5000 BC Hippopotamus in Sahara
The Sahara, damp enough for the hippopotamus, supports neolithic communities until it begins to dry up in about 3000 BC

2000 BC Bantu tribes move south through Africa
Bantu-speaking tribes begin to spread through Africa, from their original homelands south of the Sahara

2000 BC Khoisan inhabit most of Africa
Africa south of the equatorial forests is largely inhabited by the Khoisan, of whom the San and the Hottentots are the modern survivors

50
The earliest surviving written text provides evidence of the Mahayana version of Buddhism, which today is the largest of the Buddhist sects

1000 Salt mines of Sahara
The salt mines of the Sahara provide a staple commodity in the African caravan trade

1050 Islam reaches Lake Chad
Islam reaches Kanem-Bornu, a joint kingdom encompassing the eastern and western shores of Lake Chad

1483 Portuguese in Angola
The Portuguese establish a further presence on the west coast of Africa, at the mouth of the Congo river

1874 Stanley to complete Livingstone's travels
Stanley sets off from Bagamoyo, intending to resume the exploration of central Africa where Livingstone left off

1876 Stanley surpasses Livingstone
Stanley passes Nyangwe on the Lualaba, the furthest point down the Congo river system reached by Livingstone

1877 Stanley reaches Atlantic coast
Stanley completes his exploration of the Congo, reaching the Atlantic coast at Boma after a three-year journey

1880 Brazza ahead of Stanley
French explorer Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza forestalls Stanley in opening up the Congo, reaching Stanley Pool ahead of him

1881 Brazza has north bank of Congo
Stanley finds Brazza's French tricolor already flying on the north bank of the Congo, on the site of what later becomes Brazzaville

1882 Stanley has south bank of Congo
Stanley establishes a foothold for Leopold II on the southern bank of the Congo, at a site which he names Leopoldville (now Kinshasa)

1903 Belgian atrocities revealed in Congo
Roger Casement, British consul in the Congo Free State, discovers appalling abuses by Belgian companies

1909 Copper Belt discovered
Mineral discoveries on the border of Northern Rhodesia and the Belgian Congo give the first hint of the riches of the Copper Belt

1910 French Equatorial Africa
Three French colonies south of the Sahara are consolidated as French Equatorial Africa

1911 Copper mining in Katanga
Copper mining begins in Katanga, soon to be followed by the extraction of even more profitable diamonds

1915 German Cameroon invaded
February - British and French forces invade and capture the German colony of Cameroon

1916 June 17 Belgians occupy Ruanda-Urundi
Belgian troops from the Congo occupy the German colony of Ruanda-Urundi

1933 Hutu and Tutsi identity cards
The Hutus and Tutsis of Ruanda-Urundi are issued with racial identity cards by the Belgians

1960 French Cameroun wins independence
French Cameroun becomes independent as the republic of Cameroun, with Ahmadou Ahidjo as the first president

1960 Lumumba prime minister of Congo
Patrice Lumumba becomes prime minister of the newly independent Democratic Republic of the Congo, previously the Belgian Congo

1960 Tshombe proclaims independent Katanga
Moise Tshombe, taking advantage of chaos in the Congo, declares the independence of Katanga

1960 Belgians flee from Congo
Anti-European riots in the Congo cause some 25,000 Belgians to flee the country

1960 Chad is independent
The French colony of Chad becomes independent with François Tombalbaye as president

1960 Independence for Gabon
The French colony of Gabon becomes independent with Léon M'ba as president

1960 Independence for Central African Republic
The French colony of Ubangi-Shari becomes independent and takes the name Central African Republic

1960 French Congo independent
The French Congo becomes independent as the republic of Congo, with Fulbert Youlou as president

1960 Mobutu takes power in Congo
Mobutu Sese Seko takes power in a military coup in the midst of chaos in the Congo

1960 Lumumba arrested
Patrice Lumumba, the dismissed prime minister of the Congo, is arrested on the orders of the army chief of staff, Mobutu Sese Seko

1961 Lumumba murdered
Patrice Lumumba is sent to Katanga, where he is murdered

1961 Hammarskjöld in plane crash
The UN secretary general, Dag Hammarskjöld, dies in a plane crash while trying to secure peace in Katanga

1963 Katanga bid fails
Moise Tshombe's rebel regime in Katanga crumbles, and he flees to Spain

1965 Mobutu seizes power in Congo
Mobutu stages his second coup in the Congo and this time takes power as president

1966 Bokassa takes power
Jean-Bedel Bokassa takes power in a coup in the Central African Republic

1968 Equatorial Guinea wins independence
Spanish Guinea becomes an independent republic as Equatorial Guinea, with Francisco Macias Nguema as president

1971 Congo becomes Zaire
Mobutu gives the Congo a new name, Zaire, deriving from an African word for river

1977 Bokassa proclaims himself emperor
In a multi-million dollar ceremony, Jean-Bédel Bokassa proclaims himself emperor of the Central African Republic

1979 French paratroops remove Bokassa
French paratroops bring to an end the savage rule of Bokassa in the Central African Republic

1994 Rwandan refugee crisis in Zaire
More than a million Hutus, escaping from the backlash after the genocide in Rwanda, are in refugee camps in Zaire

1997 Mobutu expelled from Zaire
After thirty-two years as the corrupt dictator of Zaire, Mobutu Sese Seko is driven out by Laurent Kabila

1997 Zaire becomes Congo
The name of Zaire is changed once again, reverting to the Democratic Republic of Congo

1998 UN troops in Central African Republic
A UN peacekeeping force takes responsibility for maintaining order in the Central African Republic

1998 Civil war in Congo
Civil war breaks out again in the Congo, after a Tutsi uprising against Laurent Kabila's government

1998 African nations in Congo mineral war
Neighbouring African nations, with an interest in Congo's mineral wealth, take part on both sides in a developing civil war

1999 Peace plan in Congo
A peace plan signed in Lusaka brings to an end eleven months of renewed civil war in the Congo

2001 Kabila assassinated
Laurent Kabila, the president of the Congo, is assassinated in a failed coup attempt