State · 1871 – 1918

German colonization of Africa

A state of 1871 – 1918 — 47 years in sub-Saharan Africa. The atlas records 7 things within it — wars and battles 6 · people 1.

Wikidata records no founding for it; the borders dataset maps it from 1871 to 1918, and those are the years drawn here.

For the full story, the article on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0); this page holds what the record says of the state.

Stood: 47 years; 1871 – 1918
Most ground: 2.68 million km²; in 1911
Within it: 7; recorded rows

Map: German colonization of Africa in 1911, its borders in gold among its neighbours — German colonization of Africa in 1911, when it held the most ground the borders dataset draws for it: 2.68 million km². Its neighbours wear their tints, as on the atlas's own map. Borders from Cliopatria (CC BY 4.0), coast and rivers from Natural Earth, cities from Reba, Reitsma & Seto 2016 (CC BY 4.0), each city under the name it bore that year.

German colonization of Africa in 1871, first mapped — The rise and the fall in one frame: the same ground at the years the borders dataset first maps it, maps it largest, and last maps it.

German colonization of Africa in 1911, at its largest — The rise and the fall in one frame: the same ground at the years the borders dataset first maps it, maps it largest, and last maps it.

Where it sits in time

Five thousand years, 3000 BCE to 2026; the state in gold.

Ground held, by year

km² inside its borders as the borders dataset draws them, measured on an equal-area grid; a step series, held between the years the dataset maps.

1,900 km² in 1871, 32,900 km² in 1918; at its largest 2.68 million km² in 1911. Cliopatria, CC BY 4.0.

What happened within it, by century

Every row the atlas hosts under this state, by the century it began in: wars and battles in red, risings, regime changes and massacres beside them, everything else in grey. A tall bar is a century the record is full for, which is partly a fact about Wikipedia.

1800 – 18991 row

Julian Scherner · politician · 1895 – 1945

1900 – 19996 rows · 6 wars and battles

Battle of Waterberg · battle · 1904
Battle of Sandfontein · battle · 1914
Battle of the Rufiji Delta · battle · 1914 – 1915
Battle of Kilimanjaro · battle · 1914
Battle of Mahiwa · battle · 1917
Battle of Tabora · battle · 1916

Among all states

Each measure against the states that carry it, never against all of them: a bar is the share of those states below this one.

How long it stood47 years
stood longer than 32% of 3,187 states with a recorded end or still standing.
The most ground it held2,681,400 km²
held more ground at its peak than 94% of 1,465 states with a border in Cliopatria.
Wars recorded per centurynone
had more wars on record per century than 44% of 3,187 states, counting the wars the atlas hosts under each.

Open in the atlas

On the timeline, 1861 – 1928, with everything that stood beside it.
On the map in 1911, live: scrub the year and watch its borders move.
Investigate it: what led to it, what came of it, and its succession analysed.

Wikidata Q5551337 (CC0) · borders Cliopatria, CC BY 4.0 · coast and rivers Natural Earth · data built 2026-10-06 · Pastlas v2.9.1, by Oleh Voronko. The published atlas and its data are for non-commercial use.