West Africa

West Africa

geographic region, cultural region

Part of	Africa
Continent	Africa
Located in/on physical feature	Africa
Coordinate location	12°0′0″N 3°0′0″E
Dey share bother plus	North Africa, Central Africa, Atlantic Ocean
Studied in	West African studies
Category for maps	Category:Maps of West Africa

West Africa anaa Western Africa be de westernmost region for Africa. De United Nations dey define Western Africa as de 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, den Togo, as well as Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha (United Kingdom Overseas Territory).^[1][2] Dem estimate de population for West Africa at 419 million meners^[3][4] as of 2021, den at 381,981,000 as of 2017, of wich na 189,672,000 be shoddies den 192,309,000 jigas.^[5] De region be demographically^[6] den economically^[7] one of de fastest fat for de African continent.

Early history insyd West Africa dey include number of prominent regional powers wey cam dominate different parts of both de coastal den internal trade networks, such as de Mali den Gao Empires. West Africa dey at de intersection of perfect routes to travel between de place wey Arab-dominate North Africa den further south for de continent top, de source of specialized goods such as gold, advanced iron-working, den ivory. After European explorate dem come encounter rich local economies den kingdoms, de Atlantic slave trade wey dem build on already existing slave systems say dem go provide labor for dema colonies insyd de Americas. After de end of de slave trade insyd de early 19th century, European nations, especially France den Britain, continue dey exploit de region through colonial relationships. For example, dem dey continue dey export plenty of de extractive goods, wey edey include labor-intensive agricultural crops lyk cocoa den coffee, forestry products lyk tropical timber, den mineral resources lyk gold. Since independence, plenty West African countries, lyk Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria den Senegal, come play important roles insyd de regional den global economies.

1. ↑ "United Nations Statistics Division – Standard Country and Area Codes Classifications". Archived from the original on 13 July 2011. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
2. ↑ 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. ISBN 1-58906-014-8
3. ↑ "World Population Prospects 2022". United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
4. ↑ "World Population Prospects 2022: Demographic indicators by region, subregion and country, annually for 1950-2100" (XSLX) ("Total Population, as of 1 July (thousands)"). United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
5. ↑ United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2017). World Population Prospects: The 2017 Revision, custom data acquired via website.
6. ↑ "West African population, 1950–2050 | West Africa Gateway | Portail de l'Afrique de l'Ouest". west-africa-brief.org. Archived from the original on 30 October 2021. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
7. ↑ "UEMOA economies are projected to grow by 6.6% in 2020 | West Africa Gateway | Portail de l'Afrique de l'Ouest". www.west-africa-brief.org. Archived from the original on 30 October 2021. Retrieved 30 October 2021.