766 



WEST AFRICA. 



WEST AFRICA. The west coast of Africa 

 north of the Congo State and the regions of the 

 interior as far as the Egyptian Soudan have been 

 divided between France, Great IMtain, and Ger- 

 many, save the republic of Liberia, which has suf- 

 fered' encroachment at both extremities, the small 

 Spanish and Portuguese settlements on the 

 Guinea coast, and the arid region south of Moroc- 

 co, to which Spain lays claim, although France 

 has claimed the greater part of it. 



French West Africa. The French posses- 

 sions were reorganized under the decree of Oct. 17, 

 181)0, by placing the region of the middle Niger 

 under a separate military administration and 

 uniting the western part of the Soudan, province 

 with Senegal, By the convention concluded be- 

 tween Fiance and (ireat Britain on June 13, 1899, 

 the boundary between the Hritish Gold Coast and 

 the French sphere is tixed on the north at 11 of 

 north latitude: the limit between Dahomey and 

 the British colony of Lagos extends in a north- 

 erly direction till it strikes the Niger 10 miles 

 above Gere, and from that point the line runs up 

 the Niger 7 miles to the dry river bed called Dallul 

 Mauri, up that to a point 100 miles from Sokoto, 

 round the are of a circle, keeping the same dis- 

 tance from Sokoto, to its second intersection with 

 the parallel of 14 of north latitude, then due 

 east for 70 miles, south to 13 20' of nort u lati- 

 tude, east again for 250 miles, then north to 14 

 of north latitude, and then east to the shore of 

 Lake Chad. All the countries north and east 

 of Lake Chad were recogni/ed in another Anglo- 

 French convention as belonging to the French 

 sphere, as far east as the watershed of the Nile. 

 France thus extends her recognized sphere over 

 the whole of the Sahara and the Libyan desert, 

 and includes in it the partly civilized kingdoms of 

 Wailai and Bagirmi. The French Congo, which 

 has a coast line on the Atlantic from the Congo to 

 the German colony of Kamerun, is separated from 

 the latter by a line following, with some devia- 

 tions, the meridian of 15 east of Greenwich, and 

 compri>es all the interior north of the Congo and 

 I'hangi river-, merges in the new French sphere 

 in the north. The French Congo, Dahomey, and 

 Senegal all come together in the interior of the 

 great shoulder of Africa and through the Sahara 

 are connected with Algeria and Tunis. 



The l-'n ncli Citiii/o has an estimated area of 

 I25.ooo >,,uarc mile- and from 12,000,000 to 15,- 

 000,000 inhabitants. Libreville, the capital, has 

 about 3.000 inhabitants. The Commissioner Gen- 

 eral i- A. Grodet. and the Lieutenant Governor of 

 the Congo under him is .1. B. P. Lemaire. The 

 budget for 1900 makes the income and expendi- 

 ture cadi 5.570.000 francs. The imports in IS'.ts 

 were 4.844,000 francs, of which 1.274.000 francs 

 came from France: exports, .1.1)95.000 francs, of 

 which I.4SS.UIM) francs went to France. The 

 po-tal trallic was 7.S21 letters, etc.. in the in- 

 ternal and 303.717 in the international service; re- 

 ceipts, Hi.OOO francs; expenses. .17.000 francs. 

 Including the military territory and the protec- 

 torates of the Lake Chad region the jurisdiction 

 of the ('oinmis>ioiier General extends over 1.100.- 

 000 square mile-. 



ntilininrii. witli its dependencies, has an area of 

 125,000 square miles and a population of about 

 1,000.000. Col. l.iotard. the Governor, has 1,1s 

 re-idencc at Porto N'ovo. The budget of income 

 arid expenditure for 1900 was 2.200.000 francs. 

