Mauritania

Coordinates: 20°N 12°W / 20°N 12°W / 20; -12

Mauritania ⁱ/mɔːrɪˈteɪniə/ (Arabic: موريتانيا‎ Mūrītānyā; Berber: Muritanya or Agawej; Wolof: Gànnaar; Soninke: Murutaane; Pulaar: Moritani), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a country in the Maghreb region of western North Africa. It is the eleventh largest country in Africa and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Morocco and the remnants of Western Sahara in the north, Algeria in the northeast, Mali in the east and southeast, and Senegal in the southwest.

The country derives its name from the ancient Berber Kingdom of Mauretania, which existed from the 3rd century BC to the 7th century AD, in the far north of modern-day Morocco. Approximately 90% of Mauritania's land is within the Sahara and consequently the population is concentrated in the south, where precipitation is slightly higher. The capital and largest city is Nouakchott, located on the Atlantic coast, which is home to around one-third of the country's 3.5 million people. The government was overthrown on 6 August 2008, in a military coup d'état led by General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz. On 16 April 2009, Aziz resigned from the military to run for president in the 19 July elections, which he won.

Tours

Tours (French pronunciation: ​[tuʁ]) is a city located in the centre-west of France. It is the administrative centre of the Indre-et-Loire department and the largest city in the Centre-Val de Loire region of France (although it is not the capital, which is the region's second-largest city, Orléans). In 2012, the city of Tours had 134,978 inhabitants, while the population of the whole metropolitan area was 483,744.

Tours stands on the lower reaches of the River Loire, between Orléans and the Atlantic coast. The surrounding district, the traditional province of Touraine, is known for its wines, for the alleged perfection (as perceived by some speakers) of its local spoken French, and for the Battle of Tours, which took place in 732. The city is also the end-point of the annual Paris–Tours cycle race.

History

In Gallic times the city was important as a crossing point of the Loire. Becoming part of the Roman Empire during the 1st century AD, the city was named "Caesarodunum" ("hill of Caesar"). The name evolved in the 4th century when the original Gallic name, Turones, became first "Civitas Turonum" then "Tours". It was at this time that the amphitheatre of Tours, one of the five largest amphitheatres of the Empire, was built. Tours became the metropolis of the Roman province of Lugdunum towards 380–388, dominating the Loire Valley, Maine and Brittany. One of the outstanding figures of the history of the city was Saint Martin, second bishop who shared his coat with a naked beggar in Amiens. This incident and the importance of Martin in the medieval Christian West made Tours, and its position on the route of pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, a major centre during the Middle Ages.

Senegal

Coordinates: 14°N 14°W / 14°N 14°W / 14; -14

Senegal (ⁱ/ˌsɛnᵻˈɡɔːl, -ˈɡɑːl/;French: le Sénégal), officially the Republic of Senegal (French: République du Sénégal [ʁepyblik dy seneɡal]), is a country in West Africa. Senegal's economical and political capital is Dakar. It is the westernmost country in the mainland of the Old World, or Eurafrasia, and owes its name to the Sénégal River, which borders it to the east and north. The name "Senegal" comes from the Wolof "Sunuu Gaal," which means "Our Boat." Senegal covers a land area of almost 197,000 square kilometres (76,000 sq mi) and has an estimated population of about 13 million. The climate is Sahelian, but there is a rainy season.

Cultures and influences

The territory of modern Senegal has been inhabited by various ethnic groups since the prehistoric era. Organized kingdoms emerged around the seventh century, and parts of the country were ruled by prominent regional empires such as the Wolof. The present state of Senegal has its roots in European colonialism, which began during the mid-15th century, when various European powers began competing for trade in the area. The establishment of coastal trading posts gradually gave way to control of the mainland, culminating in French rule of the area by the 19th century, albeit amid much local resistance. Senegal peacefully attained independence from France in 1960, and has since been among the more politically stable countries in Africa.

West Africa

West Africa, also called Western Africa and the West of Africa, is the westernmost subcontinent of Africa. West Africa has been defined as including the 18 countries Benin, Burkina Faso, the island of Cape Verde, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, the island of Saint Helena, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sao Tome and Principe and Togo.

History

The history of West Africa can be divided into five major periods: first, its prehistory, in which the first human settlers arrived, developed agriculture, and made contact with peoples to the north; the second, the Iron Age empires that consolidated both intra-African, and extra-African trade, and developed centralized states; third, Major polities flourished, which would undergo an extensive history of contact with non-Africans; fourth, the colonial period, in which Great Britain and France controlled nearly the whole of the region; fifth, the post-independence era, in which the current nations were formed.