The history of West Africa can be divided into five major periods:  Western Africa (UN subregion)  Maghreb West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. ...

1. Its prehistory, in which the first human settlers arrived, agriculture developed, and contact made with the Mediterranean civilizations to the north.
2. The Iron Age empires that consolidated trade and developed centralized states.
3. The slave-trading kingdoms, jihads, and colonial invaders of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
4. The colonial period, in which France and Great Britain controlled nearly the whole of the region.
5. The post-independence era, in which the current nations were formed.

For the landmasses surrounding the Mediterranean Sea, see Mediterranean Basin. ... Iron Age Axe found on Gotland This article is about the archaeological period known as the Iron Age, for the mythological Iron Age see Iron Age (mythology). ... Jihad, sometimes spelled Jawwad, Jahad, Jehad, Jihaad, Jiaad, Djehad, or Cihad, (Arabic: ‎ ) is an Islamic term, meaning to strive or struggle in the way of God, and is sometimes referred to as the sixth pillar of Islam, although it has no official status. ... Pith helmet of the Second French Empire. ... (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Prehistory

Archaeological studies at Mejiro Cave have found that early human settlers, probably related to the Pygmies, had arrived in West Africa around 12,000 B.C.E. Microlithic stone industries have been found primarily in the region of the Savannah where fairly advanced pastoral tribes existed using chiseled stone blades and spears. The tribesmen of Guinea and the forested regions of the coast were without microliths for thousands of years, but prospered using bone tools and other means. In the fifth millennium, as the ancestors of modern West Africans began entering the area, the development of sedentary farming began to take place in West Africa, with evidences of domesticated cattle having been found for this period, along with limited cereal crops. Around 3000 BCE, a major change began to take place in West African society, with microliths becoming more common in the Sahel region, with the invention of primitive harpoons and fish-hooks. A microlith is a small stone tool, typically knapped of flint or chert, usually about three centimetres long or less. ... (5th millennium BC – 4th millennium BC – 3rd millennium BC - other millennia) // Events Sumerian city of Ur in Mesopotamia (40th century BC); Sumerian hegemony in Mesopotamia, with the invention of writing, base-60 mathematics, astronomy and astrology, civil law, complex hydrology, the sailboat, the wheel, and the potters wheel, 4000...

Ancient West Africa included the Sahara, as the Sahara only became a desert in around 3000 BC (see Sahara).

A major migration of Sahel cattle farmers took place in the third millennium BCE, and the pastoralists encountered the developed hunter-gatherers of the Guinea region. Flint was considerably more available there and made the use of microliths in hunting far easier. The migration of the Sahel farmers was likely caused by the final desiccation of the Sahara desert in this millennium, which contributed greatly to West Africa's isolation from cultural and technological phenomena in Europe and the Mediterranean Coast of Africa. Nevertheless, the increased use of iron and the spread of ironworking technology led to improved weaponry and enabled farmers to expand agricultural productivity and produce surplus crops, which together supported the growth of urban city-states into empires. The 3rd millennium BC spans the Early to Middle Bronze Age. ... Desiccation is the state of extreme dryness, or the process of extreme drying. ... The Sahara is the worlds second largest desert (second to Antarctica), over 9,000,000 km² (3,500,000 mi²), located in northern Africa and is 2. ...

