French West Africa

E16190
colonial territory former French colonial federation historical political entity

French West Africa was a federation of eight French colonial territories in West Africa that served as a major political and military base for France, especially during both World Wars.

Observed surface forms (4)

Surface form Occurrences
French Dahomey 1
French West Africa (early holdings) 1
French colonial possessions in Africa 1
Upper Volta region 1

Statements (49)

Predicate Object
instanceOf colonial territory ⓘ
former French colonial federation ⓘ
historical political entity ⓘ
adminCenterMovedFrom Saint-Louis ⓘ
adminCenterMovedTo Dakar ⓘ
administrativeLanguage French ⓘ
borderedBy British West Africa ⓘ
capital Dakar ⓘ
Saint-Louis ⓘ
colonialPower France ⓘ
continent Africa ⓘ
country France ⓘ
currency French West African franc ⓘ
dateDissolved 1960 ⓘ
dateEstablished 1895 ⓘ
event creation of independent West African states ⓘ
flagUsedBy France ⓘ
formerCapital Saint-Louis ⓘ
governingBody Governor-General of French West Africa ⓘ
headquarters Dakar ⓘ
includesTerritory Côte d'Ivoire ⓘ
surface form: Côte d’Ivoire

Kingdom of Dahomey ⓘ
surface form: Dahomey

Mali ⓘ
surface form: French Sudan

Guinea ⓘ
Mauritania ⓘ
Niger ⓘ
Senegal ⓘ
Burkina Faso ⓘ
surface form: Upper Volta
laterCapital Dakar ⓘ
legalSystem French colonial law ⓘ
locatedIn West Africa ⓘ
metropole France ⓘ
numberOfConstituentTerritories 8 ⓘ
partOf French colonial empire ⓘ
reasonForDissolution decolonization of Africa ⓘ
religionMajority Islam ⓘ
significantDuring World War I ⓘ
World War II ⓘ
status defunct ⓘ
successorState Benin ⓘ
Burkina Faso ⓘ
Côte d'Ivoire ⓘ
surface form: Côte d’Ivoire

Guinea ⓘ
Mali ⓘ
Mauritania ⓘ
Niger ⓘ
Senegal ⓘ
usedAs military base for France ⓘ
political base for France ⓘ

Referenced by (19)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Brazzaville Conference → appliesToJurisdiction → French West Africa ⓘ
AEF → borderedBy → French West Africa ⓘ
French Equatorial Africa → borderedBy → French West Africa ⓘ
Gold Coast → borderedBy → French West Africa ⓘ
this entity surface form: Upper Volta region
Italian Libya → borderedBy → French West Africa ⓘ
Kingdom of France → colonialTerritory → French West Africa ⓘ
this entity surface form: French West Africa (early holdings)
French West African franc → country → French West Africa ⓘ
French Empire → hasPart → French West Africa ⓘ
this entity surface form: French colonial possessions in Africa
French Union → includesTerritory → French West Africa ⓘ
French Empire → majorColony → French West Africa ⓘ
Free French Forces → recruitedFrom → French West Africa ⓘ
Kingdom of Dahomey → successorState → French West Africa ⓘ
this entity surface form: French Dahomey
French colonial empire → territory → French West Africa ⓘ
Vichy French forces → theaterOfOperations → French West Africa ⓘ
Dakar → wasCapitalOf → French West Africa ⓘ
Saint-Louis → wasCapitalOf → French West Africa ⓘ