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- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- Senegal
- Geography
-
-
- Location:
- Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea-Bissau
- and Mauritania
- Map references:
- Africa
- Area:
- total area:
- 196,190 sq km
- land area:
- 192,000 sq km
- comparative area:
- slightly smaller than South Dakota
- Land boundaries:
- total 2,640 km, The Gambia 740 km, Guinea 330 km, Guinea-Bissau 338 km, Mali
- 419 km, Mauritania 813 km
- Coastline:
- 531 km
- Maritime claims:
- contiguous zone:
- 24 nm
- continental shelf:
- 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
- exclusive economic zone:
- 200 nm
- territorial sea:
- 12 nm
- International disputes:
- short section of the boundary with The Gambia is indefinite; boundary with
- Mauritania in dispute;
- Climate:
- tropical; hot, humid; rainy season (December to April) has strong southeast
- winds; dry season (May to November) dominated by hot, dry harmattan wind
- Terrain:
- generally low, rolling, plains rising to foothills in southeast
- Natural resources:
- fish, phosphates, iron ore
- Land use:
- arable land:
- 27%
- permanent crops:
- 0%
- meadows and pastures:
- 30%
- forest and woodland:
- 31%
- other:
- 12%
- Irrigated land:
- 1,800 sq km (1989 est.)
- Environment:
- current issues:
- wildlife populations threatened by poaching; deforestation; overgrazing;
- soil erosion; desertification; overfishing
- natural hazards:
- lowlands seasonally flooded; periodic droughts
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- Senegal
- Geography
- international agreements:
- party to - Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Hazardous
- Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone
- Layer Protection, Wetlands, Whaling; signed, but not ratified -
- Desertification, Marine Dumping
- Note:
- The Gambia is almost an enclave of Senegal
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- Senegal
- People
-
-
- Population:
- 9,007,080 (July 1995 est.)
- Age structure:
- 0-14 years:
- 45% (female 2,004,514; male 2,021,251)
- 15-64 years:
- 52% (female 2,398,609; male 2,301,236)
- 65 years and over:
- 3% (female 140,128; male 141,342) (July 1995 est.)
- Population growth rate:
- 3.12% (1995 est.)
- Birth rate:
- 42.87 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)
- Death rate:
- 11.64 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)
- Net migration rate:
- NA migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)
- Infant mortality rate:
- 73.6 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)
- Life expectancy at birth:
- total population:
- 57.16 years
- male:
- 55.65 years
- female:
- 58.71 years (1995 est.)
- Total fertility rate:
- 6.03 children born/woman (1995 est.)
- Nationality:
- noun:
- Senegalese (singular and plural)
- adjective:
- Senegalese
- Ethnic divisions:
- Wolof 36%, Fulani 17%, Serer 17%, Toucouleur 9%, Diola 9%, Mandingo 9%,
- European and Lebanese 1%, other 2%
- Religions:
- Muslim 92%, indigenous beliefs 6%, Christian 2% (mostly Roman Catholic)
- Languages:
- French (official), Wolof, Pulaar, Diola, Mandingo
- Literacy:
- age 15 and over can read and write (1988)
- total population:
- 27%
- male:
- 37%
- female:
- 18%
- Labor force:
- 2.509 million (77% are engaged in subsistence farming; 175,000 wage earners)
- by occupation:
- private sector 40%, government and parapublic 60%
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- Senegal
- Government
-
-
- Names:
- conventional long form:
- Republic of Senegal
- conventional short form:
- Senegal
- local long form:
- Republique du Senegal
- local short form:
- Senegal
- Digraph:
- SG
- Type:
- republic under multiparty democratic rule
- Capital:
- Dakar
- Administrative divisions:
- 10 regions (regions, singular - region); Dakar, Diourbel, Fatick, Kaolack,
- Kolda, Louga, Saint-Louis, Tambacounda, Thies, Ziguinchor
- Independence:
- 20 August 1960 (from France; The Gambia and Senegal signed an agreement on
- 12 December 1981 that called for the creation of a loose confederation to be
