The Lompoul desert (sometimes spelled Lumpoul; in French, Désert de Lompoul) is a small desert of about 18 km2. It is located in the Louga region of Senegal.Dominique Auzias, Jean-Paul Labourdette, Sénégal 2020, col. Petit Futé.
It features orange sand dunes akin to those in the Sahara and Mauritania, unlike the surrounding landscape in Senegal (see the Grande Côte).Korité and Camels
The desert is named after its closest settlement, the village of .
Geography The Lompoul has a surface area of about 18 square kilometers (6.9 sq mi). It is located in north-west Senegal, between the cities of Saint-Louis (Sénégal) and Dakar.
The desert consists of many sand dunes, which can reach heights of up to 50 meters.
Festival du Sahel The Festival du Sahel, a local music festival, has taken place in the Lompoul desert since 2009. Festivaldusahel.com
Mineral sands extraction
In recent years, parts of the Lompoul desert and the surrounding coastal strip have been affected by heavy mineral sands mining, particularly for zircon, ilmenite and rutile, under a concession operated by the French mining company Eramet through its subsidiary Eramet Grande Côte (in which the Government of Senegal also has an indirect equity of 10%). The use of large dredging equipment has altered dune landscapes and generated local concerns about environmental impacts and changes to traditional land uses in the region.
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