Africa

West Africa

West Africa is the most densely populated area in . It is in many ways both the continent's most difficult place for travel and potentially its most rewarding.
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Essential Destinations

Top destinations include Nigeria and Ghana.

Photo: Slashme, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is a large country in equatorial West Africa. Often regarded as the "Giant of ", is the most populous country in Africa, with about 216 million people in 2022.

Photo: Erik Cleves Kristensen, CC BY 2.0.
is a country in West Africa. It's a gratifying destination for first-time visitors to West Africa, owing to its good infrastructure, political stability and widespread use of English.

Photo: Wikimedia, CC0.
is a country in West Africa. Formerly a French colony, it is the westernmost country in the Old World. is an excellent destination for anyone interested in exploring and learning about African culture.

Destinations to Discover

Explore places such as Côte d’Ivoire and Benin.

Photo: Axe, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Côte d'Ivoire is a country in West Africa, visited for its beaches, rainforest, wildlife and tourist villages. Resort lodgings in coastal areas draw many visitors.

Photo: Shubert Ciencia, CC BY 2.0.
is a country in West Africa. You'll find culture through a large collection of palatial ruins and temples of the once powerful Kingdom of Dahomey.

Photo: qiv, CC BY-SA 2.0.
is a landlocked country in West Africa. is one of the friendliest countries in all of Africa. Until unrest began in the late 2010s that made travel to the country unsafe, it received only a few tourists per year, and was an excellent destination for anyone interested in seeing a beautiful West African country and exploring African culture and music.

Photo: mishimoto, CC BY 2.0.
The is a small, narrow country along the length of the River in West Africa, almost completely surrounded by . Besides beaches and wildlife, The is known for the town of , made famous by Alex Haley's Roots.

Photo: julien harneis, CC BY-SA 2.0.
is a former French colony in West Africa. has some spectacular landscapes with a few tropical, dry forests remaining, and the rainforests in the south are lush, verdant and full of wildlife — much of it destined for the cooking pot.

Photo: Wikimedia, Public domain.
is an off-the-beaten-path destination on the west coast of Africa. It is primarily an agricultural and fishing country of fewer than 2 million people. This former Portuguese colony is one of the poorest in the world.

Photo: Annabel Symington, CC BY 2.0.
is on the West Coast of . The potential for tourism is vast, but largely unrealised, despite the end of the Civil War in 2002, and tour operators are looking closely at what the country has to offer.

Photo: Ferdinand Reus, CC BY-SA 2.0.
is a narrow country in West Africa, sandwiched between on the west and on the east. It is a charming country, mostly due to its charming people as there are not many tourist attractions.

Photo: Sahmeditor, Public domain.
, in West Africa, is a wonderful place to immerse yourself in the local culture. has a thriving music scene, known as hip co, which blends hip hop with colloquial Liberian English.

West Africa

Latitude of center
9.4894° or 9° 29′ 22″ north
Longitude of center
-2.6886° or 2° 41′ 19″ west
Population
429,000,000
Wiki­data ID
Q4412
This page is based on Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons, and Wikivoyage.
We’d love your help improving our open data sources. Thank you for contributing.

Satellite Map

Discover West Africa from above in high-definition satellite imagery.
© Stadia Maps, Airbus DS, CNES, PlanetObserver, and Copernicus