- known as Senegambia, but the agreement was dissolved on 30 September 1989)
- National holiday:
- Independence Day, 4 April (1960)
- Constitution:
- 3 March 1963, revised 1991
- Legal system:
- based on French civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts in
- Supreme Court, which also audits the government's accounting office; has not
- accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
- Suffrage:
- 18 years of age; universal
- Executive branch:
- chief of state:
- President Abdou DIOUF (since 1 January 1981); election last held 21 February
- 1993 (next to be held NA February 2000); results - Abdou DIOUF (PS) 58.4%,
- Abdoulaye WADE (PDS) 32.03%, other 9.57%
- head of government:
- Prime Minister Habib THIAM (since 7 April 1991)
- cabinet:
- Council of Ministers; appointed by the prime minister in consultation with
- the president
- Legislative branch:
- unicameral
- National Assembly (Assemblee Nationale):
- elections last held 9 May 1993 (next to be held NA May 1998); results - PS
- 70%, PDS 23%, other 7%; seats - (120 total) PS 84, PDS 27, LD-MPT 3, Let Us
- Unite Senegal 3, PIT 2, UDS-R 1
- Judicial branch:
- Supreme Court (Cour Supreme)
- Political parties and leaders:
- Socialist Party (PS), President Abdou DIOUF; Senegalese Democratic Party
- (PDS), Abdoulaye WADE; Democratic League-Labor Party Movement (LD-MPT), Dr.
- Abdoulaye BATHILY; Independent Labor Party (PIT), Amath DANSOKHO; Senegalese
- Democratic Union-Renewal (UDS-R), Mamadou Puritain FALL; Let Us Unite
- Senegal (coalition of African Party for Democracy and Socialism and National
- Democratic Rally); other small uninfluential parties
- Other political or pressure groups:
- students; teachers; labor; Muslim Brotherhoods
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- Senegal
- Government
- Member of:
- ACCT, ACP, AfDB, CCC, CEAO, ECA, ECOWAS, FAO, FZ, G-15, G-77, GATT, IAEA,
- IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO,
- INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM (observer), ITU, NAM, OAU, OIC, PCA,
- UN, UNAMIR, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNMIH, UNOMUR, UPU, WADB, WCL,
- WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
- Diplomatic representation in US:
- chief of mission:
- Ambassador Mamadou Mansour SECK
- chancery:
- 2112 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
- telephone:
- [1] (202) 234-0540, 0541
- US diplomatic representation:
- chief of mission:
- Ambassador Mark JOHNSON
- embassy:
- Avenue Jean XXIII at the corner of Avenue Kleber, Dakar
- mailing address:
- B. P. 49, Dakar
- telephone:
- [221] 23 42 96, 23 34 24
- FAX:
- [221] 22 29 91
- Flag:
- 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
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- Senegal
- Economy
-
-
- Overview:
- In 1994 Senegal embarked on its most concerted structural adjustment effort
- yet to exploit the 50% devaluation of the currencies of the 14 Francophone
- African nations on 12 January. After years of foot-dragging, the government
- finally passed a liberalized labor code which should significantly help
- lower the cost of labor and improve the manufacturing sector's
- competitiveness. Inroads also have been made in closing tax loopholes and
- eliminating monopoly power in several sectors. At the same time the
- government is holding the line on current fiscal expenditure under the
- watchful eyes of international organizations on which it depends for
- substantial support. A bumper peanut crop - Senegal's main source of foreign
- exchange - coincided with an improvement of international prices and
- probably resulted in a doubling of earnings in 1994 over 1993. The country's
- narrow resource base, environmental degradation, and untamed population
- growth will continue to hold back growth in living standards over the medium
- term.
- National product:
- GDP - purchasing power parity - $12.3 billion (1993 est.)
- National product real growth rate:
- -2% (1993 est.)
- National product per capita:
- $1,450 (1993 est.)
- Inflation rate (consumer prices):
- -1.8% (1991 est.)
