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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 Saint Louis or Saint-Louis ( wo, Ndar), is the capital of Senegal's Saint-Louis Region. Located in the northwest of Senegal, near the mouth of the Senegal River, and 320 km north of Senegal's capital city Dakar, it has a population officially ...
, map = Senegalrivermap.png , map_size = , map_caption = Map of the Senegal River drainage basin. , pushpin_map = , pushpin_map_size = , pushpin_map_caption= , subdivision_type1 = Country , subdivision_name1 =
Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...
,
Mauritania Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...
,
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. Mali ...
, subdivision_type2 = , subdivision_name2 = , subdivision_type3 = , subdivision_name3 = , subdivision_type4 = , subdivision_name4 = , subdivision_type5 = , subdivision_name5 = , length = , width_min = , width_avg = , width_max = , depth_min = , depth_avg = , depth_max = , discharge1_location= , discharge1_min = , discharge1_avg = , discharge1_max = , source1 = , source1_location = , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , mouth = , mouth_location =
Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
, mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = , river_system = , basin_size = , tributaries_left = , tributaries_right = , custom_label = , custom_data = , extra = The Senegal River ( ar, نهر السنغال, Nahr as-Siniġāl, french: Fleuve Sénégal, wo, Dexug Senegaal) is a long
river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...
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, Maurit ...
; much of its length marks part of the border between
Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...
and
Mauritania Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...
. It has a
drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, t ...
of , a mean flow of , and an annual discharge of . Important
tributaries A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage b ...
are the
Falémé River The Falémé River is a river in West Africa. The Falémé arises in northern Guinea and flows in a north-northeast direction to Mali, forming a short portion of the border between Guinea and Senegal. It turns north and then forms a portion of th ...
, Karakoro River, and the Gorgol River. The river divides into two branches once it passes
Kaédi Kaédi ( ar, كيهيدي) is the largest city and administrative center of the Gorgol Region of Southern Mauritania, located on the border with Senegal. It is approximately 435 km from Mauritania's capital, Nouakchott. Overview The city ...
The left branch, called the Doué, runs parallel to the main river to the north. After the two branches rejoin a few kilometers downstream of
Podor Podor ( Wolof: Podoor) is the northernmost town in Senegal, lying on Morfil Island between the Sénégal River and Doué River on the border with Mauritania. It was the location of the ancient state Takrur. It is home to a ruined French colonial ...
. In 1972
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. Mali ...
, Mauritania and Senegal founded the
Organisation pour la mise en valeur du fleuve Sénégal The ''Organisation pour la mise en valeur du fleuve Sénégal'' (OMVS; in English Senegal River Basin Development Authority) is an organisation grouping Guinea, Mali, Mauritania and Senegal for the purpose of jointly managing the Senegal River an ...
(OMVS) to manage the river basin.
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 ...
joined in 2005. , only very limited use was made of the river for the transportation of goods and passengers. The OMVS have looked at the feasibility of creating a navigable channel in width between the small town of Ambidédi in
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. Mali ...
and Saint-Louis, a distance of . It would give landlocked Mali a direct route to the
Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
. The aquatic fauna in the Senegal River basin is closely associated with that of the
Gambia River The Gambia River (formerly known as the River Gambra) is a major river in West Africa, running from the Fouta Djallon plateau in north Guinea westward through Senegal and The Gambia to the Atlantic Ocean at the city of Banjul. It is navigable f ...
basin, and the two are usually combined under a single
ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of l ...
known as the Senegal-Gambia Catchments. Only three species of frogs and one fish are
endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
to this ecoregion. The river has two large
dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...
s along its course, the Manantali Dam in
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. Mali ...
and the
Maka-Diama Dam The Diama Dam, sometimes referred to as the Maka–Diama Dam, is a gravity dam on the Senegal River, spanning the border of Senegal and Mauritania. It is located next to the town of Diama, Senegal and about north of Saint-Louis, Senegal. The ...
downstream on the Mauritania-Senegal border. In between is the
Félou Hydroelectric Plant The Félou Hydroelectric Plant is a hydroelectric installation at the Félou Falls on the Sénégal River in Mali. It has three water turbines capable of generating 62.3 MW. The current power station replaced an older one built in the 1920s. C ...
, built in 1927, but replaced in 2014. The construction of the
Gouina Hydroelectric Plant The Gouina Hydroelectric Plant is a run-of-the-river-type hydroelectric installation currently being constructed on Gouina Falls along the Senegal River in Mali. It is located about southeast of Diamou in the Kayes Region. It is the fourth proj ...
upstream of Felou at
Gouina Falls The Gouina Falls or ''Chutes de Gouina'' are on the Sénégal River in Mali between the towns of Bafoulabé (upstream) and Diamou (downstream) in the Kayes Region, where the river runs north from the Talari Gorges. They have been called the "Ni ...
began in 2013.


