The Falémé River is a river in

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali ...

. The Falémé arises in northern

Guinea Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...

and flows in a north-northeast direction to

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Ma ...

, forming a short portion of the

border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders ca ...

between

and

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...

. It turns north and then forms a portion of the

between Mali and

, before joining the

Sénégal River ,french: Fleuve Sénégal) , name_etymology = , image = Senegal River Saint Louis.jpg , image_size = , image_caption = Fishermen on the bank of the Senegal River estuary at the outskirts of Saint-Louis, Senegal ...

50 km upstream of the town of Bakel in Senegal.

Description

The Falémé River is around 650 km in length and drains a basin of 28,900 km². Its source is in the northern part of the

Fouta Djallon Fouta Djallon ( ff, 𞤊𞤵𞥅𞤼𞤢 𞤔𞤢𞤤𞤮𞥅, Fuuta Jaloo; ar, فوتا جالون) is a highland region in the center of Guinea, roughly corresponding with Middle Guinea, in West Africa. Etymology The Fulani people call the r ...

highlands at an altitude of 800 m. Most of the rainfall on the highlands occurs between May and October as a result of the

West African Monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscill ...

. August is normally the wettest month. The flow of the river is highly seasonal with the maximum occurring during September and very little flow between December and June. The average annual discharge of the river over the period 1904-1984 was 6.59 km³.

Mining

There are

iron ore deposits Iron () is a chemical element with Symbol (chemistry), symbol Fe (from la, Wikt:ferrum, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 element, group 8 of the periodic table. It is, Abundance ...

in Senegal near the headwaters of this river. More recently there has been a gold rush around the village of Diabougou in Senegal and very near the Mali border. Erzlagerstätten_Faleme.jpg, Iron ore deposits in the Falémé River region of Senegal, 1981. ASC Leiden - F. van der Kraaij Collection - 20 - 048 - Deux hommes font sécher des vêtements lavés sur la rive de la Falémé - Frontière sénégalo-malienne, 1984.tiff, Two men are drying their washed clothes on a bank of the Falémé River at the Mali-Senegal border, 1984. ASC Leiden - F. van der Kraaij Collection - 20 - 049 - Rivière Falémé avec des buissons et des arbres bas - Frontière sénégalo-malienne, 1984.tiff, The Falémé River with bushes on its banks at the Mali-Senegal border, 1984. STS112-E-6197 - View of Senegal.jpg, The Falémé River in Senegal near the Mali border photographed from space by Space Shuttle Mission STS-112, October 2002. Straßenbrücke bei Kidira.jpg, Two young pedestrians cross the road bridge from Mali to Kidira, Senegal. Left the ford in the river Falémé, 2017.

References

Rivers of Guinea Rivers of Mali Rivers of Senegal Senegal River International rivers of Africa Mali–Senegal border Guinea–Senegal border Border rivers {{Senegal-river-stub