List of African territories and states by date of colonization

This is a list of the dates when African states were made colonies or protectorates of European powers and lost their independence. It only deals with modern times, thus the expansion of the Ancient Greeks, Roman Empire, and barbarian tribes into Africa is ignored. A number of regions such as the Congo and the Sahara Desert had no organized states and it is almost impossible to tell when, or if, these areas ever became controlled by Europeans.