Geography

The Senegal's headwaters are the Semefé (Bakoye) and Bafing rivers which both originate in
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 ...
; they form a small part of the
Guinea–Mali border The Guinea–Mali border is 1,062 km (660 m) in length and runs from the tripoint with Senegal in the north to the tripoint with Ivory Coast in the south. Description The border begins in the north at the tripoint with Senegal on the Balinko ...
before coming together at Bafoulabé in Mali. From there, the Senegal river flows west and then north through
Talari Gorges The Talari Gorges or ''Gorges de Talary'' are a series of gorges on the Sénégal River in Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=n ...
near Galougo and over the
Gouina Falls The Gouina Falls or ''Chutes de Gouina'' are on the Sénégal River in Mali between the towns of Bafoulabé (upstream) and Diamou (downstream) in the Kayes Region, where the river runs north from the Talari Gorges. They have been called the "Ni ...
, then flows more gently past
Kayes Kayes (Bambara language, Bambara: ߞߊߦߌ tr. ''Kayi'', Soninke language, Soninké: ''Xaayi'') is a city in western Mali on the Sénégal River with a population of 127,368 at the 2009 census. Kayes is the capital of the Kayes Region, administ ...
, where it receives the Kolimbiné. After flowing together with the Karakoro, it prolongs the former's course along the
Mali–Mauritania border The Mali–Mauritania border is 2,236 km (1,389 m) in length and runs from the tripoint with Algeria in the north to the tripoint with Senegal in the south-west. Description The border starts in the north at the tripoint with Algeria, and th ...
for some tens of kilometers till Bakel where it flows together with the
Falémé River The Falémé River is a river in West Africa. The Falémé arises in northern Guinea and flows in a north-northeast direction to Mali, forming a short portion of the border between Guinea and Senegal. It turns north and then forms a portion of th ...
, which also has its source in Guinea, subsequently runs along a small part of the Guinea-Mali frontier to then trace most of the Senegal-Mali border up to Bakel. The Senegal further flows through semi-arid land in the north of Senegal, forming the border with Mauritania and into the
Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
. In Kaedi it accepts the Gorgol from Mauritania. Flowing through
Boghé Boghé (also Bogué) is a town and commune in the Brakna Region of southern Mauritania, located on the border with Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''A ...
it reaches
Richard Toll Richard Toll is a town in northern Senegal, lying on the south bank of the River Senegal, just east of Rosso. Originally a colonial town, it was named for the park of the Château de Baron Roger, laid out by botanist Jean Michel Claude Richard. ...
where it is joined by the Ferlo coming from inland Senegal's
Lac de Guiers The Lac de Guiers or Lake Guiers is a lake in northern Senegal, south of the city of Richard-Toll and in the Louga and Saint-Louis regions. It is a chief source of fresh water for the city of Dakar, hundreds of kilometers to the south-west, th ...
. It passes through
Rosso Rosso is the major city of south-western Mauritania and capital of Trarza region. It is situated on the Senegal River at the head of the river zone allowing year-round navigation. The town is 204 km south of the capital Nouakchott. The Ar ...
and, approaching its mouth, around the Senegalese island on which the city of Saint-Louis is located, to then turn south. It is separated from the Atlantic Ocean by a thin strip of sand called the
Langue de Barbarie The Langue de Barbarie (French language, French for "Barbary spit of land", named after the Barbary Coast) is a thin, sandy peninsula, adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean, located in western Senegal, in the neighbourhood of the city of Saint-Louis, Se ...
before it pours into the ocean itself. The river has two large
dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...
s along its course, the multi-purpose Manantali Dam in Mali and the
Maka-Diama Dam The Diama Dam, sometimes referred to as the Maka–Diama Dam, is a gravity dam on the Senegal River, spanning the border of Senegal and Mauritania. It is located next to the town of Diama, Senegal and about north of Saint-Louis, Senegal. The ...
downstream on the Mauritania-Senegal border, near the outlet to the sea, preventing access of
salt water Saline water (more commonly known as salt water) is water that contains a high concentration of dissolved salts (mainly sodium chloride). On the United States Geological Survey (USGS) salinity scale, saline water is saltier than brackish water, ...
upstream Upstream may refer to: * Upstream (bioprocess) * ''Upstream'' (film), a 1927 film by John Ford * Upstream (networking) * ''Upstream'' (newspaper), a newspaper covering the oil and gas industry * Upstream (petroleum industry) * Upstream (software ...
. In between Manantali and Maka-Diama is the
Félou Hydroelectric Plant The Félou Hydroelectric Plant is a hydroelectric installation at the Félou Falls on the Sénégal River in Mali. It has three water turbines capable of generating 62.3 MW. The current power station replaced an older one built in the 1920s. C ...
which was originally completed in 1927 and uses a
weir A weir or low head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the river level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...
. The power station was replaced in 2014. In 2013, construction of the
Gouina Hydroelectric Plant The Gouina Hydroelectric Plant is a run-of-the-river-type hydroelectric installation currently being constructed on Gouina Falls along the Senegal River in Mali. It is located about southeast of Diamou in the Kayes Region. It is the fourth proj ...
upstream of Felou at
Gouina Falls The Gouina Falls or ''Chutes de Gouina'' are on the Sénégal River in Mali between the towns of Bafoulabé (upstream) and Diamou (downstream) in the Kayes Region, where the river runs north from the Talari Gorges. They have been called the "Ni ...
began. The Senegal River has a
drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, t ...
of , a mean flow of , and an annual discharge of .. Important
tributaries A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage b ...
are the
Falémé River The Falémé River is a river in West Africa. The Falémé arises in northern Guinea and flows in a north-northeast direction to Mali, forming a short portion of the border between Guinea and Senegal. It turns north and then forms a portion of th ...
, Karakoro River, and the Gorgol River. Downstream of
Kaédi Kaédi ( ar, كيهيدي) is the largest city and administrative center of the Gorgol Region of Southern Mauritania, located on the border with Senegal. It is approximately 435 km from Mauritania's capital, Nouakchott. Overview The city ...
the river divides into two branches. The left branch called the Doué runs parallel to the main river to the north. After the two branches rejoin a few kilometres downstream of
Pondor Pondor () is a small village in the Municipality of Tabor in central Slovenia. It lies on the edge of the Savinja Valley, just off the regional road from Vransko to Šempeter v Savinjski Dolini. The area is part of the traditional region of Styr ...
. The long strip of land between the two branches is called the Île á Morfil. In 1972 Mali, Mauritania and Senegal founded the
Organisation pour la mise en valeur du fleuve Sénégal The ''Organisation pour la mise en valeur du fleuve Sénégal'' (OMVS; in English Senegal River Basin Development Authority) is an organisation grouping Guinea, Mali, Mauritania and Senegal for the purpose of jointly managing the Senegal River an ...
(OMVS) to manage the river basin.
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 ...
joined in 2005. At the present time, only very limited use is made of the river for the transport of goods and passengers. The OMVS have looked at the feasibility of creating a navigable channel in width between the small town of Ambidédi in Mali and Saint-Louis, a distance of . It would give landlocked Mali a direct route to the Atlantic Ocean. The aquatic fauna in the Senegal River basin is closely associated with that of the
Gambia River The Gambia River (formerly known as the River Gambra) is a major river in West Africa, running from the Fouta Djallon plateau in north Guinea westward through Senegal and The Gambia to the Atlantic Ocean at the city of Banjul. It is navigable f ...
basin, and the two are usually combined under a single
ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of l ...
known as the Senegal-Gambia Catchments. Although the
species richness Species richness is the number of different species represented in an ecological community, landscape or region. Species richness is simply a count of species, and it does not take into account the abundances of the species or their relative a ...
is moderately high, only three species of frogs and one fish are
endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
to this ecoregion.


