West Africa, also known as 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).[Paul R. Masson, Catherine Anne Pattillo, "Monetary union in West Africa (ECOWAS): is it desirable and how could it be achieved?" (Introduction). International Monetary Fund, 2001. ] The population of West Africa is estimated at around million people as of , and at 381,981,000 as of 2017, of which 189,672,000 were female and 192,309,000 male.[United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2017). World Population Prospects: The 2017 Revision, custom data acquired via website. [1]] The region is demographically
Early history in West Africa includes a number of prominent regional powers that dominated different parts of both the coastal and internal trade networks, such as the Mali Empire and . West Africa sat at the intersection of trade routes between Arabs-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 bean and coffee, forestry products like tropical timber, and mineral resources like gold. Since independence, many West African countries, such as the 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 and diverse array of , from biodiversity-rich to drylands supporting rare and endangered fauna such as , rhinoceros, and . 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.
Acheulean tool-using
archaic humans may have dwelled throughout West Africa since at least between 780,000 BP and 126,000 BP (Middle Pleistocene).
During the
Pleistocene, Middle Stone Age peoples (e.g., Iwo Eleru people,
possibly
Aterians), who dwelled throughout West Africa between MIS 4 and MIS 2,
were gradually replaced by incoming Late Stone Age peoples, who migrated into West Africa
as an increase in humid conditions resulted in the subsequent expansion of the West African forest.
West African hunter-gatherers occupied western
Central Africa (e.g.,
Shum Laka) earlier than 32,000 BP,
dwelled throughout coastal West Africa by 12,000 BP,
and migrated northward between 12,000 BP and 8000 BP as far as Mali, Burkina Faso,
and Mauritania.
During the Holocene, Niger-Congo speakers independently created pottery in Ounjougou, Mali
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 people 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 Empire.
The Sosso Empire sought to fill the void but was defeated () by the Mandinka people 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 Mansa Musa, before a succession of weak rulers led to its collapse under Mossi people, Tuareg people and Songhai people 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 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 people States, while Ife rose to prominence around the 12th century. Further east, Oyo Empire arose as the dominant Yoruba people state and the Aro Confederacy as a dominant Igbo people 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 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 people 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 people 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 State. 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
France,
England,
Spain,
Denmark and
Netherlands; the African slave trade began not long after, which over the following centuries would debilitate the region's economy and population.
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
.
Colonialism
In the early 19th century, a series of Fulani reformist
swept across Western Africa. The most notable include Usman dan Fodio's
Fulani Empire, which replaced the
Hausa people 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 France and United Kingdom continued to advance in the Scramble for Africa, subjugating kingdom after kingdom. With the fall of Samory's established Wassoulou Empire in 1898 and the Ashanti people 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 Colonialism. Importantly, the rise of numeracy was higher in the regions which were less Hierarchy and had less dependence on 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 by the French colonial campaign.
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
States of West Africa;
]]
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.
Area
In the
United Nations scheme of African regions, the region of Western Africa includes 16
Sovereign state and the United Kingdom Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha:
,
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 people,
Wolof people,
Serer people and Toucouleur people,
[Polski Instytut Spraw Międzynarodowych, Studies on the Developing Countries, Issues 6–8, Polish Institute of International Affairs (1988), p. 53] along with
Arab-Berber Maghrebis 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.
[Facts on File, Incorporated, Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Africa and the Middle East (2009), p. 448, : "The Islamic Republic of Mauritania, situated in western North Africa..."][David Seddon, A Political and Economic Dictionary of the Middle East (2004), : "We have, by contrast, chosen to include the predominantly Arabic-speaking countries of western North Africa (the Maghreb), including Mauritania (which is a member of the Arab Maghreb Union)..."][Mohamed Branine, Managing Across Cultures: Concepts, Policies and Practices (2011), p. 437, : "The Magrebian countries or the Arab countries of western North Africa (Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia)..."]
