FOUTA

also called Futa, or Fouta-toro, semidesert region flanking the middle course of the Sngal River and lying north of the Ferlo region, in northern Senegal. The banks of the Sngal River are well-watered and fertile in the Fouta region, yet the thin, sandy clay of the region's interior plains is infertile and porous. Water is found near the surface in only a few shallow depressions. This region was historically the site of several Fula states. Many of the Fulani and Mauri people who inhabit the region have switched from nomadic to sedentary lifestyles. Irrigation, long practiced in Fouta, was enhanced by Sngal River irrigation projects in the late 20th century.