west Africa

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: 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,Polski Instytut Spraw Międzynarodowych, Studies on the Developing Countries, Issues 6–8, Polish Institute of International Affairs (1988), p. 53 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.uneca.org/sro-na|title=Office for North Africa of the Economic Commission for Africa|publisher=United Nations Economic Commission for Africa|access-date=17 October 2014}}{{cite web|url=http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49e486026.html|title=2014 UNHCR country operations profile – Mauritania|access-date=17 October 2014}}{{cite web|url=http://www.afdb.org/en/countries/north-africa/mauritania/|title=African Development Bank Group: Mauritania|access-date=17 October 2014}}Facts on File, Incorporated, Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Africa and the Middle East (2009), p. 448, {{ISBN|143812676X}}: "The Islamic Republic of Mauritania, situated in western North Africa..."David Seddon, A Political and Economic Dictionary of the Middle East (2004), {{ISBN|020340291X}}: "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, {{ISBN|1849207291}}: "The Magrebian countries or the Arab countries of western North Africa (Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia)..."

• {{flag|Benin}}
• {{flag|Burkina Faso}}
• {{flag|Cape Verde}}
• {{flag|Ivory Coast}}
• {{flag|The Gambia}}
• {{flag|Ghana}}
• {{flag|Guinea}}
• {{flag|Guinea-Bissau}}
• {{flag|Liberia}}
• {{flag|Mali}}
• {{flag|Mauritania}}
• {{flag|Niger}}
• {{flag|Nigeria}}
• {{flag|Senegal}}
• {{flag|Sierra Leone}}
• {{flag|Togo}}

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

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

• Dakar, Senegal
• Touba, Senegal
• Serrekunda, The Gambia
• Bissau, Guinea-Bissau
• Conakry, Guinea
• Freetown, Sierra Leone
• Monrovia, Liberia
• Bamako, Mali

{{col-3}}

• Abidjan, Ivory Coast
• Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast
• Bouaké, Ivory Coast
• Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
• Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso
• Accra, Ghana
• Kumasi, Ghana
• Lomé, Togo

{{col-4}}

• Cotonou, Benin
• Abuja, Nigeria
• Lagos, Nigeria
• Ibadan, Nigeria
• Port Harcourt, Nigeria
• Kano, Nigeria
• Benin City, Nigeria

{{col-end}}

File:Rhinoceros blanc- réserve de Bandia - panoramio.jpg in Bandia Nature Reserve, Senegal]]

File:Yankari Elephants.jpg in Yankari National Park, Nigeria]]

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.Koslow, Philip, Senegambia: Land of the Lion, Chelsea House Publishers (1997), pp. 11, 35–47, {{ISBN|9780791031353}}. 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, [https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/30/world/africa/senegal-baobabs-climate-change.html "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 {{ISBN|9781849046763}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=D2sjDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA85] (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, buffaloes, 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, [https://www.lonelyplanet.com/senegal/dakar/activities/half-day-somone-lagoon-and-bandia-park-safari-from-dakar/a/pa-act/v-28135P1/355589] (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, western hartebeest, West African lion, African buffalo, waterbuck, bushbuck and hippopotamus.Lonely Plane, Yankari National Park[https://www.lonelyplanet.com/nigeria/northern-nigeria/yankari-national-park] (Retrieved 1 April 2019)

1. The Ankasa Conservation Area in Ghana, animal life includes the elephant, bongo, leopard, chimpanzee, Diana monkey, and other primates.{{Cite journal|last1=Tilahun|first1=Mesfin|last2=Damnyag|first2=Lawrence|last3=Anglaaere|first3=Luke C.N.|title=The Ankasa Forest Conservation Area of Ghana: Ecosystem service values and on-site REDD + opportunity cost|journal=Forest Policy and Economics|volume=73|pages=168–176|doi=10.1016/j.forpol.2016.08.011|year=2016}}

