French West Africa

French West Africa (French: Afrique occidentale française, AOF) was a federation of eight French colonial territories in Africa: Mauritania, Senegal, French Sudan (now Mali), French Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso), Dahomey (now Benin) and Niger. The capital of the federation was Dakar. The federation existed from 1895 until 1960.

Read more about French West Africa:  History, Territorial Changes, Federal Structure, Colonial Administration, Local Administration, Geography

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    Our foreparents were mostly brought from West Africa.... We were brought to America and our foreparents were sold; white people bought them; white people changed their names ... my maiden name is supposed to be Townsend, but really, what is my maiden name? What is my name?
    Fannie Lou Hamer (1917–1977)

    The French manner of hunting is gentlemanlike; ours is only for bumpkins and bodies. The poor beasts here are pursued and run down by much greater beasts than themselves; and the true British fox-hunter is most undoubtedly a species appropriated and peculiar to this country, which no other part of the globe produces.
    Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl Chesterfield (1694–1773)

    ... it matters not what natural endowment a race may have if it prostitutes itself to the service of death.
    —Rebecca West (1892–1983)

    I have a fair amount of faith that women won’t sit back and allow South Africa to become a totally male-dominated new society. The women in South Africa have shown that they are strong, and I think they will make their voices heard.
    Paula Hathorn (b. c. 1962)