Sahel

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Sahel is a narrow belt of land in West Africa. It is a strip of dry land about 5500 kilometres long and 450 kilometres wide. It lies at the southern edge of the Sahara Desert. It is located between the dry desert land to the north and the forest areas to the south. The Sahel has a tropical semi-arid climate. The temperature is high throughout the year. There is little rainfall in the Sahel (300mm-600mm), It is concentrated during summer months and can be unreliable. It may be very dry in some years.

Sahel is the Arab word for 'edge' or 'shore'.