By 400 BCE, contact had been made with the Mediterranean civilizations, including that of Carthage, and a regular trade in gold being conducted with the Sahara Berbers, as noted by Herodotus. The trade was fairly small until the camel was introduced, with Mediterranean goods being found in pits as far south as Northern Nigeria. A profitable trade had developed by which West Africans exported gold, cotton cloth, metal ornaments, and leather goods north across the trans-Saharan trade routes, in exchange for copper, horses, salt, textiles, and beads. Later, ivory, slaves, and kola nuts were added to the trade. Centuries: 6th century BC - 5th century BC - 4th century BC Decades: 450s BC 440s BC 430s BC 420s BC 410s BC - 400s BC - 390s BC 380s BC 370s BC 360s BC 350s BC 409 BC 408 BC 407 BC 406 BC 405 BC 404 BC 403 BC 402 BC 401... The Berbers (also called Amazigh people or Imazighen, free men, singular Amazigh) are an ethnic group indigenous to Northwest Africa, speaking the Berber languages of the Afroasiatic family. ... Bust of Herodotus Herodotus of Halicarnassus (Greek: , Herodotos Halikarnasseus) was a Dorian Greek historian who lived in the 5th century BC (484 BC - ca. ... Species Camelus bactrianus Camelus dromedarius Camels are even-toed ungulates in the genus Camelus. ... General Name, Symbol, Number gold, Au, 79 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11, 6, d Appearance metallic yellow Atomic mass 196. ... The Great Mosque of Djenné, founded in 800, an important trading base, now a World Heritage Site Trans-Saharan trade, between Mediterranean countries and West Africa, was an important trade route from the eighth century until the late sixteenth century. ... General Name, Symbol, Number copper, Cu, 29 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11, 4, d Appearance metallic pinkish red Atomic mass 63. ... horse, see Horse (disambiguation). ... A magnified crystal of a salt (halite/sodium chloride) Salt covering the floor of Bad Water in Death Valley, CA, the lowest point in the US. A salt, in chemistry, is any ionic compound composed of cations (positively charged ions) and anions (negative ions) so that the product is neutral... This article is about the type of fabric. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The Buxton Memorial Fountain, celebrating the emancipation of slaves in the British Empire in 1834, London. ... Species See text Kola nut (Cola) is a genus of about 125 species of trees native to the tropical rainforests of Africa, classified in the family Malvaceae, subfamily Sterculioideae (or treated in the separate family Sterculiaceae). ...

Empires

The development of the region's economy allowed more centralized states to form, beginning with the Ghana Empire. The empire was founded in the eighth century by Soninke, a Mandé peoples who lived at the crossroads of this new trade, around the city of Kumbi Saleh. After 800, the empire expanded rapidly, coming to dominate the entire western Sudan; at its height, the empire could field an army of 200,000 soldiers. In the tenth century, however, Islam was steadily growing in the region, and in 1052 the Almoravids launched a jihad against the empire, sacking Kumbi Saleh. The Ghana Empire in Africa The Empire of Ghana (existed c. ... (7th century — 8th century — 9th century — other centuries) Events The Iberian peninsula is taken by Arab and Berber Muslims, thus ending the Visigothic rule, and starting almost 8 centuries of Muslim presence there. ... Also called Sarakole, Seraculeh, or Serahuli, the Soninke are a Mandé people who descend from the Bafour, and are closely related to the Imraguen of Mauritania. ... Mandé is an ethnic group of West Africa. ... Koumbi Saleh was the capital of the Ghana Empire. ... Islam (Arabic:  ) is a monotheistic religion based upon the teachings of Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure. ... Events Births Milarepa Deaths Heads of state Holy See - Leo IX pope (1049-1054) Categories: 1052 ... Almoravides (From Arabic المرابطون sing. ... Jihad, sometimes spelled Jawwad, Jahad, Jehad, Jihaad, Jiaad, Djehad, or Cihad, (Arabic: ‎ ) is an Islamic term, meaning to strive or struggle in the way of God, and is sometimes referred to as the sixth pillar of Islam, although it has no official status. ...

The first successor to the Ghana Empire was that of the Sosso, a Takrur people who built their empire on the ruins of the old. Despite initial successes, however, the Sosso king Soumaoro Kanté was defeated by the Mandinka prince Sundiata Keita at the Battle of Kirina in 1240, toppling the Sosso and guaranteeing the supremacy of Sundiata's new Mali Empire. The Sosso are a people of West Africa, found particularly in Guinea. ... Takrur was one of the minor Iron Age states of West Africa, which flourished roughly parallel to the Kingdom of Ghana. ... Soumaoro Kanté (sometimes Sumanguru) was a thirteenth century king of the Sosso people of the Takrur region. ... The Mandinka (also known as Mandingo) are a Mande people of West Africa, all descend physically or culturally from the ancient Mali Empire which controlled the trans-Saharic trade from the Middle East to West Africa. ... Sundiata Keita or Sunjata Keyita (c. ... The Battle of Kirina (c. ... Events Batu Khan and the Golden Horde sack the Ruthenian city of Kyiv Births Pope Benedict XI Deaths April 11 - Llywelyn ap Iorwerth, also known as Llywelyn The Great Prince of Gwynedd Monarchs/Presidents Aragon - James I King of Aragon and count of Barcelona (reigned from 1213 to 1276) Castile... The Mali Empire, c. ...

