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Beginning Research in Africa

© Christine Sievers

Africa, a diverse and large continent, presents a challenge for any genealogist whose ancestors emigrated, voluntarily or involuntarily from there. Whether your ancestors are native to Africa, or arrived there from a European country, I hope these sites will be of help in your research.

As my previous articles on my world tour have been, these are sites to help you start exploring the land of your ancestors.

*Note: As much of northern Africa is culturally more in the category of the Mid-East, many of these countries will be in a following article covering the African continent Mid-East.

General Africa Mailing Lists

1.AFRICA. A mailing list for anyone with a genealogical interest in Africa. To subscribe send "subscribe" to:

africa-l-request@rootsweb.com (mail mode) or africa-d-request@rootsweb.com (digest mode).

2.AFRIGENEAS. A private mailing list created as a place to discuss and promote family history research. This is a place for the African Ancestored in particular, and others, to communicate their genealogical interests, needs, concerns, history, culture, and resources. Discussion areas include, but are not limited to, queries on surnames, records/events, how do I start, census, locations, people and places, and resources. To subscribe send the following to:

majordomo@msstate.edu: subscribe afrigeneas

3. GEN-AFRICAN. Gatewayed with the soc.genealogy.african newsgroup for the discussion of African genealogy. To subscribe send "subscribe" to:

gen-african-l-request@rootsweb.com (mail mode) or gen-african-d-request@rootsweb.com (digest mode).

Southern Africa: Genealogy Resources on the Internet-South Africa Mailing Lists: includes family history of Jewish families in South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia (Rhodesia), Swaziland, Mozambique, and the former Belgian Congo

Country Specific mailing lists and forums:

IVORY COAST: Genealogy Resources on the Internet-Ivory Coast Mailing Lists

KENYA: Kenya Genealogy Forum

MALAWI: Malawi Genealogy Forum

Genealogy Resources on the Internet-Malawi Mailing Lists

NAMIBIA: Namibia Genealogy Forum

Genealogy Resources on the Internet-Namibia Mailing Lists

NIGERIA: Nigeria Genealogy Forum

SOUTH AFRICA: South Africa Genealogy Forum

Genealogy Resources on the Internet-South Africa Mailing Lists

Africa WorldGenWeb Sites:

Cote d'Ivoire,Africa Genealogy

Nigeria-The World GenWeb Project

South African Genealogy

General African History & Information Sites:

KENYA-TANZANIA-UGANDA-BURUNDI-RWANDA: East Africa Living Encyclopedia

Extensive List of Countries:Country-Specific Pages for Africa

Because the genealogy of African-Americans- who are the descendents of slavery- is difficult and new to the genealogical world, I am adding two sites that will help your research in the United States.

AfriGeneas~African American & African Ancestored Genealogy

Christine's Genealogy Website-African American History-American History

and finally, for an extensive list of links, Cyndi's List-African-American

NEXT WEEK: A country by country list of history sites for African nations.

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