List of countries
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 (Senegal and the Gambia) used to have a diverse
wildlife including
,
hippopotamus,
,
,
etc.
[Koslow, Philip, Senegambia: Land of the Lion, Chelsea House Publishers (1997), pp. 11, 35–47, .] 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.
[ The New York Times, "Across Senegal, the Beloved Baobab Tree Is the 'Pride of the Neighborhood, by Dionne Searcey (30 Sept. 2018) (Retrieved 1 April 2019)][Somerville, Keith, Ivory: Power and Poaching in Africa, Oxford University Press (2016), p. 84–85 [3] (Retrieved 1 April 2019)] 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.
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, African buffalo, monkeys, crocodiles, tortoises. apes and a variety of exotic birds.
[Bandia Nature Reserve is sometimes called Bandia park reserve, Lonely Planet, Half-Day Somone Lagoon and Bandia Park Safari from Dakar, [4] (Retrieved 1 April 2019)]
-
The Yankari National Park in Nigeria, animal life includes: the African bush elephant, olive baboon, patas monkey, Tantalus monkey, roan antelope, Hartebeest, West African lion, African buffalo, waterbuck, Cape bushbuck and hippopotamus.
[Lonely Plane, Yankari National Park[5] (Retrieved 1 April 2019)]
-
The Ankasa Conservation Area in Ghana, animal life includes the elephant, bongo, leopard, chimpanzee, Diana Monkey, and other primates.
-
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
West Africa is also home to several Adansonia 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 people. 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 are used for drinks and oils.
Deforestation
West Africa is greatly affected by
deforestation and has one of the worst deforestation rate.
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
are hacked away for use in cooking fires to feed growing families."
Nigeria, Liberia, Guinea, Ghana and the Ivory Coast, have lost large areas of their
rainforest.
[Deforestation by Country & Region ("Country Forest Data sorted") in Mongabay.com (Retrieved 2 April 2019)
][ Rainforest Destruction in rainforestweb.org. Archived by Wayback Machine – [7] (Retrieved 2 April 2019)] 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.
[Mongabay, Nigeria has worst deforestation rate, FAO revises figures (17 November 2005) by Rhett A. Butler, [8] (Retrieved 2 April 2019)]
According to a ThoughtCo publication authored Steve Nix (2018), almost 90 percent of West Africa's original rainforest has been destroyed, and the rest is "heavily fragmented and in a degraded state, being poorly used."[ThoughtCo, The Territory and Current Status of the African Rainforest by Steve Nix (4 November 2018) [9] (Retrieved 2 April 2019)]
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 that largely depend on artisanal fishing. The overfishing generally comes from
Trawling operating in the region.
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.
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 km
2, 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.
| | Western Afrotropical realm
|
| { |
Benin
Burkina Faso
The Gambia
Ghana
Guinea-Bissau
Guinea
Ivory Coast
Liberia
Mali
Mauritania
Nigeria
Niger
Senegal
Sierra Leone
Togo
|
|
|
|-align="center" valign="top"
|width="200"| State
|width="100"| The biostate
|width="100"| Location in Afrotropic
|}
The northern section of West Africa (narrowly defined to exclude the western Maghreb) is composed of semi-arid terrain known as Sahel, a transitional zone between the Sahara and the West Sudanian savanna. form a belt between the savannas and the southern coast, ranging from 160 km to 240 km in width.[Peter Speth. Impacts of Global Change on the Hydrological Cycle in West and Northwest Africa, p. 33. Springer, 2010. Prof. Kayode Omitoogun 2011, ]
The northwest African region of Mauritania periodically suffers country-wide plagues of which consume water, salt and crops on which the human population relies.[ National Geographic, February 2013, p. 8.]
Background
West Africa is west of an imagined north-south axis lying close to 10° east longitude.
[Peter Speth. Impacts of Global Change on the Hydrological Cycle in West and Northwest Africa, p. 33. Springer, 2010. ] The Atlantic Ocean forms the western as well as the southern borders of the West African region.
