The French colonies of Senegal and the French Sudan were merged in 1959 and granted their independence as the Mali Federation in 1960. The union broke up after only a few months. Senegal joined with The Gambia to form the nominal confederation of Senegambia in 1982, but the envisaged integration of the two countries was never carried out, and the union was dissolved in 1989. The Movement of Democratic Forces in the Casamance (MFDC) has led a low-level separatist insurgency in southern Senegal since the 1980s, and several peace deals have failed to resolve the conflict. Nevertheless, Senegal remains one of the most stable democracies in Africa. Senegal was ruled by a Socialist Party for 40 years until current President Abdoulaye WADE was elected in 2000. He was reelected in February 2007, but complaints of fraud led opposition parties to boycott June 2007 legislative polls. Senegal has a long history of participating in international peacekeeping.

Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea-Bissau and Mauritania
14 00 N, 14 00 W
Africa
total: 196,190 sq km ; land: 192,000 sq km ; water: 4,190 sq km
slightly smaller than South Dakota
total: 2,640 km ; border countries: The Gambia 740 km, Guinea 330 km, Guinea-Bissau 338 km, Mali 419 km, Mauritania 813 km
531 km
territorial sea: 12 nm ; contiguous zone: 24 nm ; exclusive economic zone: 200 nm ; continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
tropical; hot, humid; rainy season (May to November) has strong southeast winds; dry season (December to April) dominated by hot, dry, harmattan wind
generally low, rolling, plains rising to foothills in southeast
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m ; highest point: unnamed feature near Nepen Diakha 581 m
fish, phosphates, iron ore
arable land: 12.51% ; permanent crops: 0.24% ; other: 87.25% (2005)
1,200 sq km (2003)
39.4 cu km (1987)
Total: 2.22 cu km/yr (4%/3%/93%) ; Per capita: 190 cu m/yr (2002)
lowlands seasonally flooded; periodic droughts
wildlife populations threatened by poaching; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification; overfishing
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling
westernmost country on the African continent; The Gambia is almost an enclave within Senegal
12,521,851 (July 2007 est.)
0-14 years: 42% (male 2,656,122/female 2,608,423) ; 15-64 years: 55% (male 3,426,504/female 3,454,372) ; 65 years and over: 3% (male 176,877/female 199,553) (2007 est.)
total: 18.7 years ; male: 18.5 years ; female: 18.9 years (2007 est.)
2.645% (2007 est.)
37.4 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
10.96 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female ; under 15 years: 1.018 male(s)/female ; 15-64 years: 0.992 male(s)/female ; 65 years and over: 0.886 male(s)/female ; total population: 1 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
total: 60.15 deaths/1,000 live births ; male: 64.06 deaths/1,000 live births ; female: 56.12 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
total population: 56.69 years ; male: 55.34 years ; female: 58.09 years (2007 est.)
5 children born/woman (2007 est.)
0.8% (2003 est.)
44,000 (2003 est.)
3,500 (2003 est.)
noun: Senegalese (singular and plural) ; adjective: Senegalese
Wolof 43.3%, Pular 23.8%, Serer 14.7%, Jola 3.7%, Mandinka 3%, Soninke 1.1%, European and Lebanese 1%, other 9.4%
Muslim 94%, Christian 5% (mostly Roman Catholic), indigenous beliefs 1%
French (official), Wolof, Pulaar, Jola, Mandinka
definition: age 15 and over can read and write ; total population: 39.3% ; male: 51.1% ; female: 29.2% (2002 est.)
degree of risk: very high ; food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever ; vectorborne diseases: dengue fever, malaria, yellow fever, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, and Rift Valley fever are high risks in some locations ; water contact disease: schistosomiasis ; respiratory disease: meningococcal meningitis (2007)

conventional long form: Republic of Senegal ; conventional short form: Senegal ; local long form: Republique du Senegal ; local short form: Senegal ; former: Senegambia (along with The Gambia), Mali Federation
republic
name: Dakar ; geographic coordinates: 14 40 N, 17 26 W ; time difference: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
11 regions (regions, singular - region); Dakar, Diourbel, Fatick, Kaolack, Kolda, Louga, Matam, Saint-Louis, Tambacounda, Thies, Ziguinchor

