Sahel [1] (from the Arabic ساحل, sahel , in translation means “coast”, “coast” or “border”) - the tropical savannah region in Africa , which is a kind of transition between the Sahara in the north and the more fertile lands in the south, better known like the African region of Sudan (not to be confused with the state of Sudan ).
Content
Geography
The Sahel stretches for 3900 km from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the east, in a belt whose width varies from several hundred to thousands of kilometers; covers an area of 3,053,200 km². This is an ecoregion of semi-arid fields, savannah . Today, the territory of the Sahel includes the territory of such states as Senegal , Mauritania , Mali , Algeria , Burkina Faso , Niger , Nigeria , Cameroon , Chad , Sudan and Eritrea [2] .
Topographically, the Sahel is a flat region, its height varies in the range of 200-400 meters above sea level. Some isolated plateaus and mountain ranges originate in the Sahel, but nevertheless are considered separate ecological regions - their flora and fauna are different from the nearby lowlands.
Historically, the Sahel was the birthplace of kingdoms that profit from trade through the desert and known as the “ Sahel kingdoms ”.
Climate
The climate in the Sahel is tropical and hot, with strong seasonal changes in precipitation and temperature. About 200-600 mm of precipitation falls annually in the Sahel, mainly from May to September ( monsoon season ), mainly in the form of strong but short showers. There is a strong correlation between showers in the Sahel and hurricane activity in the Atlantic.
The region is known as the hottest on the planet. Monthly average temperatures range from 33–36 ° C in the summer to 18–21 ° C in the winter. During the winter, the Sahara's hot, dry winds can create sandstorms .
Climate History
About 13 thousand years ago, the Sahel was part of the Sahara and was covered with dunes . They formed the modern landscape. The huge Lake Chad and the Niger Inland Delta are remnants formed after the end of the ice age . In 10 - 3 millennia BC. e. The Sahel extended to the Mediterranean Sea, distinguished by its rather rich flora and fauna (including numerous hominids ). During the 20th century, it underwent extremely rapid desertification. The most important problem in the Sahel is the lack of soil and water. Soils in the Sahel are mostly sandy and acidic, with a very low content of nitrogen and phosphates . The soil is very porous and quickly drains after heavy rains.
Flora and Fauna
Flora
The Sahel is mainly covered by fields and savannas, with small areas of forests. Grass covers the entire Sahel, with herbaceous plants dominated by Cenchrus biflorus , Schoenefeldia gracilis , and Aristida stipoides . Acacia tortilis (the most common), Senegalese acacia ( Acacia senegal ) and Acacia laeta predominate among acacia species. Other tree species are also found ( Commiphora africana , Balanites aegyptiaca , Faidherbia albida, and Boscia senegalensis ). In the northern part of the Sahel, there are vast areas covered with shrubs. During the long dry season, leaves fall from many trees, annual grasses die.
Fauna
Previously, the Sahel was the habitat of large mammalian populations, such as the saber-horn antelope ( Oryx dammah ), the gazelle ( Gazella dama , Gazella dorcas , Gazella rufifrons ) , as well as the Congony antelope ( Alcelaphus busephalus buselaphus ). In addition to herbivores, there were also predators, for example, a hyena-like dog ( Lycaon pictus ), a cheetah ( Acinonyx jubatus ), and a lion ( Panthera leo ). Due to uncontrolled hunting in the 19th-20th centuries, biological diversity sharply decreased, some species were declared endangered ( Gazella dorcas and Gazella rufifrons ).
The Sahel wetlands are important for migratory birds moving within Africa along the African-Eurasian migration route.
History
Early History
| Political Structures | |||
| XI - XIII centuries | |||
| Empire of Ghana · Kahnem · Tekrur | |||
| XIII - XVIII centuries. | |||
| Jolof (Wolof) · Empire of Mali · Empire of Songai · Mosi · city-states of the house · Bagirmi · Wadai · Darfur Sultanate · Sennar · Bornu · Sokoto · Masina · Takedda | |||
| XIX - XX centuries. (Colonies) | |||
| British Colony Nigeria · Sudan (colony) · French West Africa · French Equatorial Africa | |||
| XX centuries (Independent States) | |||
| Senegal · Mauritania · Burkina Faso · Mali · Nigeria · Niger · Cameroon · Chad · Sudan · Eritrea | |||
The first centers of agriculture appeared in the Sahel around 5000 BC, when sorghum and African rice ( Oryza glaberrima ) were cultivated. Around the same time, guinea fowl were domesticated.
