West Africa
Western Africa (UN subregion)
Area	5,112,903 km2 (1,974,103 sq mi) (7th)
Population	418,544,337 (2021 est.) (3rd)[1][2] 381,981,000 (female: 189,672,000; male: 192,309,000 (2017 est.[3])
Density	49.2/km2 (127.5/sq mi)
Demonym	West African
Countries	Sovereign states (16)  Benin  Burkina Faso  Cape Verde  Gambia  Ghana  Guinea  Guinea-Bissau  Ivory Coast  Liberia  Mali  Mauritania  Niger  Nigeria  Senegal  Sierra Leone  Togo
Dependencies	Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
Time zones	UTC−1 to UTC+1
Major Regional Organizations	Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS; established 1975)
Total GDP (PPP)	US$2.091 trillion (2022) (23rd)[4]
GDP (PPP) per capita	$2,500 (2013)[5]
Total GDP (nominal)	$810 billion (2023)[6][7]
Total GDP (nominal) per capita	$1,937 (2023)[6]
Currency	List Cedi (GHS)  Dalasi (GMD)  Franc (GNF)  Dollar (LRD)  Ouguiya (MRU)  Naira (NGN)  Pound (SHP) Leone (SLL)  W. African CFA franc (XOF)
Largest cities	List Lagos Abidjan Bamako Accra Kano Dakar Abuja Ibadan Ouagadougou Kumasi
UN M.49 code	011 – West Africa 202 – Sub-Saharan Africa 002 – Africa 001 – World

West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo, as well as Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha (United Kingdom Overseas Territory).^[8][9] The population of West Africa is estimated at 419 million^[1][2] people as of 2021, and at 381,981,000 as of 2017, of which 189,672,000 were female and 192,309,000 male.^[3] The region is demographically^[10] and economically^[11] one of the fastest growing on the African continent.

Early history in West Africa included a number of prominent regional powers that dominated different parts of both the coastal and internal trade networks, such as the Mali and Gao Empires. West Africa sat at the intersection of trade routes between Arab-dominated North Africa and further south on the continent, the source of specialized goods such as gold, advanced iron-working, and ivory. After European exploration encountered rich local economies and kingdoms, the Atlantic slave trade built on already existing slave systems to provide labor for colonies in the Americas. After the end of the slave trade in the early 19th century, European nations, especially France and Britain, continued to exploit the region through colonial relationships. For example, they continued exporting a number of extractive goods, including labor-intensive agricultural crops like cocoa and coffee, forestry products like tropical timber, and mineral resources like gold. Since independence, many West African countries, like Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal, have played important roles in the regional and global economies.

West Africa has a rich ecology, with strong biodiversity and several distinct regions. The area's climate and ecology are heavily influenced by the dry Sahara to the north and east, which provides dry winds during the Harmattan, as well as the Atlantic Ocean to the south and west, which provides seasonal monsoons. This mixture of climates gives West Africa a rich array of biomes, from biodiversity-rich tropical forests to drylands supporting rare and endangered fauna such as pangolins, rhinoceros, and elephants. Because of the pressure for economic development, many of these ecologies are threatened by processes like deforestation, biodiversity loss, overfishing, pollution from mining, plastics and other industries, and extreme changes resulting from climate change in West Africa.

History

The history of West Africa can be divided into five major periods: first, its prehistory, in which the first human settlers arrived, developed agriculture, and made contact with peoples to the north; the second, the Iron Age empires that consolidated both intra-Africa, and extra-Africa trade, and developed centralized states; third, major polities flourished, which would undergo an extensive history of contact with non-Africans; fourth, the colonial period, in which Great Britain and France controlled nearly the entire region; and fifth, the post-independence era, in which the current nations were formed.