4 April 1960 (from France); note - complete independence achieved upon dissolution of federation with Mali on 20 August 1960
Independence Day, 4 April (1960)
adopted 7 January 2001
based on French civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts in Constitutional Court; the Council of State audits the government's accounting office; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations
18 years of age; universal
chief of state: President Abdoulaye WADE (since 1 April 2000) ; head of government: Prime Minister Cheikh Hadjibou SOUMARE (since 19 June 2007) ; cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the prime minister in consultation with the president ; elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term) under new constitution; election last held on 25 February 2007 (next to be held in 2012); prime minister appointed by the president ; election results: Abdoulaye WADE reelected president in the first round of voting; percent of vote - Abdoulaye WADE 55.9%, Idrissa SECK 14.9%, Ousmane Tanor DIENG 13.6%, Moustapha NIASSE 5.9%, other 9.7%
bicameral Parliament consisting of the National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale (150 seats; 90 members elected by direct popular vote with the remaining members elected by proportional representation from party lists to serve five-year terms) and the Senate reinstituted in 2007 (100 seats; 35 indirectly elected with the remaining 65 members to be appointed by the president) ; elections: National Assembly - last held on 3 June 2007 (next to be held 2012); note - the National Assembly in December 2005 voted to postpone legislative elections originally scheduled for 2006; legislative elections were first rescheduled to coincide with the 25 February 2007 presidential elections and later rescheduled for 3 June 2007; the June election was boycotted by 12 opposition parties, including the former ruling Socialist Party, that resulted in a record-low, 35-percent voter turnout; Senate - last held 19 August 2007 (next to be held - NA) ; election results: National Assembly results - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - SOPI Coalition 131, other 19; Senate results - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PDS 34, AJ/PADS 1, 65 appointed by the president
Constitutional Court; Council of State; Court of Final Appeals or Cour de Cassation; Court of Appeals
African Party of Independence [Majhemout DIOP]; And-Jef/African Party for Democracy and Socialism or (AJ/PADS) [Landing SAVANE]; Alliance of Forces of Progress or AFP [Moustapha NIASSE]; Democratic League-Labor Party Movement or LD-MPT [Dr. Abdoulaye BATHILY]; Front for Socialism and Democracy/Benno Jubel or FSD/BJ [Cheikh Abdoulaye Bamba DIEYE]; Gainde Centrist Bloc or BGC [Jean-Paul DIAS]; Independence and Labor Party or PIT [Amath DANSOKHO]; Jef-Jel [Talla SYLLA]; National Democratic Rally or RND [Madior DIOUF]; People's Labor Party or PTP [Elhadji DIOUF]; Reform Party or PR [Abdourahim AGNE]; Senegalese Democratic Party or PDS [Abdoulaye WADE]; Socialist Party or PS [Ousmane Tanor DIENG]; SOPI Coalition [Abdoulaye WADE] (a coalition led by the PDS); Union for Democratic Renewal or URD [Djibo Leyti KA]
labor; Sufi brotherhoods, including the Mourides and Tidjanes; students; teachers
ACCT, ACP, AfDB, AU, ECOWAS, FAO, FZ, G-15, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, MONUC, NAM, OIC, OIF, ONUB, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, Union Latina, UNMIL, UNMOVIC, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WADB (regional), WAEMU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
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
chief of mission: Ambassador Amadou Lamine BA ; chancery: 2112 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 ; telephone: [1] (202) 234-0540 ; FAX: [1] (202) 332-6315 ; consulate(s) general: Houston, New York
chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Jay Thomas Smith ; embassy: Avenue Jean XXIII at the corner of Rue Kleber, Dakar ; mailing address: B. P. 49, Dakar ; telephone: [221] 33-823-4296 ; FAX: [221] 33-822-2991