History

The existence of the Senegal River was known to the early Mediterranean civilizations. It or some other river was called ''Bambotus'' by
Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic '' ...
(possibly from Phoenician " behemoth" for
hippopotamus The hippopotamus ( ; : hippopotamuses or hippopotami; ''Hippopotamus amphibius''), also called the hippo, common hippopotamus, or river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of only two extan ...
) and ''Nias'' by
Claudius Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importance ...
. It was visited by Hanno the Carthaginian around 450 BCE at his navigation from
Carthage Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classi ...
through the
pillars of Herakles The Pillars of Hercules ( la, Columnae Herculis, grc, Ἡράκλειαι Στῆλαι, , ar, أعمدة هرقل, Aʿmidat Hiraql, es, Columnas de Hércules) was the phrase that was applied in Antiquity to the promontories that flank t ...
to Theon Ochema (
Mount Cameroon Mount Cameroon is an active volcano in the South West region of Cameroon next to the city of Buea near the Gulf of Guinea. Mount Cameroon is also known as Cameroon Mountain or Fako (the name of the higher of its two peaks) or by its indigenous n ...
) in the
Gulf of Guinea The Gulf of Guinea is the northeasternmost part of the tropical Atlantic Ocean from Cape Lopez in Gabon, north and west to Cape Palmas in Liberia. The intersection of the Equator and Prime Meridian (zero degrees latitude and longitude) is in the ...
. There was trade from here to the
Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
World, until the
destruction of Carthage The siege of Carthage was the main engagement of the Third Punic War between Carthage and Rome. It consisted of the nearly-three-year siege of the Carthaginian capital, Carthage (a little north east of Tunis), followed by attempted genoci ...
and its
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, Maurit ...
n trade net in 146 BCE.


Arab sources

In the Early Middle Ages (c. 800 CE), the Senegal River restored contact with the Mediterranean world with the establishment of the
Trans-Saharan trade Trans-Saharan trade requires travel across the Sahara between sub-Saharan Africa and North Africa. While existing from prehistoric times, the peak of trade extended from the 8th century until the early 17th century. The Sahara once had a very d ...
route between
Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
and the
Ghana Empire The Ghana Empire, also known as Wagadou ( ar, غانا) or Awkar, was a West African empire based in the modern-day southeast of Mauritania and western Mali that existed from c. 300 until 1100. The Empire was founded by the Soninke people, ...
. Arab geographers, like
al-Masudi Al-Mas'udi ( ar, أَبُو ٱلْحَسَن عَلِيّ ٱبْن ٱلْحُسَيْن ٱبْن عَلِيّ ٱلْمَسْعُودِيّ, '; –956) was an Arab historian, geographer and traveler. He is sometimes referred to as the "Herodotus ...
of Baghdad (957),
al-Bakri Abū ʿUbayd ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Muḥammad ibn Ayyūb ibn ʿAmr al-Bakrī ( ar, أبو عبيد عبد الله بن عبد العزيز بن محمد بن أيوب بن عمرو البكري), or simply al-Bakrī (c. 1040–1 ...
of Spain (1068) and al-Idrisi of Sicily (1154), provided some of the earliest descriptions of the Senegal River. Early Arab geographers believed the upper Senegal River and the upper
Niger River The Niger River ( ; ) is the main river of West Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in south-eastern Guinea near the Sierra Leone border. It runs in a crescent shape through ...
were connected to each other, and formed a single river flowing from east to west, which they called the "Western Nile". (In fact, some of the headwaters of the Senegal River are near the Niger River in Mali and Guinea.) It was believed to be either a western branch of the Egyptian
Nile River The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest rive ...
or drawn from the same source (variously conjectured to some great internal lakes of the Mountains of the Moon, or
Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...
's Gir (Γειρ) or the Biblical
Gihon Gihon is the name of the second river mentioned in the second chapter of the biblical Book of Genesis. The Gihon is mentioned as one of four rivers (along with the Tigris, Euphrates, and Pishon) issuing out of the Garden of Eden that branched fr ...
stream). Arab geographers Abd al-Hassan Ali ibn Omar (1230),
Ibn Said al-Maghribi Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Mūsā ibn Saʿīd al-Maghribī ( ar, علي بن موسى المغربي بن سعيد) (1213–1286), also known as Ibn Saʿīd al-Andalusī, was an Arab geographer, historian, poet, and the most important collector o ...
(1274) and
Abulfeda Ismāʿīl b. ʿAlī b. Maḥmūd b. Muḥammad b. ʿUmar b. Shāhanshāh b. Ayyūb b. Shādī b. Marwān ( ar, إسماعيل بن علي بن محمود بن محمد بن عمر بن شاهنشاه بن أيوب بن شادي بن مروان ...
(1331), label the Senegal as the "Nile of
Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
" (Nil Gana or Nili Ganah). As the Senegal River reached into the heart of the gold-producing
Ghana Empire The Ghana Empire, also known as Wagadou ( ar, غانا) or Awkar, was a West African empire based in the modern-day southeast of Mauritania and western Mali that existed from c. 300 until 1100. The Empire was founded by the Soninke people, ...
and later the
Mali Empire The Mali Empire ( Manding: ''Mandé''Ki-Zerbo, Joseph: ''UNESCO General History of Africa, Vol. IV, Abridged Edition: Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century'', p. 57. University of California Press, 1997. or Manden; ar, مالي, Māl ...
, Trans-Saharan traders gave the Senegal its famous nickname as the "River of Gold". The Trans-Saharan stories about the "River of Gold" reached the ears of Sub-Alpine European merchants that frequented the ports of Morocco and the lure proved irresistible. Arab historians report at least three separate Arab maritime expeditions - the last one organized by a group of eight ''mughrarin'' ("wanderers") of
Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...
(before 1147) - that tried to sail down the Atlantic coast, possibly in an effort find the mouth of the Senegal.


