Abstract: | Based on a paper presented by the ECA at the Sub-regional Meeting on Economic Co-operation in West Africa, Niamey, October 1966, Deals with the present demographic structures of the population in the Western African countries followed by a study of the recent population trends and the prospects for the future. The countries studied in this paper are: Nigeria, Ghana, Upper Volta, Mali, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Senegal, Niger, Dahomey, Sierra-Leone, Togo, Liberia, Mauritania, Portuguese Guinea, Gambia, Cape Verde Islands, St. Helena. Scheme of the paper: 1. Demographic structure of the population (a. total population - b. density - c. age structure - d. sex-ratio - e. ethnic composition - f. urban population - g. international migration). 2. Major population trends and prospects (a. rate of population growth - b. levels of fertility and mortality - c. population prospects 1960-1980 - d. changes in the age structure) - 3. Concluding remarks. Tables. |