Out of Africa - The Story of Human Migration

In Africa, between 200,000 and 100,000 years ago, archaic Homo sapiens evolved into anatomically modern humans. Around 60,000 years ago humans started to spread to the rest of the world, possibly by crossing the Red Sea into the Arabian Peninsula. You can follow that journey for yourself on the Human Odyssey Map.

The California Academy of Science's Human Odyssey Map plots the possible paths taken by humans out of Africa and the role that the climate played in those migratory routes. The map includes a timeline control which allows you to trace the routes that the human race took over thousands of years to populate the rest of the world. As you progress through the timeline flow-lines show the routes taken by the human race, while the map itself shows the climate conditions which existed at the time and which impacted on the routes that humans took in traveling to the rest of the world.



You can also view an interactive map showing how Homo sapiens migrated from Africa to all corners of the world on National Geographic's The Human Journey: Migration Routes. This map also shows the land and sea routes that our ancestors took to populate the world. If you switch on the 'Route Highlights' layer on the map you can learn more about how and when humans first reached Asia, Oceania, Europe and the Americas.

National Geographic's map of the Human Journey is partly based on the results of the publisher's own Genographic Project. Nearly 800,000 people in over 140 countries have participated in this Genographic Project. By testing and sharing their personal DNA volunteers around the world have contributed to our understanding of where humans originated and how we came to populate most of the Earth.