African History

Africa's Governance, 1800–Present

Drag the year slider or press play to watch power change hands across the continent: pre-colonial kingdoms, colonial administration, independence, coups, and elections, country by country.

Coverage is uneven while this dataset is still being verified region by region: some countries are tracked continuously from 1800, others have gaps. Muted countries are under colonial administration for the selected year; green-family countries were independent African (or settler) polities before colonization; pale countries had no single central government for that year; gray countries have no confirmed record yet. See how this map was built, or download the full dataset.