"text":"Senegal is one of the few countries in the world with evidence of continuous human life from the Paleolithic period to present. Between the 14th and 16th centuries, the Jolof Empire ruled most of Senegal. Starting in the 15th century, Portugal, the Netherlands, France, and Great Britain traded along the Senegalese coast. Senegal’s location on the western tip of Africa made it a favorable base for the European slave trade. European powers used the Senegalese island of Goree as a base to purchase slaves from the warring chiefdoms on the mainland, and at the height of the slave trade in Senegal, over one-third of the Senegalese population was enslaved. In 1815, France abolished slavery and began expanding inland. During the second half of the 19th century, France took possession of Senegal as a French colony. In 1959, the French colonies of Senegal and French Sudan were merged and granted independence in 1960 as the Mali Federation. The union broke up after only a few months. In 1982, Senegal joined with The Gambia to form the nominal confederation of Senegambia. The envisaged integration of the two countries was never implemented, and the union dissolved in 1989.<br><br>Since the 1980s, the Movement of Democratic Forces in the Casamance - a separatist movement based in southern Senegal - has led a low-level insurgency. Several attempts at reaching a comprehensive peace agreement have failed. Since 2012, despite sporadic incidents of violence, an unofficial cease-fire has remained largely in effect. Senegal is one of the most stable democracies in Africa and has a long history of participating in international peacekeeping and regional mediation. The Socialist Party of Senegal ruled for 40 years until Abdoulaye WADE was elected president in 2000 and re-elected in 2007. WADE amended Senegal's constitution over a dozen times to increase executive power and weaken the opposition. In 2012, WADE’s decision to run for a third presidential term sparked public backlash that led to his defeat to current President Macky SALL. A 2016 constitutional referendum limited future presidents to two consecutive five-year terms. The change, however, does not apply to SALL's first term. In February 2019, SALL won his bid for reelection; his second term will end in 2024."
"text":"200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin"
}
},
"Climate":{
"text":"tropical; hot, humid; rainy season (May to November) has strong southeast winds; dry season (December to April) dominated by hot, dry, harmattan wind"
},
"Terrain":{
"text":"generally low, rolling, plains rising to foothills in southeast"
"text":"Senegal (shared with Guinea [s], Mali, and Mauritania [m] ) - 1,641 km; Gambia (shared with Guinea [s] and The Gambia [m]) - 1,094 km<br><strong>note</strong> – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth"
"text":"the population is concentrated in the west, with Dakar anchoring a well-defined core area; approximately 70% of the population is rural as shown in this population distribution map"
"text":"<p>Senegal has a large and growing youth population but has not been successful in developing its potential human capital. Senegal’s high total fertility rate of almost 4.5 children per woman continues to bolster the country’s large youth cohort – more than 60% of the population is under the age of 25. Fertility remains high because of the continued desire for large families, the low use of family planning, and early childbearing. Because of the country’s high illiteracy rate (more than 40%), high unemployment (even among university graduates), and widespread poverty, Senegalese youths face dim prospects; women are especially disadvantaged.</p> <p>Senegal historically was a destination country for economic migrants, but in recent years West African migrants more often use Senegal as a transit point to North Africa – and sometimes illegally onward to Europe. The country also has been host to several thousand black Mauritanian refugees since they were expelled from their homeland during its 1989 border conflict with Senegal. The country’s economic crisis in the 1970s stimulated emigration; departures accelerated in the 1990s. Destinations shifted from neighboring countries, which were experiencing economic decline, civil wars, and increasing xenophobia, to Libya and Mauritania because of their booming oil industries and to developed countries (most notably former colonial ruler France, as well as Italy and Spain). The latter became attractive in the 1990s because of job opportunities and their periodic regularization programs (legalizing the status of illegal migrants).</p> <p></p>"
