What are some of advantages enjoyed by West African coastal nations? The West African coastal countries reap significant advantages as a result of their location. First and foremost is coastal access, which provides them with great economic potential. Sierra Leone, for example, has one of the world's largest harbors.
What are the characteristics of the coastal countries of West Africa?
- Abundant rain forests; the coastal countries of West Africa are mostly covered with dense rain forests, and this is due to the constantly warm weather and very high precipitation all over the year.
What are the advantages enjoyed by the people from West Africa?
Some of the advantages enjoyed by the people from west African communities are the abundant rain forests, crop productivity and the increased rainfall. The abundant rain forests are the one that leads to the increased rainfall as forests are known for attracting rain and the increased rainfall favors crop productivity.
What is the main problem in West Africa?
In West Africa, as in other parts of Africa where the baobab tree is found, the leaves are mixed with couscous and eaten, the bark of the tree is used to make ropes, and the fruit and seeds used for drinks and oils. Deforestation in Nigeria. West Africa is greatly affected by deforestation, and has one of worst deforestation rate.
What is the westernmost region of Africa?
For the region of the African Union, see Regions of the African Union § West. West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa.
What is the largest coalition of jihadist groups in West Africa?
What happened in Burkina Faso in the absence of the state?
What countries are in the Lake Chad Basin?
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What is the largest coalition of jihadist groups in West Africa?
We must act now before 6,000 ISIS fighters overrun West Africa. The largest coalition of jihadist groups is known as Jama’at Nusrat ul-Islam wal-Muslimeen, or JNIM. It brings together al-Qaeda’s Sahara franchise, AQIM, with a number of other militant groups. The coalition was formed in March 2017 and operates in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger.
What happened in Burkina Faso in the absence of the state?
In the absence of the state, some have turned to self-defence militias, who have indiscriminately attacked Fulani communities. Failure to contain the insurgencies could also result in further regional destabilisation, with militant groups now moving southwards from Burkina Faso towards Ghana, Togo, Ivory Coast, and Benin, where two French tourists were recently kidnapped.
What countries are in the Lake Chad Basin?
In January 2019, the governments of Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria reaffirmed their commitment to the Abuja Action Statement on civilian protection in the Lake Chad Basin region. The agreement comprises a range of actions to enhance protection and respond to the most urgent needs of refugees, internally displaced persons and other affected populations.
What is the problem in West Africa?
Overfishing is a major issue in West Africa. Besides reducing fish stocks in the region, it also threatens food security and the livelihoods of many coastal communities who largely depend on artisanal fishing. The overfishing generally comes from foreign trawlers operating in the region.
What are the effects of deforestation in West Africa?
West Africa is greatly affected by deforestation, and has one of worst deforestation rate. Even "the beloved baobab tree" which is viewed as sacred by some West African cultures are under threat due to climate change, urbanization and population growth. "Huge swaths of forest are being razed to clear space for palm oil and cocoa plantations. Mangroves are being killed off by pollution. Even wispy acacias are hacked away for use in cooking fires to feed growing families." Nigeria, Liberia, Guinea, Ghana and the Ivory Coast, have lost large areas of their rainforest. In 2005, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations ranked Nigeria as the state with the worst deforestation rate in the entire world. Causes include logging, subsistence agriculture, and the collection of fuelwood.
What is the western border of West Africa?
West Africa is west of an imagined north–south axis lying close to 10° east longitude. The Atlantic Ocean forms the western as well as the southern borders of the West African region. The northern border is the Sahara Desert, with the Ranishanu Bend generally considered the northernmost part of the region. The eastern border is less precise, with some placing it at the Benue Trough, and others on a line running from Mount Cameroon to Lake Chad .
What is the geographical area of West Africa?
West Africa, broadly defined to include the western portion of the Maghreb ( Western Sahara, Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia ), occupies an area in excess of 6,140,000 km 2, or approximately one-fifth of Africa.
What are the countries in Western Africa?
In the United Nations scheme of African regions, the region of Western Africa includes 16 states and the United Kingdom Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha: Mali, Burkina Faso, Senegal and the Niger are mostly in the Sahel, a transition zone between the Sahara desert and the Sudanian Savanna; Benin, Ivory Coast, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Togo and Nigeria compose most of Guinea, the traditional name for the area near the Gulf of Guinea; Mauritania lies in the Maghreb, the northwestern region of Africa that has historically been inhabited by West African groups such as the Fulani, Soninke, Wolof, Serer and Toucouleur people, along with Arab-Berber Maghrebi people such as the Tuareg; Cape Verde is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean; and Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha consists of eight main islands located in four different parts of the Atlantic. Due to Mauritania's increasingly close ties to the Arab World and its 1999 withdrawal from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), in modern times it is often considered, especially in Africa, as now part of western North Africa.
How many people are there in West Africa?
The population of West Africa is estimated at about 381 million people as of 2018, and at 381,981,000 as of 2017, of which 189,672,000 are female and 192,309,000 male.
What are the major periods of West Africa?
The history of West Africa can be divided into five major periods: first, its prehistory, in which the first human settlers arrived, developed agriculture, and made contact with peoples to the north; the second, the Iron Age empires that consolidated both intra-Africa, and extra-Africa trade, and developed centralized states; third, major polities flourished, which would undergo an extensive history of contact with non-Africans; fourth, the colonial period, in which Great Britain and France controlled nearly the entire region; and fifth, the post-independence era, in which the current nations were formed.
What is the largest coalition of jihadist groups in West Africa?
We must act now before 6,000 ISIS fighters overrun West Africa. The largest coalition of jihadist groups is known as Jama’at Nusrat ul-Islam wal-Muslimeen, or JNIM. It brings together al-Qaeda’s Sahara franchise, AQIM, with a number of other militant groups. The coalition was formed in March 2017 and operates in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger.
What happened in Burkina Faso in the absence of the state?
In the absence of the state, some have turned to self-defence militias, who have indiscriminately attacked Fulani communities. Failure to contain the insurgencies could also result in further regional destabilisation, with militant groups now moving southwards from Burkina Faso towards Ghana, Togo, Ivory Coast, and Benin, where two French tourists were recently kidnapped.
What countries are in the Lake Chad Basin?
In January 2019, the governments of Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria reaffirmed their commitment to the Abuja Action Statement on civilian protection in the Lake Chad Basin region. The agreement comprises a range of actions to enhance protection and respond to the most urgent needs of refugees, internally displaced persons and other affected populations.