Proper noun
French West Africa
A geographical group of French colonies in West Africa under the supervisory authority of a single governor-general, comprising the following colonised countries (present names as independent republics in parentheses if different): Dahomey (Benin), French Guinea (Guinea), the French Sudan (Mali), Ivory Coast, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal and Upper Volta (Burkina Faso). The last governor-general was also the first of two successive High commissioners, charged with the transition to independence as independent republics, without a common administrative level.
A turning point in relations with France was reached with the 1956 Overseas Reform Act ( Loi Cadre ), which transferred a number of powers from Paris to elected territorial governments in French West Africa and also removed remaining voting inequalities. Source: Internet
Dakar replaced Saint-Louis as the capital of French West Africa in 1902. Source: Internet
In 1899, the French included the land called French Dahomey within the larger French West Africa colonial region. Source: Internet
French Sudan was administered as part of the Federation of French West Africa and supplied labor to France’s colonies on the coast of West Africa. Source: Internet
His Movement Socialist Africain (known by the name Sawaba – independence in the Hausa language ) called for a "no" vote: one of only two major formations in French West Africa to do so. Source: Internet
Many of the population, especially in the interior, considered the tax a humiliating symbol of submission. citation In 1905, the French officially abolished slavery in most of French West Africa. Source: Internet