1.
Guinea
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Guinea /ˈɡɪni/, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a country on the West coast of Africa. Guinea has a population of 10.5 million and an area of 245,860 square kilometres, the president is directly elected by the people and is head of state and head of government. The unicameral Guinean National Assembly is the body of the country. The judicial branch is led by the Guinea Supreme Court, the highest, the country is named after the Guinea region. Guinea is a name for the region of Africa that lies along the Gulf of Guinea. It stretches north through the tropical regions and ends at the Sahel. Guinea is a predominantly Islamic country, with Muslims representing 85 percent of the population, Guineas people belong to twenty-four ethnic groups. French, the language of Guinea, is the main language of communication in schools, in government administration, and the media. Guineas economy is dependent on agriculture and mineral production. It is the second largest producer of bauxite, and has rich deposits of diamonds. The country was at the core of the 2014 Ebola outbreak, human rights in Guinea remain a controversial issue. In 2011 the United States government claimed that torture by security forces, the land that is now Guinea belonged to a series of African empires until France colonized it in the 1890s, and made it part of French West Africa. Guinea declared its independence from France on 2 October 1958, from independence until the presidential election of 2010, Guinea was governed by a number of autocratic rulers. What is now Guinea was on the fringes of the major West African empires, the Ghana Empire is believed to be the earliest of these which grew on trade but contracted and ultimately fell due to the hostile influence of the Almoravids. It was in period that Islam first arrived in the region. The Mali Empire was ruled by Mansa, the most famous being Kankou Moussa, shortly after his reign the Mali Empire began to decline and was ultimately supplanted by its vassal states in the 15th century. The most successful of these was the Songhai Empire, which expanded its power from about 1460 and it continued to prosper until a civil war over succession followed the death of Askia Daoud in 1582. The weakened empire fell to invaders from Morocco at the Battle of Tondibi just three years later, the Moroccans proved unable to rule the kingdom effectively, however, and it split into many small kingdoms
2.
Central bank
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A central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages a states currency, money supply, and interest rates. Central banks also usually oversee the commercial banking system of their respective countries, Central banks in most developed nations are institutionally designed to be independent from political interference. Still, limited control by the executive and legislative bodies usually exists, prior to the 17th century most money was commodity money, typically gold or silver. However, promises to pay were widely circulated and accepted as value at least five hundred years earlier in both Europe and Asia. The Song dynasty was the first to issue generally circulating paper currency, in 1455, in an effort to control inflation, the succeeding Ming Dynasty ended the use of paper money and closed much of Chinese trade. The Bank of Amsterdam, established in the Dutch Republic in 1609, is considered to be the forerunner to modern central banks. The Wisselbanks innovations helped lay the foundations for the birth and development of the banking system that now plays a vital role in the worlds economy. Along with a number of local banks, it performed many functions of a central banking system. Lucien Gillard calls it the European guilder, and Adam Smith devotes many pages to explaining how the bank guilder works, the model of the Wisselbank as a state bank was adapted throughout Europe, including the Bank of Sweden and the Bank of England. Established by Dutch-Latvian Johan Palmstruch in 1668, Sveriges Riksbank is often considered by many as the worlds oldest central bank, the lenders would give the government cash and also issue notes against the government bonds, which could be lent again. A Royal Charter was granted on 27 July through the passage of the Tonnage Act 1694, the bank was given exclusive possession of the governments balances, and was the only limited-liability corporation allowed to issue banknotes. The £1. 2M was raised in 12 days, half of this was used to rebuild the Navy and these modern central banking functions evolved slowly through the 18th and 19th centuries. The currency crisis of 1797, caused by panicked depositors withdrawing from the Bank led to the government suspending convertibility of notes into specie payment. The bank was accused by the bullionists of causing the exchange rate to fall from over issuing banknotes. Nevertheless, it was clear that the Bank was being treated as an organ of the state, henry Thornton, a merchant banker and monetary theorist has been described as the father of the modern central bank. An opponent of the real bills doctrine, he was a defender of the bullionist position, thorntons process of monetary expansion anticipated the theories of Knut Wicksell regarding the cumulative process which restates the Quantity Theory in a theoretically coherent form. Until the mid-nineteenth century, commercial banks were able to issue their own banknotes, many consider the origins of the central bank to lie with the passage of the Bank Charter Act of 1844. Under this law, authorisation to issue new banknotes was restricted to the Bank of England, at the same time, the Bank of England was restricted to issue new banknotes only if they were 100% backed by gold or up to £14 million in government debt
3.
Banknote
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A banknote is a type of negotiable instrument known as a promissory note, made by a bank, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes were originally issued by banks, who were legally required to redeem the notes for legal tender when presented to the chief cashier of the originating bank. These commercial banknotes only traded at face value in the served by the issuing bank. Commercial banknotes have primarily been replaced by national banknotes issued by central banks, national banknotes are generally legal tender, meaning that medium of payment is allowed by law or recognized by a legal system to be valid for meeting a financial obligation. Historically, banks sought to ensure that they could always pay customers in coins when they presented banknotes for payment and this practice of backing notes with something of substance is the basis for the history of central banks backing their currencies in gold or silver. Today, most national currencies have no backing in precious metals or commodities and have value only by fiat, with the exception of non-circulating high-value or precious metal issues, coins are used for lower valued monetary units, while banknotes are used for higher values. The idea of using a durable light-weight substance as evidence of a promise to pay a bearer on demand originated in China during the Han Dynasty in 118 BC, the first known banknote was first developed in China during the Tang and Song dynasties, starting in the 7th century. Its roots were in merchant receipts of deposit during the Tang Dynasty, as merchants, during the Yuan Dynasty, banknotes were adopted by the Mongol Empire. In Europe, the concept of banknotes was first introduced during the 13th century by such as Marco Polo. Counterfeiting, the forgery of banknotes, is an inherent challenge in issuing currency and it is countered by anticounterfeiting measures in the printing of banknotes. Fighting the counterfeiting of banknotes and cheques has been a driver of security printing methods development in recent centuries. Paper currency first developed in the Tang Dynasty China during the 7th century, although true paper money did not appear until the 11th century, the usage of paper currency later spread throughout the Mongol Empire. European explorers like Marco Polo introduced the concept in Europe during the 13th century, napoleon issued paper banknotes in the early 1800s. Paper money originated in two forms, drafts, which are receipts for value held on account, and bills, the perception of banknotes as money has evolved over time. Originally, money was based on precious metals, Banknotes were seen as essentially an I. O. U. or promissory note, a promise to pay someone in precious metal on presentation. With the gradual removal of precious metals from the system, banknotes evolved to represent credit money. Notes or bills were referred to in 18th century novels and were often a key part of the plot such as a note drawn by Lord X for £100 which becomes due in 3 months time. Its roots were in merchant receipts of deposit during the Tang Dynasty, as merchants, before the use of paper, the Chinese used coins that were circular, with a rectangular hole in the middle
4.
History of West Africa
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The history of West Africa began with the first human settlements around 4,000 BCE. West Africa is west of an imagined north-south axis lying close to 10° east longitude, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, early human settlers arrived in West Africa around 12,000 BCE. In the fifth millennium, as the ancestors of modern West Africans began entering the area, culture developed further with the Nok culture, Serer peoples ancient history, and construction of the Senegambian stone circles. The Sahelian kingdoms were a series of kingdoms or empires that were built on the sahel and they controlled the trade routes across the desert, and were also quite decentralised, with member cities having a great deal of autonomy. The Ghana Empire may have established as early as the 4th century CE. It was succeeded by the Sosso in 1230, the Mali Empire in the 13th century CE, there were also a number of forest empires and states in this time period. European traders first became a force in the region in the 15th century, as the demand for slaves increased, some African rulers sought to supply the demand by constant war against their neighbours, resulting in fresh captives. European, American and Haitian governments passed legislation prohibiting the Atlantic slave trade in the 19th century, at the same time, the Europeans started to travel into the interior of Africa to trade and explore. Mungo Park made the first serious expedition into the regions interior, French armies followed not long after. In the Scramble for Africa in the 1880s the Europeans started to colonise the inland of West Africa, they had previously mostly controlled trading ports along the coasts and rivers. Following World War II, campaigns for independence sprung up across West Africa, the development of oil and mineral wealth has seen the steady modernization of some countries since the early 2000s, though inequality persists. West Africa is west of an imagined north-south axis lying close to 10° east longitude, the Atlantic Ocean forms the western and 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. The area north of West Africa is primarily desert containing the Western Sahara, ancient West Africa included the Sahara, which became a desert approximately 3000 BCE. During the last glacial period, the Sahara, extending far beyond the boundaries that now exist. The part just located at the south of the desert is a steppe and it is the ecoclimatic and biogeographic zone of transition in Africa between the Sahara desert to the north and the Sudanian Savanna to the south. The Sudanian Savanna is a belt of tropical savanna that runs east and west across the African continent. The Guinean region is a name for the region that lies along the Gulf of Guinea
5.
French West Africa
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French West Africa was a federation of eight French colonial territories in Africa, Mauritania, Senegal, French Sudan, French Guinea, Ivory Coast, Upper Volta, Dahomey and Niger. The capital of the federation was Dakar, the federation existed from 1895 until 1960. Until after the Second World War almost all the Africans living in the colonies of France were not citizens of France, rather, they were French Subjects, lacking rights before the law, property ownership rights, rights to travel, dissent, or vote. Anyone able to prove they were born in these towns was legally French and they could vote in parliamentary elections, which had been previously dominated by white and Métis residents of Senegal. The Four Communes of Senegal were entitled to elect a Deputy to represent them in the French Parliament in the years 1848–1852, 1871–1876, in 1914, the first African, Blaise Diagne, was elected as the Deputy for Senegal in the French Parliament. In 1916, Diagne pushed through the National Assembly a law granting citizenship to all residents of the so-called Four Communes. In return, he had promised to help millions of Africans to fight in World War I. Thereafter, all black Africans of Dakar, Gorée, Saint-Louis and these conquered areas were usually governed by French Army officers, and dubbed Military Territories. The first Governor General of Senegal was named in 1895, and in 1904, Gabon would later become the seat of its own federation French Equatorial Africa, which was to border its western neighbor on the modern boundary between Niger and Chad. While the latter fell to Free France already after the Battle of Gabon in November 1940, following World War II, the French government began a process of extending limited political rights in its colonies. In 1945 the French Provisional Government allocated ten seats to French West Africa in the new Constituent Assembly called to write a new French Constitution, of these five would be elected by citizens and five by African subjects. The elections brought to prominence a new generation of French-educated Africans and they were all re-elected to the 2nd Constituent Assembly on 2 June 1946. In 1946, the Loi Lamine Guèye granted some limited rights to natives of the African colonies. The French Empire was renamed the French Union on 27 October 1946, in late 1946 under this new constitution each territory was for the first time able elect local representatives, albeit on a limited franchise, to newly established General Councils. These elected bodies had only limited powers, although they did approve local budgets. The Loi Cadre of 23 June 1956 brought universal suffrage to elections held after that date in all French African colonies, the first elections under universal suffrage in French West Africa were the municipal elections of late 1956. On 31 March 1957, under universal suffrage, territorial Assembly elections were held in each of the eight colonies, the leaders of the winning parties were appointed to the newly instituted positions of Vice-Presidents of the respective Governing Councils — French Colonial Governors remained as Presidents. The Constitution of the French Fifth Republic of 1958 again changed the structure of the colonies from the French Union to the French Community, each territory was to become a Protectorate, with the consultative assembly named a National Assembly
6.
Guinea-Bissau War of Independence
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The Guinea-Bissau War of Independence was an armed Independence conflict that took place in Portuguese Guinea between 1963 and 1974. The war ended when Portugal, after the Carnation Revolution of 1974, granted independence to Guinea-Bissau, the interior was however not fully controlled by the Portuguese until the latter half of 19th century. Sporadic fighting continued during the early 20th century and the Bijagós Islands were not pacified under Portuguese rule until 1936, the Portuguese Guinea was dependent from the government of Cape Verde until 1887, when it gained the status of a separate overseas province of Portugal. In 1892, it received the status of district, becoming again a province in 1896. In the beginning of the 20th century, the Portuguese Guinea started to be referred to as colony, with the effectiveness of the Portuguese Colonial Act of 1930, the designation colony fully replaced that of province. In 1952, by an amendment, Portuguese Guinea became again referred as an overseas province. The first major activity of the PAIGC was a strike by dock-workers in Bissau on August 3,1959, the colonial police violently repressed the strike and more than 50 people died, the incident became known as the Pijiguiti Massacre. The massacre led to an upswing of popular support for the PAIGC. By 1960, it was decided to move headquarters to Conakry in neighboring Republic of Guinea in order to prepare for an armed struggle, the main goal of the organization was cooperation of the different national liberation movement in Portuguese colonies. The war in Guinea has been termed Portugals Vietnam, open hostilities broke out in January 1963 when guerrillas from the PAIGC attacked the Portuguese garrison in Tite, near the Corubal River, south of Bissau, the capital of Portuguese Guinea. Similar guerrilla actions quickly spread across the colony, mainly in the south, by this time, the PAIGC, led by Amílcar Cabral, began openly receiving military support from the Soviet Union, China, and Cuba. Unlike Portugals other African territories, successful small-unit Portuguese counterinsurgency tactics were slow to evolve in Guinea and they were also demoralized by the steady growth of PAIGC liberation sympathizers and recruits among the rural population. In a relatively short time, the PAIGC had succeeded in reducing Portuguese military, by 1967 the PAIGC had carried out 147 attacks on Portuguese barracks and army encampments, and effectively controlled 2/3 of Portuguese Guinea. The next year, Portugal began a new campaign against the guerrillas with the arrival of the new governor of the colony, General António de Spínola. General Spínola instituted a series of civil and military reforms, intended to first contain, then back the PAIGC. Two special indigenous African counterinsurgency detachments were formed by the Portuguese Armed Forces, the first of these was the African Commandos, consisting of a battalion of commandos composed entirely of black soldiers. The second was the African Special Marines, Marine units entirely composed of black soldiers, military tactical reforms by Portuguese commanders included new naval amphibious operations to overcome some of the mobility problems inherent in the underdeveloped and marshy areas of the country. These new operations utilized Destacamentos de Fuzileiros Especiais as strike forces, between 1968 and 1972, the Portuguese forces increased their offensive posture, in the form of raids into PAIGC-controlled territory
7.
CFA franc
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The CFA franc is the name of two currencies used in Africa which are guaranteed by the French treasury. The two CFA franc currencies are the West African CFA franc and the Central African CFA franc, although theoretically separate, the two CFA franc currencies are effectively interchangeable. Both CFA francs have an exchange rate to the euro,100 CFA francs =1 former French franc =0.152449 euro. They could theoretically have different values from any moment if one of the two CFA monetary authorities, or France, decided it, therefore, West African CFA coins and banknotes are theoretically not accepted in countries using Central African CFA francs, and vice versa. However, in practice, the permanent parity of the two CFA franc currencies is widely assumed, CFA francs are used in fourteen countries, twelve formerly French-ruled nations in West and Central Africa, Guinea-Bissau, and Equatorial Guinea. These fourteen countries have a population of 147.5 million people. The ISO currency codes are XAF for the Central African CFA franc, the currency has been criticized for making economic planning for the developing countries of French West Africa all but impossible since the CFAs value is pegged to the euro. Between 1945 and 1958, CFA stood for Colonies françaises dAfrique, since independence, CFA is taken to mean Communauté Financière Africaine, but in actual use, the term can have two meanings. The CFA franc was created on 26 December 1945, along with the CFP franc, the reason for their creation was the weakness of the French franc immediately after World War II. When France ratified the Bretton Woods Agreement in December 1945, the French franc was devalued in order to set an exchange rate with the US dollar. New currencies were created in the French colonies to spare them the strong devaluation, French officials presented the decision as an act of generosity. The CFA franc was created with an exchange rate versus the French franc. This exchange rate was changed twice, in 1948 and in 1994. Exchange rate,26 December 1945 to 16 October 1948 –1 CFA franc =1.70 FRF and this 0.70 FRF premium is the consequence of the creation of the CFA franc, which spared the French African colonies the devaluation of December 1945. The 1960 and 1999 events were merely changes in the currency in use in France, the devaluation of 1994 was an attempt to reduce these imbalances. Over time, the number of countries and territories using the CFA franc has changed as some countries began introducing their own separate currencies. A couple of nations in West Africa have also chosen to adopt the CFA franc since its introduction and they are distinguished in French by the meaning of the abbreviation CFA. The Central Africa CFA franc is known in French as the Franc CFA, where CFA stands for Coopération financière en Afrique centrale.0 million people, and a combined GDP of US$88.2 billion
8.
Slavery in Africa
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This article discusses systems, history, and effects of slavery within Africa. See Arab slave trade, Atlantic slave trade, Maafa, Slavery in Africa has existed throughout the continent for many centuries, and still continues in the current day in some countries. Systems of servitude and slavery were common in parts of the continent, when the Arab slave trade and Atlantic slave trade began, many of the local slave systems changed and began supplying captives for slave markets outside of Africa. Slavery in historical Africa was practiced in different forms, Debt slavery, enslavement of war captives, military slavery. Slavery existed in parts of Africa and was a part of the structure of some societies for many centuries. In sub-Saharan Africa, the relationships were often complex, with rights and freedoms given to individuals held in slavery and restrictions on sale. Many communities had hierarchies between different types of slaves, for example, differentiating between those who had been born into slavery and those who had been captured through war, the forms of slavery in Africa were closely related to kinship structures. In many African communities, where land could not be owned, enslavement of individuals was used as a means to increase the influence a person had and expand connections. This made slaves a permanent part of a lineage and the children of slaves could become closely connected with the larger family ties. Children of slaves born into families could be integrated into the kinship group and rise to prominent positions within society. However, stigma often remained attached and there could be strict separations between slave members of a group and those related to the master. Chattel slavery is a specific servitude relationship where the slave is treated as the property of the owner. As such, the owner is free to sell, trade, or treat the slave as he would other pieces of property, many slave relationships in Africa revolved around domestic slavery, where slaves would work primarily in the house of the master but retain some freedoms. Domestic slaves could be considered part of the household and would not be sold to others without extreme cause. The slaves could own the profits from their labor, and could marry, pawnship, or debt bondage slavery, involves the use of people as collateral to secure the repayment of debt. Slave labor is performed by the debtor, or a relative of the debtor, pawnship was a common form of collateral in West Africa. It involved the pledge of a person, or a member of that persons family, pawnship was a common practice throughout West Africa prior to European contact, including amongst the Akan people, the Ewe people, the Ga people, the Yoruba people, and the Edo people. Military slavery involved the acquisition and training of conscripted military units which would retain the identity of military slaves even after their service
9.
Centime
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Centime is French for cent, and is used in English as the name of the fraction currency in several Francophone countries. In France the usage of centime goes back to the introduction of the monetary system under Napoleon. This system aimed at replacing non-decimal fractions of older coins, a five-centime coin was known as a sou, i. e. a solidus or shilling. In Francophone Canada 1⁄100 of a Canadian dollar is known as a cent in both English and French. However, in practice, the form of cenne has completely replaced the official cent, spoken and written use of the official form cent in Francophone Canada is exceptionally uncommon. In the Canadian French vernacular sou, sou noir, cenne, and cenne noire are all known, used. In the European community cent is the name for one hundredth of a euro. However, in French-speaking countries the word centime is the preferred term, indeed, the Superior Council of the French language of Belgium recommended in 2001 the use of centime, since cent is also the French word for hundred. An analogous decision was published in the Journal officiel in France, in Morocco, dirhams are divided into 100 centimes and one may find prices in the country quoted in centimes rather than in dirhams. Sometimes centimes are known as francs or in former Spanish areas, pesetas
10.