In Other Languages

From Achinese to Yue Chinese—“West Africa” goes by many names.
  • Achinese: “Afrika Barat”
  • Afrikaans: “Wes-Afrika”
  • Albanian: “Afrika perëndimore”
  • Albanian: “Afrika Perëndimore”
  • Amharic: “ምዕራብ አፍሪካ”
  • Arabic: “أفريقيا الغربية”
  • Arabic: “إفريقيا الغربية”
  • Arabic: “إفريقية الغربية”
  • Arabic: “الغرب الإفريقي”
  • Arabic: “غرب أفريقيا”
  • Arabic: “غرب إفريقيا”
  • Arabic: “غربي أفريقيا”
  • Armenian: “Արևմտյան Աֆրիկա”
  • Arpitan: “Africa du Cuchient”
  • Arpitan: “Africa du Ponant”
  • Asturian: “África Occidental”
  • Azerbaijani: “Qərbi Afrika”
  • Bashkir: “Көнбайыш Африка”
  • Basque: “Afrika mendebalde”
  • Basque: “Mendebaldeko Afrika”
  • Belarusian: “Заходняя Афрыка”
  • Bengali: “পশ্চিম আফ্রিকা”
  • Bosnian: “Zapadna Afrika”
  • Breton: “Afrika ar C’hornaoueg”
  • Breton: “Afrika ar C’hornôg”
  • Breton: “Kornôg Afrika”
  • Bulgarian: “Западна Африка”
  • Burmese: “အနောက်အာဖရိက”
  • Catalan: “Àfrica de l’Oest”
  • Catalan: “Àfrica occidental”
  • Central Bikol: “Aprikang Solnopan”
  • Central Kanuri: “Fǝte Africa yǝ”
  • Central Kurdish: “ڕۆژاوای ئەفریقا”
  • Chinese: “Sai Hui-chiu”
  • Chinese: “西部非洲”
  • Chinese: “西非”
  • Chinese: “西非洲”
  • Chinese: “非洲西部”
  • Chuvash: “Анăç Африка”
  • Croatian: “Zapadna Afrika”
  • Czech: “Západní Afrika”
  • Dagbani: “West Africa”
  • Danish: “Vestafrika”
  • Dimli (individual language): “Afrika Rocawani”
  • Dimli (individual language): “Afrikay Rocawani”
  • Dutch: “West Afrika”
  • Dutch: “West-Afrika”
  • Esperanto: “Okcident-Afriko”
  • Esperanto: “Okcidenta Afriko”
  • Esperanto: “Okcidentafriko”
  • Estonian: “Lääne-Aafrika”
  • Finnish: “Länsi-Afrikka”
  • French: “Afrique de l’Ouest”
  • French: “Afrique occidentale”
  • French: “Ouest-africain”
  • Galician: “África Occidental”
  • Georgian: “დასავლეთ აფრიკა”
  • Georgian: “დასავლეთი აფრიკა”
  • German: “Westafrika”
  • German: “Westliches Afrika”
  • Ghanaian Pidgin English: “West Africa”
  • Ghanaian Pidgin English: “West of Africa”
  • Ghanaian Pidgin English: “Western Africa”
  • Greek: “Δυτική Αφρική”
  • Haitian: “Afrik lwès”
  • Hausa: “Afirka ta Yamma”
  • Hebrew: “אפריקה המערבית”
  • Hebrew: “מערב אפריקה”
  • Hindi: “पश्चिम अफ्रीका”
  • Hindi: “पश्चिमी अफ्रीका”
  • Hindi: “पश्चिमी अफ़्रीका”
  • Hungarian: “Nyugat-Afrika”
  • Icelandic: “Vestur-Afríka”
  • Ido: “West-Afrika”
  • Iloko: “Akinlaud nga Aprika”
  • Iloko: “Laud nga Aprika”
  • Iloko: “Laud ti Aprika”
  • Inari Sami: “Viestâr-Afrik”
  • Indonesian: “Afrika Barat”
  • Irish: “an Afraic Thiar”
  • Italian: “Africa occidentale”
  • Japanese: “アフリカ西部”
  • Japanese: “西アフリカ”
  • Japanese: “西部アフリカ”
  • Javanese: “Afrika Kulon”
  • Kabyle: “Tafriqt Umalu”
  • Kannada: “ಪಶ್ಚಿಮ ಆಫ್ರಿಕ”
  • Kannada: “ಪಶ್ಚಿಮ ಆಫ್ರಿಕಾ”
  • Kara-Kalpak: “Batis Afrika”
  • Kara-Kalpak: “Batıs Afrika”
  • Kazakh: “Батыс Африка”
  • Kinaray-A: “Afrika Nakatungdan”
  • Kinaray-A: “Nakatungdan nga Afrika”
  • Kirghiz: “Батыш Африка”
  • Kongo: “Afelika ya Lumonso”
  • Korean: “서부아프리카”
  • Korean: “서아불리가”
  • Korean: “서아프리카”
  • Kotava: “Taltefa Afrika”
  • Kusaal: “West Africa”
  • Latin: “Africa Occidentalis”
  • Latvian: “Rietumāfrika”
  • Latvian: “Rietumu Āfrika”
  • Lingala: “Afilíka ya Wɛ́sita”
  • Lingua Franca Nova: “Africa ueste”
  • Lithuanian: “Vakarų Afrika”
  • Low German: “West-Afrika”
  • Luxembourgish: “Westafrika”
  • Macedonian: “Западна Африка”
  • Malagasy: “Afrika Andrefana”
  • Malay: “Afrika Barat”
  • Malay: “افريکا بارت”
  • Malayalam: “West Africa”
  • Malayalam: “പടിഞ്ഞാറൻ ആഫ്രിക്ക”
  • Malayalam: “പടിഞ്ഞാറേ ആഫ്രിക്ക”
  • Marathi: “पश्चिम आफ्रिका”
  • Min Nan Chinese: “Se Hui-chiu”
  • Mingrelian: “ბჟადალი აფრიკა”
  • Moksha: “Шиньмадомаширень Африкась”
  • Mongolian: “Баруун Африк”