• 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{{Cite book|last=Riley|first=Laura|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/59347952|title=Nature's strongholds: the world's great wildlife reserves|date=2005|publisher=Princeton University Press|others=William Riley|isbn=0-691-12219-9|location=Princeton, N.J.|oclc=59347952}}{{Cite book|last=Brodowsky|first=Pamela K.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/233549707|title=Destination wildlife: an international site-by-site guide to the best places to experience endangered, rare, and fascinating animals and their habitats|date=2009|publisher=Penguin|others=National Wildlife Federation|isbn=978-0-399-53486-7|location=New York|oclc=233549707}} 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 are used for drinks and oils.{{cite journal |last1=Martin |first1=V. |last2=Becker |first2=C. |title=Lieux de culte et emplacements celebres dans les pays Sereer (Sénégal) |trans-title=Places of worship and famous locations in the Sereer countries (Senegal) |language=fr |journal=Bulletin de l'Institut Fondamental d'Afrique Noire, Série B: Sciences humaines |date=1979 |volume=41 |pages=133–189 }}{{Cite web|url=https://www.seereer.org/|title=The Seereer Resource Centre (SRC)|website=The Seereer Resource Centre (SRC)|access-date=1 April 2019|archive-date=30 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190430163337/https://www.seereer.org/|url-status=dead}}

File:Filepine forest.jpg.]]

{{Further|Deforestation in Nigeria}}

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 acacias 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 by region]") [in] [https://data.mongabay.com/deforestation_rate_tables.htm Mongabay.com] (Retrieved 2 April 2019)

Rainforest Destruction [in] rainforestweb.org. Archived by Wayback Machine – [https://web.archive.org/web/20090205200836/http://rainforestweb.org/Rainforest_Destruction/] (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 News, Nigeria has worst deforestation rate, FAO revises figures (17 November 2005) by Rhett A. Butler, [http://news.mongabay.com/2005/1117-forests.html] (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) [https://www.thoughtco.com/african-rainforest-1341794] (Retrieved 2 April 2019)

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 foreign trawlers operating in the region.{{Cite web|url=https://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/may-july-2017/overfishing-destroying-livelihoods|title=Overfishing destroying livelihoods | Africa Renewal|publisher=United Nations|date=12 May 2017}}

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.{{Cite web |date=2012-05-04 |title=Greenpeace welcomes cancellation of fishing licences of 29 foreign trawlers |url=https://en.africanmanager.com/greenpeace-welcomes-cancellation-of-fishing-licences-of-29-foreign-trawlers-2/ |access-date=2022-07-01 |website=African Manager}} 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{{Cite web |date=2011-01-05 |title=Liberia Gets New Fisheries Regulations. |url=https://fcwc-fish.org/other-news/liberia-gets-new-fisheries-regulations |access-date=2022-07-01 |website=Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea}} 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.

{{Cite web|url=https://nepadwatercoe.org/cape-verde-greenpeace-raises-awareness-on-the-state-of-fisheries-in-west-africa/|title=Cape Verde: Greenpeace Raises Awareness on the State of Fisheries in West Africa|access-date=28 July 2019|archive-date=28 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190728124507/https://nepadwatercoe.org/cape-verde-greenpeace-raises-awareness-on-the-state-of-fisheries-in-west-africa/|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.iucn.org/news/secretariat/201701/overfishing-threatens-food-security-africa%E2%80%99s-western-and-central-coast-many-fish-species-region-face-extinction-%E2%80%93-iucn-report|title=Overfishing threatens food security off Africa's western and central coast as many fish species in the region face extinction – IUCN report|date=19 January 2017|website=IUCN}}

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.

|File:Afrotropic-Ecozone-West Tropical Africa.svg

|File:Afrotropic-West Tropical Africa.svg

|-align="center" valign="top"

|width="200"|State

|width="100"|The biostate

|width="100"|Location in Afrotropic

|}

File:West Africa may 8 2001 1200Z.jpg from outer space of West Africa}}]]

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. Forests 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, {{ISBN|3-642-12956-0}}

The northwest African region of Mauritania periodically suffers country-wide plagues of locusts which consume water, salt and crops on which the human population relies.National Geographic, February 2013, p. 8.

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. {{ISBN|3-642-12956-0}} 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. {{ISBN|1-74104-821-4}} 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. {{ISBN|978-8422-07-1}}

In contrast to most of Central, Southern, and Southeast Africa, West Africa is not populated by Bantu-speaking peoples.Ian Shaw, Robert Jameson. A Dictionary of Archaeology, p. 28. Wiley-Blackwell, 2002. {{ISBN|0-631-23583-3}}

File:Village Telly in Mali.jpg has a hot semi-arid climate]]

{{Excerpt|Climate change in Africa|West Africa and the Sahel}}

{{Main|ECOWAS rail}}

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 {{RailGauge|3ft6in|lk=on}} gauge and {{RailGauge|1000mm|allk=on}} systems, which would require four rail dual gauge, which can also provide standard gauge.[http://www.railwaysafrica.com/2009/10/proposed-ecowas-railway/ "Proposed Ecowas railway"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091024131043/http://www.railwaysafrica.com/2009/10/proposed-ecowas-railway/ |date=2009-10-24 }}. railwaysafrica.com.

