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
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

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%

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

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

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

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

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:
total: 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

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

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)