The northern border is the
Sahara Desert, with the Ranishanu Bend generally considered the northernmost part of the region.
[Anthony Ham. West Africa, p. 79. Lonely Planet, 2009. ] The eastern border is less precise, with some placing it at the
Benue Trough, and others on a line running from
Mount Cameroon to
Lake Chad.
Colonial boundaries are reflected in the modern boundaries between contemporary West African states, cutting across ethnic and cultural lines, often dividing single ethnic groups between two or more states.[Celestine Oyom Bassey, Oshita Oshita. Governance and Border Security in Africa, p. 261. African Books Collective, 2010. ]
In contrast to most of Central, Southern, and Southeast Africa, West Africa is not populated by Bantu languages-speaking peoples.[Ian Shaw, Robert Jameson. A Dictionary of Archaeology, p. 28. Wiley-Blackwell, 2002. ]
Climate change
Transport
Rail transport
A Trans-ECOWAS project, established in 2007, plans to upgrade railways in this zone. One of the goals of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is the development of an integrated
railroad network.
Aims include the extension of railways in member countries, the interconnection of previously isolated railways and the standardization of gauge, brakes, couplings, and other parameters. The first line would connect the cities and ports of
Lagos,
Cotonou, Lomé and
Accra and would allow the largest container ships to focus on a smaller number of large ports, while efficiently serving a larger
hinterland. This line connects gauge and systems, which would require four rail
dual gauge, which can also provide
standard gauge.
[ "Proposed Ecowas railway" . railwaysafrica.com.]
Road transport
The
Trans–West African Coastal Highway is a transnational
highway project to link 12 West African coastal states, from
Mauritania in the north-west of the region to
Nigeria in the east, with feeder roads already existing to two landlocked countries,
Mali and
Burkina Faso.
[ Itai Madamombe (2006): "NEPAD promotes better transport networks", Africa Renewal, Vol. 20, No. 3 (October 2006), p. 14.]
The eastern end of the highway terminates at Lagos, Nigeria.
-
Nouakchott–Lagos Highway
-
Lagos–Nouakchott Highway
-
Dakar–Lagos Highway
-
Lagos–Dakar Highway
-
Trans-African Highway 7 in the Trans-African Highway network
Air transport
The capitals' airports include:
-
Cadjehoun Airport (COO) International; Cotonou, Benin
-
Ouagadougou Airport (OUA); Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
-
Amílcar Cabral International Airport (SID); Praia, Cape Verde
-
Banjul International Airport (BJL) International; Banjul, Gambia
-
Kotoka International Airport (ACC); Accra; Ghana
-
Conakry International Airport (CKY); Conakry, Guinea
-
Osvaldo Vieira International Airport (OXB); Bissau, Guinea-Bissau
-
Port Bouet Airport (ABJ); Abidjan, Ivory Coast
-
Roberts International Airport (ROB); Monrovia, Liberia
-
Bamako–Sénou International Airport (BKO); Bamako, Mali
-
Nouakchott–Oumtounsy International Airport (NKC); Nouakchott, Mauritania
-
Diori Hamani International Airport (NIM); Niamey, Niger
-
Murtala Muhammed International Airport (LOS); Lagos, Nigeria
-
Saint Helena Airport; Jamestown, Saint Helena
-
Blaise Diagne International Airport (DSS); Dakar, Senegal
-
Lungi International Airport (FNA); Freetown, Sierra Leone
-
Lomé–Tokoin Airport (LFW); Lomé, Togo
Of the sixteen, the most important hub and entry point to West Africa are Kotoka International Airport, and Murtala Muhammed International Airport, offering many international connections.
Health
West Africa has made considerable improvement in the health outcomes of its populations, despite the challenges posed by pervasive poverty, epidemic diseases, and food insecurity. The traditional communicable diseases of HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis are still the major reasons for mortality. Primary health care is the best answer to curing diseases, as it provides the basic preventive strategies and it reduce the rate of child and maternal morbidity and mortality—two of the most preventable outcomes that can prolong life expectancy at birth.
