The Venice of Africa
Ganvié, Benin: The water people of Nokoue Lake
Ganvié is a lake village on stilts in Benin, Africa, in Nokoué Lake, near Cotonou, the country’s biggest city and economic capital. With a population of around 20,000 people, it is probably the largest lake village in Africa.
The settlement was created in the 16th or 17th centuries by the Tofinu people who are said to have taken to the lake to avoid Fon warriors from the Kingdom of Dahomey, also often referred to as the Kingdom of Abomey. They sought to capture members of other ethnic groups to sell as slaves to European traders, often in exchange for weapons.
The village’s main industries besides tourism are fishing and fish farming. The only means of transportation to and from the village is wooden boats.
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Though no longer threatened by roaming warriors, Ganvié's people preserve their watery way of life even today. Even when they leave Ganvié and Lake Nokué. A much larger water village : Makoko, Nigeria, recently dismantled by Nigeria's government in the interest of land developers, was entirely created by immigrants from nearby Ganvié. While seeking work outside their homeland, Ganvié's emigres had sought their own element : the water.
https://www.excelman.com/en/galerie/afrique/nigeria/makoko.html