Senegal Birding Tours
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The Republic of Senegal (“Senegal” hereafter) is a country in West Africa that surrounds its neighbor, The Gambia, and shares land borders with Mauritania, Mali, Guinea-Bissau, and Guinea. Its entire west coast borders the Atlantic Ocean. Senegal is 75,591 square miles (196,712 square kilometers) in area, which makes it roughly the size of South Dakota in the USA. Senegal has a population of around 15.8 million people with around 3.9 million people living in the capital Dakar, which only became the capital in 1960, with the declaration of independence from France.
Modern Senegal came about during the 7th century AD with the formation of the first kingdoms in the region. The first major empire in the area was the Jolof Empire of the 13th and 14th centuries and this lasted until 1549. In the mid-15th century, the Portuguese arrived in Senegal and these were later joined by traders from France, The Netherlands, and Great Britain. In 1677 France took control of the area around Dakar and it took them until 1850 to spread further into Senegal. After over 100 years of French control, Senegal achieved independence on 20th June 1960. After this there was a period of unrest between the Senegal government and the Casamance in the south of the country, but this has subsided in recent times.
Senegal’s geography is a mix of the sandy plains of the western Sahel which gradually rise into a hilly landscape in the southeast of the country, reaching the highest point of 2,126 feet (648 meters). The landscape mostly consists of forest-savanna, acacia savanna, and mangroves. The climate of Senegal is tropical with a dry season between December and April and a wet season between June and October. Temperatures in the interior of the country are far higher than at the coast, with an average of around 17F (10.5C) higher across the year. Temperatures on the border with Mali can reach a staggering 129.2F (54C) in some cases.