- Unemployment rate:
- NA%
- Budget:
- revenues:
- $1.2 billion
- expenditures:
- $1.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $269 million (1992 est.)
- Exports:
- $904 million (f.o.b., 1991 est.)
- commodities:
- fish, ground nuts (peanuts), petroleum products, phosphates, cotton
- partners:
- France, other EC countries, Cote d'Ivoire, Mali
- Imports:
- $1.2 billion (c.i.f., 1991 est.)
- commodities:
- foods and beverages, consumer goods, capital goods, petroleum
- partners:
- France, other EC countries, Nigeria, Cote d'Ivoire, Algeria, China, Japan
- External debt:
- $2.9 billion (1990)
- Industrial production:
- growth rate 1.9% (1991); accounts for 15% of GDP
- Electricity:
- capacity:
- 230,000 kW
- production:
- 720 million kWh
- consumption per capita:
- 79 kWh (1993)
- Industries:
- agricultural and fish processing, phosphate mining, petroleum refining,
- building materials
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- Senegal
- Economy
- Agriculture:
- accounts for 20% of GDP; major products - peanuts (cash crop), millet, corn,
- sorghum, rice, cotton, tomatoes, green vegetables; estimated two-thirds
- self-sufficient in food; fish catch of 354,000 metric tons in 1990
- Illicit drugs:
- transshipment point for Southwest and Southeast Asian heroin moving to
- Europe and North America
- Economic aid:
- recipient:
- US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $551 million; Western (non-US)
- countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $5.23 billion; OPEC
- bilateral aid (1979-89), $589 million; Communist countries (1970-89), $295
- million
- Currency:
- 1 CFA franc (CFAF) = 100 centimes
- Exchange rates:
- Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (CFAF) per US$1 - 529.43 (January
- 1995), 555.20 (1994), 283.16 (1993), 264.69 (1992), 282.11 (1991), 272.26
- (1990)
- note:
- the official rate is pegged to the French franc, and beginning 12 January
- 1994, the CFA franc was devalued to CFAF 100 per French franc from CFAF 50
- at which it had been fixed since 1948
- Fiscal year:
- calendar year
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- Senegal
- Transportation
-
-
- Railroads:
- total:
- 905 km
- narrow gauge:
- 905 km 1.000-meter gauge (70 km double track)
- Highways:
- total:
- 14,007 km
- paved:
- 3,777 km
- unpaved:
- crushed stone, improved earth 10,230 km
- Inland waterways:
- 897 km total; 785 km on the Senegal, 112 km on the Saloum
- Ports:
- Dakar, Kaolack, Matam, Podor, Richard-Toll, Saint-Louis, Ziguinchor
- Merchant marine:
- total:
- 1 bulk ship (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,995 GRT/3,775 DWT
- Airports:
- 24
- with paved runways over 3,047 m:
- 1
- with paved runways 1,524 to 2,437 m:
- 9
- with paved runways 914 to 1,523 m:
- 1
- with paved runways under 914 m:
- 2
- with unpaved runways 1,524 to 2,438 m:
- 4
- with unpaved runways 914 to 1,523 m:
- 7
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- Senegal
- Communications
-
-
- Telephone system:
- NA telephones; above-average urban system
- local:
- NA
- intercity:
- microwave and cable
- international:
- 3 submarine cables; 1 INTELSAT (Atlantic Ocean) earth station
- Radio:
- broadcast stations:
- AM 8, FM 0, shortwave 0
- radios:
- NA
- Television:
- broadcast stations:
- 1
- televisions:
- NA
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- Senegal
- Defense Forces
-
-
- Branches:
- Army, Navy, Air Force, National Gendarmerie, National Police (Surete
- Nationale)
- Manpower availability:
- males age 15-49 2,021,019; males fit for military service 1,054,855; males
- reach military age (18) annually 96,589 (1995 est.)
- Defense expenditures:
- exchange rate conversion - $134 million, 2.1% of GDP (1993)
-