1. West Africa
Chapter 21

2. Physical Geography
Section 1

3. Landforms & Climate
• Variety of climates, but not a variety of
landforms
• Plains & Highlands
• Plains cover much of W. Africa
• Coastal plain: home to cities
• Interior plains: where few crops &
animals are raised
• Plains are vast w/ a few highland areas
• SW has plateaus & cliffs
• Tibesti Mt. in NE

4. The Niger River
• Most important in West Africa
• Starts 150 miles from Atlantic Ocean &
flows east & southward for 2,600 miles
• Brings life-giving water to West Africa
• People farm along its banks or fish in its
waters
• Important transportation route
• Divides into network of channels, swamps,
& lakes in areas (inland delta)

5. Climate & Vegetation
• Region’s climates are zonal
• 4 Zones
• The Sahara: largest desert; northernmost
parts of region; few to no people
• Steppe Climate: the Sahel (strip of land that
divides the desert from wetter areas) an
area of dry grasslands; rain fall varies;
overgrazing by animals, cutting of trees for
firewood, & winds blowing away fertile soil
causing death to many people & animals
• The Savanna: good soil, thick grass, &
scattered tall trees; dangerous tsetse fly
lives here, caused sleeping sickness &
death
• The Coast & Forest: many of largest cities
are here, wet, humid climate; plentiful rain
supports rain forests; trees have been cut to
back way for expanding populations;
environmental damage is a serious problem

6. Resources
• Variety of resources
• Agricultural products, oil, and minerals
• Agriculture
• Climate of region helps with growing
crops
• Mineral riches: diamonds, gold, iron ore, &
manganese, & bauxite
• Nigeria is a major exporter of oil
• 95% of exports

7. Section 2
History & Culture

8. West Africa’s History
• Much of early history based on
archaeology & oral history (spoken
information passed down from person to
person through generations

9. Great Kingdoms
• Artifacts suggest earliest trading towns
developed into great kingdoms
• Earliest kingdom of Ghana became rich
and powerful by about A.D. 800
• Empire of Mali replace Ghana
• Mansa Musa famous king
• Used wealth from trade to support artists and scholars
• Songhai kingdom replaced the Mali
kingdom
• Timbuktu became a cultural center
• Universities, mosques, & schools
• W. African trade cities faded when
Sahara trade decreased
• Europeans began sailing along the west coast of
Africa

10. The Slave Trade
• 1440s Portuguese explorers began sailing
along the west coast of Africa
• Europeans & Africans profited from trade
with each other for awhile
• 1600s the demand for labor in Europe’s
American colonies changed everything
• Enslaved Africans were sold to colonists
• It was very profitable for traders
• Slave trade devastated West African
communities
• Families were broken up
• Many died on the voyage to America
• Most who survived were sent to the West Indies
or Brazil
• Ended in 1800s; millions of African had been
forced from their homes

11. Colonial Era & Independence
• 1800s many European countries competed for colonies
in West Africa
• France claimed most the northwest, Britain, Germany, &
Portugal seized the rest
• Only tiny Liberia remained independent
• Founded in 1820s by Americans as a home for free slaves;
Sierra Leone (British colony) also became a home for freed
slaves
• Some Europeans moved to West Africa to run the
colonies
• They built roads, bridges, & railroads
• Teachers & missionaries set up Christian churches and schools
• After WWII Africans worked for independence
• Most gained it during the 1950s & 1960s
• Portugal gave up their colonies in 1974

12. Culture
• Culture reflects traditional African cultures,
European culture, & Islam
• People & Languages
• 100s of different ethnic groups
• Some still live in traditional villages
• Others mix in region’s cities
• Colonial political borders separated
ethnic groups
• More loyal to ethnic group than
country
• French, English, or Portuguese are
universal languages

13. Religion
• Many forms exist
• Traditional Africans
• Animism: belief that bodies of water,
animals, trees, & other natural objects
have spirits
• Most common
• Islam & Christianity

