Geography of Senegal

Senegal

Baobab in Senegal.

Senegal lies on the Atlantic coast of Africa, opposite the Cape Verde archipelago and what was formerly French West Africa. It limits to the north with Mauritania, through the Senegal river, to the east with Mali, to the south with Guinea Bissau and Guinea and in the middle of Senegalese territory, at the height of the Gambia river, Senegal, made up of 14 administrative regions and 45 departments, surrounds to Gambia. The Gambia separates the Cassamance regions (upper and lower) from the rest of Senegal, except for the eastern region, which has its capital in Tambacunda.

The Senegalese territory is characterized by having few elevations, only in the southeast, on the border with Mali, is there a higher elevation.

Relief

Senegal is a flat country, occupying a sedimentary basin called Mauritanian-Senegalese, with elevations barely exceeding 100 m, except in the Cape Verde peninsula, in the south-west of the country. Structurally, it can be divided into three parts: the first is the Cape Verde peninsula, a group of small plateaus of volcanic origin to the west; the second would be the remains of ancient massifs adjacent to the buttresses of the Futa Yallon massif, in Guinea, on the southern and eastern border of the country, which include the highest point of Senegal, an unnamed elevation a few kilometers from Nepen Diakha, with an altitude not exactly known that oscillates between 580 and 640 m., and the third would be a wide continental plain that extends between the Cape Verde peninsula and occupies the entire north and east of Senegal.

This third region contains some of the oldest rocks on the planet, the Birrimian base (Paleoproterozoic), in which quartzites and other crystalline rocks appear. In the north is the southern end of a chain of flattened mountains called the Mauritanians, shared with Mauritania, where there is copper, uranium, and iron.

The Senegalese coast

Senegal's coastline comprises diverse landscapes that depend on climate, ocean currents, and hydrography. On the Grande-Côte, the Grand Coast, north of Dakar, between the Cape Verde peninsula and the mouth of the Senegal River, dominate the niayas, formed by dunes and depressions where vegetables are grown. These are low-lying coastal dunes, sandbars, on the other side of which the Wolof have created orchards protected from the sea winds.

In the saline river estuaries south of Dakar, mangroves formed by islets grow. These forests and channels are known as bolongs, they are full of mosquitoes and when the tide rises they are under seawater. A labyrinth of channels rich in fishing, protected by the Salum Delta National Park. Bolongs are also found in the Gambia estuary and the Casamanza River.

The so-called Petite-Côte, the Little Coast or coast of shells, begins in Rufisque and ends in Joal-Fadiouth, where the bolongs of Sine-Saloum make their appearance. The main vegetation in this area is the filaos or casuarinas, a tree that reaches 25 m. There are few waves and the water is usually clear, but it is poisonous. The particularity of the Petite-Côte is the beach covered with broken shells and rarely with sand. The shells are of a different caliber on each beach.

The Cape Verde peninsula, where Dakar is located, is the volcanic coast. The rocks make bathing dangerous. The few sandy beaches fill up with people in summer, during the hivernage, the name given here to the rainy period in which activity decreases, literally hibernation, although in Spanish this winter is usually called period. The coast is dominated by two conical volcanic hills, the Mamelles, and their lighthouse. The waves, wide, favor surfing and there is no sandy bar, instead there are numerous reefs and sea urchins. To the south of Dakar is the tourist beach of Saly.

To the south of Gambia are the beaches of Casamanza. On a low coast planted with rice there are tourist places such as Ziguinchor, the most important city in the region, Oussouye, Cap-skirring, the island of Carabán, at the mouth of the Casamanza river, the island of Eloubaline and the ornithological reserve of Kassel.

Climate

Map of the classification of Köppen climates of Senegal. In red, warm semi-desert; in pumpkin, warm semi-arid, and in blue, tropical savannah.

Sabana de Senegal, also called the broussenear Joal-Fadiouth.

The climate of Senegal is tropical, hot and humid, with a dry season from November to May, and a wet season from mid-June to mid-October, due to the African monsoon, which moves the winds from south to north following the perpendicular of the sun. The rain is more abundant in the south (600 to 1500 mm), while in the north it is less than 600 mm.

The prevailing winds are well defined by the season: from the southwest in summer, the rainy season, and from the northeast, hot and dry, in winter, the harmattan of the desert. Between June and October the maximum temperatures are reached, and the minimum from December to February.

Due to the changing climate, the landscape varies quite a bit: from semi-desert in the north, to wooded savannah in the south, with gallery forests. In the northwest there is a small desert with dunes, the Lompoul desert, between Dakar and Saint Louis, with about 18 km².

The rainy season is known as hivernage, winter in summer, although it is the hot and humid season, especially in the south. Along the north coast, the cold current from the Canary Islands cools the temperature of the coastal areas. Dakar is in a particularly foggy area, with lows and highs between 18 and 26.oC between January and April, and from 25 to 31.oC in September and October, the months hotter. In Dakar, about 500 mm of rain falls between June and October, with a maximum in August, with more than 200 mm. In the dry season, the harmattan blows, and temperatures rise sharply inland from February, with highs of 38.oC in the south and 40.oC in the north, and maximums of 45-47.oC before the wet season. In Matam, inland, the minima and maxima range from 28 to 41.oC on average in May, and in December and January between 18 and 32.oC, with a precipitation of 370 to 500 mm between June and October, and a maximum of 200 mm in August.

