Saloum Delta or Sine-Saloum Delta is a river delta

River delta

A delta is a landform that is formed at the mouth of a river where that river flows into an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, reservoir, flat arid area, or another river. Deltas are formed from the deposition of the sediment carried by the river as the flow leaves the mouth of the river...

 in 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...

 at the mouth of the Saloum River

Saloum River

The Saloum River rises about 105 kilometers east of Kaolack, Senegal, and flows into the Atlantic Ocean. The significant Saloum Delta is located at its mouth, which is protected as Saloum Delta National Park. The river basin lies within the Kingdom of Saloum....

 where it flows into the North Atlantic Ocean. The delta covers 180,000 hectare

Hectare

The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...

s. It extends 72.5 kilometers along the coastline and 35 kilometers inland.

In 2011, a 145,811-hectare portion of the delta was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site. The site contains "brackish channels encompassing over 200 islands and islets, mangrove forest, an Atlantic marine environment, and dry forest." Saloum Delta National Park

Saloum Delta National Park

Saloum Delta National Park or Parc National du Delta du Saloum in Senegal is a 76,000 - hectare national park in Senegal. Established in 1976, it is situated within the Saloum Delta at the juncture of the Saloum River and the North Atlantic....

 covers 76,000 hectares of the delta.

The bird species that breed or winter in the area include Royal Tern

Royal Tern

The Royal Tern is a seabird in the tern family Sternidae. This bird has two distinctive subspecies. T. m. maximus breeds on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the southern USA and Mexico into the Caribbean. The slightly smaller T. m. albididorsalis breeds in coastal west Africa...

, Greater Flamingo

Greater Flamingo

The Greater Flamingo is the most widespread species of the flamingo family. It is found in parts of Africa, southern Asia , and southern Europe...

, Eurasian Spoonbill, Curlew Sandpiper

Curlew Sandpiper

The Curlew Sandpiper is a small wader that breeds on the tundra of Arctic Siberia. It is strongly migratory, wintering mainly in Africa, but also in south and southeast Asia and in Australasia...

, Ruddy Turnstone

Ruddy Turnstone

The Ruddy Turnstone is a small wading bird, one of two species of turnstone in the genus Arenaria. It is now classified in the sandpiper family Scolopacidae but was formerly sometimes placed in the plover family Charadriidae...

, and Little Stint

Little Stint

The Little Stint, Calidris minuta , is a very small wader. It breeds in arctic Europe and Asia, and is a long-distance migrant, wintering south to Africa and south Asia...

. Aside from being a valued breeding ground for birds, the delta contains 218 shellfish mounds and artefacts unearthed at some 28 of the burial grounds have provided an important insight into the history of human occupation in the area.