
Flag of Wakanda
Wakanda, officially known as the Kingdom of Wakanda, is a small nation in North East Africa. For centuries they have remained in isolation and are now considered the most technologically advanced nation of the planet. Birnin Zana is the capital and largest city.
Contents
History
Geography
Localization
- Wakanda's precise location seems to have shifted over the years:
- An early map did not give much on its position beyond that it was located next to the Atlantic Ocean. [2]
- Wakanda was located on an early map in northeastern Africa, near Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia, along with fictitious countries Narobia, Canaan, Niganda, Rudyarda, Ujanka, Ghudaza, Mohannda, Zwartheid and Azania; bordering also with Lake Turkana.[3]
- Another map shown by Everett Ross placed Wakanda between Sudan in the north and Democratic Republic of the Congo in the south.[4]
- On a more recent map the country is located next to "Nyanza" (Lake Victoria) to the East and are surrounded by the nations of Mohannda to the north, Niganda to the south east, Azania to the south west and Canaan to the west.[5]
Languages
The major languages in Wakanda are Wakandan, Yoruba and Hausa,[3] but due to their advanced education system, the people are fluent in a variety of African and European languages.[6]
Wakandans also used Swahili, at least for names.[1]
Economy
The monetary unit used in Wakanda is the Wakandan Dollar.[3]
The major resource of the country is Vibranium, they have used this mineral to turn them into one of the economically stable nations on the planet. They were isolationists only trade when needed.[3] Vibranium is sold at $10,000 per gram, and Wakanda's sacred mound is estimated to have about have 10,000 tons of the material.[7]
Other major resources includes uranium, coal, diamonds, but also aeronautics and aircraft manufacture.[3]
Defenses
Wakanda is an advanced military power; the Wakandan Army is the country's main ground forces,[4] while the Wakandan Navy oversees naval operations.[7] The Wakandan Air Guard is the Nations air force, which includes pilots wearing powerful suits of combat armor.[8]
The Hatut Zeraze ("Dogs of War") was formerly the nation's secret police; although it was officially disbanded, they continue to operate in what they believe is their homeland's best interest.[9]
The king is protected by his own personal bodyguards, the Dora Milaje, skilled female warriors who have dedicated their lives to the Black Panther.[10]
They have their own intelligence agency known as the N'Charu Silema a spy network that worked across the globe to maintain the nation's secrecy.[11][12] It was considered as good as the Mossad and certainly better than the CIA and MI6.[13]
They later developed P.R.I.D.E. (Princess Regent Intelligence Division Executives) as it's protection agency.[14]
The Wakandans have a contingency plan for dealing with the "Devourer of Worlds" Galactus.[15]
Politics and International Relations

Combat Ceremony
The Wakandan government is based on a pseudo-tribal society. The head of state is the Black Panther. In this role, the Black Panther is the King/Chieftain, religious leader, and commander-in-chief. The title, although it appears to be hereditary, can be challenged by any citizen of Wakanda for the right to rule in a combat ceremony.[4]

Taifa Ngao
Wakanda also has a council of tribal of elders; known as the Taifa Ngao to help with the decisions of day to day operations in the nation. They gather to advise the Black Panther on the future of their nation.[16] Following a governmental reformation, the Wakandan Constitutional Council transitioned the country from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy.[17]
There are eighteen united tribes in Wakanda.[7][3]
The seat of government rules from the Royal Palace located in Birnin Zana, the capital city.[3]

Old Flag of Wakanda
Since it's early tribal beginnings, Wakanda has been extremely isolationist. They did not invade or provoke any other nations, but if another entered their territory they would retaliate with deadly force.[4] They remained this way for thousands of years, until the modern era when they decided to join the global community. This is still a matter of contention for the Wakandan people.[13] This lead to the creation of the Desturi, an ultra-conservative, xenophobic group who wished to return to their old isolationist ways.[18]
Wakanda is now a member of the United Nations.[19] This allows them to have political envoys across the globe such as the Wakandan Embassy in New York City.[20]
Education
Education is highly valued in the Wakandan culture and was viewed as a fundamental building block to ancient Wakandans. The nation has one of the highest literacy rates on the planet. They have an eleven year free, compulsory cycle of primary and secondary education. At the end of this, the citizens of Wakanda have the choice in the future of their career path. Many go on to attend one of their free Universities. The citizens also have other options such as farming and mining and other such laboring professions.[citation needed]
Due to their isolationist nature, education outside the country was forbidden, meaning the crown prince T'Challa was the first ever to do so.[21]
The Dora Milaje are trained and educated at their facility known as Upanga.[22]
They also created the Wakandan School for Alternative Studies, a special school for the meta-humans of Wakanda.[23]
Health
Wakanda has a universal public health system paid largely from taxation. Wakanda's entire population has equal access to health care services.[7] The nation has one of the highest life expectancy rates on the planet.
