Sahel

The Sahel (/səˈhɛl/) is the ecoclimatic and biogeographic zone of transition in Africa between the Sahara Desert to the north and the Sudanian Savanna to the south. Having a semi-arid climate, it stretches across the south-central latitudes of Northern Africa between the Atlantic Ocean and the Red Sea. The Arabic word sāḥil (ساحل) literally means "shore, coast", describing the appearance of the vegetation found in the Sahel as being akin to that of a coastline delimiting the sand of the Sahara.

The Sahel covers parts of (from west to east) northern Senegal, southern Mauritania, central Mali, northern Burkina Faso, extreme south of Algeria, Niger, extreme north of Nigeria, central Chad, central and southern Sudan, and northern Eritrea.

Geography

The Sahel spans 5,400 km (3,360 mi) from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the east, in a belt that varies from several hundred to a thousand kilometers (620 miles) in width, covering an area of 3,053,200 square kilometers (1,178,850 sq mi). It is a transitional ecoregion of semi-arid grasslands, savannas, steppes, and thorn shrublands lying between the wooded Sudanian savanna to the south and the Sahara to the north.

Sahel Region

Sahel is one of Burkina Faso's 13 administrative regions. It was created on 2 July 2001 and had a population of 969,881 in 2006. The region's capital is Dori. Four provinces make up the region - Oudalan, Séno, Soum, and Yagha.

Languages

The main languages spoken in Sahel Region as of 2006 were Fulfulde, Tamasheq (or "Bella"), and Moore. (French is the official language throughout the country.)

References