Land

• Grassy savannas stretch across West Africa.savanna 1 image by Bruce Hewitson from Fotolia.com
  
  Aside from Mount Cameroon, which reaches 4,095 meters, most of the land in West Africa rises only 300 meters above sea level. The northern section of West Africa is desert, while the area that bridges the gap between the Sahara and the savannas is known as the Sahel. Below the savannas lie the deciduous forests and the tropical rainforests, which are between 160 km to 240 km wide. Mahogany and iroko trees thrive in the rainforest, although the demands of logging and farming have damaged part of this region.
  
  

Climate

• The southern part of West Africa is wetter and consequently more humid than the dry north. Rainfall is critical to the people of West Africa, where agriculture is the dominant industry. The Sahel region, in particular, is subject to droughts that force the inhabitants to rely on herding livestock to support themselves. Countries that occupy the Sahel include Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad (which borders West Africa).
  
  

Rivers and Lakes

• Four major rivers flow through West Africa: the Senegal River, Benue River, Volta River and Niger River, which is the longest at 4,181 km. The Niger travels through 10 countries and covers 7.5 percent of the continent. Significant lakes include the ever-shrinking Lake Chad on the east side of West Africa and Ghana's Lake Volta, a reservoir that has the largest surface area of any in the world.
  
  

Population Density

• The Nigerian Flagnigeria image by NL shop from Fotolia.com
  
  The most densely populated parts of West Africa are those with the most abundant rainfall and, subsequently, the greatest amount of vegetation. Still, only a few places in the area contain more than 193 people per kilometer. This can be attributed to the slave trade that decimated the population of West Africa. It is estimated that almost 15 million West African slaves were shipped to the Americas between the 16th and 19th centuries. The region, however, does include the nation of Nigeria, which is both the most populated country in West Africa and also on the continent as a whole.
  
  

Fauna

• Gorillas live in the West African rainforest.gorille(gorilla gorilla) image by nuno91 from Fotolia.com
  
  The rainforests of West Africa contain a diverse array of species, from apes and monkeys to manatees and birds such as the African gray parrot. The West African coastal river region supports 322 different species of fish, many of which cannot be found elsewhere. Unfortunately, due to increased human habitation, the impact of farming and scarce resources, the number of animals living in West African national parks has shrunk. According to OurAmazingPlanet staff writer Andrea Mustain, "some large mammal populations (are) down by down by as much as 85%."