River · Mauritania, Senegal
Senegal
Senegal is the long river that separates Mauritania from Senegal in West Africa. It is formed where two mountain rivers meet in Mali and then runs west. At Saint-Louis it flows into the Atlantic Ocean.
Picture credit: Gregor Rom (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Jacques Taberlet (CC BY 3.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is the Senegal?
The river starts here: meeting of the Bafing and Bakoy rivers in Mali.
It ends in the Atlantic Ocean at Saint-Louis.
Countries on the river: Mauritania, the Senegal.
The story behind it
The Senegal draws a green line through dry country. On one bank live people of Mauritania, on the other people of Senegal, and small boats cross all day between the two, carrying melons, fish and passengers. After the summer rains far upstream, the river swells and spreads over a wide plain; when the water sinks again, farmers sow millet and beans straight into the damp ground, an old way of farming that depends entirely on the flood. Near the mouth lie reed lakes where millions of birds spend the winter, among them pelicans and flamingos from Europe. Manatees, shy and slow, graze in quiet arms of the river. Two dams now control the water, and because the river is shared by several states, its length is given differently in different books.
Questions children ask
How long is the Senegal river?
The Senegal is about 1 086 kilometres long, counted from the place where its two head rivers meet. If those upper rivers are added, the figure grows. That is why not every book gives the same number.
Which countries does the Senegal river flow through?
The Senegal is listed here for Mauritania and Senegal. For hundreds of kilometres it forms the border between the two states, with one country on each bank. Its upper course lies in Mali and Guinea.
Where does the Senegal river flow into the sea?
The river reaches the Atlantic Ocean at Saint-Louis, an old harbour town on an island. Before the sea it runs behind a long sandbar, almost parallel to the beach. Storms keep changing the shape of that opening.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page was checked against public reference sources before publication. Where sources genuinely disagree, the text says so.
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