Aerial view of Bissau Country Profile Guinea-Bissau is a small, impoverished West African state and former Portuguese colony. Since its independence in 1973, the country has been plagued by authoritarian…

Gambia's National Monument, Banjul Country Profile The Gambia, the smallest nation on continental Africa, is almost entirely surrounded by Senegal except for its Atlantic coastline. Its geography is largely defined…

Country Profile Benin, previously known as Dahomey, gained independence from France on August 1, 1960. It borders Togo to the west, Burkina Faso and Niger to the north, and Nigeria to…

Country Profile Following independence in 1960, Côte d’Ivoire maintained close ties with the West, especially France. Under Félix Houphouët-Boigny, the country enjoyed political stability for decades. A coup in 1999,…

Gabon's capital Libreville Country Profile With a population of 2.5 million, Gabon is a sparsely populated former French colony located on Africa’s west coast. The country has been spared the…

Independence Arch, Accra A former British colony, Ghana became the first sub-Saharan country to gain independence in 1957. Its population of 35 million comprises mainly of Christians (80%), with a…