Senegal

Republic of SenegalRepublique du Senegal

republic under multiparty democratic ruleIndependence 20 August 1960 (from France

Senegal as the 1995 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 81 fields, one of 36 editions from 1990 to 2025.

field in that editiontext changed from the edition beforenot in that editionthe open editionEach field below ends in its editions, 1990 to 2025. Point at a year above to follow it down.

CapitalDakar
Area196,190 sq km
LocationWestern Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between
1995

Every edition of Senegal

Populationas each edition published it
9.01 million July 1995 est. · 7.71m in 1990
Population growth% a year
3.12% 1995 est. · 3.1% in 1993
Median ageyears
Not in this edition 17.8 yrs in 2003
Life expectancyyears at birth
57.16 years 1995 est. · 56.01 yrs in 1993
Fertility ratechildren per woman
6.03 children per woman 1995 est. · 6.3 in 1990
Infant mortalitydeaths per 1,000 live births
73.6 deaths per 1,000 live births 1995 est. · 87 in 1990
GDP per capitaeach edition's own dollars
$1,450 1993 est. · $780 in 1993
GDP real growth% a year
-2% 1993 est. · 1.2% in 1993

Geography

Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between | Guinea-Bissau and Mauritania

14 fields

Land useshare of 196,190 sq km

arable land 27%permanent crops 0%meadows and pastures 30%forest and woodland 31%other 12%irrigated 1,800 sq km (1989 est.)
Area
196,190sq km
land area: 192,000 sq kmcomparative area: slightly smaller than South Dakota
Coastline
531km
contiguous zone: 24 nmcontinental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental marginexclusive economic zone: 200 nmterritorial sea: 12 nm
Land boundaries
2,640km
total · The Gambia 740 km, Guinea 330 km, Guinea-Bissau 338 km, Mali 419 km, Mauritania 813 km

Location

Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea-Bissau and Mauritania

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

Environment

current issues:
  • wildlife populations threatened by poaching;
  • deforestation;
  • overgrazing;
  • soil erosion;
  • desertification;
  • overfishing
natural hazards:
lowlands seasonally flooded; periodic droughts
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

People

15 fields
Population
9,007,080
(July 1995 est.)growth rate: 3.12% (1995 est.)

Per 1,000 population(1995 est.)

Birth
42.87Death
11.64

Male · female(1995 est.)

TotalMale · femaleLife expectancy years57.16
55.65 · 58.71
TotalMale · femaleLiteracy27%
37% · 18%
MaleFemaleLiteracy age 15 and over can read and write (1988)

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)
Labor force
2.509million
(77% are engaged in subsistence farming; 175,000 wage earners)by occupation: private sector 40%, government and parapublic 60%

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.)

Net migration rate

NA migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Infant mortality rate

73.6 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)

Total fertility rate

6.03 children born/woman (1995 est.)

Nationality

noun:
Senegalese (singular and plural)
adjective:
Senegalese

Languages

French (official), Wolof, Pulaar, Diola, Mandingo

Government

Republic under multiparty democratic rule; President Abdou DIOUF (since 1 January 1981); Prime Minister Habib THIAM (since 7 April 1991)

21 fields

Presidential electionpercent of vote

58.4%
Abdou DIOUF (PS) 58.4%Abdoulaye WADE (PDS) 32.03%other 9.57%

Legislature, 120 seatsone dot, one seat

PS 84PDS 27LD-MPT 3Let Us Unite Senegal 3PIT 2UDS-R 1

Names

conventional long form:
Republic of Senegal
conventional short form:
Senegal
local long form:
Republique du Senegal
local short form:
Senegal

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

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

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

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

Economy

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.

19 fields
GDP per capita, PPP
$1,450
(1993 est.)
Real growth rate
-2%
(1993 est.)industrial production growth: growth rate 1.9% (1991); accounts for 15% of GDP
External debt
$2.9billion
(1990)

Budget

Revenues
$1.2 billionExpenditures
$1.2 billion (1992 est.)
expenditures including capital expenditures of $269 million

Installed generating capacity, 230,000 kW

Electricity production
720 millionElectricity consumption per capita
79 (1993)

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.)

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

Industries

agricultural and fish processing, phosphate mining, petroleum refining, building materials

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

Transportation

6 fields

Airports by runway lengthpaved left, unpaved right · 24 in all

1
over 3,047 m
9
1,524 to 2,437 m
1
914 to 1,523 m
7
2
under 914 m
1,524 to 2,438 m
4
PavedUnpaved

Networkskm

Highways
14,007Railroads
905Inland waterways
897
Highways: paved: 3,777 km · unpaved: crushed stone, improved earth 10,230 km · Railroads: narrow gauge: 905 km 1.000-meter gauge (70 km double track) · Inland waterways: ; 785 km on the Senegal, 112 km on the Saloum

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

Communications

3 fields

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

Defense Forces

Army, Navy, Air Force, National Gendarmerie, National Police | (Surete Nationale)

3 fields

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) SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO Note--Serbia and Montenegro have asserted the formation of a joint independent state, but this entity has not been formally recognized as a state by the US;
  • the US view is that the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) has dissolved and that none of the successor republics represents its continuation

Central Intelligence Agency. “Senegal.” The World Factbook 1995. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/senegal/1995.

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