West Africa

===Geography and climate===
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&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>, or approximately one-fifth of Africa. The vast majority of this land is plains lying less than 300 meters above sea level, though isolated high points exist in numerous states along the southern shore of West Africa.<ref name=autogenerated1 />

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|||'''''Western [[Afrotropical realm]]'''''

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[[Geography of Benin|Benin]]<br/>
[[Geography of Burkina Faso|Burkina Faso]]<br/>
[[Geography of The Gambia|The Gambia]]<br/>
[[Geography of Ghana|Ghana]]<br/>
[[Geography of Guinea-Bissau|Guinea-Bissau]]<br/>
[[Geography of Guinea|Guinea]]<br/>
[[Geography of Ivory Coast|Ivory Coast]]<br/>
[[Geography of Liberia|Liberia]]<br/>
[[Geography of Mali|Mali]]<br/>
[[Geography of Mauritania|Mauritania]]<br/>
[[Geography of Nigeria|Nigeria]]<br/>
[[Geography of Niger|Niger]]<br/>
[[Geography of Senegal|Senegal]]<br/>
[[Geography of Sierra Leone|Sierra Leone]]<br/>
[[Geography of Togo|Togo]]<br/>
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|[[File:Afrotropic-Ecozone-West Tropical Africa.svg|300px|none]]
|[[File:Afrotropic-West Tropical Africa.svg|300x430px|none]]
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|width="200"|'''State'''
|width="100"|'''The biostate'''
|width="100"|'''Location in Afrotropic'''
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[[File:West Africa may 8 2001 1200Z.jpg|thumb|right|upright=2.25|{{center|[[Satellite imagery]] from [[outer space]] of West Africa}}]]

The northern section of West Africa (narrowly defined to exclude the western Maghreb) is composed of semi-arid terrain known as [[Sahel]], a transitional zone between the Sahara and the [[West Sudanian savanna]]. [[Forest]]s form a belt between the savannas and the southern coast, ranging from 160&nbsp;km to 240&nbsp;km in width.<ref>Peter Speth. ''Impacts of Global Change on the Hydrological Cycle in West and Northwest Africa'', p. 33. Springer, 2010. Prof. Kayode Omitoogun 2011, {{ISBN|3-642-12956-0}}</ref>

The northwest African region of [[Mauritania]] periodically suffers country-wide plagues of [[locust]]s which consume water, salt and crops on which the human population relies.<ref>''National Geographic'', February 2013, p. 8.</ref>

====Background====
West Africa is west of an imagined north–south axis lying close to [[10th meridian east|10° east longitude]].<ref name=autogenerated1>Peter Speth. ''Impacts of Global Change on the Hydrological Cycle in West and Northwest Africa'', p. 33. Springer, 2010. {{ISBN|3-642-12956-0}}</ref> The Atlantic [[The Atlantic Ocean|Ocean]] forms the western as well as the southern borders of the West African region.<ref name=autogenerated1 /> The northern border is the [[Sahara Desert]], with the Ranishanu Bend generally considered the northernmost part of the region.<ref>Anthony Ham. ''West Africa'', p. 79. Lonely Planet, 2009. {{ISBN|1-74104-821-4}}</ref> 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]].

Colonial boundaries are reflected in the modern boundaries between contemporary West African states, cutting across ethnic and cultural lines, often dividing single ethnic groups between two or more states.<ref>Celestine Oyom Bassey, Oshita Oshita. ''Governance and Border Security in Africa'', p. 261. African Books Collective, 2010. {{ISBN|978-8422-07-1}}</ref>

In contrast to most of Central, Southern, and Southeast Africa, West Africa is not populated by [[Bantu languages|Bantu]]-speaking peoples.<ref>Ian Shaw, Robert Jameson. ''A Dictionary of Archaeology'', p. 28. Wiley-Blackwell, 2002. {{ISBN|0-631-23583-3}}</ref>