Nachtigal, Gustav (1834–1885)

German explorer of Africa. In 1869 he set out from Tripoli, Libya, on a mission from the king of Prussia to Bornu, visiting Tibesti and Borku, in the central Sahara, until then unvisited by Europeans. He continued by way of Ouadai and Kordofan, and arrived in Khartoum in 1874. His mission to West Africa in 1884 resulted in the annexation to Germany of Togoland and Cameroon.

He was born in Eichstedt, near Stendal, Germany. He published an account of his travels, Sahara und Sudan (1879–89).