 'Hi- imports in 1899 were valued at I2.34S.OOO 

 francs, and the exports at 12.7 19.000 francs The 

 po-ta! tra me j n ]#.)- w .,^ .j< ( .|02 internal and 73.- 

 818 foreign letters, the . receipts being 2.1.000 

 francs, the expenses 80,000 francs. Porto Novo 



has 50,000 inhabitants, and Abomey, the capital 

 of the Dahomey kingdom, has 15,000. The Fon 

 negroes who inhabit the country are skilled in 

 agriculture, raising manioc, yams, and corn, and 

 obtain oil and cocoanuts from the forests. A* 

 joint commission met in February, 1900, on the 

 Ocpara river at its intersection with 9 of north 

 latitude, the point up to which the boundary be- 

 twcen Dahomey and Nigeria was settled, and pro- 

 ceeded to delimit the French and English spheres 

 northward to Gere, on the Niger, according to the 

 terms of the convention of June 14, 1898. They 

 also fixed the position of the two enclaves on the 

 Niger to be leased by England to France, one of 

 them between Liaba and the confluence of the 

 river Mussa, the other on one of the estuaries of 

 the Niger. 



French (liiiiicii. including Futa Jallon, has an 

 area of about 48,000 square miles and a popula- 

 tion estimated at 1,000,000. Konakry, the capi- 

 tal, is on the isle of Tombo. The Governor is 

 M. Ballay. The revenue raised locally was 1.571,- 

 000 francs and the contribution of France 224.U25 

 francs. The imports in 1898 were 9.019,875 francs 

 in value. 1,453.400 francs coming from France, 

 and the exports were 7,799,975 francs. 420.72.1 

 francs going to France. A railroad from Konakry 

 to the Niger has been begun. Earthnuts. rice. 

 millet, gum, and rubber are the chief products. 

 and the natives of Futa Jallon raise cattle. In 

 1899 the value of the imports was 15,442.000 

 francs, and of the exports 9,803,000 francs. Of 

 the imports 1,021.000 francs came from France. 

 which took 902,000 francs of the exports. Ko- 

 nakry was a free port until in January, 1900. an 

 import duty of 5 per cent, ad valorem was im- 

 posed. 



tfcitef/ftl within its extended limits has an area 

 of 200,000 square miles and a population of 

 1,180,000 without and 3,800,000 including the mili- 

 tary territory of the Soudan. N. E. Ballay. the 

 Governor of Senegal, with residence at St. Louis, 

 is also Governor-General of West Africa. The re- 

 ceipts and expenditures of Senegal for 1900 were 

 estimated each at 7.139.002 francs. The imports 

 in 1898 were 33,156,000 francs in value: exports. 

 28,190,000 francs. Of the imports France sup- 

 plied 28,190.000 francs, and of the exports 23.17(1.- 

 000 francs went to France. The post office han- 

 dled 388.774 internal and 775.174 foreign letter-. 

 etc., in 1898. In Senegal there are 104 mile- of 

 railroad, and in the Soudan 98 miles. 



The Irori/ Coast colony has an area of 100.000 

 square miles, including the kingdom of Kong, and 

 a -population of 2,500,000. The local revenue, 

 which sudiced for the expenditures, was 1.290.000 

 francs. The Governor, residing at Grand Bass-mi. 

 is M. Kohardeau. The imports in 1S99 were valued 

 at 0.390.000 francs, and exports at 5.803.000 

 francs. Of the imports 1.021.000 francs came from 

 France, and of the exports 2.027.000 francs went 

 to France. The natives grow corn and rice and 

 gather rubber and cocoanuts. Coffee planting is 

 successful. 



The imports of the l-'rcuch Xoiitlan in 189S were 

 valued at 10.730.000 francs, and exports at 3.C.27.- 

 000 francs. The administrative territory of the 

 Soudan extends from the western part of the bend 

 of the NiLM-r. Lake I )ebo marking (lie boundary 

 between it and the territory under the administra- 

 tion of the civil Governor at St. Louis, across 

 the whole of Africa to the borders of the Nile 

 basin, and from the Sahara southward to the 

 northern limits of the Ivory Coast colony, the 

 British Gold Coast, the German protectorate of 

 Togoland, Dahomey, and British Nigeria. There 

 are two military territories, the western one do- 



