Senegambia

Senegambia is a historical and geographic region of West Africa associated with the Senegal and Gambia river basins. Its boundaries and meaning vary across historical periods and political contexts.

Senegal River: A major West African river flowing from Guinea through Mali and Senegal to the Atlantic Ocean. Its basin anchors the northern part of the region and linked inland communities to the coast.
Wolof people: A West African ethnic group concentrated in Senegal and The Gambia, with Wolof as its principal language. Wolof-speaking communities and polities shaped the region’s coastal and inland history.
Senegal: A country in West Africa whose territory surrounds The Gambia on three sides. Most definitions of Senegambia include Senegal as a central modern territory.
Senegambian megaliths: Prehistoric stone circles and related monuments found in parts of Senegal and The Gambia. These monuments provide archaeological evidence for long-standing societies across the region.
Gambia River: A West African river flowing through Guinea, Senegal, and The Gambia to the Atlantic Ocean. Its long navigable estuary gave the region its southern geographic axis.
Serer people: A West African ethnic group primarily associated with Senegal and The Gambia. Serer communities developed influential societies in the western part of the region.
The Gambia: A West African country extending inland along both banks of the Gambia River. Its narrow shape follows the river corridor at the heart of the region.
Senegambian languages: A branch of the Niger-Congo language family spoken mainly in Senegal and neighboring areas. The linguistic grouping captures connections that cross the region’s present-day borders.
Atlantic slave trade: The forced transportation of millions of Africans across the Atlantic from the fifteenth to the nineteenth centuries. European forts and trading networks along these rivers made the region a major site of enslavement.
Mandinka people: A Mande-speaking ethnic group with communities across West Africa, including Senegal and The Gambia. Mandinka settlement and political networks connected the Gambia basin to the wider interior.

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