history of the entire region.
During the 200 year period between 1301 and 1500 (the 14th and 15th century) the main civilizations and kingdoms in Africa were the Mali Empire, Kingdom of Kongo, Ife Empire, Benin Kingdom, Songhai Empire, Hausa City-states, Wolof Empire, Great Zimbabwe, Kingdom of Makuria, Kanem Empire,Ethiopian Empire, Kilwa Sultanate, Kingdom of Mapungubwe, Kingdom of Mutapa, and the Ajuran Sultanate.
By 1914, Africa had only two independent nations, Liberia, a nation founded in West Africa by free black Americans earlier in the 19th century, [97] and the ancient kingdom of Ethiopia in East Africa. [98] Many Africans, like the Zulus and Ashanti, resisted European rule, but in the end Europe succeeded in conquering and transforming the continent.
The Mali Empire started in 1230 and was the largest empire in West Africa and profoundly influenced the culture of West Africa through the spread of its language, laws and customs. [15] Until the 19th century, Timbuktu remained important as an outpost at the southwestern fringe of the Muslim world and a hub of the trans-Saharan slave trade.
These timelines of world history detail recorded events since the creation of writing roughly 5000 years ago to the present day. For events from c. 3200 BC – c. 500 see: Timeline of ancient history; For events from c. 500 – c. 1499, see: Timeline of post-classical history; For events from c. 1500, see: Timelines of modern history