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.

Geographic coordinates: 14 00 N 14 00 W

Map reference: Africa

Area
Total: 196,190 km²
Land: 192,000 km²
Water: 4,190 km²
Comparative: slightly smaller than South Dakota

Land boundaries
Total: 2,640 km
Border countries: (5) 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

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: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
Extremes highest point: unnamed feature near Nepen Diakha 581 m

Natural resources: fish phosphates iron ore

Land use
Arable land: 12%
Permanent crops: 0%
Permanent pastures: 16%
Forests and woodland: 54%
Other: 18% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 710 km² (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: lowlands seasonally flooded; periodic droughts

Geography
Note: The Gambia is almost an enclave of Senegal

Population: 10,284,929 (July 2001 est.)
Growth rate: 2.93% (2001 est.)
Below poverty line: NA%

Nationality
Noun: Senegalese (singular and plural)
Adjective: Senegalese

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%

Languages: French (official) Wolof Pulaar Jola Mandinka

Religions: Muslim 92% indigenous beliefs 6% Christian 2% (mostly Roman Catholic)

Age structure
0-14 years: 44.07% (male 2,279,996; female 2,252,255)
15-64 years: 52.88% (male 2,603,829; female 2,834,328)
65 years and over: 3.05% (male 155,877; female 158,644) (2001 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.93% (2001 est.)

Birth rate: 37.46 births/1000 population (2001 est.)

Death rate: 8.35 deaths/1000 population (2001 est.)

Net migration rate: 0.21 migrant(s)/1000 population (2001 est.)

Environment
Current issues: wildlife populations threatened by poaching; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification; overfishing
International agreements party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling
International agreements signed but not ratified: Marine Dumping

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.03 male/female
Under 15 years: 1.01 male/female
15-64 years: 0.92 male/female
65 years and over: 0.98 male/female
Total population: 0.96 male/female (2001 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 56.75 deaths/1000 live births (2001 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 62.56 years
Male: 60.94 years
Female: 64.22 years (2001 est.)

Total fertility rate: 5.12 children born/woman (2001 est.)

Hivaids
Adult prevalence rate: 1.77% (1999 est.)
People living with hivaids: 79,000 (1999 est.)
Deaths: 7,800 (1999 est.)

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 33.1%
Male: 43%
Female: 23.2% (1995 est.)

Country name
Conventional long form: Republic of Senegal
Conventional short form: Senegal
Local long form: Republique du Senegal
Local short form: Senegal

Government 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: 4 April 1960 (from France); complete independence was achieved upon dissolution of federation with Mali on 20 August 1960

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 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: President Abdoulaye WADE (since 1 April 2000)
Head of government: Prime Minister Madior BOYE (since 3 March 2001)
Cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the prime minister in consultation with the president
Elections: president elected by popular vote for a seven-year term; election last held 27 February and 19 March 2000 (next to be held 27 February 2007); prime minister appointed by the president
Election results: Abdoulaye WADE elected president; percent of vote in the second round of voting - Abdoulaye WADE (PDS) 58.49%, Abdou DIOUF (PS) 41.51%

Legislative branch
Note: the former National Assembly, dissolved in the spring of 2001, had 140 seats
Elections: last held 29 April 2001 (next to be held NA 2006)
Election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - SOPI Coalition 89, AFP 11, PS 10, other 10

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]; Senegalese Democratic Party-Renewal or PDS-R [Serigne Lamine DIOP secretary general]; Senegalese Democratic Union-Renewal or UDS-R [Mamadou Puritain FALL]; Socialist Party or PS [President Abdou DIOUF]; SOPI Coalition (a 40-party coalition led by the PDS) [Abdoulaye WADE]; Union for Democratic Renewal or URD [Djibo Leyti KA]; other small parties