Under Sundiata's sucessors, most notably his son Wali Keita (r. c. 1255–1270) and his grand-nephew Kankan Musa I (r. c. 1312–1337), the Mali Empire continued to expand, eventually creating a centralized state including most of West Africa. Trade flourished, while Kankan Musa I founded a university at Timbuktu and instituted a program of free health care and education for Malian citizens with the help of doctors and scholars brought back from his legendary hajj. Mansa Wali Keita (died c. ... Mansa Musa depicted holding a gold nugget from a 1395 map of Africa and Europe Mansa Musa[1] was a 14th century king (or Mansa) who ruled the Mali Empire between 1312 and 1337. ... The city of Timbuktu ( Archaic English: Timbuctoo, Koyra Chiini: Tumbutu, French: Tombouctou) is a city in Mali, West Africa. ... The Hajj (Arabic: ‎, translit: ; Turkish: ; Ottoman Turkish: حاج, Hāc; Malay: , Bosnian: ) is the Pilgrimage to Mecca in Islam. ...

Kankan Musa's successors, however, weakened the empire significantly, leading the city-state of Gao to make a bid for independence and regional power in the fifteenth century. Under the leadership of Sunni Ali (r. 1464-1492), the Songhai of Gao formed the Songhai Empire, which would fill the vacuum left by the Mali Empire's collapse. By the end of the century, the Songhai Empire was the dominant force in the region, and through the leadership of Askia Mohammad (c. 1442-1538)), underwent a revival in trade, education, and Islamic religion. A civil war over succession greatly weakened the empire, however, leading to a 1591 invasion by Moroccan Sultan Ahmed el-Mansour that sacked Gao and crippled the empire. Gao is a city in Mali on the River Niger with a population of about 38,000 people. ... (14th century - 15th century - 16th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 15th century was that century which lasted from 1401 to 1500. ... Sonni Ali (1464-1492) was the first great king of the Songhai Empire, and the 15th ruler of the Sonni dynasty. ... For the empire, see Songhai Empire. ... The Songhai Empire, c. ... Askia Muhammad I was a king of the Songhai Empire in the late 1400s. ... Islam (Arabic:  ) is a monotheistic religion based upon the teachings of Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure. ... Events June - Capture of Zutphen by the Dutch under Maurice of Nassau. ... Ahmad I al-Mansur Saadi (also Ahmed el-Mansour) was Sultan of Morocco from 1578 to his death in 1603, the sixth ruler of the Saadi Dynasty. ...

Meanwhile, south of the Sudan, strong city states arose in Ife, Bono, and Benin around the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Further east, Oyo arose as the dominant Yoruba state and the Aro Confederacy around the 18nth and 19nth centuries in the far east in modern-day Nigeria. Ifè (or Ilé-Ifẹ̀, as it is properly known) is an ancient Yoruba city in south-western Nigeria. ... Bono Manso (sometimes Bono Mansu) was an ancient trading town in what is now the Nkoranza district of the Brong-Ahafo region of Ghana. ... Oyo (Ọyọ in Yoruba orthography, pronounced ) is the name for a Yoruba city in modern-day Nigeria and also the loose empire which that city controlled in the 17th and 18th centuries. ... The Yoruba (Yorùbá in Yoruba orthography) are a large ethno-linguistic group or ethnic nation in Africa; the majority of them speak the Yoruba language (ede Yorùbá). The Yoruba constitute approximately 30 percent of Nigerias total population[], and around 22 million individuals throughout the region of West... The Aro confederacy was a strong African state which had its prime in the 18th and 19th centuries. ...