Cartographic representation

Drawing from Classical legend and Arab sources, the "River of Gold" found its way into European maps in the 14th century. In the
Hereford Mappa Mundi The Hereford Mappa Mundi is a medieval map of the known world ( la, mappa mundi), of a form deriving from the T and O pattern, dating from c. 1300. Archeological scholars believe the map to have originated from eastern England in either Yor ...
(c. 1300), there is a river labelled "Nilus Fluvius" drawn ''parallel'' to the coast of Africa, albeit without communication with Atlantic (it ends in a lake). It depicts some giant
ant Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of 22 ...
s digging up gold dust from its sands, with the note "''Hic grandes formice auream serican
r servant R, or r, is the eighteenth Letter (alphabet), letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is English alphabe ...
arenas''" ("Here great ants guard gold sands"). In the mappa mundi made by
Pietro Vesconte Pietro Vesconte (fl. 1310–1330) was a Genoese cartographer and geographer. A pioneer of the field of the portolan chart, he influenced Italian and Catalan mapmaking throughout the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. He appears to have been the ...
for the c. 1320 atlas of Marino Sanuto, there is an unnamed river stemming from the African interior and opening in the Atlantic ocean. The 1351 Medici-Laurentian Atlas shows both the Egyptian Nile and the western Nile stemming from the same internal mountain range, with the note that "''Ilic coligitur aureaum''". The
portolan chart Portolan charts are nautical charts, first made in the 13th century in the Mediterranean basin and later expanded to include other regions. The word ''portolan'' comes from the Italian ''portulano'', meaning "related to ports or harbors", and wh ...
of
Giovanni da Carignano Giovanni da Carignano, or Johannes de Mauro de Carignano (Genoa c. 1250-Genoa 1329), was a priest and a pioneering cartographer from Genoa. There is little certain information about his life. There is a Genoese document (dated June 9, 1291) referr ...
(1310s-20s) has the river with the label, ''iste fluuis exit de nilo ubi multum aurum repperitur''. In the more accurately-drawn
portolan chart Portolan charts are nautical charts, first made in the 13th century in the Mediterranean basin and later expanded to include other regions. The word ''portolan'' comes from the Italian ''portulano'', meaning "related to ports or harbors", and wh ...
s, starting with the 1367 chart of
Domenico and Francesco Pizzigano Domenico and Francesco Pizzigano, known as the Pizzigani brothers, were 14th-century Venetian cartographers. Their surname is sometimes given as Pizigano (only one 'z') in older sources. 1367 Chart ] The Pizzigani brothers are principally know ...
and carried on in the 1375 Catalan Atlas, the 1413 chart of the
Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...
'' converso'' Mecia de Viladestes, etc. the "River of Gold" is depicted (if only speculatively), draining into the Atlantic Ocean somewhere just south of
Cape Bojador Cape Bojador ( ar, رأس بوجادور, trans. ''Rā's Būjādūr''; ber, ⴱⵓⵊⴷⵓⵔ, ''Bujdur''; Spanish and pt, Cabo Bojador; french: Cap Boujdour) is a headland on the west coast of Western Sahara, at 26° 07' 37"N, 14° 29' 57"W ...
. The legend of Cape Bojador as a terrifying obstacle, the 'cape of no return' to European sailors, emerged around the same time (possibly encouraged by Trans-Saharan traders who did not want to see their land route sidestepped by sea). The river is frequently depicted with a great river island midway, the "Island of Gold", first mentioned by al-Masudi, and famously called "''Wangara''" by al-Idrisi and "''Palolus''" in the 1367 Pizzigani brothers chart. It is conjectured that this riverine "island" is in fact just the
Bambuk Bambouk (sometimes Bambuk or Bambuhu) is a traditional name for the territory in eastern Senegal and western Mali, encompassing the Bambouk Mountains on its eastern edge, the valley of the Faleme River and the hilly country to the east of the rive ...
-Buré goldfield district, which is practically surrounded on all sides by rivers - the Senegal river to the north, the
Falémé River The Falémé River is a river in West Africa. The Falémé arises in northern Guinea and flows in a north-northeast direction to Mali, forming a short portion of the border between Guinea and Senegal. It turns north and then forms a portion of th ...
to the west, the Bakhoy to the east and the
Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesTinkisso Tinkisso is a village in the Dinguiraye Prefecture of Guinea. The Tinkisso River and dam is important to the local economy. The economy is based on mining and agriculture. References Ramsar sites in Guinea {{Guinea-geo-stub Populated pl ...
to the south. The 1413 portolan chart of Mecia de Viladestes gives perhaps the most detailed depiction of the early state of European knowledge about the Senegal River prior to the 1440s. Viladestes labels it "River of Gold" ("''riu del or''") and locates it a considerable distance south of
Cape Bojador Cape Bojador ( ar, رأس بوجادور, trans. ''Rā's Būjādūr''; ber, ⴱⵓⵊⴷⵓⵔ, ''Bujdur''; Spanish and pt, Cabo Bojador; french: Cap Boujdour) is a headland on the west coast of Western Sahara, at 26° 07' 37"N, 14° 29' 57"W ...
(''buyeter'') - indeed, south of a mysterious "''cap de abach''" (possibly Cape Timris). There are extensive notes about the plentifulness of ivory and gold in the area, including a note that reads The galley of
Jaume Ferrer Jaume Ferrer (, fl. 1346) was a Majorcan sailor and explorer. He sailed from Majorca to find the legendary "River of Gold" on 10 August 1346, but the outcome of his quest and his fate are unknown. He is memorialized in his native city of Palma, ...
is depicted off the coast on the left, with a quick note about his 1346 voyage. The golden round island at the mouth of the Senegal River is the indication (customary on portolan charts) of river mouth bars or islands - in this case, probably a reference to the
Langue de Barbarie The Langue de Barbarie (French language, French for "Barbary spit of land", named after the Barbary Coast) is a thin, sandy peninsula, adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean, located in western Senegal, in the neighbourhood of the city of Saint-Louis, Se ...
or the island of Saint-Louis). The first town, by the mouth of the Senegal, is called "''isingan''" (arguably the etymological source of the term "Senegal"). East of that, the Senegal forms a riverine island called "''insula de bronch''" ( Île à Morfil). By its shores lies the city of "''tocoror''" (
Takrur Takrur, Tekrur or Tekrour ( 800 – c. 1285) was an ancient state of West Africa, which flourished roughly parallel to the Ghana Empire. Origin Takrur was the capital of the state which flourished on the lower Senegal River. Takruri was ...
). Above it is a depiction of the
Almoravid The Almoravid dynasty ( ar, المرابطون, translit=Al-Murābiṭūn, lit=those from the ribats) was an imperial Berber Muslim dynasty centered in the territory of present-day Morocco. It established an empire in the 11th century that ...
general Abu Bakr ibn Umar ("''Rex Bubecar''") on a camel. Further east, along the river, is the seated emperor (
mansa Mansa may refer to: Places In India * Mansa, Gujarat, a town in northern Gujarat, Western India; the capital of: ** Mansa, Gujarat Assembly constituency ** Mansa State, a princely state under the Mahi Kantha Agency in India * Mansa district, ...
) of
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. Mali ...
("''Rex Musa Meli''", prob.
