Relief of Mali

Relief of Mali
Mali is mostly flat and boring to look at. There are two main types of land in Africa called
plateaus and plains. The rivers Niger and Sénégal flow through these areas. The highland areas
are spread out and not continuous.
The flat areas in the south and southwest are part of the Fouta Djallon highlands of Guinea and
the Guinea Highlands of Guinea and Côte d'Ivoire. They are between 1,000 and 1,600 feet (300
and 500 meters) above sea level, but can be almost 2,000 feet (600 meters) high near Bamako
and more than 2,100 feet (640 meters) near Satadougou.
The plateaus in the southeast and east are like small, uneven hills that are connected to the
Guinea Highlands. In the southeast, the land goes up to almost 1,000 feet (300 meters) near
Sikasso and up to 1,740 feet (530 meters) at Mount Mina. To the east of the Niger River, the
Dogon Plateau slopes down gently towards the river valley. However, it has steep cliffs on the
southeast. These cliffs are almost 3,300 feet high at Bandiagara. In the northwest part of the
region, there is a mountain called Mount Hombori Tondo. It is the highest point in the country,
reaching a height of 3,789 feet (1,155 meters).
The northern and central parts of Mali consist of the flat lands of the Niger River area and the
Sahara desert. The only noticeable land feature in the north is the Iforas Massif. This place is a
part of the mountainous Hoggar region in the Sahara. It's a plateau made of sandstone that has
been heavily worn away. It goes up to more than 2,000 feet high.
Drainage and soils

Apart from a few occasional streams in the northeast, Mali's water system is made up of the
Sénegal and Niger rivers and the smaller streams that flow into them. The SÃ©nÃ©gal river
flows in a northwestern direction across western Mali for about 420 miles (670 km) until it
reaches the Atlantic Ocean. One of the main starting points of the SÃ©nÃ©gal River is the
Bakoye River, which comes from the Fouta Djallon. Another starting point is the Bafing River,
which is even further to the east. They come together at BafoulabÃ© to form the SÃ©nÃ©gal
River. The river keeps flowing to the northwest and then to the west around the Mandingue
Plateau. It is interrupted by waterfalls at Gouina and FÃ©lou before leaving Mali.
The Niger River goes through Mali for a little over 1,000 miles, which is about 40% of the river's
total length. It starts in the Fouta Djallon and becomes big when it reaches the country near
Kangaba. It moves to the northeast over a high area called Mandingue Plateau, and it stops
because of waterfalls and a dam at Sotuba. When it reaches Koulikoro, the river spreads out in a
big valley and flows gracefully until it meets the Bani River at Mopti. The Niger river makes a
delta in the middle of the land because it is flat and the river doesn't have much slope. The river
splits up into smaller rivers and lakes as it goes north, and then turns east at Kabara. At Bourem,
the Niger River makes a big turn to the southeast called the Niger Bend. It goes past Gao and
Ansongo before reaching the Niger border at Labbezanga.
The amount of water in the Niger River changes at different times of the year. Flooding happens
on the upper Niger River from July to October, at the delta from September to November, and at
the bend from December to January. Regular floods and the fertile soil in the central delta make
the Niger valley a very important place for farming.
The dirt in Mali, outside the Niger Valley, is not good for growing plants. In the southern area,
the soils have iron and are not very deep. They become hard and red because of a lot of water
evaporating. The desert area is made up of sand, rocks, and small stones.
Climate
Mali is in a very hot and dry place with the sun high up in the sky most of the time. Usually,
there are two main seasons, dry and wet. The dry season goes from November to June and is hot
with low humidity. The alize and harmattan winds affect it. The wind called alize comes from
the northeast from November to January. It makes the weather cooler, with temperatures around
77°F (25°C). From March to June, the harmattan wind blows hot and dry from the east out of the
Sahara desert. It makes the soil dusty and swirls in the wind. It also brings daytime temperatures
of about 104 to 113 degrees Fahrenheit.
The monsoon wind blows from the southwest during the rainy season, which goes from June to
October. Big dark clouds come before heavy rainstorms. These storms also have strong winds,
lots of lightning, and loud thunder. In August it's a bit cooler and there's more rain.
The country has three different climates - one with a lot of rain, one with less rain, and one with
very little rain. The Sudanic climate covers about one-third of the country, from the southern
border to latitude 15° N. The area gets 20 to 55 inches of rain each year and the weather is
usually between 75 and 86 degrees Fahrenheit. The Sahel, which is next to the Sahara Desert,
gets 8 to 20 inches of rain every year and has temperatures of 73 to 97 degrees Fahrenheit on
average. In the Sahara desert, it gets really hot during the day, up to 140 degrees, and cooler at
night, around 41 degrees.

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Relief of Mali

Drainage and soils

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