From birth a citizen is provided with Kimoyo Beads, this device regularly monitors the individual and provides a lifetime worth of medical knowledge.[24]
Wakanda has a cure for cancer but being isolationist they are reluctant to share it with the outside world. One of the members of the Wakandan counsel stated "If they care about their people's health they wouldn't sell cigarettes".[13]
Technology
Wakanda's technology developed entirely independently of that of the rest of the world due to them remaining in isolation. The creation of methodologies of design are so different it's very difficult to use with outside technology.[4] Their computer technology is so advanced that it's almost impossible to hack. However, they have taken time to learn the technology of the rest of the world, allowing them to hack any external computer system.[25] Most of their technology has Vibranium as it's basis.[26] The Wakandans use advanced communication technology such as the Kimoyo Card and Kimoyo Beads.[24]
The Wakandans do not use fossil fuels, even though their land is rich in resources. Instead they utilize a variety of eco-friendly alternative sources such as solar, hydrogen and geothermal.[4]
Wakandan scientists split the atom almost a century before the rest of the world.[27]
Since the mid-20th century Wakanda employed sophisticated surveillance satellites, launched at a time when the Americans and Soviets were in the early stages of the space program.[28]
Religion
The Wakandans have ties to the African gods, who were widely worshiped in Egypt but also had ties to other regions of Africa.[29] This pantheon is known as The Orishas.[30][31] Orisha is a Yoruba word that means spirit or deity.[32] The pantheon is composed of Gods of Egypt: Bast, the Panther Goddess, Thoth, god of the moon and wisdom and Ptah the Trainer; Kokou is a "warrior Undergod" for the Yoruba faith of Benin and Mujaji, goddess of sustenance is a "rain queen" from the Balobedu's mythology.[33]
Panther Cult

After the vibranium meteor fell, a number of Wakandans were painfully mutated into "demon spirits" and began attacking their fellow Wakandans. T'Challa's ancestor, Bashenga, became the first Black Panther and closed the vibranium mound to outsiders, forming a religious cult that guarded the mound and fought to keep the "demon spirits" from spreading across the kingdom.[34]
The Black Panther is a ceremonial and religious title given to the chief of the Panther Cult. In addition to ruling the country, he is also chief of its various tribes. The Panther uniform is a symbol of office as well as a religious vestment.[6]
As part of the cult's ceremonies, a chosen Black Panther is entitled to the use of a Heart-Shaped Herb that grants the person who consumes it enhanced strength, agility, and perception.[35]
White Gorilla Cult
The Wakandans outlawed the dangerous White Gorilla Cult due to their destructive actions.[36] They consumed the flesh of the White Apes that gave them enhanced strength. Currently, there is a cult to the gorilla god Ghekre,[34] previously, the tribe that would become Jabari worshiped the gorilla god Ngi.[37]
Man-Ape (M'Baku) of the Jabari Village was one of the greatest warriors of Wakanda, second only to T'Challa, the current Black Panther. While T'Challa was away, M'Baku tried to usurp the throne. M'Baku revived the White Gorilla cult, killing and consuming one of the White Apes. He then defeated the Black Panther and took the throne.[36]
Lion Cult
Sekhmet the "Lion God" lost many worshipers over the years to the Cult of the Panther God, despite the fact that Sekhmet physically manifested before its followers, and the Panther God only appears to its priests.[38]
Crocodile Cult
