Sénégal River

River, western Africa.

It rises in Guinea and flows northwest across Mali, then west to the Atlantic Ocean, forming the border between Mauritania and Senegal. It is 1,020 mi (1,641 km) long. Its two major headstreams, the Bafing and Bakoye, meet in Mali to form the Sénégal proper. Dams control floodwaters and prevent the encroachment of saltwater during the dry season.

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▪ river, Africa

Introduction

 river of West Africa, with a length of 1,020 miles (1,641 kilometres). Its drainage basin encompasses some 174,000 square miles (450,000 square kilometres). Two of the river's three headstreams rise in the Fouta Djallon highlands in Guinea, after which it flows to the northwest and then to the west to drain into the Atlantic Ocean. For some 515 miles of its course it forms the boundary between Mauritania to the north and Senegal to the south.

Physical features

Physiography and hydrology

      Of the various headstreams of the river, the Falémé (Falémé River) and Bafing (Bafing River) rise in the sandstones of the Fouta Djallon plateau in Guinea, while the Bakoye (Bakoye River) rises in western Mali. The Bafing and Bakoye meet at Bafoulabé in Mali to form the Sénégal, 650 miles from its mouth. The stream is then joined by the Falémé near Bakel, Senegal. From there onward the Senegal–Mauritania boundary lies on the right (northern) bank, so that the river belongs to Senegal; Mauritania, however, generally has been permitted to use the river.

      From Bakel to Dagana, a distance of 385 miles, the river flows through an alluvial valley as much as 12 miles wide. Floods come in early September at Bakel, reaching Dagana by mid-October. During the flood season the water level rises 12 feet (3.5 metres), the flow is some 300 times greater than in the dry season, and the river occupies the entire valley.

      Below Dagana, at Richard-Toll, the Sénégal enters its delta. The river's gradient is extremely slight in the delta, and, until the completion of the Diama Dam near the river's mouth in 1985, salt water was able to flow upstream to Dagana during periods of low water. The mouth of the Sénégal has been deflected southward by the offshore Canary Current and by trade winds (trade wind) blowing from the north; the result has been the formation of a long sandspit, the Barbary Tongue (Langue de Barbarie). Saint-Louis lies in the river's estuary, which extends for about 10 miles to the river's mouth.

Climate

      The Bafing and Falémé sources receive about 80 inches (2,000 millimetres) of rainfall annually, mostly from late March to early November; the Bakoye basin receives less. The Sénégal valley proper receives 10 to 30 inches of rain annually, from late May to mid-October, with mean maximum temperatures of about 105° F (41° C) in April, and mean minimum temperatures of about 62° F (17° C) in January. Rainfall diminishes downstream, and the climate of Saint-Louis is similar to that of Dakar, the capital of Senegal, to the south.

Plant and animal life

      Typical trees of the Sénégal valley are acacias, notably Acacia nilotica, which grows profusely on banks, and A. senegal, which provides the gum arabic of commerce and grows on drier slopes. The grass Vetiveria nigritiana grows in tufts in wet depressions. In dry areas near the valley sides A. albida, Balanites aegyptiaca (a tree with thorny branches), and grasses are common.

      The river is overfished, but Nile perch are common. Spoonbills, herons, egrets, and weaverbirds are widespread. Among the animals on the riverbanks hedgehogs, monitor lizards, and warthogs are fairly common.

The people and economy

      The Sénégal valley below Dagana is populated by the Wolof; (Wolof) upstream from Dagana to beyond Matam is peopled mainly by the Tukulor (Tokolor), after which Soninke (Serahuli) dominate. Villages average about 300 people except in the delta, which is sparsely settled. Throughout the Sénégal River region small groups of usually nomadic Fulani (Fulbe or Peul) and Mauri (Maure or Moors) are found.

Agriculture and irrigation

      The best agricultural land along the Sénégal River is in the alluvial valley between Bakel and Dagana, and this area is the most densely populated part of the valley. As the floods retreat each year, a variety of crops (including millet, rice, and vegetables) are sown, and they grow and mature quickly. Millet is also grown on rain-fed lands. Both areas provide pasture for the livestock of nomads.

