Western Africa

Stories and heritage from 16 Western African nations including Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo.

16 Countries

Countries in Western Africa

Benin

Burkina Faso

Cabo Verde/Cape Verde

Côte d'Ivoire/Ivory Coast

Gambia (The)

Ghana

Guinea/French Guinea/Guinea-Conakry

Guinea-Bissau

Liberia

Mali

Mauritania

Niger

Nigeria

Senegal

Sierra Leone

Togo

Featured Places

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Mali

Mali

Mali

Sahara Desert, in North Africa.

Sahara Desert, in North Africa.

Chad

Cabo Verde

Cabo Verde

Cabo Verde/Cape Verde

Nigeria

Nigeria

Nigeria

All Content from Western Africa

28 items

https://www.touristegypt.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/luxor.jpg

Sahara Desert, in North Africa.

When you explore the luxuriously decorated tombs carved deep into the rocky cliffs, you’ll be captivated by intricate hi...

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Mali

Mali, landlocked country of western Africa, mostly in the Saharan and Sahelian regions. Mali is bounded on the north by ...

Flag of Cabo Verde

Cabo Verde

Cape Verde (or Cabo Verde as the nation now prefers to be called) is located on an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, ju...

Flag of Nigeria

Nigeria

12 November 2025

Nigeria's National Mosque is in the capital city of Abuja.Photograph by Johnny Greig, Alamy  

Flag of Mauritania

Mauritania

Mauritania, country on the Atlantic coast of Africa. Culturally it forms a transitional zone between the Arab-Amazigh (B...

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Sierra Leone

27 April 1961, Sierra Leone gains independence from Britain. The first peoples from Europe to explore here were the Port...

Flag of Cote D’Ivoire

Cote D’Ivoire or Ivory Coast

7 August 1960, Ivory Coast gains independence from France Africa Women Cup of Nations Qualification

Niger

12 December 2024

3 August 1960, Niger gains independence from France

Benin

10 October 2024

1 August 1960, Dahomey (now Benin) gains independence from France.

(The) Gambia

10 October 2024

1 August 1960: Dahomey (now Benin) gains independence from France

flag of Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso

26 September 2024

5 August 1960, Upper Volta (Burkina Faso) gains independence from France

Guinea

Guinea is the traditional name of coastal western Africa. The historical colonies of French Guinea, Spanish Guinea and P...

Ghana

6 March 1957, The Gold Coast (now Ghana) gains independence from Britain. 1961-and-1999-The-two-times-Queen-Elizabeth-II...

Flag of Guinea-Bissau

Guinea-Bissau

Guinea-Bissau, one of the world’s poorest and most fragile countries, has a population of 2 019 023 million people, (21/...

Flag of Liberia

Liberia

Liberia, which means ‘freedom’ formerly known as the Grain Coast.

Senegal

20 August 1960, Senegal gains independence from France

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Kafanchan, Nigeria

12 October 2023

Located in the southern part of the Kaduna State, which is located in the middle belt of Nigeria.

Togo

27 April 1960, Togo gains independence from France

Unfixed: Photography and Decolonial Imagination in West Africa by Jennifer Bajorek

Biography of Mariama Bâ by Lauren Daugherty

Biography of Mariama Bâ by Lauren Daugherty

7 December 2020

Context In the 1960s, Senegal was a new, independent nation. It had previously been ruled in succession by the Portug...