List of kingdoms and empires in African history

There were many kingdoms and empires in all regions of the continent of Africa throughout history. A kingdom is a state with a king or queen as its head. An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant centre and subordinate peripheries".
In Africa states emerged in a process covering many generations and centuries. Most states were created through conquest or the borrowing and assimilation of ideas and institutions, while some developed through internal, largely isolated development. Economic development "gave rise to a perceived need for centralized institutions and ‘territorial’ leadership that transcended older bonds of kinship and community". The politicoreligious struggle between the people and the king sometimes saw the people victorious and the establishment of sacred kings with little political power (termed "adverse sacralisation"), contrasted with divine kings equated to gods. Kings and queens used both 'instrumental power', the employment of direct influence to achieve a desired outcome, and 'creative power', the use of ritual and mythology.
Despite this, popular understanding often claims that the continent lacked large states or meaningful complex political organisation. Whether rooted in ignorance, Eurocentrism, or racism, famous historians such as Hugh Trevor-Roper have argued that African history is not characterised by state formation or hierarchical structures. In fact, the nature of political organisation varied greatly across the continent, from the expansive West Sudanic empires, to the sacral Congolese empires akin to confederations or commonwealths, and the immensely hierarchical kingdoms of the Great Lakes.
The vast majority of states included in this list existed prior to the Scramble for Africa (c. 1880–1914) when, driven by the Second Industrial Revolution, European powers rapidly invaded, conquered, and colonised Africa. While most states were conquered and dissolved, some kings and elites negotiated the terms of colonial rule, and traditional power structures were incorporated into the colonial regimes as a form of indirect rule.
In the mid-late 20th century decolonisation saw Africans inherit the former colonies, and many traditional kingdoms still exist today as non–sovereign monarchies. The roles, powers, and influence of traditional monarchs throughout Africa varies greatly depending on the state. In some states, such as Angola, the local monarch may play an integral role in the local governing council of a region. On the flipside their powers may be curtailed, as happened in 2022 with Wadai in Chad, or their positions abolished, as happened in Tanzania in 1962, and in 1966 in Uganda with Buganda, which was later restored in 1993. In this list they are labelled (NSM).
There are only three current sovereign monarchies in Africa; two of which (Lesotho and Morocco) are constitutional monarchies where the rulers are bound by laws and customs in the exercise of their powers, while one (Eswatini) is an absolute monarchy where the monarch rules without bounds. Sovereign monarchies are labelled (SM).
There have been a number of autocratic presidents in Africa who have been characterised as "disguised monarchs" due to the absence of term limits, as well as those who have invoked hereditary succession in order to preserve their regimes, such as the Bongos of Gabon, Gnassingbés of Togo, or Aptidon–Guelleh of Djibouti, attracting the terms monarchical republic and presidential monarchism. These have been tentatively included, and are labelled (MR).
Only polities that were once independent and described as kingdoms or empires by reliable sources are included. The intercontinental Islamic empires that covered parts of North and Northeast Africa are not included, and should be discussed as part of the Muslim world, however the residual fragments that had their capital on the continent of Africa are.
Oral traditions rarely incorporate chronological devices, and dates in this list are often estimates based off of lists of rulers. Dates have [one date for loss of independence] / [one date for loss of nominal rule]. Additional information such as notable articles may accompany entries.
Historian Jan Vansina (1962) discusses the classification of Sub–Saharan African Kingdoms, mostly of Central, South and East Africa, with some additional data on West African (Sahelian) Kingdoms distinguishing five types, by decreasing centralization of power:
Classifications not given as examples by Vansina are open to scrutiny (here). Ones where two classifications are given and joined by an "and" mean that the kingdom had elements from both present; refers to the king's place and power, particularly in the nucleus, whilst refers to the relationship between king and administration.
A list of known kingdoms and empires on the African continent that we have record of: