West Africa West Africa West Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. West Africa has been defined as including 17 countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, the island nation of Cape Verde, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, the islands of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo. The population of West Africa is estimated at about /1e6 round 0 million people as of . Studies of human mitochondrial DNA suggest that all humans share common ancestors from Africa, originated in the southwestern regions near the coastal border of Namibia and Angola at the
Gold Coast (region) more territory inland in the late 19th century after the Anglo-Ashanti wars. In 1957, the territory of Gold Coast was granted independence as Ghana. Gold Coast (region) The Gold Coast was the name for a region on the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa that was rich in gold and also in petroleum, sweet crude oil and natural gas. It now forms the country of Ghana. The Gold Coast, Slave Coast, Pepper Coast (or Grain Coast) were named after the main export resources there. Early uses of the term Gold Coast refer literally to the coast and not the interior.