Senegal, a river of Senegambia in western Africa, formed in lat. 14° 10' N., Ion. 10° 30' W., by the junction of the Ba-fing and the Ba-Woolima, and flowing thence N. W., W., and S. W. into the Atlantic ocean at Fort St. Louis, in lat, 16° 7' N., Ion. 16° 30' W. The Ba-fing, which is regarded as the main stream, rises near Timbo, the principal town of the native state of Foota Jallon, not far from lat. 10° 30' N., Ion. 10° 45' W., in the Kong mountains; and if this be considered as its source, the total length of the river, which is exceedingly tortuous, is about 1,000 m. Between the 13th and 15th meridians, where the Senegal flows westward, it separates into three parallel branches, thus forming two long islands with a stream between them, each over 50 m. long and averaging 6 m. wide. It again becomes double before reaching the sea, into which however it flows as a single stream, 250 yards wide, over a shifting sand bar which will admit vessels of 12 ft. draught. The largest tributary is the Ba-Faleme from the south. The Senegal is navigable for river boats only in the wet season.

There is a fall of 80 ft. a few miles below the mouth of the Ba-Woolima.

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Senegal, an aggregation of French colonial settlements on the Senegal river and its tributary the Faleme, including the island and town of St. Louis at the mouth of the Senegal, and Goree, off Cape Verd; pop. estimated in 1874 at 100,000. The French have here attempted the system of military colonization applied in Algeria, with but limited success; and a considerable portion of the territory claimed and to some extent occupied by them in this region prior to 1870 was abandoned in that year. In 1872 the value of the exports to France was 10,800,000 francs, and of the imports from France 6,400,000 francs, the commerce being almost exclusively in the hands of the French. The establishment is under a colonial governor, with a military and naval force under his command. - French trading posts were established in this region in the early part of the 17th century, and in the 17th and 18th centuries were controlled successively by the West India company, the Senegal companies, and the East India company. The English held them by conquest from 1758 to 1779, and from 1803 to 1814.