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Topic · Anthropology

Global Maritime and Colonial Histories

Global Maritime and Colonial Histories is a research topic within Anthropology. Science Explorer counts 22k research works in it since 1950. 10.7% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores the prehistoric movement of plants and animals, maritime trade, and cultural exchange across the Indian Ocean, with a focus on the Swahili society, Austronesian expansion, and archaeological evidence. It delves into the history of East Africa, global trade patterns, and island subsistence strategies in the Indian Ocean region.

  • Indian Ocean
  • prehistoric movement
  • cultural exchange
  • maritime trade
  • Swahili society
  • Austronesian expansion
  • archaeological evidence
  • island subsistence
  • East African history
  • global trade
Research works
22k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
2.3k
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.7%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+14%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
United States
33% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Global Maritime and Colonial Histories

Which countries lead Global Maritime and Colonial Histories research?

By volume, the United States and the United Kingdom publish the most (893 and 443 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 United States 893 works
  2. 2 United Kingdom 443 works
  3. 3 India 305 works
  4. 4 France 254 works
  5. 5 Germany 199 works
  6. 6 China 141 works
  7. 7 Canada 126 works
  8. 8 Brazil 118 works
  9. 9 Indonesia 112 works
  10. 10 South Africa 108 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States: 33.1%United Kingdom: 16.4%India: 11.3%France: 9.4%6 others listed: 29.8%33%largest
United States893 · 33.1%United Kingdom443 · 16.4%India305 · 11.3%France254 · 9.4%6 others listed804 · 29.8%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Global Maritime and Colonial Histories research?

By volume in 2022-now, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique publishes the most Global Maritime and Colonial Histories research, followed by University of Dar es Salaam and University of Oxford.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 117 works
  2. 2 University of Dar es SalaamTanzania 38 works
  3. 3 University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 36 works
  4. 4 University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom 35 works
  5. 5 Film IndependentUnited States 27 works
  6. 6 Leiden UniversityNetherlands 24 works
  7. 7 Russian Academy of SciencesRussia 23 works
  8. 8 University of EdinburghUnited Kingdom 20 works
  9. 9 University of LisbonPortugal 20 works
  10. 10 King's College LondonUnited Kingdom 20 works

Who are the leading researchers in Global Maritime and Colonial Histories?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Global Maritime and Colonial Histories include George Davey Smith, James Thomas and Michael J. Mack.

  1. 1 George Davey Smith United Kingdom 435k citations
  2. 2 James Thomas United Kingdom 242k citations
  3. 3 Michael J. Mack United States 154k citations
  4. 4 Robert B. Jackson United States 149k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Global Maritime and Colonial Histories?

The most cited paper in Global Maritime and Colonial Histories is "The temporality of the landscape" (Tim Ingold, 1993), with 2,759 citations. Next come "gastro‐politics in Hindu South Asia" (1,046) and "Orientalism and Religion: Postcolonial Theory, India and the 'Mystic East'" (853).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 The temporality of the landscape Tim Ingold · World Archaeology Oct 1993 2,759
2 gastro‐politics in Hindu South Asia Arjun Appadurai · American Ethnologist Aug 1981 1,046
3 Orientalism and Religion: Postcolonial Theory, India and the 'Mystic East' Philip Goodchild · Religion Jul 2000 853
4 Writing the World from an African Metropolis Achille Mbembé, Sarah Nuttall · Public Culture Open access Sep 2004 817
5 Machines as the Measure of Men: Science, Technology and Ideologies of Western Dominance Anthony J. S. Reid · Pacific Affairs Sep 1990 798
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Global Maritime and Colonial Histories research done?

The largest centres of Global Maritime and Colonial Histories research in 2022-now are London (United Kingdom), Paris (France), New York (United States) and Dar es Salaam (Tanzania). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Dar es Salaam.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 LondonUnited Kingdom 112 works
  2. 2 ParisFrance 111 works
  3. 3 New YorkUnited States 65 works
  4. 4 Dar es SalaamTanzania 58 works
  5. 5 LisbonPortugal 46 works
  6. 6 Los AngelesUnited States 46 works
  7. 7 New DelhiIndia 46 works
  8. 8 NairobiKenya 42 works
  9. 9 OxfordUnited Kingdom 41 works
  10. 10 CambridgeUnited Kingdom 38 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. Dar es SalaamTZ · 58.1 works35×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Global Maritime and Colonial Histories than the world average.

See Global Maritime and Colonial Histories on the map

Where is the best place to study Global Maritime and Colonial Histories?

Among universities, judged by research, University of Dar es Salaam, University of Cambridge and University of Oxford score highest, combining citation excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%10%20%30%mean 18.55%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Durham UniversityUniversity of Dar es…University of Cambri…University of Oxford
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Citation excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1University of Dar es SalaamTanzania 82.821.7%77.5×38 +10.7%
2University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom 76.411.7%7.5×36 +28.6%
3University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 75.410.1%6.5×36 +47.6%
4Durham UniversityUnited Kingdom 70.625.5%8.4×12 +37.1%
5National University of SingaporeSingapore 69.521.7%3.7×17 +23.6%
6Leiden UniversityNetherlands 66.215.6%11.2×24 -1.8%
7University of EdinburghUnited Kingdom 65.514.2%5.7×20 +45.4%
8Utrecht UniversityNetherlands 64.723.5%3.3×9 +23.0%
9King's College LondonUnited Kingdom 59.615.2%5.7×20 +3.0%
10Sapienza University of RomeItaly 59.626.3%2.5×12 +320.6%

Universities only. The score blends citation excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Global Maritime and Colonial Histories, country by country

Is Global Maritime and Colonial Histories research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 14% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2024. The fastest-growing topics are Global Maritime and Colonial Histories.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Global Maritime and Colonial Histories as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.022% in 2024.

still counting0.020%0.040%Global Maritime and Colonial Histories0.019% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Global Maritime and Colonial Histories over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Global Maritime and Colonial Histories9.8% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

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