What does Sahel region mean answer?

What does Sahel region mean answer?

The Sahel (/səˈhɛl/; Arabic: ساحل‎ sāḥil [ˈsaːħil], “coast, shore”) is the ecoclimatic and biogeographic realm of transition in Africa between the Sahara to the north and the Sudanian savanna to the south. This belt was roughly located between the Sahara and the coastal areas of West Africa.

What countries are in the Sahel region?

The Sahel, comprising portions of ten (10) African countries, from left to right: [northern] Senegal, [southern] Mauritania, [central] Mali, [northern] Burkina Faso, [southern] Algeria, [southwestern] Niger, [northern] Nigeria, [central] Chad, [central] Sudan and [northern] Eritrea.

What is the Sahel and why is it important?

The Sahel is a relatively fertile region, which makes it much more inhabitable than the Sahara Desert to the north. It is home to some of our earliest hominid ancestors who lived in the area millions of years ago, and is the namesake of ancient species such as Sahelanthropus tchadensis.

What is the Sahel facts for kids?

The Sahel is a narrow belt of land in West Africa. It is a strip of dry land about 5500 kilometers long and 450 kilometres wide. It lies at the southern edge of the Sahara Desert and is located between the dry desert land to the north and the forest areas to the south. The Sahel has a tropical semi-arid climate.

What is the name of the region located south of the Sahara Desert that is vulnerable to desertification?

Many countries around the world suffer from the problems caused by desertification but it is the Sahel region of Africa where the effects are greatest. The Sahel is a narrow belt of land which lies immediately to the south of the Sahara Desert and which extends across most of Africa.

What is the name of the region located south of the Sahara desert that is vulnerable to desertification?

Which desert covers most of northern Africa?

The Sahara
The Sahara is the largest desert in the world and occupies approximately 10 percent of the African Continent. The ecoregion includes the hyper-arid central portion of the Sahara where rainfall is minimal and sporadic.

What is the importance of Timbuktu?

For more than 600 years, Timbuktu was a significant religious, cultural and commercial center whose residents traveled throughout Asia, Africa and Europe. Timbuktu was famous for educating important scholars who were well known throughout the Islamic world.

What is semi desert Sahel?

4 days ago
Sahel, Arabic Sāḥil, semiarid region of western and north-central Africa extending from Senegal eastward to Sudan. It forms a transitional zone between the arid Sahara (desert) to the north and the belt of humid savannas to the south.

Is the Sahel a desert?

Sahel, Arabic Sāḥil, semiarid region of western and north-central Africa extending from Senegal eastward to Sudan. It forms a transitional zone between the arid Sahara (desert) to the north and the belt of humid savannas to the south.

What is happening in the Sahel region of Africa?

The arid belt of the Sahel stretches from Senegal on the coast of West Africa to Djibouti on the east. Hundreds of millions of people call the region home, but for years, this area has suffered the effects of frequent drought, desertification and other symptoms of a changing climate.

Which countries are in the Sahel region?

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

Is the Sahel region facing desertification?

The Sahel is the Arabic word for ‘edge’ or ‘shore’. The Sahel is facing a big problem, desertification . The distribution of rainfall in the Sahel region is uneven. The rainfall in the region has been below average since 1970.

What are the main threats to the Sahel?

Paris – The polisario, a mercenary group created by Algeria in 1973 amidst the Cold War to serve its quest for regional hegemony, is today one of the main threats to the security of the Sahel-Saharan strip and the Mediterranean basin, as confirmed by numerous reports from intelligence agencies and research centers, said Mohammed Ahmed Gain, university professor and president of the African Institute for Peacebuilding and Conflict Transformation.

Is the Sahel a desert or a plain?

The Sahel is a region of western and north-central Africa. It is semiarid, meaning that it gets more rainfall than a desert but is still fairly dry. The Sahel runs in an east-to-west band through portions of the countries of Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Sudan, and Eritrea.