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There were many kingdoms and empires in all regions of the continent of Africa throughout history. A kingdom is a state with a king or queen as its head. [1] An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant centre and subordinate peripheries".
Following the collapse of the Songhai Empire, a number of smaller states arose across West Africa, including the Bambara Empire of Ségou, the lesser Bambara kingdom of Kaarta, the Fula/Malinké kingdom of Khasso (in present-day Mali's Kayes Region), and the Kénédougou Empire of Sikasso. European traders first became a force in the region in ...
In West Africa, the trans-Saharan trade routes connected the rich gold-producing regions around the Niger River with North Africa and the Mediterranean. This connection allowed West African empires like Ghana, Mali, and Songhai to flourish as they traded gold, salt, ivory, and slaves for goods from the Mediterranean world, such as textiles and ...
Geographical map of the West Sudanian savanna The Ghana Empire at its greatest extent. Chapter 1, "The Middle Niger in Pre-antiquity and Global Context", argues that the academic discipline of World History has overlooked Africa; the chapter instead presents the Middle Niger region as one whose history is an important component of the medieval World System through its interactions with North ...
West Africa, also called Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa.The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo, as well as Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha (United Kingdom Overseas Territory).
Map of the western Sahel and Sudan (northern West Africa) c. 1200. (Songhai is Gao) Kingdoms in this era were centred around cities and cores, with variations of influence radiating out from these points, borders here are estimates. The arrival of Islam in West Africa had seismic consequences for the history of the entire region.
The empire collapsed in 1901 when the French deposed the last askia. Far to the east, on Lake Chad, the state of Kanem-Bornu, founded as Kanem in the 9th century, now rose to greater preeminence in the central Sahel region. To their west, the loosely united Hausa city-states became dominant. These two states coexisted uneasily, but were quite ...
During the 200 year period between 1301 and 1500 (the 14th and 15th century) the main civilizations and kingdoms in Africa were the Mali Empire, Kingdom of Kongo, Ife Empire, Benin Kingdom, Songhai Empire, Hausa City-states, Wolof Empire, Great Zimbabwe, Kingdom of Makuria, Kanem Empire,Ethiopian Empire, Kilwa Sultanate, Kingdom of Mapungubwe, Kingdom of Mutapa, and the Ajuran Sultanate.