Mansa Musa Mansa Musa ( ar, منسا موسى, Mansā Mūsā; ) was the ninth ''mansa'' of the Mali Empire, which reached its territorial peak during his reign. Musa is known for his wealth and generosity. He has been subject to popular claims that he is ...
), holding a gold nugget. His capital, "''civitat musa meli''" is shown on the shores of the river, and the range of the Emperor of Mali's sway is suggested by all the black banners (an inscription notes "This lord of the blacks is called Musa Melli, Lord of Guinea, the greatest noble lord of these parts for the abundance of the gold which is collected in his lands". Curiously, there is a defiant gold-bannered town south of the river, labelled "''tegezeut''" (probably the Ta'adjast of al-Idrisi), and might be an ichoate reference to Djenné. East of Mali, the river forms a lake or "Island of Gold" shown here studded with river-washed gold nuggets (this is what the Pizzigani brothers called the island of "''Palolus''", and most commentators take to indicate the Bambuk-Buré goldfields). It is connected by many streams to the southerly "mountains of gold" (labelled "''montanies del lor''", the
Futa 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 ...
/ Bambouk Mountains and
Loma Mountains The Loma Mountains are the highest mountain range in Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surround ...
of Sierra Leone). It is evident the Senegal river morphs east, unbroken, into the
Niger River The Niger River ( ; ) is the main river of West Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in south-eastern Guinea near the Sierra Leone border. It runs in a crescent shape through ...
- the cities of "''tenbuch''" (
Timbuktu Timbuktu ( ; french: Tombouctou; Koyra Chiini: ); tmh, label=Tuareg, script=Tfng, ⵜⵏⴱⴾⵜ, Tin Buqt a city in Mali, situated north of the Niger River. The town is the capital of the Tombouctou Region, one of the eight administrativ ...
), "''geugeu''" (
Gao Gao , or Gawgaw/Kawkaw, is a city in Mali and the capital of the Gao Region. The city is located on the River Niger, east-southeast of Timbuktu on the left bank at the junction with the Tilemsi valley. For much of its history Gao was an impor ...
) and "''mayna''" (
Niamey Niamey () is the capital and largest city of Niger. Niamey lies on the Niger River, primarily situated on the east bank. Niamey's population was counted as 1,026,848 as of the 2012 census. As of 2017, population projections show the capital di ...
? or a misplaced Niani?) are denoted along the same single river. South of them (barely visible) are what seem like the towns of
Kukiya Kukiya ( fa, كوكيا, also Romanized as Kūkīyā and Kūkīā) is a village in Baranduzchay-ye Jonubi Rural District, in the Central District of Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic ...
(on the eastern shore of the Island of Gold), and east of that, probably
Sokoto Sokoto is a major city located in extreme northwestern Nigeria, near the confluence of the Sokoto River and the Rima River. As of 2006 it has a population of over 427,760. Sokoto is the modern-day capital of Sokoto State and was previously the ...
(called "Zogde" in the Catalan Atlas) and much further southeast, probably
Kano Kano may refer to: Places *Kano State, a state in Northern Nigeria * Kano (city), a city in Nigeria, and the capital of Kano State **Kingdom of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between the 10th and 14th centuries **Sultanate of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between ...
. North of the Senegal-Niger are the various oases and stations of the trans-Saharan route ("''Tutega''" = Tijigja, "''Anzica''" = In-Zize, "''Tegaza''" =
Taghaza , nickname = , settlement_type = , total_type = , motto = , translit_lang1 = , translit_lang1_ , translit_lang1_info2 = , ...
, etc.) towards the Mediterranean coast. There is an unlabeled depiction of a black African man on a camel traveling from "''Uuegar''" (prob.
Hoggar The Hoggar Mountains ( ar, جبال هقار, Berber: ''idurar n Ahaggar'') are a highland region in the central Sahara in southern Algeria, along the Tropic of Cancer. The mountains cover an area of approximately 550,000 km. Geography Thi ...
) to the town of "Organa" ("''ciutat organa''", variously identified as Kanem or
Ouargla Ouargla ( Berber: Wargrən, ar, ورقلة) is the capital city of Ouargla Province in the Sahara Desert in southern Algeria. It has a flourishing petroleum industry and hosts one of Algeria's universities, the University of Ouargla. The commune ...
or possibly even a misplaced depiction of
Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
- long defunct, but, on the other hand, contemporaneous with the depicted Abu Bakr). Nearby sits its Arab-looking king ("''Rex Organa''") holding a scimitar. The River of Gold is sourced at a circular island, what seem like the Mountains of the Moon (albeit unlabeled here). From this same source also flows north the White Nile towards Egypt, which forms the frontier between the Muslim "king of
Nubia Nubia () (Nobiin: Nobīn, ) is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between the first cataract of the Nile (just south of Aswan in southern Egypt) and the confluence of the Blue and White Niles (in Khartoum in central Sudan), or ...
" ("''Rex Onubia''", his range depicted by crescent-on-gold banners) and the Christian
Prester John Prester John ( la, Presbyter Ioannes) was a legendary Christian patriarch, presbyter, and king. Stories popular in Europe in the 12th to the 17th centuries told of a Nestorian patriarch and king who was said to rule over a Christian nation lost ...
("''Preste Joha''"), i.e. the emperor of
Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
in the garb of a Christian bishop (coincidentally, this is the first visual depiction of Prester John on a portolan chart). Uniquely, the Viladestes map shows another river, south of the Senegal, which it labels the "''flumen gelica''" (poss. ''angelica''), which some have taken to depict the
Gambia River The Gambia River (formerly known as the River Gambra) is a major river in West Africa, running from the Fouta Djallon plateau in north Guinea westward through Senegal and The Gambia to the Atlantic Ocean at the city of Banjul. It is navigable f ...
. In the 1459
mappa mundi A ''mappa mundi'' (Latin ; plural = ''mappae mundi''; french: mappemonde; enm, mappemond) is any medieval European map of the world. Such maps range in size and complexity from simple schematic maps or less across to elaborate wall maps, the ...
of
Fra Mauro Fra Mauro, O.S.B. Cam., (c.1400–1464) was a Venetian cartographer who lived in the Republic of Venice. He created the most detailed and accurate map of the world up until that time, the Fra Mauro map. Mauro was a monk of the Camaldolese ...
, drawn a half-century later, after the Portuguese had already visited the Senegal (albeit still trying to respect Classical sources), shows ''two'' parallel rivers running east to west, both of them sourced from the same great internal lake (which, Fra Mauro asserts, is also the same source as the Egyptian Nile). Mauro names the two parallel rivers differently,calling one "''flumen Mas'' ("Mas River"), the other the "''canal dal oro''" ("Channel of Gold"), and makes the note that "''Inne larena de questi do fiume se trova oro de paiola''" ("In the sands of both these rivers gold of 'palola' may be found"), and nearer to the sea, "''Qui se racoce oro''" ("Here gold is collected"), and finally, on the coast, "''Terra de Palmear''" ("Land of Palms"). It is notable that Fra Mauro knew of the error of Henry the Navigator's captains about the Daklha inlet, which Mauro carefully labels "''Reodor''" ("Rio do Ouro", Western Sahara), distinctly from the "Canal del Oro" (Senegal River).


