West Africa

West Africa is the western part of the African continent, generally encompassing Atlantic coastal countries, the Sahel, and the western interior. Its boundaries vary by geographic, historical, and institutional definition.

Sahel: The semiarid belt south of the Sahara, stretching across Africa from the Atlantic toward the Red Sea. This transitional belt links West Africa’s arid north with its wetter southern regions.
Nigeria: A West African country on the Gulf of Guinea and Africa’s most populous nation. Its population and economic weight make it a major center of regional affairs.
Ghana Empire: A medieval West African state that flourished north of the Upper Guinea coast. Its wealth and influence show the depth of state formation before European rule.
Economic Community of West African States: A regional organization founded in 1975 to promote economic integration and cooperation among West African states. It gives the region a formal framework for trade, diplomacy, and security cooperation.
Mande languages: A group of languages spoken across parts of West Africa, including Bambara, Mandinka, and Soninke. Mande-speaking communities span several countries and connect the region’s cultural landscapes.
Gulf of Guinea: The northeasternmost part of the tropical Atlantic Ocean, bordering the coast of western and central Africa. Its coastline anchors the southern edge of many geographic definitions of West Africa.
Mali: A landlocked West African country extending from the Sahel into the Sahara. Its territory illustrates how West Africa reaches far beyond the Atlantic coast.
Mali Empire: A medieval West African empire that controlled major trans-Saharan trade routes and reached its height under Mansa Musa. Its political reach and commercial links connected the Sahel to North Africa.
West African CFA franc: A shared currency used by eight West African countries in the West African Economic and Monetary Union. Its use illustrates one form of monetary integration within the region.
Niger-Congo languages: A large language family spoken across much of sub-Saharan Africa, including many West African languages. This wider family situates the region’s linguistic diversity in a continental context.

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