The Sahara, damp enough for the hippopotamus, supports neolithic communities until it begins to dry up in about 3000 BC

Bantu-speaking tribes begin to spread through Africa, from their original homelands south of the Sahara

Africa south of the equatorial forests is largely inhabited by the Khoisan, of whom the San and the Hottentots are the modern survivors

The earliest surviving written text provides evidence of the Mahayana version of Buddhism, which today is the largest of the Buddhist sects

The salt mines of the Sahara provide a staple commodity in the African caravan trade

Islam reaches Kanem-Bornu, a joint kingdom encompassing the eastern and western shores of Lake Chad

The Portuguese establish a further presence on the west coast of Africa, at the mouth of the Congo river

Stanley sets off from Bagamoyo, intending to resume the exploration of central Africa where Livingstone left off

Stanley passes Nyangwe on the Lualaba, the furthest point down the Congo river system reached by Livingstone

Stanley completes his exploration of the Congo, reaching the Atlantic coast at Boma after a three-year journey

French explorer Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza forestalls Stanley in opening up the Congo, reaching Stanley Pool ahead of him

Stanley finds Brazza's French tricolor already flying on the north bank of the Congo, on the site of what later becomes Brazzaville

Stanley establishes a foothold for Leopold II on the southern bank of the Congo, at a site which he names Leopoldville (now Kinshasa)

Roger Casement, British consul in the Congo Free State, discovers appalling abuses by Belgian companies

Mineral discoveries on the border of Northern Rhodesia and the Belgian Congo give the first hint of the riches of the Copper Belt

Three French colonies south of the Sahara are consolidated as French Equatorial Africa

Copper mining begins in Katanga, soon to be followed by the extraction of even more profitable diamonds

February - British and French forces invade and capture the German colony of Cameroon

Belgian troops from the Congo occupy the German colony of Ruanda-Urundi

The Hutus and Tutsis of Ruanda-Urundi are issued with racial identity cards by the Belgians

French Cameroun becomes independent as the republic of Cameroun, with Ahmadou Ahidjo as the first president

Patrice Lumumba becomes prime minister of the newly independent Democratic Republic of the Congo, previously the Belgian Congo

Moise Tshombe, taking advantage of chaos in the Congo, declares the independence of Katanga

Anti-European riots in the Congo cause some 25,000 Belgians to flee the country

The French colony of Chad becomes independent with François Tombalbaye as president