Prehistory

West African populations were considerably mobile and interacted with one another throughout the population history of West Africa.^[12] Acheulean tool-using archaic humans may have dwelled throughout West Africa since at least between 780,000 BP and 126,000 BP (Middle Pleistocene).^[13] During the Pleistocene, Middle Stone Age peoples (e.g., Iwo Eleru people,^[14] possibly Aterians), who dwelled throughout West Africa between MIS 4 and MIS 2,^[15] were gradually replaced by incoming Late Stone Age peoples, who migrated into West Africa^[16] as an increase in humid conditions resulted in the subsequent expansion of the West African forest.^[17] West African hunter-gatherers occupied western Central Africa (e.g., Shum Laka) earlier than 32,000 BP,^[14] dwelled throughout coastal West Africa by 12,000 BP,^[18] and migrated northward between 12,000 BP and 8000 BP as far as Mali, Burkina Faso,^[18] and Mauritania.^[19]

During the Holocene, Niger-Congo speakers independently created pottery in Ounjougou, Mali^[20][21][22] – the earliest pottery in Africa^[23] – by at least 9400 BCE,^[20] and along with their pottery,^[23] as well as wielding independently invented bows and arrows,^[24][25] migrated into the Central Sahara,^[23] which became their primary region of residence by 10,000 BP.^[24] The emergence and expansion of ceramics in the Sahara may be linked with the origin of Round Head and Kel Essuf rock art, which occupy rockshelters in the same regions (e.g., Djado, Acacus, Tadrart).^[26] Hunters in the Central Sahara farmed, stored, and cooked undomesticated central Saharan flora,^[27] underwent domestication of antelope,^[28] and domesticated and shepherded Barbary sheep.^[27] After the Kel Essuf Period and Round Head Period of the Central Sahara, the Pastoral Period followed.^[29] Some of the hunter-gatherers who created the Round Head rock art may have adopted pastoral culture, and others may have not.^[30] As a result of increasing aridification of the Green Sahara, Central Saharan hunter-gatherers and cattle herders may have used seasonal waterways as the migratory route taken to the Niger River and Chad Basin of West Africa.^[31] In 2000 BCE, "Thiaroye Woman",^[32] also known as the "Venus of Thiaroye",^[33][32] may have been the earliest statuette created in Sub-Saharan West Africa; it may have particularly been a fertility statuette, created in the region of Senegambia,^[33] and may be associated with the emergence of complexly organized pastoral societies in West Africa between 4000 BCE and 1000 BCE.^[34] Though possibly developed as early as 5000 BCE,^[35] Nsibidi may have also developed in 2000 BCE,^[36][35] as evidenced by depictions of the West African script on Ikom monoliths at Ikom, in Nigeria.^[35] Migration of Saharan peoples south of the Sahelian region resulted in seasonal interaction with and gradual absorption of West African hunter-gatherers, who primarily dwelt in the savannas and forests of West Africa.^[18] In West Africa, which may have been a major regional cradle in Africa for the domestication of crops and animals,^[37][38] Niger-Congo speakers domesticated the helmeted guineafowl^[39] between 5500 BP and 1300 BP;^[37] domestication of field crops occurred throughout various locations in West Africa, such as yams (d. praehensilis) in the Niger River basin between eastern Ghana and western Nigeria (northern Benin), rice (oryza glaberrima) in the Inner Niger Delta region of Mali, pearl millet (cenchrus americanus) in northern Mali and Mauritania, and cowpeas in northern Ghana.^[38] After having persisted as late as 1000 BP,^[18] or some period of time after 1500 CE,^[40] remaining West African hunter-gatherers, many of whom dwelt in the forest-savanna region, were ultimately acculturated and admixed into the larger groups of West African agriculturalists, akin to the migratory Bantu-speaking agriculturalists and their encounters with Central African hunter-gatherers.^[18]

Empires

The development of the region's economy allowed more centralized states and civilizations to form, beginning with Dhar Tichitt that began in 1600 B.C. followed by Djenné-Djenno beginning in 300 B.C. This was then succeeded by the Ghana Empire that first flourished roughly between the 2nd and 12th centuries C.E., which later gave way to the Mali Empire. In current-day Mauritania, there exist archaeological sites in the towns of Tichit and Oualata that were initially constructed around 2000 B.C., and were found to have originated from the Soninke branch of the Mandé peoples. Also, based on the archaeology of the city of Kumbi Saleh in modern-day Mauritania, the Mali empire came to dominate much of the region until its defeat by Almoravid invaders in 1052.

