North Eastern Atlantic

The Atlantic off the Ivory Coast leads towards the lagoon settlements of Assinie and the neighbouring Gold Coast. Assinie drew European merchants seeking gold and ivory, and the French maintained a fort there briefly at the beginning of the eighteenth century. Farther east, fortified trading posts along the Gold Coast had first served the gold trade and later became deeply involved in the Atlantic trade in enslaved people. Ships connected these separate coastal markets across the Gulf of Guinea.