By 1900 much of Africa had been colonized by seven European powers—Britain,France, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, and Italy. After the conquest of African decentralized and centralized states, the European powers set about establishing colonial state systems. The result was a string of European settlements from present day SENEGAL to the coast of modern NIGERIA. Centuries later these trading posts became the bases for European colonial claims in western Africa. Europeantraders referred to sections of the coast by the main goods traded there: grain, ivory, gold, and slaves.