A map titled Medieval African Empires. The Ghana, Mali, and Songhai Empires are shown. The Mali Empire region includes the area from the west coast of North Africa, extends north slightly into the Sahara desert region, and moves east to Gao, encompassing the Senegal and Niger rivers. The Ghana Empire region does not extend to the coast, remaining within the area between the Senegal and Niger rivers, but extends north further into the Sahara region. The Songhai Empire region includes a small area on the west coast near a river, extends east past Gao, north into the Sahara desert region, and south of Djenne including most of the Niger River. Study the map carefully. What did all three of these empires have in common? They included the trading cities of Timbuktu and Djenné. They reached the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. They included the trading cities of Timbuktu, Djenné, and Gao. Their northern borders reached the Sahara.