Recently, mental health problems are on the rise in West Africa, as they are in many other world regions. However, the subject is largely a taboo, and professional treatment is still rare.
Culture
Despite the wide variety of cultures in West Africa, from
Nigeria through to
Senegal, there are general similarities in dress, cuisine, music and culture that are not shared extensively with groups outside the geographic region. This long history of cultural exchange predates the colonization era of the region and can be approximately placed at the time of the
Ghana Empire (proper:
Wagadou Empire),
Mali Empire or perhaps before these empires. West Africa varies a series of tribes and cultures that have combined a diverse regional subculture.
Art
Traditional architecture
The main traditional styles of building (in conjunction with modern styles) are the distinct Sudano-Sahelian style in inland areas, and the coastal forest styles more reminiscent of other sub-Saharan areas. They differ greatly in construction due to the demands made by the variety of climates in the area, from tropical humid forests to arid grasslands and deserts. Despite the architectural differences, buildings perform similar functions, including the compound structure central to West African family life or the strict distinction between the private and public worlds needed to maintain taboos or social etiquette.
Clothing
In contrast to other parts of the continent south of the
Sahara Desert, the concepts of
and
embroidered clothing have been traditionally common to West Africa for centuries, demonstrated by the production of various
breeches,
shirts,
and
jackets. As a result, the people of the region's diverse nations wear a wide variety of clothing with underlying similarities. Typical pieces of West African formal attire include the knee-to-ankle-length, flowing Boubou robe,
Dashiki, and
Senegalese Kaftan (also known as
Agbada and
Babariga), which has its origins in the clothing of nobility of various West African empires in the 12th century. Traditional half-sleeved, hip-long, woven smocks or tunics (known as
fugu in Gurunsi,
riga in Hausa) – worn over a pair of baggy trousers—are another popular garment.
[Barbara K. Nordquist, Susan B. Aradeon, Howard University. School of Human Ecology, Museum of African Art (U.S.). Traditional African dress and textiles: an exhibition of the Susan B. Aradeon collection of West African dress at the Museum of African Art (1975), pp. 9–15.] In the coastal regions stretching from southern Ivory Coast to Benin, a huge rectangular cloth is wrapped under one arm, draped over a shoulder, and held in one of the wearer's hands—coincidentally, reminiscent of
Ancient Rome'
. The best-known of these toga-like garments is the
Kente (made by the
Akan people of
Ghana and
Ivory Coast), who wear them as a gesture of national pride.
Cuisine
Scores of foreign visitors to West African nations (e.g.,
merchant,
historians,
, colonists, missionaries) have benefited from its citizens' generosity, and even left with a piece of its cultural heritage, via its foods. West African cuisines have had a significant influence on those of
Western culture for centuries; several dishes of West African origin are currently enjoyed in the
Caribbean (e.g., the
West Indies and
Haiti); Australia; the USA (particularly
Louisiana,
Virginia,
North Carolina and
South Carolina); Italy; and other countries. Although some of these recipes have been altered to suit the sensibilities of their adopters, they retain a distinct West African essence.
[Chidi Asika-Enahoro. A Slice of Africa: Exotic West African Cuisines, Introduction. iUniverse, 2004. .]