      Rice cultivation on lands from which floods have retreated has been locally improved by embankments, with sluices constructed mainly on the Senegalese riverbank; diesel pumps have also been used on the Mauritanian bank. At Richard-Toll a large area is irrigated by means of a dam across the Taoué (Taouey), a tributary stream up which Sénégal floods penetrate to Lake Guiers. Rice and, more recently, sugarcane have been grown there by the use of mechanized equipment and paid labour, although rice yields have been lower than expected because of saline soils and the depredations of the quelea bird.

      In the delta an embankment 50 miles long controls the entry of floodwater to some 120 square miles, part of which has been prepared for cultivation. The Diama Dam, located about 25 miles upstream from Saint-Louis, permits floodwaters to pass through its sluice gates while preventing the encroachment of salt water; it has improved considerably the supply of fresh water in the delta region and at the same time has facilitated navigation. The hydroelectric potential of the Sénégal has also been tapped, with hydroelectric stations at Diama and upstream at Manantali in Mali; these projects have been undertaken jointly by Mali, Mauritania, and Senegal.

Transportation

      Extension of a railway from Kayes, Mali, to Dakar (completed in 1923) diverted traffic that previously went by river, after which the valley became an economic backwater. Local traffic, however, is carried by shallow-draft boats from Saint-Louis to Podor, Senegal, year-round, and as far as Kayes from early August to mid-October. Most traffic plies between the Mauritanian river ports of Rosso, Bogué, and Kaédi. Minor ferries exist at Rosso and Kayes; there is a dry season causeway across the river at Kayes. Saint-Louis was once a seaport, but because of the dangerous sandbar there it was supplanted by Dakar, 163 miles to the south, after a Dakar–Saint-Louis railway link opened in 1885.

Study and exploration

      In medieval times reports of the Sénégal River's existence as the “River of Gold” reached European navigators. From the 16th to the 20th century the river formed a route of advance for French colonial influence. French ships entered the estuary at least as early as 1558. From a French fort established in 1638, reconnaissance parties went 160 miles upriver to Podor. In 1659 a larger fort was erected on N'Dar Island in the estuary and named Saint-Louis-du-Sénégal for the French king Louis IX (St. Louis). This became a base for French exploration of the river and for trade in slaves, gum, gold, skins, ivory, beeswax, and ostrich feathers. André Brüe built a post, Saint-Joseph-de-Galam, 400 miles upstream in 1698, and parties sent by him reached the Félou Falls above Kayes soon after. Some went up the Falémé, where another fort was built. Pierre David penetrated far up that river in 1744. In the 20th century much of the focus of activity has been on the development of the Sénégal's resources. Since the 1970s this has been undertaken cooperatively by Mali, Mauritania, and Senegal under the auspices of the Organization for the Development of the Sénégal River.

Ronald James Harrison-Church Camille Camara

Additional Reading

Pierre Michel, Les Bassins des fleuves Sénégal et Gambie: étude géomorphologique, 3 vol. (1973), is a fundamental work, providing a detailed description of topography, geology, hydrology, and soils in the Sénégal River basin. Louis Papy, “La Valée du Sénégal: agriculture traditionnelle et riziculture mécanisée,” Les Cahiers d'outre-mer, 4(16):277–324 (October/December 1951), covers hydrology, human exploitation, landscape, cultural traditions, and navigation, with excellent illustrations. Études sénégalaises, no. 9, Connaissance du Sénégal, fascicle 2, Hydrographie, by Félix Brigaud (1961), also studies the river's hydrology. Colette Le Blanc, “Un Village de la vallée du Sénégal: Amadi-Ounaré,” Les Cahiers d'outre-mer, 17(66):117–148 (April/June 1964), describes in detail the environment and daily life of a village on the Sénégal River. Camille Camara

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