Jihad and colonization

Following the collapse of the Songhai Empire, a number of smaller states arose across West Africa, including the Bambara Empire of Ségou, the lesser Bambara kingdom of Kaarta, the Peul/Malinké kingdom of Khasso (in present-day Mali's Kayes Region), and the Kénédougou Empire of Sikasso. The Bambara Empire (also Bamana Empire or Ségou Empire) was a large kingdom based at Ségou, now in Mali. ... Ségou or Segu is a city in Mali, lying northeast of Bamako on the River Niger, in the region of Ségou. ... The Bambara (sometimes Banmana) are a group of people living in west Africa, primarily in Mali but also in Guinea, Burkina Faso and Senegal. ... Kaarta was a short-lived Bambara kingdom in what is today the western half of Mali. ... Fulani women in the East Province of Cameroon The Fulani is an ethnic group of people spread over many countries in West Africa, from Mauritania in the northwest to Cameroon in the east. ... The Malinké are an African Mandé ethnic group. ... Khasso was a West African kingdom of the nineteenth century, occupying territory in what is today Senegal and the Kayes Region of Mali. ... Kayes is a region in Mali. ... The Kénédougou Empire was a short-lived West African empire centered on Sikasso in present-day Mali. ... Sikasso is a city in the south of Mali and the capital of the Sikasso Region. ...

European traders first became a force in the region in the fifteenth century, with the 1445 establishment of a Portuguese trading post at Arguin Island, off the coast of present-day Senegal; by 1475, Portuguese traders had reached as far as the Bight of Benin. The African slave trade began almost immediately after, with the Portuguese taking hundreds of captives back to their country for use as slaves; however, it would not begin on a grand scale until Christopher Columbus's voyage to the Americas and the subsequent demand for cheap colonial labor. In 1510, the Spanish crown legalized the African slave trade, followed by the English in 1562. By 1650 the slave trade was in full force at a number of sites along the coast of West Africa, and over the coming centuries would result in severely reduced growth for the region's population and economy. The expanding Atlantic slave trade produced significant populations of West Africans living in the New World, recently colonized by Europeans. The oldest known remains of African slaves in the Americas were found in Mexico in early 2006; they are thought to date from the late 16th century and the mid-17th century. ^[1] World map showing Europe A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of the Earth. ... (14th century - 15th century - 16th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 15th century was that century which lasted from 1401 to 1500. ... Arguin is an island off the west coast of Mauritania in the Bay of Arguin, at 20° 36 N., 16° 27 W. It is 6 km long by 2 broad. ... The Bight of Benin is a bay on the western African coast that extends eastward for about 400 miles (640 km) from Cape St. ... Slave transport in Africa, from a 19th century engraving Trade in slaves, like most of the world, has carried on for thousands of years in Africa. ... Christopher Columbus (Genoa?, Italy, 1451? – Valladolid, Spain, May 20, 1506) was a navigator and maritime explorer credited as the discoverer of the Americas. ... World map showing the Americas CIA map of the Americas The Americas are the lands of the Western hemisphere or New World consisting of the continents of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions. ... Motto:   (the Royal motto3) (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the Queen 4 Capital London Most populous conurbation Greater London Urban Area Official languages English (de facto) Government Constitutional monarchy  - Monarch Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister Tony Blair Formation    - Union of the Crowns 24 March 1603   - Acts... Events Earliest English slave-trading expedition under John Hawkins. ... The Atlantic slave trade was the purchase of slaves in and transport from West Africa and Central Africa, into slavery in the New World. ... Carte dAmérique, Guillaume Delisle, c. ...

As the demand for slaves rose, African rulers sought to supply the demand by constant war against their neighbors, resulting in fresh captives. States such as Dahomey (in modern-day Benin) and the Bambara Empire based much of their economy on the exchange of slaves for European goods, particularly firearms that they then employed to capture more slaves. European and American governments passed legislation prohibiting the Atlantic slave trade in the 19th century, though slavery in the Americas persisted in some capacity through the century in the Americas; the last country to abolish the institution was Brazil in 1888. Descendants of West Africans make up large and important segments of the population in Brazil, the Caribbean, the United States, and throughout the New World. Dahomey was a kingdom in Africa, situated in what is now the nation of Benin. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... West Indian redirects here. ...

