West Africa and East Africa

[user83793]

West Africa: Dominated by a lower, flatter terrain. It features the vast Atlantic coastline, dense tropical rainforests, expansive river networks (like the Niger River basin), and transitions into the dry Sahel and Sahara Desert to the north.
East Africa: Defined by dramatic, monumental topography. It is home to the Great Rift Valley, massive volcanic peaks like Mount Kilimanjaro, and the African Great Lakes (Lake Victoria, Lake Tanganyika). The climate here is generally cooler and more arid due to the higher elevation plateaus.

 

[user83793]

History & Colonial Impact
The historical trajectory of both sides of the continent shaped modern geopolitics.
West Africa: Home to massive historical, centralized trading empires like the Ghana, Mali, and Songhai Empires, which grew wealthy off gold and salt trades. It was heavily impacted by the transatlantic slave trade due to its long Atlantic coastline. Later, it was colonized primarily by the French and British.
East Africa: Shaped by the ancient civilizations of the Horn of Africa (like the Aksumite Empire in Ethiopia) and Indian Ocean maritime trade routes connecting it to the Middle East and Asia (the Swahili Coast). The slave trade here was primarily oriented toward the Arabian Peninsula. Ethiopia famously resisted European colonization entirely, while the rest of the region was largely split between the British and Germans.

 

[user83793]

 

[mohito]

West af: fat, east: skinny

 

[user83793]

West af: fat, east: skinny

lol this is true acc, is it because west eurasian admixture?

 

[mohito]

lol this is true acc, is it because west eurasian admixture?

Exactly