British West Africa
British West Africa was the collective name for British settlements in West Africa during the colonial period, either in the general geographical sense or the formal colonial administrative entity. British West Africa as a colonial entity was originally officially known as Colony of Sierra Leone and its Dependencies, then British West African Territories and finally British West African Settlements.
British West African Settlements | |||||||||||||
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| 1821–1850 1866–1888 | |||||||||||||
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| Anthem: God Save the King (1821–1837) God Save the Queen (1837–1850; 1866–1888) | |||||||||||||
Location of British West Africa. From left to right: The Gambia, Sierra Leone, Gold Coast and Nigeria. | |||||||||||||
| Status | Crown colony | ||||||||||||
| Capital | Freetown | ||||||||||||
| Common languages | English (official) | ||||||||||||
| Government | Crown colony | ||||||||||||
| Monarch | |||||||||||||
• 1821–1830 | George IV (first) | ||||||||||||
• 1837–1850; 1866–1888 | Victoria (last) | ||||||||||||
| Historical era | Abolitionism New Imperialism | ||||||||||||
• Established | 17 October 1821 | ||||||||||||
• Disestablishment | 13 January 1850 | ||||||||||||
• Second establishment | 19 February 1866 | ||||||||||||
• Final disestablishment | 28 November 1888 | ||||||||||||
| Currency | Pound sterling British West African pound | ||||||||||||
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| Today part of | The Gambia Ghana Nigeria Sierra Leone Cameroon | ||||||||||||
The United Kingdom held varying parts of these territories or the whole throughout the 19th century. From west to east, the colonies became the independent countries of The Gambia, Sierra Leone, Ghana and Nigeria. Until independence, Ghana was referred to as the Gold Coast.
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