European contact

Christian Europeans soon began attempting to find the sea route to the mouth of the Senegal. The first known effort may have been by the Genoese brothers
Vandino and Ugolino Vivaldi __NOTOC__ Vandino (sometimes Vadino or Guido) and Ugolino Vivaldi (sometimes Ugolino de Vivaldo) (fl. 1291) were two brothers and Genoese explorers and merchants who are best known for their attempted voyage from Europe to India via Africa. Th ...
, who set out down the coast in 1291 in a pair of ships (nothing more is heard of them). In 1346, the
Majorcan Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Balea ...
sailor,
Jaume Ferrer Jaume Ferrer (, fl. 1346) was a Majorcan sailor and explorer. He sailed from Majorca to find the legendary "River of Gold" on 10 August 1346, but the outcome of his quest and his fate are unknown. He is memorialized in his native city of Palma, ...
set out on a galley with the explicit objective of finding the "River of Gold" (''Riu de l'Or''), where he heard that most people along its shores were engaged in the collection of gold and that the river was wide and deep enough for the largest ships. Nothing more is heard of him either. In 1402, after establishing the first European colony on the
Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...
, the French Norman adventurers
Jean de Béthencourt Jean de Béthencourt () (1362–1425) was a French explorer who in 1402 led an expedition to the Canary Islands, landing first on the north side of Lanzarote. From there he conquered for Castile the islands of Fuerteventura (1405) and El ...
and
Gadifer de la Salle Gadifer de La Salle (Sainte-Radegonde, 1340 –1415) was a French knight and crusader of Poitevine origin who, with Jean de Béthencourt, conquered and explored the Canary Islands for the Kingdom of Castile. Life Gadifer de La Salle was born ...
set about immediately probing the African coast, looking for directions to the mouth of Senegal. The project of finding the Senegal was taken up in the 1420s by the
Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...
Prince Henry the Navigator, who invested heavily to reach it. In 1434, one of Henry's captains,
Gil Eanes Gil Eanes (or Eannes, in the old Portuguese spelling; ) was a 15th-century Portuguese navigator and explorer. Biography Gil Eanes was born in Lagos in 1395. Little is known about his personal life prior to his role in the Portuguese Age of Disco ...
, finally surpassed Cape Bojador and returned to tell about it. Henry immediately dispatched a follow up mission in 1435, under Gil Eanes and
Afonso Gonçalves Baldaia Afonso Gonçalves Baldaia was a 15th-century Portuguese nautical explorer. He explored much of the coast of Western Sahara in 1435–1436 on behalf of the Portuguese prince Henry the Navigator. He would later become one of the first colonists ...
. Going down the coast, they turned around the al-Dakhla peninsula in the
Western Sahara Western Sahara ( '; ; ) is a disputed territory on the northwest coast and in the Maghreb region of North and West Africa. About 20% of the territory is controlled by the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), while the r ...
and emerged into an inlet, which they excitedly believed to be the mouth of the Senegal River. The name they mistakenly bestowed upon the inlet - "Rio do Ouro" - is a name it would remain stuck with down to the 20th century. Realizing the mistake, Henry kept pressing his captains further down the coast, and in 1445, the Portuguese captain
Nuno Tristão Nuno Tristão was a 15th-century Portuguese explorer and slave trader, active in the early 1440s, traditionally thought to be the first European to reach the region of Guinea (legendarily, as far as Guinea-Bissau, but more recent historians belie ...
finally reached the
Langue de Barbarie The Langue de Barbarie (French language, French for "Barbary spit of land", named after the Barbary Coast) is a thin, sandy peninsula, adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean, located in western Senegal, in the neighbourhood of the city of Saint-Louis, Se ...
, where he noticed the desert end and the treeline begin, and the population change from 'tawny'
Sanhaja The Sanhaja ( ber, Aẓnag, pl. Iẓnagen, and also Aẓnaj, pl. Iẓnajen; ar, صنهاجة, ''Ṣanhaja'' or زناگة ''Znaga'') were once one of the largest Berber tribal confederations, along with the Zanata and Masmuda confederations. Ma ...
Berbers , image = File:Berber_flag.svg , caption = The Berber ethnic flag , population = 36 million , region1 = Morocco , pop1 = 14 million to 18 million , region2 = Algeria , pop2 ...
to 'black'
Wolof people The Wolof people () are a West African ethnic group found in northwestern Senegal, the Gambia, and southwestern coastal Mauritania. In Senegal, the Wolof are the largest ethnic group (~43.3%), while elsewhere they are a minority. They refer to ...
. Bad weather or lack of supplies prevented Tristão from actually reaching the mouth of the Senegal River, but he rushed back to Portugal to report he had finally found the "Land of the Blacks" (''Terra dos Negros''), and that the "Nile" was surely nearby. Shortly after (possibly still within that same year) another captain,
Dinis Dias Dinis Dias was a 15th-century Portuguese explorer who sailed down the coast of West Africa, passing the Senegal River and reaching the Cape Verde Peninsula for the first time. In 1445, as Dias was beginning to enter old age and made the decision ...
(sometimes given as Dinis Fernandes) was the first known European since antiquity to finally reach the mouth of the Senegal River. However, Dias did not sail upriver, but instead kept sailing down the Grande Côte to the bay of
Dakar Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.94 million in 2 ...
. The very next year, in 1446, the Portuguese
slave Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
-raiding fleet of
Lançarote de Freitas Lançarote de Freitas, better known as Lançarote de Lagos or Lançarote da Ilha, was a 15th-century Portuguese explorer and slave trader from Lagos, Portugal. He was the leader of two large Portuguese slaving raids on the West African coast in 144 ...
arrived at the mouth of the Senegal. One of its captains, Estêvão Afonso, volunteered to take a launch to explore upriver for settlements, thus becoming the first European to actually enter the Senegal river. He didn't get very far. Venturing ashore at one point along the river bank, Afonso tried to kidnap two Wolof children from a woodsman's hut. But he ran into their father, who proceeded to chase the Portuguese back to their launch and gave them such a beating that the explorers gave up on going any further, and turned back to the waiting caravels. Sometime between 1448 and 1455, the Portuguese captain Lourenço Dias opened regular trade contact on the Senegal River, with the
Wolof Wolof or Wollof may refer to: * Wolof people, an ethnic group found in Senegal, Gambia, and Mauritania * Wolof language, a language spoken in Senegal, Gambia, and Mauritania * The Wolof or Jolof Empire, a medieval West African successor of the Mal ...
statelets of
Waalo Walo ( wo, Waalo) was a kingdom on the lower Senegal River in West Africa, in what are now Senegal and Mauritania. It included parts of the valley proper and areas north and south, extending to the Atlantic Ocean. To the north were Moorish emira ...
(near the mouth of the Senegal River) and
Cayor Cayor ( wo, Kajoor; ar, كاجور) was the largest and most powerful kingdom (1549–1879) that split off from the Jolof Empire in what is now Senegal. Cayor was located in northern and central Senegal, southeast of Walo, west of the kingdom ...
(a little below that), drumming up a profitable business exchanging Mediterranean goods (notably, horses) for gold and slaves. Chronicler
Gomes Eanes de Zurara Gomes Eanes de Zurara (c. 1410 – c. 1474), sometimes spelled Eannes or Azurara, was a Portuguese chronicler of the European Age of Discovery, the most notable after Fernão Lopes. Life and career Zurara adopted the career of letters in middle ...
, writing in 1453, still called it the "Nile River", but
Alvise Cadamosto Alvise Cadamosto or Alvise da Ca' da Mosto (, also known in Portuguese as ''Luís Cadamosto''; c. 1432 – 18 July 1488) was a Venetian explorer and slave trader, who was hired by the Portuguese prince Henry the Navigator and undertook two known ...
, writing in the 1460s, was already calling it the "Senega" , and it is denoted as ''Rio do Çanagà'' on most subsequent Portuguese maps of the age. Cadamosto relates the legend that both the Senegal and the Egyptian Nile were branches of the Biblical
Gihon Gihon is the name of the second river mentioned in the second chapter of the biblical Book of Genesis. The Gihon is mentioned as one of four rivers (along with the Tigris, Euphrates, and Pishon) issuing out of the Garden of Eden that branched fr ...
River that stems from the Garden of Eden and flows through Ethiopia. He also notes that the Senegal was called "the Niger" by the ancients - probably a reference to
Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...
's legendary 'Nigir' (Νιγειρ) (below the Gir), which would be later identified by Leo Africanus with the modern
Niger River The Niger River ( ; ) is the main river of West Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in south-eastern Guinea near the Sierra Leone border. It runs in a crescent shape through ...
. Much the same story is repeated by Luis del Marmol Carvajal, Marmol in 1573, with the additional note that both the Senegal River and
Gambia River The Gambia River (formerly known as the River Gambra) is a major river in West Africa, running from the Fouta Djallon plateau in north Guinea westward through Senegal and The Gambia to the Atlantic Ocean at the city of Banjul. It is navigable f ...
were tributaries of the
Niger River The Niger River ( ; ) is the main river of West Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in south-eastern Guinea near the Sierra Leone border. It runs in a crescent shape through ...
. However, the contemporary African atlas of Republic of Venice, Venetian cartographer Livio Sanuto, published in 1588, sketches the Senegal, the Niger and the Gambia as three separate, parallel rivers. Portuguese chronicler João de Barros (writing in 1552) says the river's original local Wolof language, Wolof name was ''Ovedech'' (which according to one source, comes from "vi-dekh", Wolof for "this river"). His contemporary, Damião de Góis (1567) records it as ''Sonedech'' (from "sunu dekh", Wolof for "our river"). Writing in 1573, the Spanish geographer Luis del Marmol Carvajal asserts that the Portuguese people, Portuguese called it ''Zenega'', the 'Zeneges' (Berber Zenaga people, Zenaga) called it the ''Zenedec'', the 'Gelofes' (Wolof people, Wolofs) call it ''Dengueh'', the 'Tucorones' (Toucouleur people, Fula Toucouleur) called it ''Mayo'', the 'Çaragoles' (Soninke people, Soninke Sarakole of Ngalam) called it ''Colle'' and further along (again, Marmol assuming Senegal was connected to the Niger), the people of Bagamo' (Bambara people, Bambara of Bamako?) called it ''Zimbala'' (Jimbala?) and the people of
Timbuktu Timbuktu ( ; french: Tombouctou; Koyra Chiini: ); tmh, label=Tuareg, script=Tfng, ⵜⵏⴱⴾⵜ, Tin Buqt a city in Mali, situated north of the Niger River. The town is the capital of the Tombouctou Region, one of the eight administrativ ...
called it the ''Yça''.