Three great kingdoms were identified in Bilad al-Sudan by the ninth century. They included Ghana, Gao and Kanem.^[41]

The Sosso Empire sought to fill the void but was defeated (c. 1240) by the Mandinka forces of Sundiata Keita, founder of the new Mali Empire. The Mali Empire continued to flourish for several centuries, most particularly under Sundiata's grandnephew Musa I, before a succession of weak rulers led to its collapse under Mossi, Tuareg and Songhai invaders. In the 15th century, the Songhai would form a new dominant state based on Gao, in the Songhai Empire, under the leadership of Sonni Ali and Askia Mohammed.

Meanwhile, south of the Sudan, strong city-states arose in Igboland, such as the 10th-century Kingdom of Nri, which helped birth the arts and customs of the Igbo people, Bono State in the 11th century, which gave birth to the numerous Akan States, while Ife rose to prominence around the 12th century. Further east, Oyo arose as the dominant Yoruba state and the Aro Confederacy as a dominant Igbo state in modern-day Nigeria.

The Kingdom of Nri was a West African medieval state in present-day southeastern Nigeria and a subgroup of the Igbo people. The Kingdom of Nri was unusual in the history of world government in that its leader exercised no military power over his subjects. The kingdom existed as a sphere of religious and political influence over a third of Igboland and was administered by a priest-king called as an Eze Nri. The Eze Nri managed trade and diplomacy on behalf of the Nri people and possessed divine authority in religious matters.

The Oyo Empire was a Yoruba empire of what is today Western, North central Nigeria and southern Republic of Benin. Established in the 14th century, the Oyo Empire grew to become one of the largest West African states. It rose through the outstanding organizational skills of the Yoruba, wealth gained from trade and its powerful cavalry. The Oyo Empire was the most politically important state in the region from the mid-17th to the late 18th century, holding sway not only over most of the other kingdoms in Yorubaland, but also over nearby African states, notably the Fon Kingdom of Dahomey in the modern Republic of Benin to the west.

The Benin Empire was a post-classical empire located in what is now southern Nigeria. Its capital was Edo, now known as Benin City, Edo. It should not be confused with the modern-day country called Benin, formerly called Dahomey. The Benin Empire was "one of the oldest and most highly developed states in the coastal hinterland of West Africa, dating perhaps to the eleventh century CE",. The Benin Empire was governed by a sovereign Emperor with hundreds of thousands of soldiers and a powerful council rich in resources, wealth, ancient science and technology with cities described as beautiful and large as Haarlem. "Olfert Dapper, a Dutch writer, describing Benin in his book Description of Africa (1668) ". Its craft was the most adored and treasured bronze casting in the history of Africa. It was annexed by the British Empire in 1897 during the invasion and scramble of Africa.

European contact and enslavement

Portuguese traders began establishing settlements along the coast in 1445, followed by the French, English, Spanish, Danish and Dutch; the African slave trade began not long after, which over the following centuries would debilitate the region's economy and population.^[42] The slave trade also encouraged the formation of states such as the Bono State, Bambara Empire and Dahomey, whose economic activities include but not limited to exchanging slaves for European firearms.^[43]

Colonialism

In the early 19th century, a series of Fulani reformist jihads swept across Western Africa. The most notable include Usman dan Fodio's Fulani Empire, which replaced the Hausa city-states, Seku Amadu's Massina Empire, which defeated the Bambara, and El Hadj Umar Tall's Toucouleur Empire, which briefly conquered much of modern-day Mali.

However, the French and British continued to advance in the Scramble for Africa, subjugating kingdom after kingdom. With the fall of Samory Ture's new-founded Wassoulou Empire in 1898 and the Ashanti queen Yaa Asantewaa in 1902, most West African military resistance to colonial rule resulted in failure.

