Sahel

The Sahel is a semiarid belt of Africa south of the Sahara, extending from the Atlantic coast to the Red Sea. It forms a transition between the Sahara and the wetter savannas farther south.

West African monsoon: A seasonal wind and rainfall system that brings most of West Africa’s annual precipitation. Its northward reach determines when and where the Sahel receives summer rain.
Sahara: The world’s largest hot desert, spanning much of North Africa. The Sahel forms its southern margin and climatic transition zone.
Mansa Musa: The fourteenth-century ruler of the Mali Empire, renowned for his wealth and pilgrimage to Mecca. His reign illustrates the Sahel’s role in influential medieval states and long-distance exchange.
Sahara Desert: A vast North African desert characterized by extremely low and irregular rainfall. The Sahel is less arid and supports more seasonal grassland and farming than the Sahara.
Intertropical Convergence Zone: A near-equatorial belt where trade winds converge and rising air produces clouds and rain. Its seasonal migration drives the Sahel’s pronounced wet and dry seasons.
Sudanian Savanna: A belt of tropical grassland and woodland south of the Sahel, receiving more rainfall. It marks the wetter ecological transition south of the Sahel.
Sunjata Keita: The founder and first ruler of the Mali Empire, celebrated in Mandinka oral tradition. The epic associated with him preserves a foundational account of Sahelian state formation.
Guinean Forests: A belt of tropical moist forests in West Africa with substantially higher rainfall than the Sahel. Its humid conditions contrast with the Sahel’s short rainy season and dryland ecology.
Drought: A prolonged period of unusually low precipitation that reduces water availability. Rainfall deficits can sharply reduce crops, pasture, and water supplies across the region.
Sahelian Acacia savanna: A dry tropical grassland and shrubland ecoregion characterized by scattered acacia trees. This ecoregion represents characteristic vegetation in parts of the Sahel.

Linked from 60 pages