Matam is a city in northeast Senegal

Senegal

Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...

, on the Sénégal River

Sénégal River

The Sénégal River is a long river in West Africa that forms the border between Senegal and Mauritania.The Sénégal's headwaters are the Semefé and Bafing rivers which both originate in Guinea; they form a small part of the Guinean-Malian border before coming together at Bafoulabé in Mali...

. It is the capital of the Matam Region

Matam Region

Matam is a region of Senegal .It is a stark, flat, arid place bounded on the north by the Sénégal River and the south by the Sahelian plain studded with baobab trees made famous in Le Petit Prince...

 .

People

Well-known people from the city include footballer Mamadou Niang

Mamadou Niang

Mamadou Niang is a Senegalese footballer who plays as a forward for Qatar club Al Sadd in the Qatar National First Division. He has represented Senegal at international level, participating in the 2004, 2006, and 2008 African Cup of Nations. He wears the number 7 jersey...

, politician Samba Diouldé Thiam

Samba Diouldé Thiam

Samba Diouldé Thiam is a Senegalese politician and mathematician from Matam. He is a member of the National Assembly of Senegal.-References:*...

 and writer Cheikh Hamidou Kane

Cheikh Hamidou Kane

Cheikh Hamidou Kane is a Senegalese writer best known for his prize winning novel L'aventure ambiguë , about the interactions of western and African cultures. Its hero is a Fulani boy who goes to study in France...

, the first mayor ISSA KANE and Hamidou Samba KASSE (known as El Hadji KASSE) philosopher, writer and journalist.

Mining

Matam has potential phosphate

Phosphate

A phosphate, an inorganic chemical, is a salt of phosphoric acid. In organic chemistry, a phosphate, or organophosphate, is an ester of phosphoric acid. Organic phosphates are important in biochemistry and biogeochemistry or ecology. Inorganic phosphates are mined to obtain phosphorus for use in...

 mines. There are nearby deposits at Bofal

Bofal

Bofal is a small town in southern Mauritania. There are phosphate deposits in the vicinity. It lies near the southern border formed by the Senegal River- Transport :...

 in southern Mauritania

Mauritania

Mauritania is a country in the Maghreb and West Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean in the west, by Western Sahara in the north, by Algeria in the northeast, by Mali in the east and southeast, and by Senegal in the southwest...

.

External links

• MSM Map