French West Africa
French West Africa (French: Afrique-Occidentale française, AOF) was a federation of eight French colonial territories in West Africa: Mauritania, Senegal, French Sudan (now Mali), French Guinea (now Guinea), Ivory Coast, Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso), Dahomey (now Benin) and Niger. The federation existed from 1895 until 1958. Its capital was Saint-Louis in Senegal until 1902, and then Dakar until the federation's collapse in 1960.
French West Africa | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 1895–1958 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French West Africa (green) after World War II | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Status | Federation of French colonies | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Capital | Saint Louis (1895–1902) Dakar (1902–1960) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Common languages | French (official) Arabic, Fula, Songhay, Hausa, Mossi, Mandinka, Wolof, Bambara, Berber languages, Mande languages widely spoken | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Religion | Roman Catholicism, Islam, Animism | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Historical era | New Imperialism | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
• Established | 27 October 1895 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 October 1958 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
• Total | 4,689,000 km2 (1,810,000 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Currency | French West African franc | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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With an area of 4,689,000 km2, French West Africa was eight times the size of Metropolitan France. French Equatorial Africa had an additional area of 2,500,000 km2.
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