Sa·hel 
(sə-hāl, -hēl)
(sə-hāl, -hēl) A semiarid region of north-central Africa south of the Sahara Desert. Since the 1960s it has been afflicted by prolonged periods of extensive drought.
[Arabic sāḥil, coast, shore (of the Sahara); see SWAHILI.]
Sa·heli·an adj.