Etymology

The 16th-century chronicler João de Barros asserts the Portuguese renamed it "Senegal" because that was the personal name of a local Wolof chieftain who frequently conducted business with the Portuguese traders. But this etymology is doubtful (e.g. the ruler of Senegalese river state of
Waalo Walo ( wo, Waalo) was a kingdom on the lower Senegal River in West Africa, in what are now Senegal and Mauritania. It included parts of the valley proper and areas north and south, extending to the Atlantic Ocean. To the north were Moorish emira ...
bears the title 'Brak (African kings), Brak', and Cadamosto gives the personal name of the Senegal river chieftain as "Zucholin"). The confusion may have arisen because Cadamosto says the Portuguese interacted frequently with a certain Wolof chieftain south of the river, somewhere on the Grande Côte, which he refers to as ''Budomel''. "Budomel" is almost certainly a reference to the ruler of
Cayor Cayor ( wo, Kajoor; ar, كاجور) was the largest and most powerful kingdom (1549–1879) that split off from the Jolof Empire in what is now Senegal. Cayor was located in northern and central Senegal, southeast of Walo, west of the kingdom ...
, a combination of his formal title ("Damel"), prefixed by the generic Wolof language, Wolof term ''bor'' ("lord"). Curiously, Budomel is reminiscent of ''Vedamel'' already used by the Genoese back in the 14th century as an alternative name of the Senegal River. It is almost certain that the Genoese "Vedamel" are corruptions from the Arabic, either ''Wad al-mal'' ("River of Treasure", i.e. Gold) or, alternatively, ''Wad al-Melli'' ("River of Mali") or even, by transcription error, ''Wad al-Nill'' ("River of Nile"). Other etymological theories for "Senegal" abound. A popular one, first proposed by Fr. David Boilat (1853), was that "Senegal" comes from the Wolof language, Wolof phrase ''sunu gaal'', meaning "our canoe" (more precisely, "our pirogue"). Bailot speculates the name probably arose as a misunderstanding, that when a Portuguese captain came across some Wolof fishermen and asked them what the name of the river was, they believed he was asking who their fishing boat belonged to, and replied simply "it is our canoe" (''sunu gaal''). The "our canoe" theory has been popularly embraced in modern
Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...
for its charm and appeal to national solidarity ("we're all in one canoe", etc.). More recent historians suggest the name "Senegal" is probably a derivation of ''Azenegue'', the Portuguese term for the Saharan Berber Zenaga people that lived north of it. A strong challenge to this theory is that "Senegal" is much older, and might derive from "Sanghana" (also given as Isenghan, Asengan, Singhanah), a city described by the Arab historian
al-Bakri Abū ʿUbayd ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Muḥammad ibn Ayyūb ibn ʿAmr al-Bakrī ( ar, أبو عبيد عبد الله بن عبد العزيز بن محمد بن أيوب بن عمرو البكري), or simply al-Bakrī (c. 1040–1 ...
in 1068 as located by the mouth of the Senegal River (straddling both banks) and the capital of a local kingdom. The location ''Senegany'' is depicted in 1351 Genoese map known as the Medici Atlas (Laurentian Gaddiano portolan).Delafosse "Senegal River", in ''First encyclopaedia of Islam'', 1913-1936, Leiden: E.J. Brill. vol. 7
pp. 223–24
This town ("Isingan") is fantastically depicted in the 1413 portolan map of Majorcan cartographer Mecia de Viladestes .Monteil, 1964: p. 91 The name itself might be of Berber Zenaga language, Zenaga origin, speculatively related to 'Ismegh' ('black slave', analogous to the Arabic Abd (Arabic), 'abd) or 'sagui nughal' ('border'). Some sources claim 'Isinghan' remained the usual Berber term to refer to the Wolof kingdom of
Cayor Cayor ( wo, Kajoor; ar, كاجور) was the largest and most powerful kingdom (1549–1879) that split off from the Jolof Empire in what is now Senegal. Cayor was located in northern and central Senegal, southeast of Walo, west of the kingdom ...
. Some Serer people from the south have advanced the claim that the river's name is originally derived from the compound of the Serer language, Serer term "Sene" (from Roog, Rog Sene, Supreme Deity in Serer religion) and "O Gal" (meaning "body of water").