West African cuisines include fish (especially among the coastal areas), meat, vegetables, and fruits—most of which are grown by the nation's local farmers. In spite of the obvious differences among the various local cuisines in this multinational region, the foods display more similarities than differences. The small difference may be in the ingredients used. Most foods are cooked via boiling or frying. Commonly featured, starchy vegetables include yams, plantains, cassava, and sweet potatoes.[Pamela Goyan Kittler, Kathryn Sucher. Food and Culture, p. 212. Cengage Learning, 2007. .] Rice is also a staple food, as is the Serer people's sorghum couscous (called Chereh in Serer language) particularly in Senegal and the Gambia.[UNESCO. The Case for indigenous West African food culture, p. 4. BREDA series, Vol. 9 (1995), (UNESCO).] Jollof rice—originally from the Kingdom of Jolof (now part of modern-day Senegal) but has spread to the Wolofs of Gambia—is also enjoyed in many Western nations, as well;[Alan Davidson, Tom Jaine. The Oxford Companion to Food, p. 423. Oxford University Press, 2006. .] Maafe (proper: Tigh-dege-na or Domodah) from Mali (via the Bambara people and Mandinka people)[ Mafé or Maafe is a Wolof word for it, the proper name is "Domodah" among the Mandinka people of Senegal and Gambia, who are the originators of this dish, or Tigh-dege-na among the Bambara people or Mandinka people of Mali. "Domodah" is also used by all Senegambians borrowed from the Mandinka language.]—a peanut-butter stew served with rice;[James McCann. Stirring the Pot: A History of African Cuisine, p. 132. Ohio University Press, 2009. .][Emma Gregg, Richard Trillo. Rough Guide to The Gambia, p. 39. Rough Guides, 2003. .] Akara (fried bean balls seasoned with spices served with sauce and bread) from Nigeria is a favorite breakfast for Gambians and Senegalese, as well as a favorite side snack or side dish in Brazil and the Caribbean just as it is in West Africa. It is said that its exact origin may be from Yorubaland in Nigeria.[Carole Boyce Davies (ed.), Encyclopedia of the African Diaspora: Origins, Experiences and Culture, Volume 1, p. 72. ABC-CLIO, 2008. .][Toyin Ayeni. I Am a Nigerian, Not a Terrorist, p. 2. Dog Ear Publishing, 2010. .] Fufu (from the Twi language, a dough served with a spicy stew or sauce for example okra stew etc.) from Ghana is enjoyed throughout the region and beyond even in Central Africa with their own versions of it.[Dayle Hayes, Rachel Laudan. Food and Nutrition. Dayle Hayes, Rachel Laudan, editorial advisers. Volume 7, p. 1097. Marshall Cavendish, 2008. .] Dishes such as taguella, eghajira, etc. are popular among the Tuareg people.
Recreation and sports
The board game
oware is quite popular in many parts of Southern Africa. The word
"Oware" originates from the
Akan people of Ghana. However, virtually all African peoples have a version of this board game.
[ West Africa, issues 4106–4119, pp. 1487–8. Afrimedia International, (1996)] The major multi-sport event of West Africa is the ECOWAS Games which commenced at the 2012 ECOWAS Games.
Football is also a pastime enjoyed by many, either spectating or playing. The major national teams of West Africa, the Ghana national football team, the Ivory Coast national football team, and the Nigeria national football team regularly win the Africa Cup of Nations.[ "Why does the West dominate African football?" BBC.] Major of West Africa are Asante Kotoko SC and Accra Hearts of Oak SC of the Ghana Premier League, Enyimba International of the Nigerian Premier League and ASEC Mimosas of the Ligue 1 (Ivory Coast). The football governing body of West Africa is the West African Football Union (WAFU) and the major tournament is the West African Club Championship and WAFU Nations Cup, along with the annual individual award of West African Footballer of the Year.
Music
Mbalax,
Highlife,
Fuji music,
Afrobeat, and
Afrobeats are modern musical genres of West Africa and its diaspora.
Traditional
folk music is also well-preserved. Some types of folk music are religious in nature such as the "Tassou" tradition used in
Serer religion.
[Ali Colleen Neff, Tassou: the Ancient Spoken Word of African Women. 2010.]