Sobek the "Crocodile God" was an ancient and forgotten god of Wakanda. But is still had some worshipers.[39]
Hyena Clan
The Hyena Clan a group of nomadic scavengers and thieves that prowled Africa.[40]
Points of Interest
- Adowa
- Alkama Fields
- Birnin Azzaria
- Birnin Bashenga
- Birnin Djata
- Birnin T'Chaka
- Birnin Zana / Wakanda Central / Golden City (Capital)
- Birnin Mutata / Necropolis
- Central Wakandan Elementary School
- Extraction Academy
- Fort Hahn
- Golden City Advanced Research Satellite Campus
- Golden City Polytechnic Prep
- Hatut Zeraze Headquarters
- Panther Idol
- Royal Palace of Wakanda
- T'Chaka Path
- Tranquility Temple
- Upanga
- Wakanda Design Group
- Wakanda University
- Wakandan Central Command
- Wakandan International Airport
- Wakandan Royal Library
- Woods of Solitude

- Black Tower of M'Kumbe
- Black Warrior Creek
- Girma River
- Golden Volcano
- Great Plateau
- Jabari-Lands
- Kagara
- Kananna-Mdogo
- Kinamasi Region
- Mena Ngai (Great Mound)
- Mount Kanda
- Mount Wakanda
- Mutapa
- N'Jada
- Northern Game Preserve
- Nri
- Paradise Forest
- Piranha Cove
- Piye
- Primitive Peaks
- Project Koukou Secret Bunker
- Q'Noma Valley
- River of Grace and Wisdom
- Serpent Valley
- Spire of Val'Holuth
- Techno Organic Jungle
- Torment Forest
- Twisted Visions Lake
- Ukuaji Cliff
- Wakandan Science Academy
Alternate Realities
Marvel Cinematic Universe (Earth-199999)

Wakanda is a country located in Africa. It is the source of most of the Vibranium used around the world. Wakanda was marked on a S.H.I.E.L.D. map of the world.[41] Ultron purchased Vibranium which had been stolen by Ulysses Klaue from Wakanda.[42]
A group of Wakandan delegates were accidentally killed in Lagos, Nigeria during one of the Avengers missions. Because of this they signed the Sokovia Accords. At a U.N. meeting Black Widow met T'Challa and the current King T'Chaka. The king was killed in an explosion. T'Challa originally believed that the Winter Solider had planned the attack and sought to avenge his father, but relented when he met the true perpetrator Helmut Zemo and refused to let vengeance consume him. He allowed Captain America and the Winter Soldier to find a refuge in Wakanda after his Civil War with Iron Man. He helped Bucky by putting him back in Cryostasis Chamber. Bucky wished to remain under cryostatis until his brainwashing could be undone.[43]
Marvel vs. Capcom series (Earth-30847)
The Earth-30847 version of Wakanda was caught up in the Convergence caused by Ultron Sigma, leaving the kingdom fused with the desert port town of Val Habar(Along with a good portion of its desert and the monsters therein, including the sand-swimming elder dragon Dah'ren Mohran). Black Panther still serves as the newly-formed kingdom's leader, with the land now being dubbed "Valkanda", and T'Challa taking on one of the town's top Monster Hunters as an adjutant. The kingdom was sealed beyond the flow of time through use of the Time Stone.
The Resistance sent a team to Valkanda in order to study the anomalies caused by the Convergence, but their craft was caught in a vortex and crashed, leaving Ryu and the Hulk as the only two survivors. Another team was sent to Valkanda to obtain the Time Stone in order to fight Ultron Sigma, but they were followed by a legion of Ultron Drones, who infected Dah'ren Mohran with the Sigma Virus. The dragon began an attack on the capital city or Valkanda, but was defeated by Ryu and the Hulk, leading Black Panther to hand over the Time Stone as thanks, removing the time barrier from around the kingdom.
After the defeat of Ultron Sigma, Wakanda and Val Habar remained permanently fused due to a crack made in the Reality Stone by Thanos in a battle with Ultron Sigma.
