Senegal: Geography

Location

Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea-Bissau and Mauritania

Geographic coordinates

14 00 N, 14 00 W

Map references

Africa — JPG 109Kb or PDF 460Kb

Area

total: 196,190 sq km
water: 4,190 sq km
land: 192,000 sq km

Area - comparative

slightly smaller than South Dakota

Land boundaries

total: 2,640 km
border countries: The Gambia 740 km, Guinea 330 km, Guinea-Bissau 338 km, Mali 419 km, Mauritania 813 km

Coastline

531 km

Maritime claims - as described in UNCLOS 1982 (see Notes and Definitions)

territorial sea: 12 NM
contiguous zone: 24 NM
exclusive economic zone: 200 NM
continental shelf: 200 NM or to the edge of the continental margin

Climate

tropical; hot, humid; rainy season (May to November) has strong southeast winds; dry season (December to April) dominated by hot, dry, harmattan wind

Terrain

generally low, rolling, plains rising to foothills in southeast

Elevation extremes

lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed feature near Nepen Diakha 581 m

Natural resources

fish, phosphates, iron ore

Land use

arable land: 11.58%
other: 88.23% (1998 est.)
permanent crops: 0.19%

Irrigated land

710 sq km (1998 est.)

Natural hazards

lowlands seasonally flooded; periodic droughts

Environment - current issues

wildlife populations threatened by poaching; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification; overfishing

Environment - international agreements

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling

Geography - note

westernmost country on the African continent; The Gambia is almost an enclave of Senegal