14. Clothing, Families, & Homes
• Clothing:
• Mix of traditional & modern
• Western-style; traditional robes,
skirts, blouses
• Homes:
• Small and simple
• In Sahel they are circular straw or
mud huts
• Families
• Extended families live close together

15. Challenges
• Borders of West Africa ignored human
geography
• People had stronger ties to their ethnic group
than to their new country
• Few people were trained to run new
governments
• Dictators took control in many countries
• Still trouble region today
• Birthrates are high in West Africa
• More and more people most make a living from
the small amount of fertile land
• Many are moving to already crowded cities,
even though jobs are few
• Countries also must find ways to educate
more of their people, but many families
can not afford to send their children to
school

16. Section 3
West Africa Today

17. Nigeria
• 2nd largest country in W. Africa
• Africa’s largest population
• On e of the strongest economies
• People & Gov’t
• Many ethnic groups
• Conflict has occurred (In 1960s Igbo
tried to secede & bloody civil war
followed)
• Capital was chosen in low population
density area to help avoid conflicts
• Democratic gov’t today

18. Nigeria
• Economy
• Rich natural resources
• Oil accounts for 95% of export
earnings
• Good roads railroads have been
built
• Rich in resources but most people are
poor
• Causes:
• High birthrate (can not produce
enough food for population)
• History of bad gov’t (corrupt official
have enriched themselves)

19. Senegal & Gambia
• Odd borders of countries created by
French & British
• Gambia
• Larger & richer
• Similarities:
• Peanuts are major crops
• Tourism is important
• Speak Wolof
• Griots (story tellers) are important

20. Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, and Cape
Verde
• Guinea & Guinea-Bissau are poor
countries
• Guinea natural resource: Bauxite
• G-B: undeveloped mineral resources
• Cape Verde
• Volcanic islands in Atlantic
• Has most stable democratic gov’t
• Tourism forms main part of economy

21. Liberia & Sierra Leone
• Liberia
• Oldest republic
• Home to freed slaves in 1820s
• Freed slaves clashed w/ Africans
already living there; led to civil war
which ended in 2003
• Sierra Leone
• Civil war from 1991-2002
• Wrecked economy, killed thousands, &
forced millions from their homes
• Today
• Trying to rebuild
• Natural resources could help build up
economies
• Rubber, iron ore, & diamonds

22. Ghana & Cote d’lvoire
• Ghana:
• Named after African kingdom
• Cote d’lvoire:
• Former French colony, name mean
“Ivory coast”
• Largest Christian church building in
Africa
• Rich natural resources
• Gold, timber, cacao, & coffee
• Economy hurt by civil war

23. Togo & Benin
• Unstable gov’t
• Periods of military rule
• Fragile economies & violent politics
• Poor countries
• People depend on farming & herding
• Palm products, cacao, & coffee are main
crops

24. Mauritania, Niger, & Chad
• Mauritania
• Once nomadic herders
• Expand desert has moved herders into cities
• Very poor people
• Farming & fishing are important
• Corrupt gov’t & ethnic tensions between blacks & Arabs add to
troubles
• Niger
• 3% of land good for farming
• Farmers grow staple food crops (millet & sorghum)
• Crops destroyed by locusts & drought in 2000s
• Caused widespread famine; international groups supplied aid
• Chad
• Land for farming
• Lake Chad once had healthy fishing industry & supplied water
• Drought has caused evaporation
• Faced civil wars in 1990s

26. Mali & Burkina Faso
• Mali
• 40% covered by Sahara
• Among world’s poorest countries
• Some farmland along Niger River
• People fish or farm
• Cotton & gold are main exports
• Fairly stable democratic gov’t has begun economic
reform
• Tourism is important
• Burkina Faso
• Poor country
• Thin soil & few minerals
• Few trees remain
• Jobs in cities are scarce
• Men often try to find work in other countries