Grain Coast
Also found in: Dictionary, Wikipedia.
Related to Grain Coast: Bight of Benin
Grain Coast,
W Africa, former name of a part of the Atlantic coast that is roughly identical with the coast of modern Liberia. In the 15th cent. "grains of paradise," i.e., seeds of the melegueta pepper, became a major export item; hence the name Grain Coast.The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia™ Copyright © 2013, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/
The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.
Grain Coast
a section of the littoral of Liberia, between capes Mesurado and Palmas. The coast is low, flat, and of a lagoonal type. Equatorial rain forests and mangrove thickets are the predominant forms of vegetation. The Grain Coast acquired its name from its trade in Malaguetta pepper—”grains of paradise.”
The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.