MauritaniaMauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania (الجمهورية الإسلامية الموريتانية), is a sovereign country in Northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to the north and northwest, Algeria to the northeast, Mali to the east and southeast, and Senegal to the southwest. Mauritania is the 11th-largest country in Africa and the 28th-largest in the world, and 90% of its territory is situated in the Sahara. Most of its population of 4.
Trans-Saharan tradeTrans-Saharan trade requires travel across the Sahara between West, Central, Eastern and Northern Africa. While existing from prehistoric times, the peak of trade extended from the 8th century until the early 17th century. The Sahara once had a very different environment. In Libya and Algeria, from at least 7000 BC, there was pastoralism, the herding of sheep, goats, large settlements, and pottery. Cattle were introduced to the Central Sahara (Ahaggar) from 4000 to 3500 BC.
Ivory CoastIvory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is the port city of Abidjan. It borders Guinea to the northwest, Liberia to the west, Mali to the northwest, Burkina Faso to the northeast, Ghana to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea (Atlantic Ocean) to the south.
SaharaThe Sahara (səˈhɑːrə, səˈhærə) is a desert on the African continent. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Arctic. The name "Sahara" is derived from the Arabic word for "desert" in the feminine irregular form, the singular (صحراء //ˈSaHra), plural (صَحَارَى //ˈSaHaaraa), (صَحَار), (صَحْرَاوَات), (صَحَارِي).
Wolof languageWolof (ˈwoʊlɒf; Wolof làkk, وࣷلࣷفْ لࣵکّ) is a language of Senegal, Mauritania, and the Gambia, and the native language of the Wolof people. Like the neighbouring languages Serer and Fula, it belongs to the Senegambian branch of the Niger–Congo language family. Unlike most other languages of the Niger-Congo family, Wolof is not a tonal language. Wolof is the most widely spoken language in Senegal, spoken natively by the Wolof people (40% of the population) but also by most other Senegalese as a second language.
AbidjanAbidjan (ˌæbɪˈdʒɑːn , abidʒɑ̃; N'ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the largest city and the economic capital of the Ivory Coast. As of the 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of overall population of the country, making it the sixth most populous city proper in Africa, after Lagos, Cairo, Kinshasa, Dar es Salaam, and Johannesburg. A cultural crossroads of West Africa, Abidjan is characterised by a high level of industrialisation and urbanisation.
Senegal RiverThe Senegal River (Nehr es-Sinigâl, Fleuve Sénégal, Dexug Senegaal) is a long river in West Africa; much of its length marks part of the border between Senegal and Mauritania. It has a drainage basin of , a mean flow of , and an annual discharge of . Important tributaries are the Falémé River, Karakoro River, and the Gorgol River. The river divides into two branches once it passes Kaédi The left branch, called the Doué, runs parallel to the main river to the north. After the two branches rejoin a few kilometers downstream of Podor.
DecolonizationDecolonization or decolonisation is the undoing of colonialism, the latter being the process whereby imperial nations establish and dominate foreign territories, often overseas. The meanings and applications of the term are disputed. Some scholars of decolonization focus especially on independence movements in the colonies and the collapse of global colonial empires. Other scholars extend the meaning to include economic, cultural and psychological aspects of the colonial experience.
NigerNiger or the Niger (niːˈʒɛər,_ˈnaɪdʒər , niʒɛʁ), officially the Republic of the Niger (République du Niger; Jamhuriyar Nijar), is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state bordered by Libya to the northeast, Chad to the east, Nigeria to the south, Benin and Burkina Faso to the southwest, Mali to the west, and Algeria to the northwest. It covers a land area of almost , making it the largest landlocked country in West Africa. Over 80% of its land area lies in the Sahara.
Burkina FasoBurkina Faso (bɜːrˌkiːnə_ˈfæsoʊ , -ˈfɑːsoʊ ; buʁkina faso, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and the Ivory Coast to the southwest. As of 2021, the country had an estimated population of 20,321,378. Previously called Republic of Upper Volta (1958–1984), it was renamed Burkina Faso by President Thomas Sankara. Its citizens are known as Burkinabè (bɜːrˈkiːnəbeɪ ), and its capital and largest city is Ouagadougou.
Fula peopleThe Fula, Fulani, or Fulɓe people (Fulɓe, 𞤊𞤵𞤤𞤩𞤫; Peul; Fulani or Hilani; Kanuri: Fillata; Fula; Pël; Fulaw; A̱fa̱taa) is an ethnic group in Sahara, Sahel and West Africa, widely dispersed across the region. Inhabiting many countries, they live mainly in West Africa and northern parts of Central Africa, South Sudan, Darfur, and regions near the Red Sea coast in Sudan. The approximate number of Fula people is unknown, due to clashing definitions regarding Fula ethnicity. Various estimates put the figure between 25 and 30 million people worldwide.
SenegalSenegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is a country in West Africa, on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. Senegal is bordered by Mauritania to the north, Mali to the east, Guinea to the southeast and Guinea-Bissau to the southwest. Senegal nearly surrounds the Gambia, a country occupying a narrow sliver of land along the banks of the Gambia River, which separates Senegal's southern region of Casamance from the rest of the country. Senegal also shares a maritime border with Cape Verde.
French colonial empireThe French Colonial Empire (Empire colonial français) comprised the overseas colonies, protectorates and mandate territories that came under French rule from the 16th century onward. A distinction is generally made between the "First French colonial empire," that existed until 1814, by which time most of it had been lost or sold, and the "Second French colonial empire," which began with the conquest of Algiers in 1830. At its apex between the two world wars, the second French colonial empire was the second-largest colonial empire in the world behind the British Empire.
Scramble for AfricaThe Scramble for Africa is a term widely used by historians to describe the invasion, annexation, division, and colonization of most of Africa by seven Western European powers during an era known as "New Imperialism" (between 1833 and 1914). The 10 percent of Africa that was under formal European control in 1870 increased to almost 90 percent by 1914, with only Liberia and Ethiopia remaining independent. The Berlin Conference of 1884, which regulated European colonization and trade in Africa, is usually accepted as the beginning.
