thumb|upright=0.9|right|Major slave trading regions of Africa, 15th–19th centuries The vast majority of those who were enslaved and transported in the transatlantic slave trade were people from several Central and West Africa ethnic groups. They had been captured directly by the slave traders in coastal raids, or sold by other West Africans, or by half-European "merchant princes" to European slave traders, who brought them to the Americas.
thumb|upright=09|right|Major slave trading regions of Africa 15th–19th centuries The vast majority of those who were enslaved and transported in the transatlantic slave trade were people from several Central and West Africa ethnic groups They had been captured directly by the slave traders in coastal raids or sold by other West Africans or by half-European "merchant princes" to European slave traders who brought them to the Americas