Sahel Region

Region of Burkina Faso
the larger North African region

Sahel (sa.ɛl, "Sahel") is one of Burkina Faso's 13 administrative regions. It was created on 2 July 2001. The region's capital is Dori. Four provinces make up the region—Oudalan, Séno, Soum, and Yagha. This region is the northernmost part of the country and is adjacent to Mali and Niger. As of 2019, the population of the region was 1,094,907 which is 5.34% of the total population of the country.

Most of Burkina Faso is a wide plateau formed by riverine systems and is called Falaise de Banfora. There are three major rivers, the Red Volta, Black Volta and White Volta, which cuts through different valleys. The climate is generally hot, with unreliable rains across different seasons. Gold and quartz are common minerals found across the country, while manganese deposits are also common. The average elevation is around to above mean sea level. Among West African countries, Burkina Faso has the largest elephant population and the country is replete with game reserves. The northern regions are generally arid and usually have scrub land and semi deserts. The principal river is the Red Volta, that originates in the northern region and drains into Ghana. The areas near the rivers usually have flies like tsetse and similium, which are carriers of sleep sickness and river blindness. The average rainfall in the region is only around compared to southern regions that receive rainfall. The main languages spoken in Sahel Region as of 2006 were Fulfulde, Tamasheq (or "Bella"), and Moore. French is the official language throughout the country. As of 2007, among the working population, there were 72.2% employees, 9.3% under employed, 16% inactive people, 18.5% not working and 2.5% unemployed people in the region.

As of 2007, there were of highways, of regional roads and of county roads. The first set of car traffic was 9, first set of two wheeler traffic was 2,344 and the total classified road network was 1,454. The total corn produced during 2015 was 3,235 tonnes, cotton was 000 tonnes, cowpea was 17,804 tonnes, ground nut was 2,829 tonnes, millet was 152,287 tonnes, rice was 2,510 tonnes and sorghum was 72,967 tonnes. The coverage of cereal need compared to the total production of the region was 81.00 per cent. As of 2007, the literacy rate in the region was 18 per cent, compared to a national average of 28.3 per cent. The gross primary enrolment was 40.8 per cent, post primary was 7.6 per cent and gross secondary school enrolment was 1.9. There were 0 boys and 0 girls enrolled in the primary and post secondary level. There were 0 teachers in primary & post secondary level, while there were 239 teachers in post primary and post secondary level.