Africa's mineral geography, in context
Presence of a resource does not automatically equal wealth. Ownership, governance, historical context and global supply chains all shape outcomes.
Source: USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries; national statistical offices. Base imagery: NASA Blue Marble via Wikimedia Commons (public domain).
Resource wealth does not automatically equal national wealth
Encourage pupils to consider why countries rich in a particular mineral can still face economic challenges. Discussion should cover the role of global markets, historical concessions, ownership structures, governance, refining capacity, and infrastructure — not simplistic narratives in either direction.
Historical, trade, migration and civil-rights maps
Source-led maps for lessons across KS2, KS3, KS4 and KS5. Filter by theme, then tap or click any marker for a short child-friendly explanation and a teacher note.
Historical map
Ancient African civilisations
Kush, Aksum, Ghana, Mali, Songhai and Great Zimbabwe — long-established African civilisations with cities, universities, trade networks and monumental architecture.
Source: Locations from published historical atlases; base imagery: NASA Blue Marble satellite mosaic (Wikimedia Commons, public domain); simplified outline overlaid as a locator guide. Recommended atlas source: UNESCO General History of Africa.
Historical map
Later African kingdoms and states
Beyond the ancient empires, powerful kingdoms flourished across Africa between the 13th and 19th centuries — from Benin's bronze-casters to the Asante gold state and the highland Christian kingdom of Ethiopia.
Source: Dates and locations from UNESCO General History of Africa and national museum sources. Base imagery: NASA Blue Marble (Wikimedia Commons, public domain).
Historical map
Trans-Saharan trade routes
For over a thousand years, camel caravans moved gold, salt, cloth, books and ideas between West Africa and the Mediterranean.
Source: Route pattern based on published trans-Saharan trade atlases; base imagery: NASA Blue Marble satellite mosaic (Wikimedia Commons, public domain); simplified outline overlaid as a locator guide.
Trade route map
The transatlantic slave trade — the Middle Passage
Between the 16th and 19th centuries, at least 12.5 million Africans were forcibly transported across the Atlantic. This simplified map shows the triangular trade and major receiving regions.
Source: Voyage totals from SlaveVoyages.org (Emory / Rice / Harvard). Base relief map via Wikimedia Commons (public domain).
Migration map
Caribbean to Britain — the Windrush generation
Between 1948 and 1971, people from Britain's Caribbean colonies were invited to help rebuild post-war Britain. This map shows some of the main departure points and one arrival point.
Source: Base relief map: North Atlantic (Lambert azimuthal equal-area) via Wikimedia Commons (public domain). Recommended primary sources: The National Archives (UK) and Black Cultural Archives.
UK map
Black communities across Britain
From Roman York to Georgian London and post-war Cardiff, Liverpool, Bristol and Manchester — Black British history is woven into the fabric of the whole country.
Source: Community locations from the Black Cultural Archives and academic surveys (Fryer, Olusoga). Simplified UK outline for locator purposes only.
20th-century map
Decolonisation and independence in Africa
Between the late 1950s and the early 1980s, most African countries became independent from European colonial rule. Each transition had its own story.
Source: Independence dates from the UN Member States list and national records. Base outline illustrative, using Natural Earth public domain coastline as a guide.
20th-century map
US civil rights movement — key locations
From Montgomery to Memphis, a map of the places most closely tied to the Black-led civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s.
Source: Events from the King Institute (Stanford) and the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Simplified locator outline only.