See also

* Futa Toro


References


Sources

* * João de Barros (1552–59) ''Décadas da Ásia: Dos feitos, que os Portuguezes fizeram no descubrimento, e conquista, dos mares, e terras do Oriente.''
Vol. 1 (Dec I, Lib.1-5)
* Beazley, C.R. (1899) "Introduction" to vol. 2 of C.R. Beazley and E. Prestage, editors, Zurara's ''The Chronicle of the Discovery and Conquest of Guinea''. London: Haklyut * *
Alvise Cadamosto Alvise Cadamosto or Alvise da Ca' da Mosto (, also known in Portuguese as ''Luís Cadamosto''; c. 1432 – 18 July 1488) was a Venetian explorer and slave trader, who was hired by the Portuguese prince Henry the Navigator and undertook two known ...
(1460s) "Il Libro di Messer Alvise Ca da Mosto Gentilhuomo Venetiano" & "Navigatione del Capitano Pietro di Sintra Portoghese scritta per il medesimo M. Alvise da Ca da Mosto", as printed in Venice (1550), by Giovanni Battista Ramusio, ed., ''Primo volume delle navigationi et viaggi nel qua si contine la descrittione dell'Africa, et del paese del Prete Ianni, on varii viaggi, dal mar Rosso a Calicut,& infin all'isole Molucche, dove nascono le Spetierie et la navigatione attorno il mondo.''
online
(English translation: "Original Journals of the Voyages of Cada Mosto and Piedro de Cintra to the Coast of Africa, the former in the years 1455 and 1456, and the latter soon afterwards", in R. Kerr, 1811, ''A General History of Voyages and Travels to the end of the 18th century'', vol. 2, Edinburgh: Blackwood.
online
* * Delafosse, M. (1912) ''Haut-Sénégal-Niger''. 3 vols, Paris: Emil Larose. * Hrbek, I. (1992) ''Africa from the Seventh to the Eleventh century''. University of California Press. * Nehemia Levtzion, Levtzion, N. (1973) ''Ancient Ghana and Mali'' London: Methuen * Levtzion, N. and J.F.P. Hopkins, editors, (2000) ''Corpus of early Arabic sources for West African history'', Princeton, NJ: Markus Wiener. * Leo Africanus (1526) "Descrittione dell' Africa, & delle cose notabili che lui sono, per Giovan Lioni Africano''"Descrittione dell’Africa", as printed in Venice (1550), by Giovanni Battista Ramusio, ed., ''Primo volume delle navigationi et viaggi nel qua si contine la descrittione dell'Africa, et del paese del Prete Ianni, on varii viaggi, dal mar Rosso a Calicut,& infin all'isole Molucche, dove nascono le Spetierie et la navigatione attorno il mondo.''. English trans. 1896, as ''The History and Description of Africa, and of the notable things therein contained''. London: Haklyut
vol. 1
* * Luis de Marmol Carvajal (1573) ''Primera Parte de la Descripción General de Áffrica, con todos los successos de guerras que a auido entre los infieles, ye el pueblo Christiano, y entre ellos mesmos, desde que Mahoma inueto su secta, hasta el año del señor 1571.'' Granada: Rabut. * * * * * A Phérotée de La Croix (1688) ''Relation universelle de l'Afrique, ancienne et moderne'' Alyon: Amaulry *
Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic '' ...
(c. 30 AD) ''Naturalis Historiae''. [1855 edition, John Bostock (physician), John Bostock and Henry Thomas Riley transl. ''The Natural History of Pliny''. London: H.G. Bohn
vol 1.
(Bks I - V) * * Livio Sanuto (1588) ''Geografia di M. Livio Sanvto distinta in XII libri. Ne' quali, oltra l'esplicatione di molti luoghi di Tolomeo e della Bussola, e dell' Aguglia; si dichiarano le Provincie, Popoli, Regni, Città; Porti, Monti, Fiumi, Laghi, e Costumi dell' Africa. Con XII tavole di essa Africa in dissegno di rame. Aggiuntivi de piu tre Indici da M. Giovan Carlo Saraceni'', Venice: Damiano Zenaro. * *
Gomes Eanes de Zurara Gomes Eanes de Zurara (c. 1410 – c. 1474), sometimes spelled Eannes or Azurara, was a Portuguese chronicler of the European Age of Discovery, the most notable after Fernão Lopes. Life and career Zurara adopted the career of letters in middle ...
(1453) ''Crónica dos feitos notáveis que se passaram na Conquista da Guiné por mandado do Infante D. Henrique'' or ''Chronica do descobrimento e conquista da Guiné''. [Trans. 1896-99 by C.R. Beazley and E. Prestage, ''The Chronicle of the Discovery and Conquest of Guinea'', London: Haklyut
v.1v.2


Further reading

* * *


External links


The Hydrology of Senegal
(PowerPoint presentation) {{DEFAULTSORT:Senegal River Senegal River, Rivers of Senegal Rivers of Mauritania International rivers of Africa Mauritania–Senegal border Rivers of Mali