{{Main|Trans–West African Coastal Highway}}

File:Dakar-Lagos Highway Map.PNG

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{{cite book |url=https://www.northcourtrealestate.com/download/Nigeria_RE_Market_Review_H1_2022.pdf |title=Nigeria Real Estate Market Review |publisher=Northcourt }}{{page needed|date=January 2024}} in the east, with feeder roads already existing to two landlocked countries, Mali and Burkina Faso.[https://www.un.org/ecosocdev/geninfo/afrec/vol20no3/203-highways.html 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. Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) consider its western end to be Nouakchott, Mauritania, or to be Dakar, Senegal, giving rise to these alternative names for the road:

• Nouakchott–Lagos Highway
• Lagos–Nouakchott Highway
• Dakar–Lagos Highway
• Lagos–Dakar Highway
• Trans-African Highway 7 in the Trans-African Highway network

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.

{{Main|History of West Africa#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.{{Cite book |last=Azevedo |first=Mario J. |title=Historical Perspectives on the State of Health and Health Systems in Africa, Volume II |chapter=The State of Health System(s) in Africa: Challenges and Opportunities |date=February 2017 |series=African Histories and Modernities |pages=1–73 |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-32564-4_1|pmc=7123888 |isbn=978-3-319-32563-7 }} 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.{{cite web |last1=Abi|first1=Samir|title=Metaphysical explanations|url=https://www.dandc.eu/en/article/west-africa-traditional-or-religious-practices-are-often-preferred-method-treating-mental|website=D+C, Development and Cooperation|date=12 June 2019 }}

File:Hawan nasarawa 3.jpg in Nigeria]]

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.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}}

{{Main|African art#West Africa}}

{{Further|Architecture of Africa#West Africa}}

File:Airport in Timbuktu.jpg, Mali, showing the Sudano-Sahelian architectural style of the West African interior]]

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.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}}

{{Further|Folk costume#Western Africa}}

File:Philip Emeagwali in white "agbada.".jpg wearing the Boubou (or Agbada), a traditional robe symbolic of West Africa]]

In contrast to other parts of the continent south of the Sahara Desert, the concepts of hemming and embroidering clothing have been traditionally common to West Africa for centuries, demonstrated by the production of various breeches, shirts, tunics 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 Romans' togas. 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.

{{Main|West African cuisine}}

{{Further|History of West Africa#Cuisine|African cuisine#West Africa|List of African cuisines#West African cuisine}}

File:Jollof rice.jpg or Benachin, one of many Pan–West African dishes found only in West Africa]]

Scores of foreign visitors to West African nations (e.g., traders, historians, emigrants, 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 civilization 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 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. {{ISBN|0-595-30528-8}}.{{page needed|date=January 2024}}

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. {{ISBN|0-495-11541-X}}. Rice is also a staple food, as is the Serer people's sorghum couscous (called {{-"}}Chereh{{-"}} in Serer) particularly in Senegal and the Gambia.UNESCO. The Case for indigenous West African food culture, p. 4. BREDA series, Vol. 9 (1995), [http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0010/001055/105546E.pdf (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. {{ISBN|0-19-280681-5}}. Mafé (proper: {{-"}}Tigh-dege-na{{-"}} or Domodah) from Mali (via the Bambara and Mandinka)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. {{ISBN|0-89680-272-8}}.Emma Gregg, Richard Trillo. Rough Guide to The Gambia, p. 39. Rough Guides, 2003. {{ISBN|1-84353-083-X}}. 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. {{ISBN|1-85109-700-7}}.Toyin Ayeni. I Am a Nigerian, Not a Terrorist, p. 2. Dog Ear Publishing, 2010. {{ISBN|1-60844-735-9}}. 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. {{ISBN|0-7614-7827-2}}. Dishes such as taguella, eghajira, etc. are popular among the Tuareg people.{{Cite web|title=Customs & Cuisine of Niger {{!}} Amman Imman {{!}} Dining for Women|url=https://diningforwomen.org/customsandcuisine/customs-cuisine-of-niger-amman-imman/|access-date=2020-05-29|archive-date=20 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200920183119/https://diningforwomen.org/customsandcuisine/customs-cuisine-of-niger-amman-imman/|url-status=dead}}