Cupronickel
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Cupronickel is an alloy of copper that contains nickel and strengthening elements, such as iron and manganese. Despite its high content, cupronickel is silver in colour. Cupronickel is highly resistant to corrosion in seawater because its potential is adjusted to be neutral with regard to seawater. Another common use of cupronickel is in silver-coloured modern-circulated coins, a typical mix is 75% copper, 25% nickel, and a trace amount of manganese. In the past, true silver coins were debased with cupronickel, Cupronickel alloys are used for marine applications due to their resistance to seawater corrosion, good fabricability, and their effectiveness in lowering macrofouling levels. Alloys ranging in composition from 90% Cu–10% Ni to 70% Cu–30% Ni are commonly specified in heat exchanger or condenser tubes in a variety of marine applications. Desalination plants, Cupronickel alloys are used in brine heaters, heat rejection and recovery, offshore oil and gas platforms and processing and FPSO vessels, Cupronickel alloys are used in systems and splash zone sheathings. Power generation, Cupronickel alloys are used in steam turbine condensers, oil coolers, auxiliary cooling systems and high pressure pre-heaters at nuclear, seawater system design, Cupronickel alloys are used in tubular heat exchangers and condensers, piping and high pressure systems. Seawater system components, Cupronickel alloys are used in condenser and heat exchanger tubes, tubesheets, piping, fittings, pumps, in Europe, Switzerland pioneered the nickel billon coinage in 1850, with the addition of silver. In 1968, Switzerland adopted the far cheaper 75,25 copper to nickel ratio then being used by the Belgians, the United States, and Germany. From 1947 to 2012, all “silver” coinage in the UK was made from cupronickel, prior to these dates, both denominations had been made only in silver in the United States. Cupronickel is the cladding on either side of United States half-dollars since 1971, currently, some circulating coins, such as the United States Jefferson nickel, the Swiss franc, and the South Korean 500 and 100 won are made of solid cupronickel. Single-core thermocouple cables use a single pair of thermocouple conductors such as iron-constantan. These have the element of constantan or nickel-chromium alloy within a sheath of copper. Cupronickel is used in cryogenic applications, beginning around the turn of the 20th century, bullet jackets were commonly made from this material. It was soon replaced with gilding metal to reduce fouling in the bore. Currently, cupronickel remains the basic material for silver-plated cutlery and it is commonly used for mechanical and electrical equipment, medical equipment, zippers, jewelry items, and as material for strings for string instruments. Fender Musical Instruments used CuNiFe magnets in their Wide Range Humbucker pickup for various Telecaster and Starcaster guitars during the 1970s, for high-quality cylinder locks and locking systems, cylinder cores are made from wear-resistant cupronickel
11.
Wildlife of Guinea
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The wildlife of Guinea is very diverse due to the wide variety of different habitats. The southern part of the lies within Guinean Forests of West Africa Biodiversity Hotspot. Ecoregions of Guinea are Western Guinean lowland forest, Guinean montane forest, Guinean forest-savanna mosaic, West Sudanian Savanna, unfortunately, declining populations of large mammals are restricted to uninhabited distant parts of parks and reserves, because of the inappropriate nature conservation. A noteworthy NGO specialized to nature conservation is Guinean Park Foundation
12.
Songhai Empire
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The Songhai Empire was a state that dominated the western Sahel in the 15th and 16th century. At its peak, it was one of the largest states in African history, the state is known by its historiographical name, derived from its leading ethnic group and ruling elite, the Songhai. Sonni Ali established Gao as the capital of the empire, although a Songhai state had existed in, other important cities in the empire were Timbuktu and Djenné, conquered in 1468 and 1475 respectively, where urban-centered trade flourished. Initially, the empire was ruled by the Sonni dynasty, during the second half of the 13th century, Gao and the surrounding region had grown into an important trading center and attracted the interest of the expanding Mali Empire. Mali conquered Gao towards the end of the 13th century, Gao would remain under Malian hegemony until the late 14th century, but as the Mali Empire started to disintegrate, the Songhai reasserted control of Gao. Songhai rulers subsequently took advantage of the weakened Mali Empire to expand Songhai rule, under the rule of Sonni Ali, the Songhai surpassed the Malian Empire in area, wealth, and power, absorbing vast areas of the Mali Empire and reached its greatest extent. A series of plots and coups by Askias successors forced the empire into a period of decline, however, the empire experienced a period of stability and a string of military successes during the reign of Askia Daoud. Ahmad al-Mansur, the Moroccan sultan at the time, demanded tax revenues from the salt mines. Askia Daoud responded by sending a large quantity of gold as gift in an attempt to appease the sultan, Askia Ishaq II ascended to power in a long dynastic struggle following the death of Askia Daoud. He would be the last ruler of the empire, after the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Tondibi, the Songhai Empire collapsed. The Dendi Kingdom succeeded the empire as the continuation of Songhai culture, in ancient times there were several different groups of people that collectively formed the Songhai identity. Among the first people to settle in the region of Gao were the Sorko people, the Sorko fashioned boats and canoes from the wood of the cailcedrat tree and fished and hunted from their boats and provided water-borne transport for goods and people. Another group of people moved into the area to exploit the Nigers resources were the Gow people. The Gow were hunters and specialized in hunting animals such as crocodile. The other known group of known to have inhabited the area were the Do people. They were farmers who raised crops in the lands bordering the river. Sometime before the 10th century, these settlers were subjugated by more powerful, horse-riding Songhai speakers. All these groups of people began to speak the same language and they
Guinea