The "
Slave Coast" was the name given by European colonial powers to the region of
West Africa on the
Gulf of Guinea extending roughly from the
Volta River in the west to the
Niger River delta in the east, in the area now comprising the modern nations of
Togo,
Benin, and
Nigeria. Largely controlled by the British from the
17th century onward, the region was the principle source of
African slaves from the
16th to the
19th centuries.
To the west its neighbors were the similarly named Gold Coast and Ivory Coast. The Ivory Coast retains its name to this day, in the French form Cote d'Ivoire. Suffice to say, the Slave Coast did not.