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 over 5% annually during 1995-2007. 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. High unemployment, however, continues to prompt illegal migrants to flee Senegal in search of better job opportunities in Europe. Senegal was also beset by an energy crisis that caused widespread blackouts in 2006. Senegal still relies heavily upon outside donor assistance. Under the IMF's Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) debt relief program, Senegal will benefit from eradication of two-thirds of its bilateral, multilateral, and private-sector debt.
$20.61 billion (2007 est.)
$8.922 billion (2007 est.)
4.6% (2007 est.)
$1,700 (2007 est.)
agriculture: 16.7% ; industry: 18.9% ; services: 64.4% (2007 est.)
4.85 million (2007 est.)
agriculture: 77% ; industry and services: 23% (1990 est.)
48%; note - urban youth 40% (2001 est.)
54% (2001 est.)
lowest 10%: 2.7% ; highest 10%: 33.4% (2001)
41.3 (2001)
5.4% (2007 est.)
39.8% of GDP (2007 est.)
revenues: $2.212 billion ; expenditures: $2.814 billion (2007 est.)
16.1% of GDP (2007 est.)
peanuts, millet, corn, sorghum, rice, cotton, tomatoes, green vegetables; cattle, poultry, pigs; fish
agricultural and fish processing, phosphate mining, fertilizer production, petroleum refining, construction materials, ship construction and repair
2.7% (2007 est.)
2.223 billion kWh (2005)
fossil fuel: 100% ; hydro: 0% ; nuclear: 0% ; other: 0% (2001)
1.456 billion kWh (2005)
0 kWh (2005)
0 kWh (2005)
0 bbl/day (2005 est.)
35,000 bbl/day (2005 est.)
3,889 bbl/day (2004)
37,180 bbl/day (2004)
0 bbl (1 January 2006 est.)
47.95 million cu m (2005 est.)
47.95 million cu m (2005 est.)
0 cu m (2005 est.)
0 cu m (2005)
0 cu m (1 January 2006)
-$1.034 billion (2007 est.)
$1.587 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)
fish, groundnuts (peanuts), petroleum products, phosphates, cotton
Mali 19.2%, France 8.3%, India 5.8%, Gambia, The 5.3%, Spain 5.1%, Italy 4.9% (2006)
$3.253 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)
France 25.1%, UK 5.2%, Thailand 4.8%, China 4.5%, Spain 4% (2006)

$1.35 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
$1.604 billion (31 December 2007 est.)


$NA
Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XOF); note - responsible authority is the Central Bank of the West African States
XOF
Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 481.83 (2007), 522.89 (2006), 527.47 (2005), 528.29 (2004), 581.2 (2003)
calendar year
$689.3 million (2005 est.)
282,600 (2006)
2.983 million (2006)
general assessment: good system ; domestic: above-average urban system; more than half of all fixed-line connections are in Dakar with expansion of fixed-line services in rural areas needed; mobile-cellular service is expanding rapidly; microwave radio relay, coaxial cable and fiber-optic cable in trunk system ; international: country code - 221; the SAT-3/WASC fiber optic cable provides connectivity to Europe and Asia while Atlantis-2 provides connectivity to South America; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)
AM 8, FM 20, shortwave 1 (2001)
1.24 million (1997)
1 (1997)
361,000 (1997)
.sn
199 (2007)
1 (2002)
650,000 (2006)

20 (2007)
total: 9 ; over 3,047 m: 1 ; 1,524 to 2,437 m: 7 ; 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2007)
total: 11 ; 1,524 to 2,437 m: 6 ; 914 to 1,523 m: 4 ; under 914 m: 1 (2007)

gas 43 km (2006)
total: 906 km ; narrow gauge: 906 km 1.000 meter gauge (2006)
total: 13,576 km ; paved: 3,972 km (includes 7 km of expressways) ; unpaved: 9,604 km (2003)
1,000 km (primarily on Senegal, Saloum, and Casamance rivers) (2005)

Dakar

Army, Senegalese Navy (Marine Senegalaise), Senegalese Air Force (Armee de l'Air du Senegal) (2007)
18 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military service; conscript service obligation - 2 years (2004)
males age 18-49: 2,443,840 ; females age 18-49: 2,461,939 (2005 est.)
males age 18-49: 1,558,175 ; females age 18-49: 1,642,533 (2005 est.)
males age 18-49: 129,331 ; females age 18-49: 129,398 (2005 est.)
1.4% (2005 est.)

The Gambia and Guinea-Bissau attempt to stem separatist violence, cross border raids, and arms smuggling into their countries from Senegal's Casamance region, and in 2006, respectively accepted 6,000 and 10,000 Casamance residents fleeing the conflict; 2,500 Guinea-Bissau residents fled into Senegal in 2006 to escape armed confrontations along the border
refugees (country of origin): 19,712 (Mauritania) ; IDPs: 22,400 (approximately 65% of the IDP population returned in 2005, but new displacement is occurring due to clashes between government troops and separatists in Casamance region) (2006)
transshipment point for Southwest and Southeast Asian heroin and South American cocaine moving to Europe and North America; illicit cultivator of cannabis