Ultimate Avengers 2: Rise of the Panther (Earth-60808)
On Earth-60808, Wakanda is a country located in Africa,it is home to large amounts of Vibranium. Dr. Bruce Banner discovered that during a previous Chitauri attack, the Hulk had been able to smash through the Vibranium plated Chitauri ships without any effort. Because of this, he discovered that Vibranium turns brittle when exposed to gamma radiation.[44]
Residents
- T'Challa (Black Panther) (King)
- Bashenga (first Black Panther)
- Shuri (former Queen)
- Erik Killmonger
- M'Baku (Man Ape)
- N'Tomo
- T'Chaka (former Black Panther)
- Ramonda
- C'China
- D'Kar
- M'Wabu
- N'Basa
- N'Dele
- N'Gamo
- Thom
- W'Tambi
Notes
- A map of Wakanda was published in Jungle Action (Vol. 2) #6 that placed the nation on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, presumably on the west side of Africa. When that map was republished in Jungle Action (Vol. 2) #8 months later, that watery corner of the map was filled in by land, with merely an arrow pointing left towards the Indian Ocean. This retconning made Wakanda into an inland country closer to the east coast of Africa (presumably flipping the north / south axis of the map in order to accomplish this), a location that has been consistent in the years since, albeit with slight variations; while the Marvel Atlas points it as corresponding to Southwestern Ethiopia in the real world (see map above), the location of Wakanda in the Black Panther film corresponds, in real life, to Southwestern Uganda.
Trivia
- In the 2018 MCU film Black Panther, the people of Wakanda speak Xhosa, one of the real world official languages of South Africa.[45] The Jabari Tribe appears speaking a dialect inspired by the Igbo dialect from Nigeria.[46][47]
See Also
- 51 article(s) related to Wakanda
- 538 appearance(s) of Wakanda
- 57 minor appearance(s) of Wakanda
- 259 mention(s) of Wakanda
- 74 image(s) of Wakanda
- 1 item(s) used/owned by Wakanda
Links and References
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Marvel Universe #4
- ↑ Jungle Action Vol 2 #6
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Marvel Atlas #2; Wakanda's entry
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Black Panther Vol 4 #1
- ↑ Black Panther Vol 6 #4
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Black Panther Vol 3 #30
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Doomwar #1
- ↑ Black Panther Vol 4 #4
- ↑ Black Panther Vol 3 #4
- ↑ Black Panther Vol 3 #1
- ↑ Rise of the Black Panther #5
- ↑ Black Panther/Captain America: Flags of Our Fathers #2
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Black Panther Vol 4 #3
- ↑ Black Panther Vol 5 #9
- ↑ Black Panther Vol 3 #14
- ↑ Black Panther Vol 4 #2
- ↑ Black Panther Vol 6 #16
- ↑ Black Panther Vol 5 #7
- ↑ Avengers #52
- ↑ Black Panther #14
- ↑ Avengers #87
- ↑ Black Panther: World of Wakanda #1
- ↑ Infinity: The Hunt #1
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 Black Panther Vol 6 #1
- ↑ Black Panther Vol 3 #8
- ↑ Fantastic Four #53
- ↑ Fantastic Four #607
- ↑ Avengers 1959 #3
- ↑ Black Panther Vol 3 #21-22
- ↑ Black Panther Vol 6 #13
- ↑ Black Panther Vol 6 #15
- ↑ Orisha at Wikipedia
- ↑ Mujaji at Myth Encyclopedia
- ↑ 34.0 34.1 Black Panther #7
- ↑ Black Panther Vol 3 #24
- ↑ 36.0 36.1 Avengers #62
- ↑ Marvel Comics Presents Vol 3 #2
- ↑ Avengers #112
- ↑ Black Panther Vol 5 #3
- ↑ FF #19
- ↑ Iron Man 2 (film)
- ↑ Avengers: Age of Ultron
- ↑ Captain America: Civil War
- ↑ Ultimate Avengers 2 (film)
- ↑ Francisco, Eric (1 March 2018). Why Wakandans Speak Xhosa, an Actual African Language. Inverse. Retrieved on 2 March 2018.
- ↑ Black Panther Press Kit
- ↑ Nigerians Are Convinced 'Black Panther' Scene-Stealer, M'Baku Is Actually Igbo