In 1725, the cattle-herding Fulanis of Fouta Djallon launched the first major reformist jihad of the region, overthrowing the local animist, Mande-speaking elites and attempting to somewhat democratize their society. A similar movement occurred on a much broader scale in the Hausa city-states of Nigeria under Uthman dan Fodio; an imam influenced by the teachings of Sidi Ahmed al-Tidjani, Uthman preached against the elitist Islam of the then-dominant Qadiriyyah brotherhood, winning a broad base of support amongst the common people. Uthman's Fulani Empire was soon one of the region's largest states, and inspired the later jihads of Massina Empire founder Seku Amadu in present-day Mali, and the cross-Sudan Toucouleur conqueror El Hadj Umar Tall. Categories: Africa-related stubs | Burkina Faso | Cameroon | Ethnic groups of Africa | Fulani Empire | Mali | Nigeria ... Fouta Djallon is a highland region in Guinea, West Africa. ... Jihad, sometimes spelled Jawwad, Jahad, Jehad, Jihaad, Jiaad, Djehad, or Cihad, (Arabic: ‎ ) is an Islamic term, meaning to strive or struggle in the way of God, and is sometimes referred to as the sixth pillar of Islam, although it has no official status. ... This article is in need of attention. ... Mande refers to: the Mandé people of western Africa the Mande or Mandinka people of western Africa any of the Mande languages the Mande or Mandinka language This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Alternative meaning: Elite (computer game) In sociology as in general usage, the elite (the elect; sometimes the French form élite is used) refers to a relatively small dominant group within a larger society, which enjoys privileged status and, almost invariantly, exploits individuals of lower social status. ... The Hausa are a Sahelian people chiefly located in the West African regions of northern Nigeria and southeastern Niger. ... Shaihu Usman dan Fodio (also referred to as Shaikh Usman Ibn Fodio; alternative spelling, Shehu), 1754-1817 was a writer and Islamic reformer. ... Imam (Arabic: إمام ,Persian: امام ) is an Arabic word meaning leader. ... Sidi Ahmed al-Tidjani (1737-1815), in Arabic سيدي أحمد التجاني (SÄ«dÄ« Aḥmad at-TijānÄ«), founded the TijānÄ« SÅ«fÄ« order (tarÄ«qah) in the late eighteenth century in Fez, Morocco. ... Qadiriyyah (Arabic: القادريه) (also transliterated Qadiri), is one of the oldest Sufi tariqas, derives its name from Abdul Qadir Jilani (also transliterated as Gilani) (1077-1166), a native of the Iranian province of Gilan. ... The Fulani Empire was one of the most powerful states in sub-Saharan Africa in the years prior to European colonization. ... The Massina Empire was a nineteenth-century Peul empire centered in the Mopti Region of present-day Mali. ... Seku Amadu (1773–1845) was the founder of the Peul Massina Empire in what is now the Mopti Region of Mali. ... The Toucouleurs (or Haalpulaaren) are an ethnicity of West Africa. ... El Hadj Umar Tall (1797 - 1864) was a conqueror and Toucouleur king who founded a brief empire encompassing much of what is now Guinea, Senegal, and Mali. ...

At the same time, the Europeans were advancing steadily inland as a part of the Scramble for Africa. Mungo Park (1771 – 1806) made the first serious expedition into the region's interior, tracing the Niger as far as Timbuktu. French armies followed not long after, subduing first the Khasso, and then the Toucouleur and Kénédougou. Samory Ture's newly-founded Wassoulou Empire was the last to fall, and with his capture in 1898, military resistance to French colonial rule effectively ended. Cecil Rhodes: Cape-Cairo railway project. ... Mungo Park Title illustration of (1859) Mungo Park (September 10, 1771 – 1806) was a Scottish explorer of the African continent. ... 1771 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... 1806 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... The city of Timbuktu ( Archaic English: Timbuctoo, Koyra Chiini: Tumbutu, French: Tombouctou) is a city in Mali, West Africa. ... Samori Ture Samori Ture (also Samory Touré or Samori ibn Lafiya Ture, c. ... The Wassoulou Empire was a short-lived (1878 - 1898) empire of West Africa built from the conquests of Dyula ruler Samori Ture and destroyed by the French colonial army. ... 1898 (MDCCCXCVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ...