"text":"the population is concentrated in the west, with Dakar anchoring a well-defined core area; approximately 70% of the population is rural as shown in this population distribution map"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> on 22 March 2023, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Travel Alert for polio in Africa; Senegal is currently considered a high risk to travelers for circulating vaccine-derived polioviruses (cVDPV); vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV) is a strain of the weakened poliovirus that was initially included in oral polio vaccine (OPV) and that has changed over time and behaves more like the wild or naturally occurring virus; this means it can be spread more easily to people who are unvaccinated against polio and who come in contact with the stool or respiratory secretions, such as from a sneeze, of an “infected” person who received oral polio vaccine; the CDC recommends that before any international travel, anyone unvaccinated, incompletely vaccinated, or with an unknown polio vaccination status should complete the routine polio vaccine series; before travel to any high-risk destination, the CDC recommends that adults who previously completed the full, routine polio vaccine series receive a single, lifetime booster dose of polio vaccine"
"text":"Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling"
},
"signed, but not ratified":{
"text":"none of the selected agreements"
}
},
"Climate":{
"text":"tropical; hot, humid; rainy season (May to November) has strong southeast winds; dry season (December to April) dominated by hot, dry, harmattan wind"
"text":"<em>due to localized shortfalls in cereal production and reduced incomes - </em>according to the latest analysis, about 881,000 people are estimated to be in need of humanitarian assistance between June and August 2022, mostly on account of localized shortfalls in cereal production in 2021 and reduced incomes owing to the impact of the COVID‑19 pandemic (2022)"
"text":"Senegal (shared with Guinea [s], Mali, and Mauritania [m] ) - 1,641 km; Gambia (shared with Guinea [s] and The Gambia [m]) - 1,094 km<br><strong>note</strong> – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth"
"text":"Senegambia (along with The Gambia), Mali Federation"
},
"etymology":{
"text":"named for the Senegal River that forms the northern border of the country; many theories exist for the origin of the river name; perhaps the most widely cited derives the name from \"Azenegue,\" the Portuguese appellation for the Berber Zenaga people who lived north of the river"
}
},
"Government type":{
"text":"presidential republic"
},
"Capital":{
"name":{
"text":"Dakar"
},
"geographic coordinates":{
"text":"14 44 N, 17 38 W"
},
"time difference":{
"text":"UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)"
"text":"proposed by the president of the republic or by the National Assembly; passage requires Assembly approval and approval in a referendum; the president can bypass a referendum and submit an amendment directly to the Assembly, which requires at least three-fifths majority vote; the republican form of government is not amendable; amended several times, last in 2019"
"text":"Council of Ministers appointed by the president"
},
"elections/appointments":{
"text":"president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a single renewable 5-year term; election last held on 24 February 2019 (next to be held in February 2024)"
"text":"<p><em>2019:</em> Macky SALL elected president in first round; percent of vote - Macky SALL (APR) 58.3%, Idrissa SECK (Rewmi) 20.5%, Ousmane SONKO (PASTEF) 15.7%, other 5.5%</p> <p><em>2012:</em> Macky SALL elected president in second round; percent of vote - Macky SALL (APR) 65.8%, Abdoulaye WADE (PDS) 34.2%</p>"
"text":"unicameral National Assembly or <em>Assemblée</em> Nationale (165 seats; 112 members including 15 representing Senegalese diaspora directly elected by plurality vote in single- and multi-seat constituencies and 53 members directly elected by proportional representation vote in a single nationwide constituency; member term is 5-years)"
"text":"National Assembly results - percent of vote by party/coalition - BBY 46.6%, YAW 32.9%, WS 14.5%, other 6%; seats by party/coalition - BBY 82, YAW 56, WS 24, other 3; composition - men 95, women 70, percent of women 42.4%"
"text":"Supreme Court or Cour Supreme (consists of the court president and 12 judges and organized into civil and commercial, criminal, administrative, and social chambers); Constitutional Council or Conseil Constitutionel (consists of 7 members, including the court president, vice president, and 5 judges)"
},
"judge selection and term of office":{
"text":"Supreme Court judges appointed by the president of the republic upon recommendation of the Superior Council of the Magistrates, a body chaired by the president and minister of justice; judge tenure varies, with mandatory retirement either at 65 or 68 years; Constitutional Council members appointed - 5 by the president and 2 by the National Assembly speaker; judges serve 6-year terms, with renewal of 2 members every 2 years"
},
"subordinate courts":{
"text":"High Court of Justice (for crimes of high treason by the president); Courts of Appeal; Court of Auditors; assize courts; regional and district courts; Labor Court"
