Sénégal River

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The 1790 km long Sénégal River, in West Africa, forms the border between Senegal and Mauritania. The river is called Bambotus by Pliny the Elder (from phoenician "behemoth" for hippopotamus) and Nias by Claudius Ptolemy. It was visited by Hanno the Carthaginian around 450 BC. at his navigation from Carthage through the pillars of Herakles to Theon Ochema (Mount Kameroun) in the Gulf of Guinea. Until the destruction of Carthago and its Westafrican Trade net in 146 BC. trade relations from here to the Mediterranean World can be supposed.

As it is formed by the confluence of the Semefé (Bakoy) and Bafing rivers in Bafoulabé, it is considered a sweet water river. The Semefé and Bafing rivers have their mutual source in Guinea; the Bafing River flows through Mali and the Semefé is on the Malinese-Senegalese border.

Approaching its mouth, the Senegal passes through Biffeche and the island on which the city of Saint-Louis, Senegal is located, then turns south. It is separated from the Atlantic Ocean by a thin strip of sand called the Langue de Barbarie before it pours into the ocean itself. The river has two large dams along its course, the Manantali Dam in Mali, and the Maka-Diama dam on the Mauritania-Senegal border, near the outlet to the sea. The Manantali dam was build as a reservoir. The Maka-Diama dam prevents access of salt water into the inner country.

The Senegal River has a drainage basin of 483,181 km² and an estimated annual discharge of 8 million km³. Important tributaries are the Faleme River, Karakoro River, and the Gorgol River.

In 1972 Mali, Mauritania and Senegal founded the Organisation pour la mise en valeur du fleuve Sénégal (OMVS) to manage the river basin. Guinea joined in 2005.