Griot artists
Griot artists and praise-singing is an important musical tradition related to the oral history of West African culture. Traditionally, musical and oral history as conveyed over generations by griots are typical of West African culture in Mande,
Wolof people,
Songhai people,
Serer people and, to some extent,
Fula people areas in the far west. A hereditary caste occupying the fringes of society, the griots were charged with memorizing the histories of local rulers and personages and the caste was further broken down into music-playing griots (similar to
) and non-music-playing griots. Like Praise-singers, the griot's main profession was musical acquisition and prowess, and patrons were the sole means of financial support. Modern griots enjoy higher status in the patronage of rich individuals in places such as
Mali,
Senegal,
Mauritania and
Guinea, and to some extent make up the vast majority of musicians in these countries. Examples of modern popular griot artists include Youssou N'Dour,
Mamadou Diabate,
Sona Jobarteh, and
Toumani Diabate.
In other areas of West Africa, primarily among the Hausa people, Mossi people, Dagomba people and Yoruba people in the area encompassing Burkina Faso, northern Ghana, Nigeria and Niger, the traditional profession of non-hereditary praise-singers, minstrels, bards and poets play a vital role in extending the public show of power, lineage and prestige of traditional rulers through their exclusive patronage. Like the griot tradition, praise singers are charged with knowing the details of specific historical events and royal lineages, but more importantly need to be capable of poetic improvisation and creativity, with knowledge of traditional songs directed towards showing a patron's financial and political or religious power. Competition between Praise-singing ensembles and artists is high, and artists responsible for any extraordinarily skilled prose, musical compositions, and panegyric songs are lavishly rewarded with money, clothing, provisions and other luxuries by patrons who are usually politicians, rulers, Islamic clerics and merchants; these successful praise-singers rise to national stardom. Examples include Mamman Shata, Souley Konko, Fati Niger, Saadou Bori and Dan Maraya. In the case of Niger, numerous praise songs are composed and shown on television in praise of local rulers, Islamic clerics, and politicians.
Theatre
Film industry
Nollywood of Nigeria, is the main film industry of West Africa. The Nigerian cinema industry is the second largest film industry in terms of number of annual film productions, ahead of the American film industry in Hollywood.
Senegal and Ghana also have long traditions of producing films. The late Ousmane Sembène, the Senegalese film director, producer and writer is from the region, as is the
Ghanaian Shirley Frimpong-Manso.
Religion
Islam
Islam is the predominant
religion of the West African interior and the far west coast of the continent (71% of West Africans); and was introduced to the region by traders in the 8th century. Islam is the religion of the region's biggest ethnic groups by population. Islamic rules on livelihood, values, dress and practices had a profound effect on the populations and cultures in their predominant areas, so much so that the concept of tribalism is less observed by Islamized groups like the
Wolof people,
Hausa people,
Fula people,
Songhai people,
Zarma people or
Soninke people, than they are by non-Islamized groups.
Ethnic intermarriage and shared cultural icons are established through a superseded commonality of belief or community, known as
ummah.
[ Muslim Societies in African History (New Approaches to African History), David Robinson, Chapter 1.] Traditional Muslim areas include
Senegal,
Gambia,
Mali,
Mauritania,
Guinea,
Niger; the upper coast of
Sierra Leone and inland
Liberia; the western, northern and far-eastern regions of
Burkina Faso; and the northern halves of the coastal nations of
Nigeria,
Benin,
Togo,
Ghana and
Ivory Coast.
[ Spread of Islam in West Africa (part 1 of 3): The Empire of Ghana, Prof. A. Rahman I. Doi, Spread of Islam in West Africa. http://www.islamreligion.com/articles/304/]
African traditional
Traditional African religions (noting the many different belief systems) are the oldest belief systems among the populations of this region, and include
Akan religion,
Yoruba religion,
Odinani-
Igbo people, and
Serer religion. They are
Spirituality that also perform other functions such as preserving the historical and cultural heritage of the people,
[John S. Mbiti. Introduction to African Religion, p. 19. East African Publishers, 1992. ] and "West African tribal groups" blend social and
together to the point where there is usually not "much distinction" between them.
Although traditional beliefs vary from one place to the next, there are more similarities than differences.
