Article
Article
Sahel
Article By:
Tarhule, Aondover Department of Geography, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma.
Last reviewed:December 2019
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.800300
A semiarid bioclimatic zone bordering the southern margins of the Sahara Desert in Africa. It extends between 13 and 18°N and stretches across the width of the African continent from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea, an area of about 5 million square kilometers (1.9 million square miles). Within this area are large portions of the countries of Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, Mali, Niger, Chad, Sudan and Eritrea, as well as the northern parts of Burkina Faso, Nigeria and Ethiopia (Fig. 1). The actual boundary of the Sahel is neither as precise nor as rigid as suggested by lines of latitude. For practical purposes, the Sahel is usually defined in terms of its climate and vegetation. See also: Africa
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