In Ziguinchor, in the most humid region of Casamanza, with minimum temperatures between 16 and 23.oC in January and October, and highs of 30.oC and 37.oC in August and April, 1600 mm fall annually, between June and October, with maximums of more than 100 mm in those months, 300 mm in September, 400 mm in July and 500 mm in August.

Hydrography

Río Salum

River Basin Senegal

Senegal is drained by the Senegal, Salum, Gambia and Casamanza rivers, whose flow is adapted to the monsoons. The most important is the Senegal River, which rises in the Fouta Djallon massif of Guinea, forms Senegal's eastern border with Mali, via its tributary, the Faleme River, running north and then with Mauritania running west. Approaching the Atlantic Ocean, past Dagana, it forms the False Delta, or Oualo, from the village of Richard Toll (Richard's Garden). At that point it receives the waters of the Ferlo river, dammed in the Guiers lake. It passes next to Rosso and when it is less than 10 km from the coast it turns south, parallel to the ocean, and after about 15 km it flows north of the city of Saint Louis, always marking the border with Mauritania. 22 km north of Saint Louis is the Diama reservoir, whose dam was built to prevent seawater from rising up the channel, since before its construction it could reach up to 200 km upstream due to the low altitude of the region. The dam is 600 wide and allows the irrigation of 45,000 ha. The other two large reservoirs on the Senegal River, the Félou Reservoir and the Gouina Reservoir, are located in Mali. The Manantali Reservoir is located on the Bafing River, which joins the Bakoye River further on to form the Senegal River in Mali.

The Salum River is located about a hundred kilometers south of Dakar. It is about 250 km long and forms a large delta shared with the Sine River, in which the Salum Delta National Park is located, formed by a long mangrove swamp on the banks of the river. The basin of this river formerly formed the kingdom of Salum, and the most important city in this basin is currently Kaolack.

The Gambia River rises in the north of Guinea, in the Futa Yallon massif, crosses the Senegalese province of Tambacounda in a northwesterly direction, where the Niokolo-Koba National Park is located, and enters the Gambia forming a series of meanders towards the west to the Atlantic Ocean.

The Casamanza river, in the southern region, is 200 km long, has its source in Guinea and bathes the regions of Kolda, Sédhiou and Ziguinchor, where it flows into an important estuary.

Protected areas of Senegal

Delta of the river Salum

Gambia River in Niokolo-Koba National Park

Facoceros in the Niokolo-Koba National Park.

In Senegal there are 127 protected areas, of these, 6 are national parks, 1 is a nature reserve, 3 are wildlife reserves, 1 is a classified forest, 1 is a special reserve, 4 are protected marine areas, 79 they are forest reserves, 1 is a bird reserve, and 17 do not have a specific classification. Of all these, 4 are biosphere reserves classified by Unesco (Salum Delta, Samba Dia classified forest, Niokolo-Koba National Park and Senegal River Delta), 2 are World Heritage Sites (Niokolo-Koba National Park and Djoudj Bird National Park) and 8 are Ramsar sites of international importance.

• National Park of Birds of the Djoudj, located in northern Senegal, considered as the third ornithological reserve of the world extends on an area of 16,000 hectares and has a permanent water plan that attracts more than 400 species of birds.

• Baja Casamanza National Park, 50 km2, south end of the country, very close to Guinea-Bisáu. Two hundred bird species and numerous mammals: buffaloes, leopards, dwarfs, western red collobo, Guinean forest and savannah.

• Niokolo-Koba National Park, 9,130 km2, in the interior of Casamanza, Tambacounda region, World Heritage and Biosphere Reserve. It is part of a project called Niokolo-Badiar Ecological Complex joining the Badiar National Park (380 km2), north of Guinea. It is crossed by the Gambia River and its two tributaries, the Koulountou River and the Niokolo Koba River, which gives its name to the park. Llano, with top on Mount Assirik, 311 m. Treeed savannah and open forest with rare species like Ceiba pentandra var. guineensis, Cassia sieberiana and Combretum micranthum.

• National Park of the Madeleine Islands, 0.45 km2, west of Dakar, uninhabited. In the older one, Sarpan, tools of the Stone Age have been found. It has a very characteristic dwarf baobab and is nesting area of the rare ethereal rabijunc

• National Park of the Salum Delta, 600 km2, World Heritage Site since 2011 and Ramsar Site since 1984 as part of a protected area of 1800 km2, the third aquatic part, with 170 km2 of mangroves and 80 km2 of forest. It is located on a route of emigration of birds known as Ruta del Atlántico Oriental, used by 90 million birds a year. In Salum anidan royal charrans, common flamingos, common spatulas, zarapitines correlimos, common repiedras and correloimos niños.

• Langue de Barbarie National Park, 20 km2, between the Senegal River and the Atlantic Ocean, in the northwest, a long sand bar of about 30 km north to south from the border of Mauritania to Saint Louis of which 15 km are national park. Aquatic birds: common flamingos, pelicans, cormorants, claws, etc.