Wakanda Geography

Wakanda is a small country, encompassing roughly 10,200 square miles, situated on Lake Victoria between Kenya and Uganda. The populace of the country is primarily Bantu in origin.

Wakanda is primarily an agrarian nation. However, it boasts one resource unique in the world. Wakanda boasts the largest (some claim the only) naturally occurring deposit of vibranium in the world. The high demand for this rare commodity, of which Wakanda's rulers have nationalized the mining and production, has given Wakanda a higher per capita and standard of living than its neighbors, on par with many of the industrialized nations.

Wakanda is unique among the nations bordering Lake Victoria in that its official religion is neither Christianity nor Islam. Instead, the Wakandan people worship a "panther god" (who may or may not be related to the African lion god Simba or the Egyptian cat goddess Bast). This religion has been supported by Wakanda's rulers for generations.

The ancestors of the people who would eventually settle Wakanda were a Bantu people who settled there between the 1st Century B.C. and 1st Century A.D.

During the colonial period, Wakanda was officially part of the British East Africa colony, but situated far enough inland that it managed to maintain its local autonomy in practice, though not officially. When Kenya gained its independence in 1963, Wakanda asserted its independence as well. Also at that time, Wakanda essentially closed its borders, nationalizing all trade.

It is believed that the properties of the Great Vibranium Mound were discovered during or prior to World War II, and the king ordered the presence of the metal to be kept secret from all outsiders. It was also during World War II that Wakanda became insular.

Years ago, King T'Chaka sent his son and heir, T'Challa, to England to study the modern world outside Wakanda's borders. The rest of the royal family was uncertain as to whether T'Challa would be influenced by "outsiders". Recently, however, T'Challa returned home, having earned an engineering degree, only to find his father on his deathbed from a poacher's gunshot wound. T'Challa has since reigned over Wakanda, attempting to balance the traditionally insular tribal people of the nation with concepts and technology from the modern world.

First Post-Reboot Appearance: LOST WORLD OF WAKANDA #25.

Design Notes:

1. The biggest issue I have with Wakanda as it's been presented in the comics is that it is presented as being at least a full tech level above the rest of the world and at the same time is insular with tribal customs. Realistically, that should not work! According to one fairly recent comic, Wakanda has developed a cure for cancer that it will not share because they feel the rest of the world is jealous(!) of them. That's a move I'd expect from Doctor Doom and Latveria, not the "heroic" Black Panther and Wakanda. So, I've made it that Wakanda has recently made it to the modern era but with the local elders resisting the changes. This actually more closely matches the entry in OHOTMUDE #14.