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Guide to Senegal

Introduction

Background: Independent from France in 1960, Senegal joined with The Gambia to form the nominal confederation of Senegambia in 1982. However, the envisaged integration of the two countries was never carried out, and the union was dissolved in 1989. Despite peace talks, a southern separatist group sporadically has clashed with government forces since 1982. Senegal has a long history of participating in international peacekeeping.

Geography

Location: Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea-Bissau and Mauritania
Geographic coordinates: 14 00 N, 14 00 W
Map references: Africa
Area: total
Area - comparative: slightly smaller than South Dakota
Land boundaries: total
Coastline: 531 km
Maritime claims: territorial sea
Climate: tropical; hot, humid; rainy season (May to November) has strong southeast winds; dry season (December to April) dominated by hot, dry, harmattan wind
Terrain: generally low, rolling, plains rising to foothills in southeast
Elevation extremes: lowest point
Natural resources: fish, phosphates, iron ore
Land use: arable land
Irrigated land: 710 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards: lowlands seasonally flooded; periodic droughts
Environment - current issues: wildlife populations threatened by poaching; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification; overfishing
Environment - international agreements: party to
Geography - note: westernmost country on the African continent; The Gambia is almost an enclave within Senegal

People

Population: 11,126,832 (July 2005 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years
Median age: total
Population growth rate: 2.48% (2005 est.)
Birth rate: 35.21 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Death rate: 10.6 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Net migration rate: 0.2 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth
Infant mortality rate: total
Life expectancy at birth: total population
Total fertility rate: 4.75 children born/woman (2005 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.8% (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 44,000 (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: 3,500 (2003 est.)
Major infectious diseases: degree of risk
Nationality: noun
Ethnic groups: Wolof 43.3%, Pular 23.8%, Serer 14.7%, Jola 3.7%, Mandinka 3%, Soninke 1.1%, European and Lebanese 1%, other 9.4%
Religions: Muslim 94%, indigenous beliefs 1%, Christian 5% (mostly Roman Catholic)
Languages: French (official), Wolof, Pulaar, Jola, Mandinka
Literacy: definition

Government

Country name: conventional long form
Government type: republic under multiparty democratic rule
Capital: Dakar
Administrative divisions: 11 regions (regions, singular - region); Dakar, Diourbel, Fatick, Kaolack, Kolda, Louga, Matam, Saint-Louis, Tambacounda, Thies, Ziguinchor
Independence: 4 April 1960 (from France); note - complete independence was achieved upon dissolution of federation with Mali on 20 August 1960
National holiday: Independence Day, 4 April (1960)
Constitution: new constitution adopted 7 January 2001
Legal system: based on French civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts in Constitutional Court; the Council of State audits the government's accounting office; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch: chief of state
Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale (120 seats; members are elected by direct, popular vote to serve five-year terms) note
Judicial branch: Constitutional Court; Council of State; Court of Final Appeals or Cour de Cassation; Court of Appeals; note - the judicial system was reformed in 1992
Political parties and leaders: African Party for Democracy and Socialism or And Jef (also known as PADS/AJ) [Landing SAVANE, secretary general]; African Party of Independence [Majhemout DIOP]; Alliance of Forces of Progress or AFP [Moustapha NIASSE]; Democratic and Patriotic Convention or CDP (also known as Garab-Gi) [Dr. Iba Der THIAM]; Democratic League-Labor Party Movement or LD-MPT [Dr. Abdoulaye BATHILY]; Front for Socialism and Democracy or FSD [Cheikh Abdoulaye DIEYE]; Gainde Centrist Bloc or BGC [Jean-Paul DIAS]; Independence and Labor Party or PIT [Amath DANSOKHO]; National Democratic Rally or RND [Madier DIOUF]; Senegalese Democratic Party or PDS [Abdoulaye WADE]; Socialist Party or PS [Ousmane Tanor DIENG]; SOPI Coalition (a coalition led by the PDS) [Abdoulaye WADE]; Union for Democratic Renewal or URD [Djibo Leyti KA]; other small parties
Political pressure groups and leaders: labor; Muslim brotherhoods; students; teachers
International organization participation: ACCT, ACP, AfDB, AU, ECOWAS, FAO, FZ, G-15, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (correspondent), ITU, MIGA, MONUC, NAM, OIC, ONUB, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIK, UNMIL, UNMOVIC, UNOCI, UPU, WADB (regional), WAEMU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission
Flag description: three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), yellow, and red with a small green five-pointed star centered in the yellow band; uses the popular pan-African colors of Ethiopia