{{See also|West Africa cricket team}}

File:Supportairemimos.jpg|thumb]]

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.[https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/piersedwards/2010/11/why_does_the_west_dominate_afr.html "Why does the West dominate African football?"] BBC. Major football teams 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.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/africa/7642679.stm|title=Wafu Cup to make a comeback |date=29 September 2008|publisher=BBC Sport|access-date=15 July 2015}}{{cite web |url=http://www.goal.com/en/news/89/africa/2011/05/17/2490472/caf-have-split-the-west-african-football-union-into-two-separate- |title=Caf have split the West African Football Union into two separate zones |publisher=Goal |date=17 May 2011 |access-date=15 July 2014}}

{{Main|Music of West Africa}}

{{Further|Music of Africa#West, Central, Southeast and South Africa|Sub-Saharan African music traditions#West Africa}}

File:TalkingDrum.jpg is an instrument unique to West Africa.]]

Mbalax, Highlife, Fuji, 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.

File:Bijoutier et joueurs de kora.jpg in Senegal, 1900. Both the Kora, a 21-stringed harp-lute, and the griot musical caste are unique to West Africa.]]

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, Songhay, Serer and, to some extent, Fula 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 bards) 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 Jobareteh, and Toumani Diabate.

In other areas of West Africa, primarily among the Hausa, Mossi, Dagomba and Yoruba 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.

{{Further|History of theatre#West African theatre}}

{{Further|Cinema of Africa#West Africa}}

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.{{cite web |access-date=30 September 2009 |url=https://www.un.org/apps//news/story.asp?NewsID=30707&Cr=nigeria&Cr1= |title=Nigeria surpasses Hollywood as world's second-largest film producer – UN |publisher=United Nations |date=5 May 2009}} 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.

{{Further|Islam in Africa|Religion in Africa#Islam}}

File:Djenné Moschee.jpg is a superb example of the indigenous Sahelian architectural style prevalent in the Savannah and Sahelian interior of West Africa. It is listed an UNESCO World Heritage Site.]]

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{{Vague|date=June 2024}} is less observed by Islamized groups like the Wolof, Hausa, Fula, Songhai, Zarma or Soninke, than they are by non-Islamized groups.{{cite web|url=https://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/islam/fractured/westAfrica.html|title=The Islamic World to 1600: The Fractured Caliphate and the Regional Dynasties (West Africa)|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131025134820/http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/islam/fractured/westAfrica.html|archive-date=2013-10-25}} 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/

{{Further|Traditional African religion#West Africa|West African Vodun|Religion in Africa#African Traditional Religion}}

File:Voodo-altar.jpg, Benin]]

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, and Serer religion. They are spiritual creeds 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. {{ISBN|9966-46-928-1}} and "West African tribal groups" blend social and religious rituals together to the point where there is usually not "much distinction" between them.{{Cite book |last=Salamone |first=Frank A. |title=Encyclopedia of Religious Rites, Rituals, and Festivals |publisher=Routledge |year=2004 |isbn=0-415-94180-6 |editor-last=Levinson |editor-first=David |location=New York |pages=9}} 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. {{ISBN|0-495-05053-9}}

Most traditional religious organizations "do not have a formal hierarchy of priests." Group rituals are usually overseen by tribal elders who, "within many cultures", "serve as the main religious figures and determine the time, nature, and intricacies of rituals", or shaman priests who can use magic to heal, control fate, and connect to the spirit world.

{{Further|Christianity in Africa|Religion in Africa#Christianity}}

File:Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity, Onitsha.jpg of the Most Holy Trinity, Onitsha, Nigeria]]

In 2010, around 20% of West Africans identified as Christians.{{cite journal |last1=Johnson |first1=Todd M. |last2=Zurlo |first2=Gina A. |last3=Hickman |first3=Albert W. |last4=Crossing |first4=Peter F. |title=Christianity 2018: More African Christians and Counting Martyrs |journal=International Bulletin of Mission Research |date=November 2017 |volume=42 |issue=1 |pages=20–28 |doi=10.1177/2396939317739833 |s2cid=165905763 }} Christianity 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. {{ISBN|1-55876-015-6}} West African Christians are predominantly Roman Catholic or Anglican; some Evangelical churches have also been established. Christianity has become the predominant religion in the central 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. {{ISBN|0-85255-995-X}}

{{further|Demographics of Africa|List of ethnic groups of Africa#West Africa|List of African countries by population|African diaspora|Writing systems of Africa#West Africa}}

File:Recent Language Family map.png

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, Igbo, Fulani, Akan and Wolof ethnic groups are the largest and most influential. In the central Sudan/Sahel, Mandinka or Mande groups are most significant. Chadic-speaking groups, most prominently including the Hausa, and Nilo-Saharan-speaking communities, such as the Songhai, Kanuri and Zarma, 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 {{#expr:{{replace|{{UN_Population|Western Africa}}|,||}}/1e6 round 0}} million{{UN_Population|ref}} people as of {{UN_Population|Year}}.

