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Concept
Senegambia
Summary
The Senegambia (other names: Senegambia region or Senegambian zone, Senegaámbi in Wolof) is, in the narrow sense, a historical name for a geographical region in West Africa, which lies between the Senegal River in the north and the Gambia River in the south. However, there are also text sources which state that Senegambia is understood in a broader sense and equated with the term the Western region. This refers to the coastal areas between Senegal and Sierra Leone, where the inland border in the east was not further defined.
Geographically, the region lies within the tropical zone between the Sahel and the forests of Guinea, with Senegal and Gambian Rivers underpinning the region's geographical unity. The region encompasses the modern states of Senegal, The Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau, as well as portions of Mauritania, Mali, and Guinea. It should not be confused with the recent Senegambia Confederation, which was a loose confederation between The Gambia and Senegal from 1982 to 1989, set up just after The Gambia's 1981 coup d'état where the Senegalese government intervened to reinstate the democratically elected Gambian government.
Spanning beyond the borders of the Senegambia Confederation, the Senegambia region was described by the Senegalese historian and scholar Professor Boubacar Barry of UCAD as historically "the main gateway to Sudan, the cradle of the great empires of Ghana, Mali and Songhai" and "the centre of gravity for West Africa."
History of SenegalHistory of The GambiaHistory of MaliHistory of GuineaSerer ancient historySerer history and Senegambian stone circles
Sudan (region)
According to Professor Abdoulaye Camara of IFAN and the Senghor University in Alexandria, Egypt, early humans appeared in Senegal around 350,000 years ago. Benga and Thiam posit that, it is in the Falémé valley in the southeast of the country where we find the oldest traces of human life.
In Senegambian Neolithic history, the period when humans became hunters, fishermen and producers (farmers and artisans) is well represented and studied.
Official source
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