1) West Africa has a variety of climates and landforms including plains, highlands, and plateaus. The Niger River provides an important transportation route and supports agriculture. 2) The region has a long history including great kingdoms like Ghana and Mali, but was devastated by the slave trade. It was later colonized by European powers and most countries gained independence in the 1950s-60s. 3) Today, West African countries face challenges of poverty, population growth, and political instability despite having natural resources. Nigeria has the largest economy while countries like Mali, Burkina Faso, and Chad struggle with poverty, drought, and lack of farmland.

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