This dataset is based on the 1925 World Missionary Atlas (WMA) by Harlan P. Beach and Charles H. Fahs, published by the Institute for Social and Religious Research (New York). The dataset features aggregated, cross-validated information from maps and indexes contained in the WMA. Overall, it provides information on 1,895 mission stations that were established before 1925.


Related publication: Becker, Bastian (2022), "The Empire Within: Longitudinal Evidence on the Expansion of Christian Missions in Colonial Africa" Journal of Historical Political Economy, 2(2), 333--362. [DOI] 

COLDAT aggregates information on the reach and duration of European colonial empires from renowned secondary sources. By aggregating secondary sources, rather than collecting from primary sources, the new dataset reflects the accumulated knowledge in the discipline and relieves researchers from making hard to justify choices between different historical datasets.


Related publication: Becker, Bastian (2019), "Introducing COLDAT: The Colonial Dates Dataset" SOCIUM SFB 1342 WorkingPapers, 2019(2). [LINK]