It is formed by the confluence of the Semefé and Bafing rivers. Both have their source in Guinea; the Bafing River flows through Mali, and the Semefé is on the Malinese-Senegalese border.
Approaching its mouth, the Senegal passes through Biffeche and the island on which the city of Saint-Louis, Senegal is located, then turns south. It is separated from the Atlantic Ocean by a thin strip of sand called the Langue de Barbarie before it pours into the ocean itself. The river has two large dams along its course, the Manantali Dam in Mali, and the Maka-Diama dam on the Mauritania-Senegal border, near the outlet to the sea.
The Senegal River has a drainage basin of 483,181 km² and an estimated annual discharge of 8 million km³. Important tributaries are the Faleme River, Karakoro River, and the Gorgol River.
River in West Africa, formed by the confluence of the Bafing and Bakhoy rivers and flowing 1,125 km/700 mi northwest and west to join the Atlantic Ocean near Saint-Louis, Senegal.
In 1968 the Organization of Riparian States of the RiverSenegal (Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, and Senegal) was formed to develop the river valley, including a dam for hydroelectric power and irrigation at Joina Falls in Mali; its headquarters is in Dakar.
The river forms the northern border of Senegal with Mauritania, and is vital to both countries because of the agricultural potential of its seasonally flooded clay plains, extensive in the middle and lower reaches of the valley, where local rainfall is less than 250 mm/10 in, insufficient for normal agriculture.
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