Colonialism

Though the British had long occupied the coasts of its future colonies, Sierra Leone only became an official British Protectorate in 1896, The Gambia in 1889, Nigeria in 1901, and Ghana in 1902 following the subdual of the Ashanti leader Yaa Asantewaa. Portugal claimed Guinea-Bissau, while Togoland (modern-day Togo) became a German colony in 1884. Liberia managed to retain its independence despite extensive territorial losses. Modern-day Guinea, Senegal, Mali, Benin, Burkina Faso, and Niger were consolidated into the federation of French West Africa. 1896 (MDCCCXCVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1889 (MDCCCLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... 1901 (MCMI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... 1902 (MCMII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Flag of the Ashanti people The Ashanti (also Asante) are a major ethnic group from Africa who speak a dialect of Akan. ... Yaa Asantewaa (c. ... Togoland was a German protectorate in West Africa. ... 1884 (MDCCCLXXXIV) is a leap year starting on Tuesday (click on link to calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Thursday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Location of French West Africa French West Africa (French: ) was a federation of eight French territories in Africa: Mauritania, Senegal, French Sudan (now Mali), French Guinea (now Guinea), Côte dIvoire, Niger, Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) and Dahomey (now Benin). ...

Though it shared in the horrors of the pre-colonial slave trade, West Africa was in many ways better managed than other African regions of the colonial era, enjoying small measures of self-rule in many areas. However, French and British rule still discouraged the development of local industry, preferring to force the exchange of raw materials for European finished goods. A number of taxation measures were instituted, causing many difficulties for areas whose economies were structured on subsistence agriculture. Both France and Britain recruited troops from its colonies for World War I and World War II; at the end of the former, the German Togoland was partitioned evenly between France and Britain by the League of Nations. Like most farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa, this Cameroonian man cultivates at the subsistence level. ... Combatants Allied Powers: Russian Empire France British Empire Italy United States Central Powers: Austria-Hungary German Empire Ottoman Empire Bulgaria Commanders Nicholas II Aleksei Brusilov Georges Clemenceau Joseph Joffre Ferdinand Foch Herbert Henry Asquith Douglas Haig John Jellicoe Victor Emmanuel III Luigi Cadorna Armando Diaz Woodrow Wilson John Pershing Franz... Combatants Major Allied powers: United Kingdom France Soviet Union United States Republic of China and others Major Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Charles de Gaulle Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Chiang Kai-Shek Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tojo Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian... Togoland was a German protectorate in West Africa. ... The League of Nations was an international organization founded after the Paris Peace Conference, 1919. ...

Postcolonial West Africa

Following World War II, protests against European rule sprung up across West Africa, most notably in Ghana under the Pan-Africanist Kwame Nkrumah (1909-1972). Ghana became the first country of sub-Saharan Africa to achieve independence in 1957, with others soon to follow. After a decade of protests, riots and clashes, French West Africa voted for autonomy in a 1958 referendum, dividing into the states of today; the British colonies gained autonomy the following decade. In 1973, Guinea-Bissau proclaimed its independence from Portugal, and was internationally recognized following the 1974 Carnation Revolution in Portugal. Pan-Africanism is a term which can have two separate, but related meanings. ... Kwame Nkrumah with Martin Luther King, Jr. ... Year 1909 (MCMIX) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... Year 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ... 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... The Carnation Revolution (Portuguese, Revolução dos Cravos) was an almost bloodless, left-leaning, military-led revolution started on April 25, 1974, in Lisbon, Portugal, that effectively changed the Portuguese regime from an authoritarian dictatorship to a liberal democracy after a two-year process of a Left-wing semi-military...

