Ferlo

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The Ferlo (also Fouta Ferlo ) is a zone sylvopastorale du Ferlo, the most arid ecological geographic natural area in the West African state of Senegal with the character of a savannah landscape .

The basin in the north of Senegal, located south of the Senegal Lowlands , is covered with sparse vegetation and is part of the Sahel zone and, as a natural area, covers an area of ​​55,561 km². That is more than a quarter of the total area of ​​Senegal.

The area takes its name from the river Ferlo of the same name , which drains the area to the northwest over Lake Guiers towards the Senegal lowlands. In winter, i.e. during the dry season, the length of its river bed is reduced to half of its 500 kilometers.

There are endless plains, sand dunes, scattered rocks and small depressions with clay soils in which small water holes form. The annual rainfall of the thorn bush savannah is given as 300 mm. Precipitation is concentrated in the two to three month rainy season in the summer months, with the number of annual rainy days usually being less than 30. The natural vegetation of the Ferlo is sufficient to be used agriculturally for semi-nomadic extensive cattle breeding and makes this the main livelihood of the population. Another agricultural product is, for example, gum arabic .

Dahra and Linguère are the largest cities in the Ferlo with around 32,000 and 15,000 inhabitants respectively. Dahra is home to the largest weekly cattle market in all of Senegal.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. Ababacar CASE 2014: Le Ferlo sénégalais: Approche géographique de la vulnérabilité des anthroposystèmes sahéliens ; Area of ​​the Ferlo on page 32 of the PDF file 17 MB

Web links

Coordinates: 15 ° 15 ′  N , 14 ° 0 ′  W