The Ghana Empire, also known as simply Ghana, Ghanata, or Wagadou, was a West African classical to post-classical era western-Sahelian empire based in the modern-day southeast of Mauritania and western Mali.
Column Tomb with remains of the corner columns still intact
Individual burial from the Column Tomb with isolated stele placed at the head
Western necropolis of Koumbi Saleh showing the density of funerary structures
Funerary complex of the Column Tomb
West Africa or 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. The population of West Africa is estimated at 419 million people as of 2021, and at 381,981,000 as of 2017, of which 189,672,000 were female and 192,309,000 male. The region is demographically and economically one of the fastest growing on the African continent.
A rhinoceros in Bandia Nature Reserve, Senegal
African bush elephants in Yankari National Park, Nigeria
Deforestation in Nigeria.
Satellite imagery from outer space of West Africa