The Digital Encyclopedia of Africa

Abagusii (Gusii/Kisii)

Niger-Congo

The densely-settled highland farmers of southwestern Kenya — soapstone carvers of Tabaka, keepers of the egesa harvest dances and the ritual healer-diviners (abanyamoriogi), whose clan-fortress hills held off Maasai and Kipsigis raiders for centuries.

Acholi

Nilo-Saharan

The Luo chiefdoms of the Uganda–South Sudan borderland — poets of the royal drum and the larakaraka courtship dance, whose mato oput reconciliation rite taught the world a justice that mends rather than merely punishes.

Afar

Afro-Asiatic

The salt-caravan nomads of the Danakil — one of the hottest places on earth — whose camel trains, sultanates and clan law have mastered a landscape of volcanoes and salt lakes that few others can even cross.

Agni (Anyi)

Niger-Congo

The Akan kingdoms of eastern Côte d'Ivoire — Indénié, Sanwi and Moronou, founded by migrants from Asante, keepers of gold regalia and stools, and rulers of one kingdom that has twice petitioned to secede.

Aja

Niger-Congo

The parent people of the Fon and the Ewe — inhabitants of Tado, the town from which both dynasties trace their origin, keepers of the Vodun tradition at its source, and farmers of the Mono river valley between two countries.

Aka (BaAka)

Niger-Congo

The forest hunters of the Sangha basin — whose yodelled polyphony, sung by everyone at once in overlapping parts, is inscribed by UNESCO, and whose elephant-hunting and net-hunting knowledge is disappearing with the forest.

Akan (Asante & Fante)

Niger-Congo

Matrilineal peoples of the Ghana–Côte d'Ivoire forest belt whose Asante Empire, Golden Stool, kente cloth and adinkra symbol system created one of Africa's most sophisticated courtly civilizations.

Amazigh (Berber)

Afro-Asiatic

The indigenous peoples of North Africa — 'Imazighen', the free people — whose Tifinagh script, mountain and desert civilizations, and millennia of continuous culture long predate the Arab arrival, stretching from the Canary Islands to the Siwa oasis.

Mythology

Creation stories, deities, cosmologies and ancestor traditions

Oral Literature

Epics, folktales, hero legends and proverbs

Architecture

Vernacular building, palaces, sacred sites and settlements

Artifacts

Masks, sculpture, regalia, weapons and textiles

Kingdoms & History

Interactive map of 20 great empires, plus migrations and trade networks

Languages

Language families, scripts and living speech

National Heroes

The figures each country claims — liberation, sport, music, science and activism