GEOGRAPHIC / NATIONAL
“Maghreb” refers to the western lands of the early Muslim world, i.e., North Africa, LCSH Africa, North; but is also the Arabic name of Morocco, al-Maghrib.
Western Sahara is a contested area, known as Spanish Sahara when it was a territory of Spain (1884-1975), and occupied / claimed by Morocco since then. Its people are known as Sahrawi.
Sudan is not only a country (and since July 2011 two countries, Sudan and South Sudan), but also a geographic region, LCSH Sudan (Region), stretching across Africa south of the Sahel. It is a belt of tropical savanna, moister than the semi-arid savanna of the Sahel – ‘shore’ [of the desert] in Arabic. It is derived from Arabic bilād al-sūdān, ‘land of the Blacks’; but that had a somewhat looser usage, meaning more or less the then-known area of Africa south of the Sahara, north of the forest zone and especially in West Africa. However, at least one author uses the phrase “Sudanic Africa” to mean Africa south of the Sahara. (Sanni, Amidu. “The West African manuscript heritage: challenges of the digital revolution in a research economy.” African Studies in the Digital Age: DisConnects?, edited by Terry Barringer and Marion Wallace. Leiden: Brill, 2014; p. 128)
Nigeria is a former British colony; its citizens etc. are Nigerian. Niger is a former French colony; its citizens etc. are Nigerien. In the past this distinction was sometimes not made in subject headings, and there may still be errors in some bibliographic records.
The Niger River is not just in Niger. It arcs through West Africa, with the inland Niger Delta (at the bend in the Niger, le boucle du Niger in French) in Mali near Timbuktu, LCSH Inland Niger Delta (Mali); and the Niger River Delta emptying into the Atlantic in southwestern Nigeria (Delta State), LCSH Niger River Delta (Nigeria).
There are two Congos, both francophone:
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Congo (Brazzaville), or Republic of Congo (République du Congo), former French colony, capital Brazzaville.
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Congo (Democratic Republic), or Democratic Republic of Congo, former Belgian colony, capital Kinshasa; also known as Congo Kinshasa, RDC, or DRC; it was called Zaïre 1971-1997.
There are three Guineas, all formally named as republics:
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Guinea (Guinée), former French colony, capital Conakry;
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Guinea-Bissau (Guiné-Bissau), former Portuguese country, capital Bissau;
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Equatorial Guinea (Guinea Ecuatorial), former Spanish colony, capital Malabo.
Senegambia is a regional term for Senegal (former French colony, its capital Dakar the seat of colonial French West Africa), as well as (The) Gambia, a narrow country occupying the banks of the Gambia River, surrounded by Senegal, its capital Banjul. Senegambia was also the name for Gambia when it was a British colony, the Province of Senegambia, later British Gambia. Gambia became an independent member of the Commonwealth in 1965, and a republic within the Commonwealth in 1970; it left the Commonwealth in Oct. 2013. There was a Senegambia Confederation between Gambia and Senegal in 1982-1989.
Mali was known as French Sudan (Soudan Français, sometimes just Soudan) until its independence in 1960, except for 1904-1920 when it was part of the colony of Upper Senegal and Niger (Haut-Sénégal-Niger), along with what became Senegal and Upper Volta (Haute Volta). (They were briefly called Sénégambie-Niger 1903-1904.) Borders also changed with Mauritania and Guinea during the colonial era. The Mali Federation was a brief union of the newly independent republics of Senegal and Mali, 1959-1960.
Burkina Faso was known as Upper Volta (Haute Volta) from 1919-1932 and 1947-1984. From 1932 to 1947 it was dissolved and its administration divided among the colonies of Côte d’Ivoire, French Sudan and Niger. Its people are Burkinabé.
Ghana was formerly the British colony of Gold Coast until independence in 1957. Its neighbor Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) was a French colony, keeping its name after independence in 1960.
Benin was known until 1975 as Dahomey, after the Dahomey kingdom (no LCSH as of yet) which occupied its southern area ca. 1600-1894.
Madagascar was known as the Malagasy Republic from 1958 until 1976.
Tanzania was called Tanganyika until 1964, when it merged with Zanzibar as a united republic. Zanzibar is still a valid subject heading on its own.
Zambia, capital Lusaka, was formerly the British protectorate of Northern Rhodesia; independent since 1964.
Zimbabwe, capital Harare, was formerly the colony of Southern Rhodesia (1898), then Rhodesia (1965), then the reestablished colony of Southern Rhodesia (1979); it became the independent Republic of Zimbabwe in 1980.
Note:
The scope of Africana at the Herskovits Library of African Studies, Northwestern University Libraries, includes some of the African diaspora, e.g. Bahia state in Brazil.
There are two Guyanas / Guianas in northeastern South America:
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Guyana, former British colony, British Guiana; since 1966 part of the British Commonwealth, capital Georgetown;
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French Guiana, or Guyane française, former French penal colony, since 1946 an overseas department of France, capital Cayenne.
Suriname was also formerly known as “Dutch Guiana.”