Since independence, West Africa has suffered from the same problems as much of the African continent, particularly dictatorships, political corruption and military coups. At the time of his death in 2005, for example, Togo's Étienne Eyadéma was among the world's longest-serving dictators. Inter-country conflicts have been few, with Mali and Burkina Faso's nearly bloodless Agacher Strip War being a rare exception. The region has, however, seen a number of bloody civil wars, including the Nigerian Civil War (1967-1970), two civil wars in Liberia in 1989 and 1999, a decade of fighting in Sierra Leone from 1991-2002, a Tuareg Rebellion in Niger and Mali in the early 1990s, and an ongoing conflict in Côte d'Ivoire that began in 2002. A dictatorship is an autocratic form of government in which the government is ruled by a dictator. ... World map of the Corruption Perceptions Index, which measures the degree to which corruption is perceived to exist among public officials and politicians In broad terms, political corruption is the misuse by government officials of their governmental powers for illegitimate, usually secret, private gain. ... A coup détat, or simply a coup, is the sudden overthrow of a government, usually done by a small group that just replaces the top power figures. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... General Gnassingbé Eyadéma, formerly Étienne Eyadéma (December 26, 1937 – February 5, 2005), was the President of Togo from 1967 until his death. ... The Agacher Strip is a 100-mile long strip of land located in northeastern Burkina Faso. ... Combatants Nigerian federal government Republic of Biafra Commanders Yakubu Gowon Odumegwu Ojukwu Casualties 1,000,000 soldiers and civillians Estimated 2,000,000 civilians The Nigerian Civil War, also known as the Biafran War, July 6, 1967 – January 13, 1970, was a political conflict caused by the attempted secession of... Charles Taylor, a leader of the NPFL and later President of Liberia. ... Combatants voluntarilly disarm in May 2004 during the UN program, Disarmament, Demobilization, Rehabilitation and Reintegration (DDRR) The Second Liberian Civil War began in 1999 when a rebel group backed by the government of neighboring Guinea, the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD), emerged in northern Liberia. ... // Early history and slavery European contacts with Sierra Leone were among the first in West Africa. ... The Tuareg Rebellion was an uprising of the 1990s by various Tuareg groups in Niger and Mali with the aim of achieving autonomy or forming their own nation. ...

In the 1990s, AIDS became a significant problem for the region, particularly in Côte d'Ivoire, Liberia, and Nigeria. Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS or Aids) is a collection of symptoms and infections resulting from the specific damage to the immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). ...

Famine has been an occasional but serious problem in northern Mali and Niger, particularly during the Sahel drought of the 1970s and 80s. Niger is currently undergoing another food crisis that could develop into another major famine. A famine is a social and economic crisis that is commonly accompanied by widespread malnutrition, starvation, epidemic and increased mortality. ... The Sahel drought in 1970s and 1980s created a famine that killed a million people and afflicted more than 50 million. ... Niger vegetation maps. ...

See also

• History of Africa
• History of Benin
• History of Burkina Faso
• History of Côte d'Ivoire
• History of the Gambia
• History of Ghana
• History of Guinea
• History of Guinea-Bissau
• History of Liberia
• History of Mali
• History of Mauritania
• History of Niger
• History of Nigeria
• History of Senegal
• History of Sierra Leone
• History of Togo

The following is an outline of African history, followed by a list of articles about the history of particular places in Africa. ... The Republic of Benin was the seat of one of the great medieval African kingdoms, called Dahomey, governed from the capital, Abomey, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. ... Children of the 1983-1987 revolution Until the end of the 19th century, the history of Burkina Faso was dominated by the empire-building Mossi, who are believed to have come up to their present location from Northern Ghana, (where there exists the ethnically related Dagomba group). ... This is the history of Côte dIvoire. ... The Gambia was once part of the Ghana and the Songhai Empires. ... Ghana was previously called the Gold Coast, but was renamed Ghana upon independence in 1957, because of indications that the inhabitants were descended from migrants who moved south from the ancient Ghana Empire. ... The area occupied by Guinea today was included in several large West African political groupings, including the Ghana, Mali, and Songhai empires, at various times from the 10th to the 15th century, when the region came into contact with European commerce. ... The history of Guinea-Bissau was dominated by Portugal from the 1450s to the 1970s; since independence, the country has been primarily controlled by a single-party system. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... Malians express great pride in their ancestry. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This is the history of Niger. ... Statue of the orisha Eshu, Oyo, Nigeria, c1920. ... Archaeological findings throughout the area indicate that Senegal was inhabited in prehistoric times. ... // Early history and slavery European contacts with Sierra Leone were among the first in West Africa. ... The Ewes moved into the area which is now Togo from the Niger River valley between the 12th and 14th centuries. ...

Notes

References

• Davidson, Basil. Africa in History. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995. ISBN 0-684-82667-4

External links

• Timeline of Western Sudan