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The southern and eastern borders of the region is the Atlantic Ocean. The northern border is the Sahara Desert, with the Niger Bend generally considered the northernmost part of the region. The eastern border is less precise. Some place it at the Benue Trough , others on a line running from Mount Cameroon to Lake Chad, others use the less precise border between Bantu and non-Bantu.
West Africa is divided into several distinct regions.
The northernmost band is the Sahel more arid than the Sudan and suitable only for grazing. It was long dominated by nomadic horsemen such as the Mande and Fulani who controlled much of West Africa from this base growing rich from the land trade across the Sahara.
South of the Sahel is the Sudan a steppe like region suitable to farming and pastoralism. It was thus a mix of settled peoples like the Hausa and Yoruba and the same nomadic groups that controlled the Sahel.
The southern most band is the coastal area known as Guinea. Portions of this coast were once known as the Grain Coast, the Gold Coast, the Slave Coast, the Pepper Coast, and the Ivory Coast. The slave trade was conducted heavily in this area; most African AmericanAfrican Americans also known as Afro- Americans or black Americans comprise an ethnic group in the United States of America whose dominant ancestry is from Sub-Saharan West Africa. Many African Americans also claim European, Native American, or Asian ances are descended from slaves transported from West Africa.
The coast is largely tropical, and a belt of tropical moist broadleaf forests once followed the coast through most of this area. In earlier eras this was the poorest area as it was impossible to have livestockSheep are commonly bred as livestock. Livestock refers to domesticated animals, that may be kept or raised in pens, houses, pastures, or on farms as part of an agricultural or farming operation, whether for commerce or private use. In many countries the l do to the many diseases in the region, most notably trypanosomiasis. A variety of plant diseases also limited agriculture.
This changed with new trade links through the Atlantic Ocean. Guinea had far more natural resources than the more arid plains. Once the forest was cleared the land was also far better for agriculture. Today it is far richer and more populated.
Nations in this area:
Interior countries include:
Sometimes Cameroon is considered a part of West Africa.
Colonial boundaries as reflected in the modern boundaries between contemporary West African nations, cut across ethnic and cultural lines, often dividing single ethnic groups between two or more countries.