Part of the West-African regions underwent an increase in the numeracy level throughout the 19th century. The reason for such a growth was predetermined by a number of factors. Namely, the peanut production and trade, which was boosted by the demand of the colonial states. Importantly, the rise of the numeracy was higher in the regions which were less hierarchical and had less dependent from the slavery trade (e.g. Sine and Salum). Whereas areas with the opposite trends illustrated opposite tendencies (e.g. central and northern Senegal). Those patterns were further even more stimulated with the French colonial campaign.^[44]

Britain controlled the Gambia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, and Nigeria throughout the colonial era, while France unified Senegal, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin, Ivory Coast, and Niger into French West Africa. Portugal founded the colony of Guinea-Bissau, while Germany claimed Togoland, but was forced to divide it between France and Britain following First World War due to the Treaty of Versailles. Only Liberia retained its independence, at the price of major territorial concessions.

Postcolonial era

Following World War II, nationalist movements arose across West Africa. In 1957, Ghana, under Kwame Nkrumah, became the first West African colony to achieve its independence, followed the next year by France's colonies (Guinea in 1958 under the leadership of President Ahmed Sekou Touré); by 1974, West Africa's nations were entirely autonomous.

Since independence, many West African nations have been submerged under political instability, with notable civil wars in Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Ivory Coast, and a succession of military coups in Ghana and Burkina Faso.

Since the end of colonialism, the region has been the stage for some brutal conflicts, including:

• Nigerian Civil War
• First Liberian Civil War
• Second Liberian Civil War
• Guinea-Bissau Civil War
• Ivorian Civil War
• Sierra Leone Rebel War
• Mali War

Geopolitical division

Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of subregion Western Africa includes the preceding states with the addition of Mauritania (which withdrew from ECOWAS in 1999), comprising an area of approximately 6.1 million square km.^[45] The UN region also includes the United Kingdom Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha in the south Atlantic Ocean.^[8]

Area

In the United Nations scheme of African regions, the region of Western Africa includes 16 states and the United Kingdom Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha:^[8] Mali, Burkina Faso, Senegal and the Niger are mostly in the Sahel, a transition zone between the Sahara desert and the Sudanian Savanna; Benin, Ivory Coast, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Togo and Nigeria compose most of Guinea, the traditional name for the area near the Gulf of Guinea; Mauritania lies in the Maghreb, the northwestern region of Africa that has historically been inhabited by West African groups such as the Fulani, Soninke, Wolof, Serer and Toucouleur people,^[46] along with Arab-Berber Maghrebi people such as the Tuareg; Cape Verde is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean; and Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha consists of eight main islands located in four different parts of the Atlantic. Due to Mauritania's increasingly close ties to the Arab World and its 1999 withdrawal from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), in modern times it is often considered, especially in Africa, as now part of western North Africa.^{[47][48][49][50][51][52]}

List of countries

•  Benin
•  Burkina Faso
•  Cape Verde
•  Ivory Coast
•  The Gambia
•  Ghana
•  Guinea
•  Guinea-Bissau
•  Liberia
•  Mali
•  Niger
•  Nigeria
•  Senegal
•  Sierra Leone
•  Togo
•  United Kingdom
  •  Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
    (United Kingdom Overseas Territory)

Cities

Major and principal cities in West Africa include, geographically eastward:

Environment

Nature

Before European colonisation, West African countries such as those from the Senegambia region (Senegal and the Gambia) used to have a diverse wildlife including lions, hippopotamus, elephants, antelopes, leopards etc.^[53] However, during colonization, the European colonizers such as the French and British killed most of the wildlife particularly the lions, using their body parts as trophies. By the turn of the 20th century, the Senegambia region had lost most of its lion population and other exotic animals due to poaching. By the 1930s, the Gambian elephant population became extinct. That phenomenon was not only limited to the Senegambia region but affected much of West Africa as the region lost much of its "natural resources once tied so closely to its cultural identity. Poaching has stolen most of its wildlife." The British issued poaching licenses, and although they would later try to reverse the damage that had been done by attempting to preserve what was left of the local wildlife, but by that time, it was too late.^[54][55] During the 1930s, the elephant population in the Gold Coast was about 300, and Sierra Leone between 500 and 600. Although a small number of elephants survived in Nigeria, hunting, agricultural expansion and clearing of forest in that country drastically affected its wildlife population, particularly elephants.^[55]

