Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
History
West Africa's story is one of history's grand epics. This is a place where the great is-
sues and contradictions of Africa's past resonate through the present: from ancient
empires of unrivalled extravagance to the ravages of slavery, from the region's fab-
ulous natural resources to the destruction wrought by climate change, from proud in-
dependence and the colonial yoke to the more complicated sovereignty of the present.
This is a tale that encompasses the stirring emptiness of the Sahara, the fluid interac-
tion of trade and cultures along the Niger River and the clamour of the region's hu-
mid, tropical coasts. Above all, West African-style history is about an astonishing
patchwork of peoples trying to write their own history against all the odds.
Opinion among historians is divided as to whether knowledge of ironworking was introduced to the region
from Egypt or actually originated in West Africa.
