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The Sénégal River is a 1790 km long river
River

A river is a natural stream of water, usually freshwater, flowing toward an ocean, a lake, or another stream. In some cases a river flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water....
 in West Africa
West Africa

West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the United Nations subregion of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries distributed over an area of approximately 5 million square km:...
, that forms the border between Senegal
Senegal

Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal, is a country south of the S?n?gal River in West Africa. Senegal is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Mauritania to the north, Mali to the east, and Guinea and Guinea-Bissau to the south....
 and Mauritania
Mauritania

Mauritania , officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a country in northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on the west, by Senegal on the southwest, by Mali on the east and southeast, by Algeria on the northeast, and by the Morocco-controlled Western Sahara on the northwest....
. It was called Bambotus by Pliny the Elder
Pliny the Elder

Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was an ancient author, naturalist or natural philosopher and naval and military commander of some importance who wrote Natural History ....
 (from Phoenician "behemoth" for hippopotamus) and Nias by Claudius Ptolemy. It was visited by Hanno the Carthaginian
Hanno the Navigator

Hanno the Navigator was a Carthage explorer c. 500 BC, best known for his naval exploration of the African coast....
 around 450 BC at his navigation from Carthage
Carthage

Carthage refers both to an ancient city in present-day Tunisia, and a modern-day suburb of Tunis. The civilization that developed within the city's sphere of influence is referred to as Punic or Carthaginian....
 through the pillars of Herakles to Theon Ochema (Mount Cameroon
Mount Cameroon

Mount Cameroon is an active volcano in Cameroon near the Gulf of Guinea. Mount Cameroon is also known as Cameroon Mountain or Fako or by its native name Mongo ma Ndemi ....
) in the Gulf of Guinea
Gulf of Guinea

The Gulf of Guinea is the part of the Atlantic Ocean southwest of Africa. The intersection of the Equator and Prime Meridian is in the gulf. According to the International Hydrographic Organization, the Gulf's oceanic border is the rhumb line that runs from Cape Palmas in Liberia to Cape Lopez in Gabon ....
. There was trade from here to the Mediterranean World, until the destruction of Carthage and its west African trade net in 146 BC.

As it is formed by the confluence
Confluence

Confluence may refer to:* Confluence , the point where two or more bodies of water meet and merge* Deformation , the streamline air flow convergence of a fluid air parcel...
 of the Semefé (Bakoy) and Bafing
Bafing River

The Bafing River runs through Guinea and Mali and is about long. It joins with the Bakoy River in Bafoulab? to form the S?n?gal River, in the Kayes Region of western Mali....
 rivers in Bafoulabé
Bafoulabé

Bafoulab? is a town and commune in south-western Mali. It is located in the Region of Kayes Region. Bafoulab? is the capital of the Cercle of Bafoulab? Cercle, which in 1887 was the first Cercle to be created in Mali....
, it is considered a sweet water river.






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The Sénégal River is a 1790 km long river
River

A river is a natural stream of water, usually freshwater, flowing toward an ocean, a lake, or another stream. In some cases a river flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water....
 in West Africa
West Africa

West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the United Nations subregion of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries distributed over an area of approximately 5 million square km:...
, that forms the border between Senegal
Senegal

Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal, is a country south of the S?n?gal River in West Africa. Senegal is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Mauritania to the north, Mali to the east, and Guinea and Guinea-Bissau to the south....
 and Mauritania
Mauritania

Mauritania , officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a country in northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on the west, by Senegal on the southwest, by Mali on the east and southeast, by Algeria on the northeast, and by the Morocco-controlled Western Sahara on the northwest....
. It was called Bambotus by Pliny the Elder
Pliny the Elder

Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was an ancient author, naturalist or natural philosopher and naval and military commander of some importance who wrote Natural History ....
 (from Phoenician "behemoth" for hippopotamus) and Nias by Claudius Ptolemy. It was visited by Hanno the Carthaginian
Hanno the Navigator

Hanno the Navigator was a Carthage explorer c. 500 BC, best known for his naval exploration of the African coast....
 around 450 BC at his navigation from Carthage
Carthage

Carthage refers both to an ancient city in present-day Tunisia, and a modern-day suburb of Tunis. The civilization that developed within the city's sphere of influence is referred to as Punic or Carthaginian....
 through the pillars of Herakles to Theon Ochema (Mount Cameroon
Mount Cameroon

Mount Cameroon is an active volcano in Cameroon near the Gulf of Guinea. Mount Cameroon is also known as Cameroon Mountain or Fako or by its native name Mongo ma Ndemi ....
) in the Gulf of Guinea
Gulf of Guinea

The Gulf of Guinea is the part of the Atlantic Ocean southwest of Africa. The intersection of the Equator and Prime Meridian is in the gulf. According to the International Hydrographic Organization, the Gulf's oceanic border is the rhumb line that runs from Cape Palmas in Liberia to Cape Lopez in Gabon ....
. There was trade from here to the Mediterranean World, until the destruction of Carthage and its west African trade net in 146 BC.

