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. FAQs
What happened during the great Sahel drought of the early 1970s?
A drought from 1968 wiped out crops and killed up to 70 percent of the cattle.
A long period of drought that began in 1968 led to the virtual extinction of the crops in the Sahel and killed 50 to 70 percent of the cattle. In 1972 there was practically no rain at all, and by 1973 sections of the Sahara had advanced southward by as much as 60 miles, or 100 km.
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
Origin Of
Also in Agriculture and Farming Atlas: which originated in this subject.
Also in Architecture and Design Atlas: which originated in this subject.
Also in Food and Drink Atlas: which originated in this subject.
Also in Food and Drink Atlas: which originated in this subject.
Source The Oxford Companion to FoodAlan Davidsontier 1
Also in Society and Culture Atlas: which originated in this subject.
Source Wikipedia: FulaniIntroductiontier 3Quote, Introduction
The Fula people, Fulani people, or Fulɓe are an ethnic group in the Sahara, Sahel, and West Africa, widely dispersed across the region.
Found There
Also in Agriculture and Farming Atlas: found in this subject.
Source Wikipedia: Pearl Millettier 2
Also in Language Atlas: found in this subject.
Source Wikipedia: Chadic LanguagesLead sentence 2tier 2Quote, Lead sentence 2
They are spoken in parts of the Sahel.
Also in Language Atlas: found in this subject.
Source Wikipedia: Atlantic LanguagesLead paragraph of the cited Wikipedia articletier 2Quote, Lead paragraph of the cited Wikipedia article
The Atlantic languages are spoken along the Atlantic coast from Senegal to Liberia, though transhumant Fula speakers have spread eastward and are found in large numbers across the Sahel, from Senegal to Nigeria, Cameroon and Sudan.
Also in Nature Atlas: found in this subject.
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
Wikidata: The Sahel
Wikidata Q66065, class allow-list match verified against P17/real-world identity (w-geo-qidcite-0926).View the Source United Nations
Lake Chad (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationAssociated With: Lake Chad, Lead sectionQuote, Associated With: Lake Chad, Lead section
Lake Chad (Arabic: بحيرة تشاد, Kanuri: Sádǝ, French: Lac Tchad) is an endorheic freshwater lake located at the junction of four countries: Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon, in western and central Africa respectively, with a catchment area in excess of 1,000,000 km2 (390,000 sq mi).
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