Ballou

Ballou stands where the Falémé joins the Senegal River. Soninke and Fulani communities inhabit the surrounding river country, at the northern approach to Bambouk. Farther up the Falémé lies a region long renowned for its gold, which entered trading networks across the western Sudan and the Sahara. The rivers brought together the routes from Bambouk and the upper Senegal, linking this confluence with a much wider inland world.