The Sahel has a hot semi-arid climate and stretches across the southernmost latitudes of North Africa between the Atlantic Ocean and the Red Sea.

Especially in the western Sahel, there are frequent shortages of food and water due to its very high government corruption and the semi-arid climate.

The Sahel spans 5,900 km (3,670 mi) from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the east, in a belt several hundred to a thousand kilometers (c. 600 miles) wide.

Representing a climatic and ecological transition zone with hot semi-desert and steppe conditions, the Sahel region borders the more humid Sudanian savannas to its south and the dry Sahara desert to the north.

Other tree species include Adansonia digitata, Commiphora africana, Balanites aegyptiaca, Faidherbia albida, Borassus aethiopum, Vitellaria paradoxa, Olea europaea, Arbutus unedo, Phoenix canariensis, Phoenix dactylifera, Hyphaene compressa, Cupressus sempervirens, Quercus coccifera, Quercus suber, Quercus ilex, Quercus pubescens, Pistacia terebinthus, Pinus pinea, Pinus nigra, Populus alba, Populus nigra, Ceratonia siliqua, Salix alba, Afzelia africana, Kigelia africana, Sclerocarya birrea, Ziziphus spina-christi, Ficus salicifolia, Juglans regia, Laurus nobilis, Prosopis cineraria, Pinus halepensis, Aerva javanica, Prunus amygdalus, Corylus avellana, Juniperus communis, and Boscia senegalensis.

The Sahel was formerly home to large populations of grazing mammals, including the scimitar-horned oryx (Oryx dammah), dama gazelle (Gazella dama), Dorcas gazelle (Gazella dorcas), red-fronted gazelle (Gazella rufifrons), the giant prehistoric buffalo (Pelorovis), and Bubal hartebeest (Alcelaphus buselaphus buselaphus), along with large predators, such as the African wild dog (Lycaon pictus), the Northwest African cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus hecki), the Northeast African cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus soemmeringii), and the lion (Panthera leo).

[13] Niger reported on 14 July that diarrhoea, starvation, gastroenteritis, malnutrition and respiratory diseases had sickened or killed many children.

The Woodless Construction project was introduced in Sahel in 1980 by the Development Workshop, achieving since then a high social impact in the region.

[19] A major initiative to combat desertification in the Sahel region via reforestation and other interventions is the Great Green Wall.

[21] On 23 March 2010, a major sandstorm hit Mauritania, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, and inland Sierra Leone.

The difference between the dry North with higher levels of soil nutrients and the wetter South with more vegetation, is utilized by having the herds graze on high-quality feed in the North during the wet season, and trek several hundred kilometers to the South to graze on more abundant, but less nutritious feed during the dry period.

Sāḥil literally means "coast, shore",[30] which has been explained as a figurative reference to the southern edge of the vast Sahara.

This, in turn, decreased the amount of land conducive to settlements and caused migrations of farming communities to the more humid climate of West Africa.

The wealth of the states, like the legendary Mali Empire at the time of Mansa Musa, came from controlling the trans-Saharan trade routes across the desert, especially with the Maghreb.

[citation needed] The larger Sahelian kingdoms emerged from 750 AD and erected several large cities in the Niger valley region, including Timbuktu, Gao and Djenné.

[44][45] In March 2020, the United States sent a special envoy for the Sahel region to combat the rising violence from terrorist groups.

[46] The Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need has highlighted the fact that the Sahel has become one of the most dangerous regions in the world for Christians.

[47] As of 2024, a wave of new military juntas in Africa, favoring Russian mercenaries over Western forces and UN peacekeepers, has intensified violence.

This led Mauritania and Chad to disband the G5 Sahel, an anti-terrorism alliance, after the military regimes in Burkina Faso, Niger, and Mali withdrew.

[50] The area has also seen a high prevalence of coups d'état, with military juntas currently ruling in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, and Sudan.

The violent herder–farmer conflicts in Nigeria, Mali, Sudan and other countries in the Sahel region have been exacerbated by climate change, land degradation, and rapid population growth.

[54][55] The Sahel is experiencing more severe weather due to climate change, exemplified by the extreme heatwave of March-April 2024 in Burkina Faso and Mali.