Negroland, Nigrita, or Nigritia, is an
archaic term in European mapping, referring to Europeans' descriptions of
West Africa
West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...
as an area populated with
negro
In the English language, the term ''negro'' (or sometimes ''negress'' for a female) is a term historically used to refer to people of Black people, Black African heritage. The term ''negro'' means the color black in Spanish and Portuguese (from ...
es.
This area comprised at least the western part of the
region called Sudan (not to be confused with
the modern country). The term is probably a direct translation of the Arabic term ''Bilad as-Sudan'' (بلاد السودان), meaning "Land of the
Blacks", corresponding to about the same area. There were various kinds of people in the area. The
Persians
Persians ( ), or the Persian people (), are an Iranian ethnic group from West Asia that came from an earlier group called the Proto-Iranians, which likely split from the Indo-Iranians in 1800 BCE from either Afghanistan or Central Asia. They ...
called these areas Zangistān (زنگستان), meaning "Land of the Blacks" and the name ''Zang'' for black still remains in the name of
Zanzibar
Zanzibar is a Tanzanian archipelago off the coast of East Africa. It is located in the Indian Ocean, and consists of many small Island, islands and two large ones: Unguja (the main island, referred to informally as Zanzibar) and Pemba Island. ...
(from
Persian زنگبار (Zangibār) meaning "The Coast of Blacks". The name was given by Persian navigators when they visited the area in the middle ages. Some of the greatest states of those considered part of Negroland were the
Bornu Empire Bornu may refer to:
* Bornu Empire, a historical state of West Africa
* Borno State, Nigeria
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