# List of World Heritage Sites in Senegal

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Sites are places of importance to cultural or natural heritage as described in the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, established in 1972. Cultural heritage consists of monuments (such as architectural works, monumental sculptures, or inscriptions), groups of buildings, and sites (including archaeological sites). Natural features (consisting of physical and biological formations), geological and physiographical formations (including habitats of threatened species of animals and plants), and natural sites which are important from the point of view of science, conservation, or natural beauty, are defined as natural heritage. Senegal accepted the convention on 13 February 1976. There are seven World Heritage Sites in Senegal, with a further eight on the tentative list.
The first site in Senegal to be inscribed to the list was the Island of Gorée, in 1978. The most recent site listed was the Bassari Country, in 2012. Five sites in Senegal are listed for their cultural and two for their natural properties. The Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary was listed as endangered twice, from 1984 to 1988 and from 2000 to 2006; the first time because of the risks posed by the planned construction of a dam downstream, and a second time because of the spread of the invasive plant Salvinia molesta. Niokolo-Koba National Park was listed as endangered in 2007 because of low mammal populations, management problems, and the planned construction of a dam on the Gambia River upstream. It was removed from the endangered list in 2024 after Senegal had taken several measures to improve the situation. One site, the Stone Circles of Senegambia, is shared with The Gambia. Senegal has served on the World Heritage Committee five times.

## World Heritage Sites

UNESCO lists sites under ten criteria; each entry must meet at least one of the criteria. Criteria i through vi are cultural, and vii through x are natural.
World Heritage Sites :
| Site | Location (region) | Year listed | UNESCO data | Description |
| Island of Gorée | Dakar | 1978 | 26; vi (cultural) | The island, off the coast from Dakar, was a slave-trading centre on the African coast during the Atlantic slave trade period between the 15th and 19th centuries. At different points in time, it was ruled by the Portuguese, Dutch, English, and finally the French, under whom slavery was abolished. The architecture of the island reflects the mixture of influences. There are elegant houses of slave traders, fortifications, and warehouses where slaves were kept (the House of Slaves pictured). |
| Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary | Saint-Louis | 1981 | 26; vii, x (natural) | The wetland, located in the Senegal River delta, is an important habitat for several species of water birds, such as the great white pelican, purple heron, African spoonbill, great egret, night heron, and great cormorant (pictured). They use it either as the first stopover on a trans-Saharan migration route or as a nesting site. Crocodiles and manatees also live in the area. The site has been listed as endangered twice, from 1984 to 1988 and from 2000 to 2006; the first time because of the risks posed by the planned construction of a dam downstream, and a second time because of the spread of the invasive plant Salvinia molesta. |
| Niokolo-Koba National Park | Tambacounda, Kédougou | 1981 | 153; x (natural) | The park is located along the Gambia River. It comprises different types of habitats, including gallery forest, dry forest, savanna floodplains, and rocky outcrops. The park is rich in plant species and is home to substantial populations of large mammals, including lion, giant eland, African elephant, leopard, African wild dog, and chimpanzee. The site was listed as endangered between 2007 and 2024 because of low mammal populations, management problems, and the planned construction of a dam on the Gambia River upstream. |
| Island of Saint-Louis | Saint-Louis | 2000 | 956bis; ii, iv (cultural) | The narrow island is located in the mouth of the Senegal River. In the 17th century, the French founded a trading hub there, which later served as the capital of Senegal (from 1872 to 1957) and was an important economic and cultural centre of French West Africa. The city follows a grid plan and the houses are built in a consistent colonial style. There are numerous quays along the shore. One of the landmarks of the island is the Faidherbe Bridge, built in 1897. A minor boundary modification of the site took place in 2007. |
| Stone Circles of Senegambia* | Kaolack | 2006 | 1226; i, iii (cultural) | This site comprises four megalithic groups of stone circles, Wassu and Kerbatch in The Gambia and Wanar and Sine Ngayène (pictured) in Senegal. Numerous tumuli are also located there, some of which have been excavated. They were associated with funerary practices and were being created over a long period of time, roughly from the 3rd century BCE to the 16th century CE. The stones were quarried from the laterite rock. They are on average 2 m (6 ft 7 in) tall, each circle containing between eight and fourteen of them. |
| Saloum Delta | Fatick | 2011 | 1359; iii, iv, v (cultural) | The delta of the Saloum River, protected as a Ramsar site, has been inhabited for at least two millennia. Societies, who practiced fishing and shellfish gathering, have over the centuries created numerous shell mounds, some several hundred metres long. This resulted in a specific cultural landscape, with the mounds stabilizing the delta and its channels. Some mounds are covered by trees and contain funerary sites. |
| Bassari Country: Bassari, Fula and Bedik Cultural Landscapes | Kédougou | 2012 | 1407; iii, v, vi (cultural) | This site comprises the Bassari–Salémata area, the Bedik–Bandafassi area (village pictured), and the Fula–Dindéfello area. People living in this remote area between the 11th and 19th centuries created a specific cultural landscape with terraces, paddy fields, villages, and archaeological sites. |

## Tentative list

In addition to sites inscribed on the World Heritage List, member states can maintain a list of tentative sites that they may consider for nomination. Nominations for the World Heritage List are only accepted if the site was previously listed on the tentative list. Senegal maintains eight properties on its tentative list.