Editing Senegal (section)

== Geography ==
{{Main|Geography of Senegal}}
[[File:Senegal map of Köppen climate classification.svg|thumb|Senegal map of Köppen climate classification]]
[[File:Casamance landscape.jpg|thumb|Landscape of [[Casamance]]]]
Senegal is located on the west of the African continent. It lies between latitudes [[12th parallel north|12°]] and [[17th parallel north|17°N]], and longitudes [[11th meridian west|11°]] and [[18th meridian west|18°W]].

Senegal is externally bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, [[Mauritania]] to the north, [[Mali]] to the east, and [[Guinea]] and [[Guinea-Bissau]] to the south; internally it almost completely surrounds [[The Gambia]], namely on the north, east and south, except for Gambia's short Atlantic coastline.

The Senegalese landscape consists mainly of the rolling sandy plains of the western [[Sahel]] which rise to foothills in the southeast. Here is also found Senegal's highest point, Baunez ridge situated 2.7&nbsp;km southeast of [[Nepen Diakha]] at {{convert|648|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.peakbagger.com/peak.aspx?pid=11080|title=Senegal High Point|publisher=[[SRTM]]|access-date=22 January 2017|archive-date=2 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202004526/http://www.peakbagger.com/peak.aspx?pid=11080|url-status=live}}</ref> The northern border is formed by the [[Senegal River]]; other rivers include the [[Gambia River|Gambia]] and [[Casamance River]]s. The capital Dakar lies on the [[Cap-Vert]] peninsula, the westernmost point of continental Africa.

The [[Cape Verde]] islands lie some {{convert|560|km}} off the Senegalese coast, but Cap-Vert ("Cape Green") is a maritime placemark, set at the foot of "Les Mammelles", a {{convert|105|m|ft|0|adj=on}} cliff resting at one end of the Cap-Vert peninsula onto which is settled Senegal's capital Dakar, and {{convert|1|km|mi|1}} south of the "Pointe des Almadies", the westernmost point in Africa.

Senegal contains four terrestrial ecoregions: [[Guinean forest-savanna mosaic]], [[Sahelian Acacia savanna]], [[West Sudanian savanna]], and [[Guinean mangroves]].<ref name="DinersteinOlson2017">{{cite journal|last1=Dinerstein|first1=Eric|last2=Olson|first2=David|last3=Joshi|first3=Anup|last4=Vynne|first4=Carly|last5=Burgess|first5=Neil D.|last6=Wikramanayake|first6=Eric|last7=Hahn|first7=Nathan|last8=Palminteri|first8=Suzanne|last9=Hedao|first9=Prashant|last10=Noss|first10=Reed|last11=Hansen|first11=Matt|last12=Locke|first12=Harvey|last13=Ellis|first13=Erle C|last14=Jones|first14=Benjamin|last15=Barber|first15=Charles Victor|last16=Hayes|first16=Randy|last17=Kormos|first17=Cyril|last18=Martin|first18=Vance|last19=Crist|first19=Eileen|last20=Sechrest|first20=Wes|last21=Price|first21=Lori|last22=Baillie|first22=Jonathan E. M.|last23=Weeden|first23=Don|last24=Suckling|first24=Kierán|last25=Davis|first25=Crystal|last26=Sizer|first26=Nigel|last27=Moore|first27=Rebecca|last28=Thau|first28=David|last29=Birch|first29=Tanya|last30=Potapov|first30=Peter|last31=Turubanova|first31=Svetlana|last32=Tyukavina|first32=Alexandra|last33=de Souza|first33=Nadia|last34=Pintea|first34=Lilian|last35=Brito|first35=José C.|last36=Llewellyn|first36=Othman A.|last37=Miller|first37=Anthony G.|last38=Patzelt|first38=Annette|last39=Ghazanfar|first39=Shahina A.|last40=Timberlake|first40=Jonathan|last41=Klöser|first41=Heinz|last42=Shennan-Farpón|first42=Yara|last43=Kindt|first43=Roeland|last44=Lillesø|first44=Jens-Peter Barnekow|last45=van Breugel|first45=Paulo|last46=Graudal|first46=Lars|last47=Voge|first47=Maianna|last48=Al-Shammari|first48=Khalaf F.|last49=Saleem|first49=Muhammad|display-authors=1|title=An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm|journal=BioScience|volume=67|issue=6|year=2017|pages=534–545|issn=0006-3568|doi=10.1093/biosci/bix014|pmid=28608869|pmc=5451287|doi-access=free}}</ref> It had a 2019 [[Forest Landscape Integrity Index]] mean score of 7.11/10, ranking it 56th globally out of 172 countries.<ref name="FLII-Supplementary">{{cite journal|last1=Grantham|first1=H. S.|last2=Duncan|first2=A.|last3=Evans|first3=T. D.|last4=Jones|first4=K. R.|last5=Beyer|first5=H. L.|last6=Schuster|first6=R.|last7=Walston|first7=J.|last8=Ray|first8=J. C.|last9=Robinson|first9=J. G.|last10=Callow|first10=M.|last11=Clements|first11=T.|last12=Costa|first12=H. M.|last13=DeGemmis|first13=A.|last14=Elsen|first14=P. R.|last15=Ervin|first15=J.|last16=Franco|first16=P.|last17=Goldman|first17=E.|last18=Goetz|first18=S.|last19=Hansen|first19=A.|last20=Hofsvang|first20=E.|last21=Jantz|first21=P.|last22=Jupiter|first22=S.|last23=Kang|first23=A.|last24=Langhammer|first24=P.|last25=Laurance|first25=W. F.|last26=Lieberman|first26=S.|last27=Linkie|first27=M.|last28=Malhi|first28=Y.|last29=Maxwell|first29=S.|last30=Mendez|first30=M.|last31=Mittermeier|first31=R.|last32=Murray|first32=N. J.|last33=Possingham|first33=H.|last34=Radachowsky|first34=J.|last35=Saatchi|first35=S.|last36=Samper|first36=C.|last37=Silverman|first37=J.|last38=Shapiro|first38=A.|last39=Strassburg|first39=B.|last40=Stevens|first40=T.|last41=Stokes|first41=E.|last42=Taylor|first42=R.|last43=Tear|first43=T.|last44=Tizard|first44=R.|last45=Venter|first45=O.|last46=Visconti|first46=P.|last47=Wang|first47=S.|last48=Watson|first48=J. E. M.|display-authors=1|title=Anthropogenic modification of forests means only 40% of remaining forests have high ecosystem integrity&nbsp;– Supplementary Material|journal=Nature Communications|volume=11|issue=1|year=2020|page=5978|issn=2041-1723|doi=10.1038/s41467-020-19493-3|pmid=33293507|pmc=7723057|bibcode=2020NatCo..11.5978G |doi-access=free}}</ref>

