How Many Nations in Western Africa
Located in west part of Africa, Western Africa is composed of 16 countries. Here is an alphabetical list of all countries in West Africa: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo. Among them, two of which belong to the PALOP (Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau):
1. Benin
 |
- Capital: Porto Novo
- Approximate territorial extension: 112.620 km 2
- French Language
- Currency: CFA Franc
|
2. Burkina Faso
 |
- Capital: Ouagadougou
- Approximate territorial extension: 274,220 km 2
- French Language
- Currency: CFA Franc
|
3. Cape Verde
 |
- Capital: Beach
- Approximate territorial extension: 4,030 km 2
- Portuguese language
- Currency: Cape Verdean Shield
|
4. Ivory Coast
|
- Capital: Yamoussoukro
- Approximate territorial extension: 322,460 km 2
- French Language
- Currency: CFA Franc
|
5. The Gambia
 |
- Capital: Banjul
- Approximate territorial extension: 11.300 km 2
- English language
- Currency: Dalasi
|
6. Ghana
 |
- Capital: Accra
- Approximate territorial extension: 238.540 km 2
- English language
- Currency: Cedi
|
7. Guinea
 |
- Capital: Conakry
- Approximate territorial extension: 245,860 km 2
- French Language
- Currency: Guinean Franc
|
8. Guinea-Bissau
 |
- Capital: Bissau
- Approximate territorial extension: 36.130 km 2
- Portuguese language
- Currency: CFA Franc
|
9. Liberia
 |
- Capital: Monrovia
- Approximate territorial extension: 111.370 km 2
- English language
- Currency: Liberian Dollar
|
10. Mali
 |
- Capital: Bamako
- Approximate territorial extension: 1,240,190 km 2
- French Language
- Currency: CFA Franc
|
11. Mauritania
 |
- Capital: Nouakchott
- Approximate territorial extension: 1,030,700 km 2
- Language: Arabic
- Currency: Eagle
|
12. Niger
 |
- Capital: Niamey
- Approximate territorial extension: 1,267,000 km 2
- French Language
- Currency: CFA Franc
|
13. Nigeria
 |
- Capital: Abuja
- Approximate territorial extension: 923.770 km²
- English language
- Currency: Naira
|
14. Senegal
 |
- Capital: Dakar
- Approximate territorial extension: 196.720 km 2
- French Language
- Currency: CFA Franc
|
15. Sierra Leone
 |
- Capital: Freetown
- Approximate territorial extension: 71.740 km 2
- English language
- Currency: Leone
|
16. Togo
 |
- Capital: Lomé
- Approximate territorial extension: 56.790 km 2
- French Language
- Currency: CFA Franc
|
Countries in Western Africa by Population and Their Capitals
As noted above, there are sixteen independent countries in the Western Africa. Among them, the largest country is Nigeria and the smallest one is Cape Verde in term of population. The full list of Western African countries with capitals is shown in the table below, ranked by latest total population.
| Rank |
Country |
Population |
Land Area (km²) |
Capital |
| 1 |
Nigeria |
200,963,599 |
910,768 |
Abuja |
| 2 |
Ghana |
30,280,811 |
227,533 |
Accra |
| 3 |
Côte d’Ivoire |
25,823,071 |
318,003 |
Yamoussoukro |
| 4 |
Niger |
22,314,743 |
1,266,700 |
Niamey |
| 5 |
Burkina Faso |
20,870,060 |
273,602 |
Ouagadougou |
| 6 |
Mali |
19,973,000 |
1,220,190 |
Bamako |
| 7 |
Senegal |
16,209,125 |
192,530 |
Dakar |
| 8 |
Guinea |
12,218,357 |
245,717 |
Conakry |
| 9 |
Benin |
11,733,059 |
114,305 |
Porto-Novo |
| 10 |
Sierra Leone |
7,901,454 |
71,620 |
Freetown |
| 11 |
Togo |
7,538,000 |
54,385 |
Lome |
| 12 |
Liberia |
4,475,353 |
96,320 |
Monrovia |
| 13 |
Mauritania |
4,077,347 |
1,025,520 |
Nouakchott |
| 14 |
Gambia |
2,347,706 |
10,000 |
Banjul |
| 15 |
Guinea-Bissau |
1,604,528 |
28,120 |
Bissau |
| 16 |
Cape Verde |
550,483 |
4,033 |
Praia |
Map of West African Countries
