Wakanda

"Millions of years ago, a meteorite made of Vibranium, the strongest substance in the universe, struck the continent of Africa, affecting the plant life around it. And when the time of men came, five tribes settled on it and called it Wakanda."

- N'Jobu

Wakanda, officially known as the Kingdom of Wakanda, is a small isolationist landlocked country located in Africa, surrounded by mountain ranges and a thick forest. It is ruled by King T'Challa, the heir of the mantle of Black Panther, and is the only known source of the metal vibranium. Despite appearing to be little more than an obscure, poor third world country with little to offer to the rest of the world, it is in fact the most advanced country in the world, whose level of technology is at least several decades ahead of anywhere else on Earth.

Origins
2.5 millions years ago a meteorite made of an alien metal landed in the heart of Africa, greatly affecting the surrounding flora. Centuries later, five tribes colonized the area and went to war over the metal, which they referred to as Isipho. One day, a warrior shaman named Bashenga was guided by a vision of the panther goddess Bast, who led him towards a plant that had mutated as a result of the metal's powers.

Upon ingesting the herb, Bashenga discovered he had been imbued with superhuman abilities and used them to unite the tribes as the first King of Wakanda and the first "Black Panther". Four of the tribes pledged their loyalty to Bashenga while the remaining tribe went into isolation.

As time passed, the Wakandans used the metal to develop technology that was far more highly-advanced than any other in existence. To protect themselves from the chaos that was slowly consuming the rest of the world, they created a cloaking field that allowed them to hide in plain sight.

S.H.I.E.L.D. Surveillance
Wakanda was marked as a "hot-spot" for activities monitored by S.H.I.E.L.D. As such, it was displayed in the holographic maps used by the organization to oversee those activities, such as the ones present in the room where Nick Fury met with Tony Stark to discuss his formal integration into the Avengers Initiative.

Theft of Vibranium
"Upon this rock I will build my church. Vibranium." "You know, it came at great personal cost. It's worth billions." "Now, so are you."

- Ultron and Ulysses Klaue Black-market arms dealer Ulysses Klaue smuggled large amounts of vibranium out of Wakanda, with the aid of the King's younger brother N'Jobu. Klaue was eventually captured and had the word "thief" burnt into his neck, but managed to escape. Klaue began to sell vibranium on the black market until 2015, when the artificial intelligence Ultron purchased the remaining caches for a few billion dollars.

Sokovia Accords
"When stolen Wakandan vibranium was used to make a terrible weapon, we in Wakanda were forced to question our legacy. Those men and women killed in Nigeria were part of a goodwill mission from a country too long in the shadows. We will not, however, let misfortune drive us back. We will fight to improve the world we wish to join."

- T'Chaka at the signing of the Sokovia Accords After a terrorist attack in Lagos claimed the lives of twenty-six people, eleven of the victims being relief aid workers from Wakanda, King T'Chaka was one of several international politicians who called for the United Nations to create a system of accountability.

Sometime later, the United Nations passed the Sokovia Accords before arranging a formal ceremony at the Vienna International Centre in Austria. T'Chaka and his son T'Challa were among those in attendance. During the ceremony, as T'Chaka gave the keynote address, a bomb detonated and decimated the building, killing T'Chaka and twelve other people.

Immediately following the attack, security footage revealed that Bucky Barnes was responsible for T'Chaka's death. T'Challa, who inherited the throne, set out to kill Barnes only to discover he had been framed by Sokovian intelligence officer Helmut Zemo.

Sanctuary


"You know if they find out he's here, they'll come for him." "Let them try."

- Steve Rogers and T'Challa

Following Zemo's arrest and imprisonment, T'Challa granted Barnes and Steve Rogers asylum in Wakanda, promising to help the former cleanse his mind of the HYDRA programming implemented.

Battle of Wakanda
In Wakanda, the Avengers on Earth consisting of Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, James Rhodes, Sam Wilson, Bruce Banner, Wanda Maximoff, and T'Challa task Shuri with extracting the Mind Stone from an injured Vision's forehead. Thanos' army invaded and the Avengers mounted a defense alongside T'Challa and the Wakandan forces. Banner, unable to summon Hulk, fought in Stark's Hulkbuster armor. Thor, Rocket, and Groot arrived on Earth and rally the defenses. Proxima Midnight, Cull Obsidian and Corvus Glaive were killed, their army of Outriders destroyed.

When Thanos finally arrived in Wakanda, Captain America joined the others to stop him from getting to Vision, but Thanos began to overpower them all. Alone with Wanda, Vision told her that she must kill him. Desperate not to see him destroyed due to her love for him, she refused to do so. Vision began to comfort and reason with her, telling her that killing him is the only way left to stop Thanos and while it shouldn't be her to do so, it is. He promised her that he wouldn't feel any pain as she destroyed the Mind Stone and recites her earlier words to him - "I only feel you." Wanda then tearfully unleashed a stream of energy into the stone as the other Avengers tried to stop Thanos in futile attempts. As he defeated the Avengers with complete ease, Thanos began to approach Vision and Wanda. As she begins to break the Mind Stone, Vision tells Wanda that he loves her. She then successfully shattered the Mind Stone, destroying Vision along with it in an explosion, but Thanos used the Time Stone to undo her actions and retrieves the stone from Vision, destroying him. After obtaining the Mind Stone, Thanos powers up, only to be interrupted by Thor's Stormbreaker, stabbing him in the chest. Thor landed on the ground and walked towards the Mad Titan, pushing the Stormbreaker into the latter's chest, reminding him of the vow he made to Thanos for killing his brother Loki. Despite being severely wounded by Thor, Thanos weakly told Thor that he should have aimed for the head and activated the Infinity Gauntlet with a snap of his fingers. Thanos' plan came to fruition as beings across the universe began to disintegrate, including Bucky Barne, Drax, Groot, Mantis, Maximoff, Parker, Quill, Strange, T'Challa, Wilson and some soldiers of the Dora Milaje. Banner, M'Baku, Okoye, Rhodes, Rocket, Rogers, Romanoff, and Thor were left on the Wakandan battlefield.

Trivia

 * Wakanda is depicted as a small area around, a point where Uganda, , and  meet. Interestingly, this is the location of the , an area of land contested between Kenya and South Sudan.
 * The geography of Wakanda depicted thus far shows lush vegetation, which would situate Wakanda in Central Africa, i.e. bordering the, rather than where it is seen on maps bordering Kenya and Ethiopia, where there is mostly just desert.
 * During the Sokovia Accords in Vienna, T'Chaka speaks to his son T'Challa in, and it therefore appears to be their native tongue. However, while the Wakandan language is likely to be a (like Xhosa is) given its location, Xhosa is spoken in southern Africa, far from where Wakanda is said to be. Additionally, given Wakandan traditions that in the comics are said to derive from Ancient Egypt, the Wakandan language may also be Afro-Asiatic.

Behind the Scenes

 * In the commentary for Iron Man 2, Jon Favreau noted Wakanda specifically as one of the locations Nick Fury was watching.
 * A vibranium mine in Wakanda was a location planned to appear in Avengers: Age of Ultron, but was ultimately scrapped.
 * John Kani, the actor who portrays T'Chaka, taught Chadwick Boseman to speak for the film.

Appearances
In chronological order:
 * Black Panther Prelude
 * Iron Man 2 (computer screen)
 * Avengers: Age of Ultron (mentioned)
 * Captain America: Civil War
 * Black Panther
 * Avengers: Infinity War Prelude
 * Avengers: Infinity War