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, English and Portuguese predominate in Southern and Coastal subregions, whilst Arabic (in its Maghrebi varieties) spreads inland northwards.

Further information in the sections of Architecture of Africa:

• Prehistoric West African Architecture
• Ancient West African Architecture
• Medieval West African Architecture

Further information in the sections of History of science and technology in Africa:

{{Div col|small=yes}}

• Education
• Astronomy
• Mathematics
• Metallurgy
• Medicine
• Agriculture
• Textiles
• Maritime technology
• Architecture
• Communication systems
• Warfare
• Commerce
• By country

{{Div col end}}

File:Petroleum regions - West Africa map-fr.svg and natural gas within West Africa]]

{{Excerpt|Economic Community of West African States}}

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.

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.{{cite web|url=http://www.wipsen-africa.org/wipsen/about/?lang=en-us|title=WIPSEN|access-date=17 October 2014}} The organization focuses on empowering women to have a role in political and peace governance in Africa. It has a presence in Ghana, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Regional leaders of nonviolent resistance include Leymah Gbowee,{{cite news | title = WIPSEN EMPOWERS WOMEN…To fight for their rights | url = http://todaygh.com/2011/03/14/wipsen-empowers-women-to-fight-for-their-rights/ | date = 11 December 2010 | work = Ghana Media Group | format = article | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110917084605/http://todaygh.com/2011/03/14/wipsen-empowers-women-to-fight-for-their-rights/ | archive-date = 17 September 2011 }} Comfort Freeman, and Aya Virginie Toure.

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.[http://www.mediaglobal.org/article/2009-11-01/pray-the-devil-back-to-hell-documentary-serves-as-advocacy-tool-in-post-conflict-zones/ November 2009 MEDIAGLOBAL] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100710093803/http://www.mediaglobal.org/article/2009-11-01/pray-the-devil-back-to-hell-documentary-serves-as-advocacy-tool-in-post-conflict-zones/ |date=2010-07-10 }}

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{{clear}}

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

{{portal|Africa|Geography}}

• {{annotated link|African historiography}}
• {{annotated link|Agroecology in West Africa}}
• {{annotated link|Ajami}}
• {{annotated link|Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa}}
• {{annotated link|List of regions of Africa}}
• {{annotated link|Manillas}}, a form of archaic money unique to West Africa
• {{annotated link|N'Ko script}}
• {{annotated link|North Africa}}
• {{annotated link|Nsibidi|Nsibidi Script}}, an indigenously developed West African writing system
• {{annotated link|Sub-Saharan Africa}}
• {{annotated link|Central Africa}}
• {{annotated link|East Africa}}
• {{annotated link|Southern Africa}}
• {{annotated link|Vai syllabary}}
• {{annotated link|West African Craton}}
• {{annotated link|Western Sahara}}

