Rampant colonialism by European nations, plus the creation of an African homeland for repatriated slaves created by the US Congress, helped shape today's West Africa.
West Africa is a huge piece of real estate, stretching from the western border of Chad to the westernmost bulge of the African Continent closest to South America. The northern border of this huge area is the Sahara Desert, and the southern border is the lush Congo rainforest - two studies in extremes! Today, this area is divided into fifteen different countries.
Surprisingly enough, there were only a few recognized areas of Western Africa as late as 1875: the four British colonies of Gambia, Sierra Leone, Gold Coast, and Lagos, plus the independent nation of Liberia, the French territories of Senegal and French Guinea, and the Portuguese Guinea, Azores Islands, and Cape Verde colonies. By 1914, however, the entire western portion of Africa had been divided between the European colonial powers.
While Portugal had the oldest established colonial empire in Africa, they did little with the mainland portion of West Africa other than the Portuguese Guinea colony. France established the largest area, and the most number, of colonies in West Africa. British colonial aspirations changed little from the colonies created prior to 1875, while Germany rushed to establish their own foothold in this huge territory. France established the colonial territories of Mauritania, Senegal, French Guinea, Ivory Coast, Benin (Dahomey), and French Sudan, taking up roughly two-thirds of the total territory. Linked physically and economically with French colonies in Northern and Central Africa, the French African colonial empire covered almost 40% of the land area of the African continent. During the 20th century, both the names of these colonies and their boundaries changed, many more than once. With the end of colonialism and the rise of independent states, many colonies changed their name once more.
The French Sudan territory of 1893 covered all the territory of sub-Saharan Africa from Chad to the Atlantic Coast, with the exception of strips along the seaboard claimed by Britain, Portugal, and Germany, and the independent territory of Liberia. It absorbed or claimed portions of the previous French settlements of Senegal and Mauritania, but not French Guinea or the Ivory Coast territories, which remained independent colonies. As population and other pressures grew, the colony was re-defined, with parts being used to create still new French colonies. Part of the colony along the upper Niger river and westward to the Atlantic was designated "Senegambia & Niger" in 1902. This colony was further divided in 1904 into the colonies of Upper Senegal and Niger and the colonies of Senegal and Mauritania was once more recognized as independent colonies. Between 1919 and 1958, all the French colonies in Western Africa were administered as the French West Africa colony, although stamps continued to be issued and used by all the member territories. Stamps inscribed "French West Africa" appeared in 1944, and continued to be used until 1959. In 1958, each of the French colonies was granted autonomy, and began issuing their own postage stamps. The stamps of these various autonomous states replaced those of French West Africa by 1962, when French West African stamps were no longer valid.