=== Climate ===
{{Main|Geography of Senegal#Climate}}
[[File:Ngor Beach.jpg|thumb|Beach at [[Ngor, Dakar|N'Gor]] ]]
Senegal has a [[tropical climate]] with pleasant heat throughout the year with well-defined dry and humid seasons that result from northeast winter winds and southwest summer winds. The dry season (December to April) is dominated by hot, dry, [[harmattan]] wind.<ref name=cia/>
Dakar's annual rainfall of about {{convert|600|mm|in|abbr=on}} occurs between June and October when maximum temperatures average {{convert|30|°C|°F|1}} and minimums {{convert|24.2|°C|°F|1}}; December to February maximum temperatures average {{convert|25.7|°C|°F|1}} and minimums {{convert|18|°C|°F|1}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.senegal.climatemps.com/ |title=Dakar, Senegal Climate Information&nbsp;– ClimateTemp.info, Making Sense of Average Monthly Weather & Temperature Data with Detailed Climate Graphs That Portray Average Rainfall & Sunshine Hours |publisher=ClimaTemps.com |date=22 July 2011 |access-date=29 March 2012 |archive-date=12 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120712103459/http://www.senegal.climatemps.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Interior temperatures are higher than along the coast (for example, average daily temperatures in Kaolack and Tambacounda for May are {{convert|30|°C|°F|1}} and {{convert|32.7|°C|°F|1}} respectively, compared to Dakar's {{convert|23.2|°C|°F|1}} ),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldclimate.com/|title=Weather rainfall and temperature data|publisher=World Climate|access-date=5 August 2010|archive-date=8 February 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110208173133/http://www.worldclimate.com/|url-status=live}}</ref> and rainfall increases substantially farther south, exceeding {{convert|1500|mm|in|1|abbr=on}} annually in some areas.

In Tambacounda in the far interior, particularly on the border of Mali where desert begins, temperatures can reach as high as {{convert|54|°C|°F|1}}. The northernmost part of the country is the [[Lompoul desert]] that has a near [[Desert climate#Hot desert climates|hot desert climate]], the central part has a [[Semi-arid climate#Hot semi-arid climates|hot semi-arid climate]] and the southernmost part has a [[Tropical savanna climate|tropical wet and dry climate]]. Senegal is mainly a sunny and dry country.

{{excerpt|Climate change in Senegal|paragraphs=1-2|hat=no}} <!-- this takes the first and second paragraph of the lead of the sub-article and repeats it here-->

=== Wildlife ===
{{Main|Wildlife of Senegal}}