Final answer:
Eastern African societies were made up of autonomous trading city-states, which interacted heavily with the Islamic world, contrasting with the centralized kingdoms of West Africa such as Ghana, Mali, and Songhai, which were significantly impacted by trans-Saharan and transatlantic slave trades.
Step-by-step explanation:
How societies on the eastern coast of Africa differed from those in the west can be summarized as follows:
The east was indeed comprised of autonomous city-states rather than centralized kingdoms or empires. These city-states along the Swahili coast were engaged in a vibrant trade primarily with the Islamic world, which was facilitated by their strategic locations along the Indian Ocean and the knowledge of monsoon wind patterns. Goods from the interior of the continent were exchanged for items from Arabia, Persia, India, Southeast Asia, and China.
In contrast, West Africa was known for its great empires, such as Ghana, Mali, and Songhai, which were highly structured and centralized kingdoms that thrived on trans-Saharan trade. The societies here heavily engaged in the trade of gold, salt, and slaves, which were key commodities at the time. Additionally, West and Central Africa were significantly impacted by the transatlantic slave trade, which vexed those societies with loss and devastation.