{{Reflist}}

• Akyeampong, Emmanuel Kwaku. Themes in West Africa's History (2006).
• 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. [https://research.birmingham.ac.uk/portal/files/17533525/Brydon_2008_Journal_of_African_History.pdf online]
• Collins, Robert O. African History: Western African History (1990).
• Davidson, Basil. A History of West Africa, 1000–1800 (1978), numerous editions
• Delavignette, Robert. Freedom and Authority in French West Africa (Routledge, 2018).
• Dueppen, Stephen A. "The archaeology of West Africa, ca. 800 BCE to 1500 CE." History Compass 14.6 (2016): 247–263.
• Edgerton, Robert B. The Fall of the Asante Empire: The Hundred-Year War For Africa'S Gold Coast (2002).
• 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).
• Festus, Jacob et al. eds. History of West Africa (Vol. 1, 1989).
• Greene, S. E. Sacred Sites and the Colonial Encounter: A History of Meaning and Memory in Ghana (2002).
• Griswold, Wendy. Writing African women: Gender, popular culture and literature in West Africa (Zed Books Ltd., 2017).
• Ham, Anthony. West Africa (2013) [https://archive.org/details/westafrica0000hama online].
• Hayward, Derek F., and Julius Oguntoyinbo. Climatology of West Africa (Routledge, 2019).
• Hopkins, Antony Gerald. An economic history of West Africa (2014) [https://archive.org/details/economichistoryo0000hopk online].
• 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.
• Kane, Ousmane Oumar, Beyond Timbuktu: An Intellectual History of Muslim West Africa (2016).
• {{cite journal |last1=Lavallée |first1=Emmanuelle |last2=Roubaud |first2=François |title=Corruption in the Informal Sector: Evidence from West Africa |journal=The Journal of Development Studies |date=3 June 2019 |volume=55 |issue=6 |pages=1067–1080 |doi=10.1080/00220388.2018.1438597 |s2cid=158886041 |url=https://basepub.dauphine.psl.eu/handle/123456789/24991 }}
• {{cite journal |last1=Law |first1=Robin |title=Human Sacrifice in Pre-Colonial West Africa |journal=African Affairs |date=1985 |volume=84 |issue=334 |pages=53–87 |doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.afraf.a097676 |jstor=722523 }}
• {{cite journal |last1=Mann |first1=Gregory |title=Locating Colonial Histories: Between France and West Africa |journal=The American Historical Review |date=2005 |volume=110 |issue=2 |pages=409–434 |doi=10.1086/ahr/110.2.409 |jstor=10.1086/531320 }}
• {{cite journal |last1=Martinez-Alvarez |first1=Melisa |last2=Jarde |first2=Alexander |last3=Usuf |first3=Effua |last4=Brotherton |first4=Helen |last5=Bittaye |first5=Mustapha |last6=Samateh |first6=Ahmadou L |last7=Antonio |first7=Martin |last8=Vives-Tomas |first8=Joan |last9=D'Alessandro |first9=Umberto |last10=Roca |first10=Anna |title=COVID-19 pandemic in west Africa |journal=The Lancet Global Health |date=May 2020 |volume=8 |issue=5 |pages=e631–e632 |doi=10.1016/S2214-109X(20)30123-6 |pmid=32246918 |pmc=7186549 }}
• Mazrui, Ali A. Islam and the English language in East and West Africa (Routledge, 2017).
• 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).
• Mendonsa, Eugene L. West Africa: An Introduction to Its History (2002)
• O'Brien, Donal Cruise, Richard Rathbone, John Dunn, eds. Contemporary West African States (2002) [https://archive.org/details/contemporarywest00crui online free to borrow]
• {{cite journal |last1=Soares |first1=Benjamin |title=The Historiography of Islam in West Africa: An Anthropologist's View |journal=The Journal of African History |date=March 2014 |volume=55 |issue=1 |pages=27–36 |doi=10.1017/S0021853713000819 |hdl=1887/25369 |s2cid=162823960 }}
• Tonkin, Elizabeth. Narrating our pasts: The social construction of oral history (Cambridge university press, 1995), on West Africa
• Westermann, Diedrich, and Margaret Arminel Bryan. The Languages of West Africa: Handbook of African Languages (Routledge, 2017).

{{sister project links|d=Q4412|c=Category:West Africa|n=no|b=no|v=no|voy=West Africa|m=no|mw=no|s=no|wikt=no|species=no}}

• [http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/indiv/africa/cuvl/West.html#tbl West Africa by Region and Country] – African Studies at Columbia University
• [http://www.ouestaf.com/ ouestaf.com] – Ouestaf, a West African online newspaper {{in lang|fr}}
• [http://www.loccidental.net/ Loccidental] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060307145452/http://www.loccidental.net/ |date=7 March 2006 }} – An online West African newspaper {{in lang|fr}}
• [http://www.westafricareview.com/ West Africa Review] – An e-journal on West Africa research and scholarship {{in lang|en}}
• [http://www.wdl.org/en/item/638 The Voyage of the Sieur Le Maire, to the Canary Islands, Cape-Verde, Senegal, and Gambia] is the first published writing about Western Africa, dating from 1695 {{in lang|en}}

{{ECOWAS}}

{{Regions of Africa}}

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{{coord|12|N|3|E|source:wikidata|display=title}}

Category:West Africa

Category:Geography of West Africa

Category:Regions of Africa