Despite the historical damage that has been done to the region's wildlife populations, there are still some protected nature reserves within the region. Some of these include:

• The Bandia Nature Reserve in Senegal (French: Réserve de Bandia), animal life includes: giraffes, zebras, rhinos, a variety of antelopes, buffaloes, monkeys, crocodiles, tortoises. apes and a variety of exotic birds.^[56]
• The Yankari National Park in Nigeria, animal life includes: the African bush elephant, olive baboon, patas monkey, Tantalus monkey, roan antelope, western hartebeest, West African lion, African buffalo, waterbuck, bushbuck and hippopotamus.^[57]

1. The Ankasa Conservation Area in Ghana, animal life includes: the elephant, bongo, leopard, chimpanzee, Diana monkey, and other primates.^[58]

• The Mole National Park is Ghana's biggest wildlife refuge. It is home to over 83 mammal species including about 800 resident elephants, buffalo, hippos, and warthogs^[59][60] as well as various fauna and flora.

West Africa is also home to several baobab trees and other plant life. Some baobab trees are several centuries old and form part of the local folklore, for example, a mythical baobab tree named Ngoye njuli in Senegal which is regarded as a sacred site by the Serer. The tree itself is rather majestic and looks like a huge phallus and a deformed animal or thing is protruding from it. It is said to be the dwelling place of a pangool. Ngoye njuli is protected by the Senegalese authorities and attracts visitors. In West Africa, as in other parts of Africa where the baobab tree is found, the leaves are mixed with couscous and eaten, the bark of the tree is used to make ropes, and the fruit and seeds used for drinks and oils.^[54][61][62]

Deforestation

West Africa is greatly affected by deforestation and has one of worst deforestation rate.^[63] Even "the beloved baobab tree" which is viewed as sacred by some West African cultures are under threat due to climate change, urbanization and population growth. "Huge swaths of forest are being razed to clear space for palm oil and cocoa plantations. Mangroves are being killed off by pollution. Even wispy acacias are hacked away for use in cooking fires to feed growing families."^[54] Nigeria, Liberia, Guinea, Ghana and the Ivory Coast, have lost large areas of their rainforest.^[64][65] In 2005, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations ranked Nigeria as the state with the worst deforestation rate in the entire world. Causes include logging, subsistence agriculture, and the collection of fuelwoods.^[66]

According to a ThoughtCo publication authored Steve Nix (2018), almost 90 percent of West Africa's original rainforest has been destroyed, and the rest "heavily fragmented and in a degraded state, being poorly used."^[63]

Overfishing

Overfishing is a major issue in West Africa. Besides reducing fish stocks in the region, it also threatens food security and the livelihoods of many coastal communities who largely depend on artisanal fishing. The overfishing generally comes from foreign trawlers operating in the region.^[67]

To combat the overfishing, Greenpeace has recommended countries reduce the number of registered trawlers operating in African waters, increase the monitoring and control and set up regional fisheries organizations.^[68] Some steps have already been taken in the form of WARFP (the World Bank's West Africa Regional Fisheries Program which empowers west-African countries (i.e. Liberia, Sierra Leone, Cape Verde, and Senegal) with information, training and monitoring systems. Furthermore, Liberia enacted a fisheries regulations Act in 2010^[69] and installed a satellite-based monitoring system and Senegal enacted a fisheries code in 2015. In Cape Verde, the fishermen communities of Palmiera and Santa Maria have organized themselves to protect fishing zones. Mozambique finally created a conservation area, including a coastline. ^[70][71]

Geography and climate

West Africa, broadly defined to include the western portion of the Maghreb (Western Sahara, Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia), occupies an area in excess of 6,140,000 km², or approximately one-fifth of Africa. The vast majority of this land is plains lying less than 300 meters above sea level, though isolated high points exist in numerous states along the southern shore of West Africa.^[72]