Bafing River

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title: "Bafing River" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["rivers-of-mali", "rivers-of-guinea", "french-west-africa", "senegal-river", "international-rivers-of-africa", "guinea–mali-border"] description: "River in Guinea and Mali" topic_path: "geography/france" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bafing_River" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary River in Guinea and Mali ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox river"]

Field	Value
name	Bafing River
name_other	fr
image	Pirogue Bozo sur le Bafing.jpeg
image_caption	View of Bafing river from a Bozo Pirogue
pushpin_map	Mali
pushpin_map_caption	Location of the mouth in Mali
subdivision_type1	Countries
subdivision_name1	Mali, Guinea
length	350 miles
source1	Fonta Djallon
source1_location	Foranruel, Guinea
source1_coordinates
source1_elevation	750 m
mouth	Senegal River
mouth_location	Bafoulabé, Mali
mouth_coordinates
mouth_elevation	83 m
river_system	Senegal River
::

| name = Bafing River | name_native = | name_other = fr | name_etymology = | nickname = | image = Pirogue Bozo sur le Bafing.jpeg | image_size = | image_caption = View of Bafing river from a Bozo Pirogue | image_alt = | map = | map_size = | map_caption = | map_alt = | pushpin_map = Mali | pushpin_map_size = | pushpin_map_caption= Location of the mouth in Mali | pushpin_map_alt = | subdivision_type1 = Countries | subdivision_name1 = Mali, Guinea | subdivision_type2 = | subdivision_name2 = | subdivision_type3 = | subdivision_name3 = | subdivision_type4 = | subdivision_name4 = | subdivision_type5 = | subdivision_name5 = | length = 350 miles | width_min = | width_avg = | width_max = | depth_min = | depth_avg = | depth_max = | discharge1_location= | discharge1_min = | discharge1_avg = | discharge1_max = | source1 = Fonta Djallon | source1_location = Foranruel, Guinea | source1_coordinates= | source1_elevation = 750 m | mouth = Senegal River | mouth_location = Bafoulabé, Mali | mouth_coordinates = | mouth_elevation = 83 m | progression = | river_system = Senegal River | basin_size = | basin_landmarks = | basin_population = | tributaries_left = | tributaries_right = | waterbodies = | waterfalls = | bridges = | ports = | custom_label = | custom_data = | extra =

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9b/10.34748W_13.10430N.png" caption="[[Lake Manantali]] with the [[Manantali Dam]] and the Bafing River"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/PARK(1800)_p317_Die_hängende_Brücke_über_den_Bafing.jpg" caption="A hanging bridge over the Bafing (published 1800)"] ::

The Bafing River (Manding for "black river", French: Rivière Bafing) is the upper course and largest tributary of the Senegal River which runs through Guinea and Mali and is about 350 miles long.

Course

The Fonta Djallon in Guinea is the source of the Bafing River, 30 miles north of Mamou. It flows for about 350 miles and converges with the Bakoy River to join the Senegal River in western Africa. The Bafing River is the largest tributary of the Senegal River, and contributes almost half of its total water volume. The Bafing forms part of the international border between Guinea and Mali.

Irrigation

Flooding from the Bafing River along the Senegal River had been traditionally relied on as a means of supporting local agriculture. However, a drought in the 1970s necessitated the construction of dams on both the Bafing River and the Senegal River. The Manantali hydroelectric dam, completed in 1987, is located on the Bafing River 90 km upstream of Bafoulabé. It forms the largest artificial lake in Mali, Lake Manantali. The dam retains 11.3 km3 of water which is used to power the turbines during the dry season. As a result, the intensity of the maximum flood downstream of the dam has been reduced but during the dry season, a flow of between 150 m3/s and 200 m3/s is maintained.

Ecology

There may be a significant chimpanzee population in the area east of the Bafing River. The blue-headed bee-eater (merops muelleri) has also been sighted at the forest on the river south of the Manding Mountains.

References

References

1. (1994). "Status of Fish Stocks and Fisheries of Thirteen Medium-sized African Reservoirs". Food & Agriculture Org..
2. Rand McNally and Company. (1980). "Rand McNally Encyclopedia of World Rivers". Rand McNally.
3. "Caractéristiques physiques du fleuve Sénégal". Organisation pour la mise en valeur du fleuve Sénégal.
4. Maïga, Mahamadou. (1995). "Le bassin du fleuve Sénégal: de la Traite négrière au développement sous-régional autocentré". L'Harmattan.
5. (1982). "Development Anthropology Network: Bulletin of the Institute for Development Anthropology". The Institute for Development Anthropology.
6. Brownlie, Ian. (1979). "African Boundaries: A Legal and Diplomatic Encyclopedia". Institute for International Affairs, Hurst and Co..
7. Itzchak Kornfeld. (31 January 2020). "Mega-Dams and Indigenous Human Rights". Edward Elgar Publishing.
8. (2006). "Étude des impacts environnementaux du projet d’aménagement de Félou". Organisation pour la mise en valeur du fleuve Sénégal (O.M.V.S.).
9. Rebecca Kormos. (2003). "West African Chimpanzees: Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan". IUCN.
10. C. Hilary Fry. (30 September 2010). "The Bee-Eaters". Bloomsbury Publishing.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::