Morfil
| Morfil | ||
|---|---|---|
| Waters | Senegal | |
| Geographical location | 16 ° 35 ′ N , 14 ° 35 ′ W | |
|
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| surface | 1 250 km² | |
| main place | Podor | |
Morfil , French Île à Morfil , in German: Ivory Island, is the largest island in the State of Senegal with an area of 1250 square kilometers , a river island between the Senegal River and a southern tributary, the Doué , in the north of the country on the border with Mauritania .
In the 11th century Morfil was the center of Tekrur , one of the first Islamic states of the Sub-Saharan Africa, and was important in the Trans-Saharan trade . It later became part of the Empire of Ghana and then the Empire of Mali until it was finally conquered by the French.
The 143-kilometer-long, partly swampy island is named after the elephants that wandered around until the 1960s. The largest cities on Morfil are Podor in the west and the smaller Saldé in the east. There are millet and rice are grown and there is a little tourism. The village of Halwar near Guédé is the birthplace of Al-Hajj Omar .