The Sahel - A Brief History of its Empires and Peoples

The Sahel is a geographical designation for the area in Africa which divides the Saharan desert from the wooded savannas to the south. It is a transitional band of land running across the continent touching many countries including; Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Algeria, Niger, Chad, Nigeria, Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea. It is an arid plain broken by occasional mountain ranges. A harsh, unforgiving country populated by nomadic peoples, but from the Sahel sprung many of the greatest African empires.