SENEGAMBIA, a large maritime tract of country in western Africa, in lat. about 10' to n., long. about 4° to 17' 30' e., is bounded on the n. and w. by the Sahara and Soudan( on the s. by the colony of Sierra. Leone,-and on the w. by the Atlantic. Area about 400.000 sq.m.; pop. estimated at about 12,000.000. The country takes its name from its two principal rivers, the Senegal and the Gambia. Between these two rivers, which are 250 m. apart, there are no water-courses of any importance, and from the Gambia s. to the frontier of Sierra Leone. the only considerable stream is the Rio Grande. The coast is deeply indented by arms of the sea, which resemble the estuaries of rivers. The country forms the western and northern declivity of the plateau of Kong. and part of it is still unexplored. The soil is of two kinds, that of the coasts and that of the interior; the former consisting in part of low flat alluvial plains, and partly of an uudu lating country, which broadens toward the n. until, on the northern frontier, it merges into the Sahara; while the plateau of the interior rises from the coast plains in mount ainous terraces until it loses itself in the Kong mountains. Its loftiest elevations are
only 3,230 ft. high. Senegambia is divided into three districts—High, Middle, and Low Senegambia.• The first comprises the country to the n. of the Senegal, and is inhabited by Moors, who, of course, profess Islamism. Middle Senegambia comprises the country bordering the Senegal, haying an area of 1350 sq.m., and is inhabited by negroes, who divide themselves into numerous tribes. Of this tract the climate is extranely hot, and is unhealthy in the marshy districts. The soil is generally fertile, and yields the crops usually produced in the hot regions of Africa. Low Senegambia comprises the countries bordering the Gambia, and extends s. to Nunez. Of the coast regions of Senegambia, France possesses on the banks and around the estuary of the Senegal about 1.140 sq.m. of territory; the Portuguese a tract of 35,437 sq.m. on and around the estuary of the Rio Grande; and the English some little territory on the Gambia. with a pop. of 11,190.