West Africa History

The history of west Africa was largely shaped around the colonization of the European's as well as the conflict between neighbouring countries. The Great Kingdom changed hands several times during its history from Ghanna to Mali and thirdly Songhai which developed the area greatly introducing schools and universities as well as a religious theme with many mosques. The city was called Timbuktu and was the cultural center of the Great Kingdom. The Great Kingdoms main trade was Gold and Salt which was traded with traders from the North in the Sahara desert. This soon came to a halt after Europeans became trading with the west along the coast this was profitable for both sides for awhile. But as the demand for labor increased greatly the Europeans started kidnapping and enslaving local people into slavery to meet the demand. This split many families up and destroyed communities. In 1974 all the West African countries were independent. All in all West Africa was largely shaped by the Europeans as well as the conflict between neighbouring countries.

The culture of West Africa is largely based around religion and the resources they have around them. The region of West Africa is littered with many different languages and ethnic groups.The main three religions are Animism is when people believe that bodies of water, animals, plants and other natural objects have spirits. The other two religions are Islam from the traders in the North and Christianity from the Europeans. The clothing found in West Africa can vary from traditional to modern. Traditional clothing is made from cotton and is made from colorful fabric, because of the heat most of the clothing is loose fitting. The traditional houses in West Africa are made with tin or straw roofs and walls are made form mud brick or straw. In one house a whole extended family may live. All in all the culture of West Africa is largely based around religion and the resources it has around it.