[William J. Duiker, Jackson J. Spielvogel. World History: To 1800, p. 224. Cengage Learning, 2006. ]
Most traditional religious organizations "do not have a formal hierarchy of ."
Christianity
In 2010, around 20% of West Africans identified as
Christians.
was largely introduced from the late 19th century onward, when missionaries from European countries brought the religion to the region.
[Robert O. Collins. African History: Western African History, p. 153. Markus Wiener Publishers, 1990. ] West African Christians are predominantly
Catholic Church or
Anglicanism; some Evangelical churches have also been established. Christianity has become the predominant religion in the
Middle Belt and southern part of Nigeria, southern
Ivory Coast, and the coastal regions stretching from southern
Ghana to coastal parts of
Sierra Leone. Like Islam, elements of traditional African religion are mixed with Christianity.
[Emmanuel Kwaku Akyeampong. Themes in West Africa's History, p. 152. James Currey Publishers, 2006. ]
Demographics and languages
Native West Africans primarily speak Niger–Congo languages, belonging mostly, though not exclusively, to its non-Bantu branches, though some
Nilo-Saharan and Afro-Asiatic speaking groups are also found in West Africa. The Niger–Congo-speaking
Yoruba people,
Igbo people,
Fulani,
Akan people and
Wolof people ethnic groups are the largest and most influential. In the central Sudan/Sahel,
Mandinka people or Mande groups are most significant. Chadic-speaking groups, most prominently including the
Hausa people, and Nilo-Saharan-speaking communities, such as the
Songhai people,
Kanuri people and
Zarma people, are found in the eastern parts of the Sahel bordering
Central Africa. In
Mali,
Niger, and
Burkina Faso, the nomadic
Tuareg speak the
Tuareg language, a Berber language. The population of West Africa is estimated at million people as of .
Colonial languages also play a pivotal cultural and political role, being adopted as the official languages of most countries in the region, as well as linguae franca in communication between the region's various ethnic groups. For historical reasons, Western European languages such as French language, English language and Portuguese predominate in Southern and Coastal subregions, whilst Arabic language (in its Maghrebi Arabic varieties) spreads inland northwards.
Architecture
Further information in the sections of Architecture of Africa:
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Prehistoric West African Architecture
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Ancient West African Architecture
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Medieval West African Architecture
Science and technology
Further information in the sections of History of science and technology in Africa:
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Education
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Astronomy
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Mathematics
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Metallurgy
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Medicine
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Agriculture
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Textiles
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Maritime technology
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Architecture
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Communication systems
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Warfare
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Commerce
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By country
Economic and regional organizations
Economic Community of West Africa
West African Monetary Union
The West African Monetary Union (or UEMOA from its name in French,
Union économique et monétaire ouest-africaine) is limited to the eight, mostly Francophone countries that employ the
CFA franc as their common currency. The Liptako–Gourma Authority of Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso seeks to jointly develop the contiguous areas of the three countries.
Women's peace movement
Since the adoption of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 in 2000, women have been engaged in rebuilding war-torn Africa. Starting with the Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace and Women in Peacebuilding Network (WIPNET), the
peace movement has grown to include women across West Africa.
Established on 8 May 2006, Women Peace and Security Network – Africa (WIPSEN-Africa), is a women-focused, women-led Pan-African non-governmental organization based in Ghana.