As it is formed by the confluence
Confluence

Confluence may refer to:* Confluence , the point where two or more bodies of water meet and merge* Deformation , the streamline air flow convergence of a fluid air parcel...
 of the Semefé (Bakoy) and Bafing
Bafing River

The Bafing River runs through Guinea and Mali and is about long. It joins with the Bakoy River in Bafoulab? to form the S?n?gal River, in the Kayes Region of western Mali....
 rivers in Bafoulabé
Bafoulabé

Bafoulab? is a town and commune in south-western Mali. It is located in the Region of Kayes Region. Bafoulab? is the capital of the Cercle of Bafoulab? Cercle, which in 1887 was the first Cercle to be created in Mali....
, it is considered a sweet water river. The Semefé and Bafing rivers have their mutual source in Guinea
Guinea

Guinea, officially Republic of Guinea , is a country in West Africa formerly known as French Guinea. The country's current population is estimated at 10,211,437 ....
; the Bafing River flows through Mali
Mali

Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked nation in West Africa. Mali is the seventh largest country in Africa, bordering Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the C?te d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west....
 and the Semefé is on the Malinese-Senegalese border.

Approaching its mouth, the Senegal passes through Biffeche
Biffeche

Biffeche or Bifeche is an area of Senegal centred on the town of Savoigne, some 20 miles north-east of the major coastal city of Saint-Louis, Senegal....
 and the island on which the city of Saint-Louis, Senegal
Saint-Louis, Senegal

Saint-Louis, or Ndar as it is called in Wolof language, is the capital of Senegal's Saint-Louis Region. Located in the northwest of Senegal, near the mouth of the Senegal River, and 320 km north of Senegal's Capital City Dakar, it has a population officially estimated at 176,000 in 2005....
 is located, then turns south. It is separated from the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions; with a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres . It covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface....
 by a thin strip of sand called the Langue de Barbarie
Langue de Barbarie

The Langue de Barbarie is a thin, sandy peninsula, adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean, located in western Senegal, in the neighbourhood of the city of Saint-Louis, Senegal.....
 before it pours into the ocean
Ocean

An ocean is a major body of Seawater, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by ocean, a World Ocean that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas....
 itself. The river has two large dam
Dam

A dam is a barrier that Reservoirs surface water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates, levees, and Dike are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions....
s along its course, the Manantali Dam
Manantali Dam

The Manantali Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Bafing river, 90 km to the south-east of Bafoulab?, in Mali's Kayes Region.It is managed by the Organization for the Development of the Senegal River ....
 in Mali, and the Maka-Diama dam on the Mauritania-Senegal border, near the outlet to the sea. The Manantali dam was built as a reservoir. The Maka-Diama dam prevents access of salt water into the inner country.

The Senegal River has a drainage basin
Drainage basin

A drainage basin is an extent of land where water from rain or snow melt drains downhill into a body of water, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea or ocean....
 of 483,181 km² and an estimated annual discharge of 8 million km³. Important tributaries
Tributary

A tributary is a stream or river which flows into a Mainstem river. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea. Tributaries and the mainstem river serve to drain the surrounding drainage basin of its surface water and groundwater by leading the water out into an ocean or some other large body of water....
 are the Faleme River
Faleme River

The Fal?m? River is a river in West Africa. The Fal?m? arises in northern Guinea and flows in a north-northeast direction to Mali, turing northwest it forms the border between Mali and Senegal, then becomes a tributary of the S?n?gal River....
, Karakoro River
Karakoro River

The Karakoro River is an important tributary to the Senegal River, and forms part of the Mauritania-Mali border....
, and the Gorgol River
Gorgol River

The Gorgol River is a river of southern Mauritania. Located in the south flowing through the Gorgol valley, it is a tributary of the Senegal River....
.

In 1972 Mali, Mauritania and Senegal founded the Organisation pour la mise en valeur du fleuve Sénégal
Organisation pour la mise en valeur du fleuve Sénégal

The Organisation pour la mise en valeur du fleuve S?n?gal is an organisation founded in 1972 by Mali, Mauritania and Senegal to manage the Senegal River and its river basin....
 (OMVS) to manage the river basin. Guinea
Guinea

Guinea, officially Republic of Guinea , is a country in West Africa formerly known as French Guinea. The country's current population is estimated at 10,211,437 ....
 joined in 2005.

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