About 4000 years BC, the climate of the Sahara and Sahel deserts began to rapidly become drier, leading to accelerated desertification . This process led to the movement of agricultural areas to areas with a wetter climate, for example, to West Africa .
Population Migration
Traditionally, most of the Sahel peoples were semi-nomadic , and therefore, agriculture was “moving” , but this method of farming is probably the most viable in the Sahel. The north of the region has a drier climate, but also a higher level of nutrients in the soil, while in the south there is a higher rainfall. These differences are used by nomads: during the wet season, their herds graze on the fertile soil of the north, and then make the transition to several hundred kilometers to the south in order to spend the dry season in more humid areas with less fertile soils. There have always been conflicts between nomadic shepherds over the most favorable parts of the Sahel.
Medieval state formations
The Sahel kingdoms were a series of empires whose wealth depended on the trade route through the Sahara . Their power was reinforced by the presence of large pack animals, such as camels and horses, which were useful both in trade and in battles. All these empires were decentralized with cities with great autonomy. The first great kingdoms of the Sahel appeared after 750 A.D. e., they created several large trading cities on the Niger River : Tombouctou , Gao and Jen .
The territories of the Sahel were limited from the south by a forest zone inhabited by the peoples of Ashanti and Yorub , since the soldiers of the Sahel kingdoms were much inferior to the local kingdoms during the war in the forest.
Twentieth Century Drought
Severe drought in the Sahel occurred in 1914. It was caused by low rainfall. This phenomenon caused large-scale hunger . Severe and prolonged drought was observed in this region from 1968 to 1973. The drought erupted after a relatively long humidity-favorable period of 1947-1968. Already in 1967 there was less rain in many areas than in previous years, but mostly still within the average norm. In 1968, there was a slight deficit of precipitation, but the main difficulty was their unfavorable distribution in the wet season. In the Sahelian zone of Niger , for example, heavy rains passed unusually early - in March - April, and then absolutely dry May followed. All subsequent years were characterized by a large deficit of precipitation. Drought reached its peak in 1972.
A sharp reduction in rainfall was observed not only in the Sahel, but also in the Sudanese, mainly agricultural, zone adjoining from the south, especially in 1972. The next year turned out to be less severe, but not everywhere. So, in Gao (Mali), with an average annual rainfall of 263 mm, only 144 mm of moisture was recorded in 1973 (against 157 mm in 1972 and 173 mm in 1971). The last year of the drought is considered the 1973rd. However, the next year, the long-awaited rains did not come to all areas. For example, for residents of the same Gao, 1974 turned out to be the most scarce in precipitation: only 128 mm fell.
The long period of drought from 1968 to 1974 quickly made the Sahel unsuitable for life. A dramatic change in landscape has occurred. Only the help of international organizations allowed the Sahel to avoid as many victims as in 1914. This disaster led to the creation of the International Fund for Agricultural Development .
Notes
- ↑ Sahel // Dictionary of geographical names of foreign countries / ed. ed. A.M. Komkov . - 3rd ed., Revised. and add. - M .: Nedra , 1986.- S. 325.
- ↑ "Sahel: $ 1.6 billion appeal to address widespread humanitarian crisis . " United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs . Retrieved 24 June 2013.
Literature
- Radchenko G.F. Sahel countries: (State of the environment and problems of agricultural development) / Rec. L.O. Nizskaya ; Institute of Geography, USSR Academy of Sciences . - M .: Thought , 1983 .-- 264 p. - 15,000 copies.
- Dai, A .; Lamb, PJ; Trenberth, KE; Hulme, M .; Jones, PD; Xie, P. The recent Sahel drought is real (Eng.) // International Journal of Climatology : journal. - 2004. - Vol. 24 , no. 11 . - P. 1323-1331 . - DOI : 10.1002 / joc.1083 . .
- The Growing Crisis in Africa's Sahel Region: Joint Hearing before the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations and the Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa and the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade of the Committee in Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives, One Hundred Thirteenth Congress, First Session, May 21, 2013
- Moseley, WG 2008. “Strengthening Livelihoods in Sahelian West Africa: The Geography of Development and Underdevelopment in a Peripheral Region.” Geographische Rundschau International Edition, 4 (4): 44-50. http://works.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1069&context=william_moseley
- Simon, L., A. Mattelaer and A. Hadfield (2012) "A Coherent EU Strategy for the Sahel . " Brussels: European Parliament (DG for External Policies).