Pray the Devil Back to Hell is a documentary film about the origin of this peace movement. The film has been used as an advocacy tool in post-conflict zones like Sudan and Zimbabwe, mobilizing African women to petition for peace and security.[ November 2009 MEDIAGLOBAL ]
Gallery
Cityscapes of the largest cities
Capital cities of West Africa
File:Praia coast Cape Verde.jpg|Praia, Cape Verde
File:Dakar - Panorama_urbain.jpg|Dakar, Senegal
File:Imagelomé20.jpg|Lomé, Togo
File:Grande mosquee porto-novo.jpg|Porto-Novo, Benin
File:Street scene niamey 2006 002.jpg|Niamey, Niger
File:Kwamenkrumah av2.JPG|Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
File:Fort Thornton - Freetown - Sierra Leone.jpg|Freetown, Sierra Leone
File:Banjul great mosque.jpg|Banjul, Gambia
File:Conakry street (3329204314).jpg|Conakry, Guinea
File:Praça Che Guevara, Bissau.jpg|Bissau, Guinea-Bissau
File:Monrovia Street.jpg|Monrovia, Liberia
File:Place des explorateurs, Koulouba - Bamako.jpg|Bamako, Mali
File:Nouakchott.jpg|Nouakchott, Mauritania
File:View_of_Abuja_from_Katampe_hill_01.jpg|Abuja, Nigeria
File:A_drone_footage_of_Accra_central,_Ghana.jpg|Accra, Ghana
File:Quartier_d'Affaires_au_Plateau_à_Abidjan_(29916932210).jpg|Abidjan, Ivory Coast
File:Yamoussoukro_downtown.jpg|Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast
File:Overlooking_Jamestown_from_the_south.jpg|Jamestown, Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
See also
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, a form of archaic money unique to West Africa
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, an indigenously developed West African writing system
Further reading
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Akyeampong, Emmanuel Kwaku. Themes in West Africa's History (2006).
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Brydon, Lynne. "Constructing Avatime: questions of history and identity in a West African polity, c. 1690s to the twentieth century." Journal of African History 49.1 (2008): 23–42. online
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Collins, Robert O. African History: Western African History (1990).
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Davidson, Basil. A History of West Africa, 1000–1800 (1978), numerous editions
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Delavignette, Robert. Freedom and Authority in French West Africa (Routledge, 2018).
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Dueppen, Stephen A. "The archaeology of West Africa, ca. 800 BCE to 1500 CE." History Compass 14.6 (2016): 247–263.
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Edgerton, Robert B. The Fall of the Asante Empire: The Hundred-Year War For Africa'S Gold Coast (2002).
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Fage, J. D. A Guide to Original Sources for Precolonial Western Africa Published in European Languages (2nd ed. 1994); updated in Stanley B. Alpern, ed. Guide to Original Sources for Precolonial Western Africa (2006).
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Festus, Jacob et al. eds. History of West Africa (Vol. 1, 1989).
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Greene, S. E. Sacred Sites and the Colonial Encounter: A History of Meaning and Memory in Ghana (2002).
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Griswold, Wendy. Writing African women: Gender, popular culture and literature in West Africa (Zed Books Ltd., 2017).
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Ham, Anthony. West Africa (2013) online.
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Hayward, Derek F., and Julius Oguntoyinbo. Climatology of West Africa (Routledge, 2019).
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Hopkins, Antony Gerald. An economic history of West Africa (2014) online.
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Huber, Caroline, Lyn Finelli, and Warren Stevens. "The economic and social burden of the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa." Journal of infectious diseases 218.Supplement_5 (2018): S698–S704.
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Kane, Ousmane Oumar, Beyond Timbuktu: An Intellectual History of Muslim West Africa (2016).
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Mazrui, Ali A. Islam and the English language in East and West Africa (Routledge, 2017).
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Meillassoux, Claude, ed. The development of indigenous trade and markets in West Africa: studies presented and discussed at the tenth International African seminar at Fourah Bay college, Freetown, December 1969 (Routledge, 2018).
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Mendonsa, Eugene L. West Africa: An Introduction to Its History (2002)
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O'Brien, Donal Cruise, Richard Rathbone, John Dunn, eds. Contemporary West African States (2002) online free to borrow
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Tonkin, Elizabeth. Narrating our pasts: The social construction of oral history (Cambridge university press, 1995), on West Africa
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Westermann, Diedrich, and Margaret Arminel Bryan. The Languages of West Africa: Handbook of African Languages (Routledge, 2017).
External links
