When we look at most world maps, the Mediterranean Sea appears as a barrier—a blue divide separating Europe from Africa, Christianity from Islam, the developed North from the developing South. But what if we flipped this perspective entirely? French artist and cartographer Sabine Réthoré did exactly that with her striking 2011 work “Méditerranée sans frontières” … Read more
The map above shows the Sahara Desert, when it was void of sand 8,000 years ago, reconstructed in a map named “Ancient Lakes of the Sahara” by Carl Churchill. A Vastly Different Landscape The Sahara Desert we know today—a vast, arid expanse of sand and rock stretching across northern Africa—was once a lush, green landscape … Read more
This map of Africa shows each country’s largest import sources. The European Union is the most preferred importer of the majority of African nations. The other leading countries importing to Africa are India, China, and the continent’s very own South Africa. The western African country of Liberia gets most of its imports from Singapore. Meanwhile, … Read more
This West African map prominently features the Niger River, the third-largest river in the continent. Britannica lists the river’s length as 2,600 miles (4,200 kilometers). The river passes through five African countries. It starts off in the southern part of Guinea, then through to Mali, Niger, Benin, and Nigeria, as it drains down to the … Read more
This map of Africa shows how much each country’s population has access to electricity. In the mainland, the northern countries enjoy a near-maximum power capacity. These include Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt. Electricity supply is also high in South Africa, Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), Gabon, Kenya, and Ghana. The island nations of Cape Verde, Seychelles, … Read more
This map shows the topography of Africa, the second-largest continent in the world. Britannica notes that the continent’s total land area measures over 11.7 million square miles (30.3 million square kilometers). It also boasts some noteworthy attractions, including the Sahara desert in the north, considered as the world’s largest desert, and the Nile River, the … Read more
This is a map of Africa during the 1910s, hand-drawn at a young age by the great-grandfather of Reddit user u/zherper. The continent’s border lines differ greatly from today’s Africa, especially in the western, eastern, and southern parts. The vast lands that comprise these sections are now divided into several countries in the present day. … Read more