A semi-arid transitional belt across northern Africa, lying between the Sahara desert to the north and the wetter Sudanian savanna to the south, and stretching from the Atlantic coast of Senegal and Mauritania eastward to Sudan and Eritrea on the Red Sea. Its name derives from the Arabic for shore or coast, describing its role as the southern edge of the Sahara. Rainfall is low and highly variable year to year, and the region has experienced severe multi-year droughts in the twentieth century that reshaped its agriculture and pastoral herding patterns.
Facts
Classification
Region TypePhysiographic or Climatic Region 1 Region TypePhysiographic or Climatic Region 1 Disputed
Area (sq km)The Sahel has no strictly defined boundary; this figure is a commonly cited estimate for the semi-arid transitional belt. Population2018 figure; the Sahel population has more than tripled since the 1970s (about 40 million then) and continues to grow rapidly, so a current total would read materially higher. Connections
Adjacent To
Associated With
Source Lake Chad (Wikipedia)
Mali, Countries Mali sits mostly in the Saharan and Sahelian regions the atlas own Sahel region entity already describes.
Source Encyclopaedia Britannica
This source names The Sahel directly: "and the Gulf of Guinea and inland to the Sahel, encompassing tropical coastal states and the drier savanna belt behind them."
Source Encyclopaedia Britannica
Demonstrates
The Sahel is the most widely documented real-world region of active desertification pressure.
Source United Nations
In the Other Atlases
- Also in Agriculture and Farming Atlas: Desert Locust, is where this subject originated.
Sources
1. The Sahel (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationIntroduction
The Sahel region (; from Arabic ساحل sāḥil [ˈsaːħil], "coast, shore"), or Sahelian acacia savanna, is a biogeographical region in Africa.
Introduction (2)
As a result, the Sahel is viewed as both an ecoregion and a geopolitical space shaped by internal instability and external strategic competition.
View the Source 2. Encyclopaedia Britannica
United Nations
Lake Chad (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationAssociated With: Lake Chad, Lead sectionQuote, Associated With: Lake Chad, Lead section
Lake Chad is an endorheic freshwater lake located at the junction of four countries: Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon, in western and central Africa respectively.
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