Economy

Economy - overview: In January 1994, Senegal undertook a bold and ambitious economic reform program with the support of the international donor community. This reform began with a 50% devaluation of Senegal's currency, the CFA franc, which was linked at a fixed rate to the French franc. Government price controls and subsidies have been steadily dismantled. After seeing its economy contract by 2.1% in 1993, Senegal made an important turnaround, thanks to the reform program, with real growth in GDP averaging 5% annually during 1995-2003. Annual inflation had been pushed down to the low single digits. As a member of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), Senegal is working toward greater regional integration with a unified external tariff and a more stable monetary policy. Senegal still relies heavily upon outside donor assistance, however. Under the IMF's Highly Indebted Poor Countries debt relief program, Senegal will benefit from eradication of two-thirds of its bilateral, multilateral, and private sector debt.
GDP (purchasing power parity): $18.36 billion (2004 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 3.2% (2004 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $1,700 (2004 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture
Labor force: 4.65 million (2004 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 70%
Unemployment rate: 48% (urban youth 40%) (2001 est.)
Population below poverty line: 54% (2001 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%
Distribution of family income - Gini index: 41.3 (1995)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 0.8% (2004 est.)
Investment (gross fixed): 20.1% of GDP (2004 est.)
Budget: revenues
Public debt: 55.2% of GDP (2004 est.)
Agriculture - products: peanuts, millet, corn, sorghum, rice, cotton, tomatoes, green vegetables; cattle, poultry, pigs; fish
Industries: agricultural and fish processing, phosphate mining, fertilizer production, petroleum refining, construction materials, ship construction and repair
Industrial production growth rate: 4.7% (2004 est.)
Electricity - production: 1.737 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel
Electricity - consumption: 1.615 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2002)
Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2002)
Oil - production: 0 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption: 31,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports: NA
Oil - imports: NA
Natural gas - production: 50 million cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - consumption: 50 million cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - exports: 0 cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - imports: 0 cu m (2001 est.)
Current account balance: $-518.8 million (2004 est.)
Exports: $1.374 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Exports - commodities: fish, groundnuts (peanuts), petroleum products, phosphates, cotton
Exports - partners: India 14.4%, Mali 13.1%, France 9.8%, Italy 7.3%, Spain 6.6%, Guinea-Bissau 5.6%, Gambia, The 4.8% (2004)
Imports: $2.128 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Imports - commodities: food and beverages, capital goods, fuels
Imports - partners: France 24.8%, Nigeria 11.9%, Thailand 6.1% (2004)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $820 million (2004 est.)
Debt - external: $3.476 billion (2004 est.)
Economic aid - recipient: $362.6 million (2002 est.)
Currency (code): Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XOF); note - responsible authority is the Central Bank of the West African States
Currency code: XOF
Exchange rates: Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 528.29 (2004), 581.2 (2003), 696.99 (2002), 733.04 (2001), 711.98 (2000)
Fiscal year: calendar year

Communications

Telephones - main lines in use: 228,800 (2003)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 575,900 (2003)
Telephone system: general assessment
Radio broadcast stations: AM 8, FM 20, shortwave 1 (2001)
Radios: 1.24 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations: 1 (1997)
Televisions: 361,000 (1997)
Internet country code: .sn
Internet hosts: 672 (2003)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 1 (2002)
Internet users: 225,000 (2003)

Transportation

Railways: total
Highways: total
Waterways: 1,000 km (primarily on Senegal, Saloum, and Casamance rivers) (2003)
Pipelines: gas 564 km (2004)
Ports and harbors: Dakar
Airports: 20 (2004 est.)
Airports - with paved runways: total
Airports - with unpaved runways: total

Military

Military branches: Army, Navy (Marine Senegalaise), Air Force (2005)
Military service age and obligation: 18 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military service; conscript service obligation - 2 years (2004)
Manpower available for military service: males age 18-49
Manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49
Manpower reaching military service age annually: males
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $107.3 million (2004)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 1.5% (2004)

Transnational Issues

Disputes - international: The Gambia and Guinea-Bissau attempt to stem Senegalese citizens from the Casamance region fleeing separatist violence, cross border raids, and arms smuggling
Refugees and internally displaced persons: IDPs
Illicit drugs: transshipment point for Southwest and Southeast Asian heroin and South American cocaine moving to Europe and North America; illicit cultivator of cannabis
Last updated: 20 October, 2005