International organization participation: ACCT ACP AfDB CCC ECA ECOWAS FAO FZ G-15 G-77 IAEA IBRD ICAO ICC ICFTU ICRM IDA IDB IFAD IFC IFRCS ILO IMF IMO Inmarsat Intelsat Interpol IOC IOM ITU MINURSO MIPONUH MONUC NAM OAU OIC OPCW PCA UN UNCTAD UNESCO UNIDO UNIKOM UNMIBH UNMIK UNTAET UPU WADB WAEMU WCL WFTU WHO WIPO WMO WToO WTrO

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Mamadou Mansour SECK
In the us chancery: 2,112 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20,008
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 234-0540
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Harriet L. ELAM-THOMAS
From the us embassy: Avenue Jean XXIII at the corner of Rue Kleber, Dakar
From the us mailing address: B. P. 49, Dakar
From the us telephone: [221] 823-4,296, 823-7,384
From the us fax: [221] 822-2,991

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 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 is 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 in 1995-99. Annual inflation has been pushed down to 2% and the fiscal deficit has been cut to less than 1.5% of GDP. Investment rose steadily from 13.8% of GDP in 1993 to 16.5% in 1997. As a member of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) Senegal is working toward greater regional integration with a unified external tariff. Senegal also realized full Internet connectivity in 1996 creating a miniboom in information technology-based services. Private activity now accounts for 82% of GDP. On the negative side Senegal faces deep-seated urban problems of chronic unemployment juvenile delinquency and drug addiction. Real GDP growth is expected to rise above 6% while inflation is likely to hold at 2% in 2001-02.

Real gdp growth rate: 5.7% (2000 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity - $1600 (2000 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 19%
Industry: 20%
Services: 61% (1997 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

Industrial production growth rate: 7% (1998 est.)

Labor force: NA
By occupation: agriculture 60%

Unemployment rate: NA%; urban youth 40%

Population below poverty line: NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: 1.4%
Highest 10: 42.8% (1991)

Budget
Revenues: $885 million
Expenditures: $885 million, including capital expenditures of $125 million (1996 est.)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices: 1.5% (2000 est.)

Exports: $959 million (f.o.b. 2000)
Commodities: fish ground nuts (peanuts) petroleum products phosphates cotton
Partners: France 17% India 17% Italy 12% Spain 6% Mali 6% Cote d'Ivoire 4% (1999)

Imports: $1.3 billion (f.o.b. 2000)
Commodities: foods and beverages consumer goods capital goods petroleum products
Partners: France 30% Nigeria 7% Italy 6% Thailand 5% Germany 4% US 4% (1999)

Debt external: $4.1 billion (1998 est.)

Exchange rates: Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 699.21 (January 2001) 711.98 (2000) 615.70 (1999) 589.95 (1998) 583.67 (1997) 511.55 (1966); note - from 1 January 1999 the XOF is pegged to the euro at a rate of 655.957 XOF per euro

Electricity
Production: 1.27 billion kWh (1999)
Production by source fossil fuel: 100%
Production by source hydro: 0%
Production by source nuclear: 0%
Production by source other: 0% (1999)
Consumption: 1.181 billion kWh (1999)
Exports: 0 kWh (1999)
Imports: 0 kWh (1999)

Telephones
Main lines in use: 116,000 (1997)
Mobile cellular: 1149 (1996)

Telephone system
General assessment: good system
Domestic: above-average urban system; microwave radio relay, coaxial cable and fiber-optic cable in trunk system
International: 4 submarine cables; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)

Internet
Country code: .sn
Service providers isps: 1 (2000)
Users: 30,000 (2000)

Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $68 million (FY97)
Percent of gdp: 1.4% (FY97)

Airports: 20 (2000 est.)
With paved runways total: 10
With paved runways over 3047 m: 1
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 7
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 2 (2000 est.)
With unpaved runways total: 10
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 5
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 4
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 1 (2000 est.)

Railways
Total: 906 km
Narrow gauge: 906 km 1.000-meter gauge (70 km double track)

Waterways
Note: 785 km on the Senegal river, and 112 km on the Saloum river

Disputes international: none