  • Mongolian: “Өрнө Африк”
  • Mongolian: “Өрнөд Африк”
  • N'Ko: “ߊߝߙߌߞߌ߫ ߕߟߋ߬ߓߋ”
  • Northern Sami: “Oarje-Afrihká”
  • Norwegian Bokmål: “Vest-Afrika”
  • Norwegian Bokmål: “Vestafrika”
  • Norwegian Bokmål: “Vestlige Afrika”
  • Norwegian Bokmål: “Vestre Afrika”
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: “Vest-Afrika”
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: “Vestafrika”
  • Norwegian: “Vest-Afrika”
  • Obolo: “Afirika agan̄ Ichep-ura”
  • Occitan (post 1500): “Africa de l’Oèst”
  • Oromo: “Afrikaa Dhihaa”
  • Ossetian: “Ныгуылæн Африкæ”
  • Panjabi: “ਪੱਛਮੀ ਅਫ਼ਰੀਕਾ”
  • Pedi: “Afrika Bodikela”
  • Persian: “آفريقاي غربي”
  • Persian: “افريقاي غربي”
  • Persian: “افریقای غربی”
  • Persian: “غرب آفریقا”
  • Polish: “Afryka Zachodnia”
  • Polish: “Zachodnia Afryka”
  • Portuguese: “África Ocidental”
  • Portuguese: “Oeste africano”
  • Pushto: “لوېديځه افريقا”
  • Romanian: “Africa de Vest”
  • Romanian: “Africa Occidentală”
  • Russian: “Западная Африка”
  • Santali: “ᱯᱟᱪᱮ ᱟᱯᱷᱨᱤᱠᱟ”
  • Scottish Gaelic: “Afraga an Iar”
  • Scottish Gaelic: “Taobh Siar Afraga”
  • Serbian: “Западна Африка”
  • Serbo-Croatian: “Zapadna Afrika”
  • Shona: “Afurika ye Madokero”
  • Silesian: “Zachodniŏ Afryka”
  • Sindhi: “اولهه آفريڪا”
  • Skolt Sami: “Viõstâr-Afrikk”
  • Slovak: “Západná Afrika”
  • Slovenian: “Zahodna Afrika”
  • Somali: “Galbeedka Afrika”
  • South Azerbaijani: “باتی آفریقا”
  • Southern Dagaare: “West Africa”
  • Spanish: “África Occidental”
  • Standard Moroccan Tamazight: “ⵜⴰⴼⵔⵉⵇⵜ ⵜⴰⵜⴰⵔⴰⵎⵜ”
  • Sundanese: “Afrika Kulon”
  • Swahili: “Afrika Magharibi”
  • Swahili: “Afrika ya Magharibi”
  • Swedish: “Väst afrika”
  • Swedish: “Västafrika”
  • Tagalog: “Kanlurang Aprika”
  • Tajik: “Африқои Ғарбӣ”
  • Tamil: “மேற்காபிரிக்கா”
  • Tamil: “மேற்கு ஆபிரிக்கா”
  • Tamil: “மேற்கு ஆப்பிரிக்கா”
  • Tatar: “Көнбатыш Африка”
  • Thai: “แอฟริกาตะวันตก”
  • Turkish: “Batı Afrika”
  • Turkmen: “Günbatar Afrika”
  • Twi: “West Africa”
  • Tyap: “Afi̱rika Jenshyung”
  • Tyap: “Afrika Jenshyung”
  • Tyap: “Fam Afrika Jenshyung”
  • Tyap: “Fam Kwa̱imam Afrika”
  • Tyap: “Jenshyung Afrika”
  • Tyap: “Kwa̱imam Afrika”
  • Tyap: “Wesafrika”
  • Tyap: “West Africa”
  • Ukrainian: “Західна Африка”
  • Urdu: “مغربی افریقا”
  • Urdu: “مغربی افریقہ”
  • Uzbek: “G’arbiy Afrika”
  • Uzbek: “Gʻarbiy Afrika”
  • Venetian: “Africa Ocidental”
  • Venetian: “Africa Ocidentale”
  • Venetian: “Africa Ocidentałe”
  • Venetian: “Africa Osidentałe”
  • Venetian: “Africa Ozsidentałe”
  • Vietnamese: “Miền tây châu Phi”
  • Vietnamese: “Tây Phi”
  • Walloon: “Afrike coûtchantrece”
  • Waray (Philippines): “Katundan nga Aprika”
  • Waray (Philippines): “Katundan nga Apriká”
  • Waray (Philippines): “Natondan nga Aprika”
  • Waray (Philippines): “Natondan nga Apriká”
  • Waray (Philippines): “West Africa”
  • Welsh: “Affrica Gorllewinol”
  • Welsh: “Gorllewin Affrica”
  • Western Frisian: “West-Afrika”
  • Western Panjabi: “لہندا افریقا”
  • Western Panjabi: “مغربی افریقا”
  • Wolaytta: “Arggo Afriqqaa”
  • Wolof: “Sowu Afrik”
  • Wolof: “Sowwu Afrig”
  • Wolof: “Sowwu Afrik”
  • Wu Chinese: “西非”
  • Yakut: “Арҕаа Африка”
  • Yiddish: “מערב אפריקע”
  • Yoruba: “Apa Iwoorun Afrika”
  • Yoruba: “Apaiwoorun Afrika”
  • Yoruba: “Ìhà ìwọ̀-oòrùn”
  • Yoruba: “Ìwọòrùn Áfíríkà”
  • Yoruba: “Iwoorun Afrika”
  • Yoruba: “Ìwọòrùn Áfríkà”
  • Yoruba: “Ìwọ̀orùn Áfríkà”
  • Yoruba: “West Africa”
  • Yue Chinese: “西非”
  • “ma Apika pi pini suno”

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About Mapcarta. Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, except for photos, directions, and the map. Description text is based on the Wikivoyage page “West Africa”. Photo: Baliola, CC BY-SA 3.0.