"text":"Alliance for Citizenship and Work or ACT [Abdoul MBAYE]<br>Alliance for the Republic-Yakaar or APR [Macky SALL]<br>Alliance of Forces of Progress or AFP [Moustapha NIASSE]<br>And-Jef/African Party for Democracy and Socialism or AJ/PADS [Landing SAVANE]<br>Benno Bokk Yakaar or BBY (United in Hope) [Mahammed DIONNE] (coalition includes AFP, APR, BGC, LD-MPT, PIT, PS, and UNP)<br>Bokk Gis Gis coalition [Pape DIOP]<br>Citizen Movement for National Reform or MCRN-Bes Du Nakk [Mansour Sy DJAMIL]<br>Dare the Future movement [Aissata Tall SALL]<br>Democratic League-Labor Party Movement or LD-MPT [Mamadou NDOYE]<br>Democratic Renaissance Congress [NA]<br>Front for Socialism and Democracy/Benno Jubel or FSD/BJ [Cheikh Abdoulaye Bamba DIEYE]<br>Gainde Centrist Bloc or BCG [Jean-Paul DIAS Mendes]<br>General Alliance for the Interests of the Republic or AGIR [Thierno BOCOUM]<br>Grand Party or GP [Malick GAKOU]<br>Independence and Labor Party or PIT [Maguette THIAM]<br>Jotna Coalition [Dr Abdoulaye Niane]<br>Liberate the People (Yewwi Askan Wi) or YAW [Barthelemy DIAS, Ousmane SONKO, Khalifa SALL]<br>Madicke 2019 coalition [Madicke NIANG]<br>National Union for the People or UNP [Abdoul MBAYE]<br>Only Senegal Movement [Pierre Goudiaby ATEPA]<br>Party for Truth and Development or PVD [Cheikh Ahmadou Kara MBAKE]<br>Party of Unity and Rally or PUR [Cheikh Mouhamadou Moustapha SY]<br>Patriotic Convergence Kaddu Askan Wi or CP-Kaddu Askan Wi [Abdoulaye BALDE]<br>Patriots of Senegal for Ethics, Work and Fraternity or PASTEF [Ousmane SONKO]<br>Rewmi Party [Idrissa SECK]<br>Save Senegal (Wallu Senegal Grand Coalition) or WS [Abdoulaye WADE] (coalition includes PDS, Jotna Coalition, Democratic Renaissance Congress)<br>Senegalese Democratic Party or PDS [Abdoulaye WADE]<br>Socialist Party or PS [Ousmane Tanor DIENG]<br>Tekki Movement [Mamadou Lamine DIALLO]"
"text":"three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), yellow, and red with a small green five-pointed star centered in the yellow band; green represents Islam, progress, and hope; yellow signifies natural wealth and progress; red symbolizes sacrifice and determination; the star denotes unity and hope",
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> uses the popular Pan-African colors of Ethiopia; the colors from left to right are the same as those of neighboring Mali and the reverse of those on the flag of neighboring Guinea"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> adopted 1960; lyrics written by Leopold Sedar SENGHOR, Senegal's first president; the anthem sometimes played incorporating the Koras (harp-like stringed instruments) and Balafons (types of xylophones) mentioned in the title"
"text":"Island of Gorée (c); Niokolo-Koba National Park (n); Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary (n); Island of Saint-Louis (c); Stone Circles of Senegambia (c); Saloum Delta (c); Bassari Country: Bassari, Fula, and Bedik Cultural Landscapes (c)"
"text":"lower middle-income, services-driven West African economy; key mining, construction, agriculture, and fishing industries; tourism and exports hit hard by COVID-19; large informal economy; developing offshore oil and gas fields; systemic corruption"
"text":"agricultural and fish processing, phosphate mining, fertilizer production, petroleum refining, zircon, and gold mining, construction materials, ship construction and repair"
"text":"Senegal’s telecom market continues to show steady growth in all sectors; this has been supported by the particular demands made on consumers during the pandemic, which resulted in a particularly strong increase in the number of subscribers; the mobile subscriber base increased 6.7% in 2020, year-on-year, and by 4.1% in 2021, while the number of fixed broadband subscribers increased 17.5% year-on-year in 2021; mobile internet platforms account for the vast majority of all internet accesses; quality of service issues continue to plague the market, with the regulator periodically issuing fines to the market players (2022)"
"text":"country code - 221; landing points for the ACE, Atlantis-2, MainOne and SAT-3/WASC submarine cables providing connectivity from South Africa, numerous western African countries, Europe and South America; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (2019)"
"text":"state-run Radiodiffusion Television Senegalaise (RTS) broadcasts TV programs from five cities in Senegal; in most regions of the country, viewers can receive TV programming from at least 7 private broadcasters; a wide range of independent TV programming is available via satellite; RTS operates a national radio network and a number of regional FM stations; at least 7 community radio stations and 18 private-broadcast radio stations are available; transmissions of at least 5 international broadcasters are accessible on FM in Dakar (2019)"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> paved runways have a concrete or asphalt surface but not all have facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control; the length of a runway required for aircraft to safely operate depends on a number of factors including the type of aircraft, the takeoff weight (including passengers, cargo, and fuel), engine types, flap settings, landing speed, elevation of the airport, and average maximum daily air temperature; paved runways can reach a length of 5,000 m (16,000 ft.), but the “typical” length of a commercial airline runway is between 2,500-4,000 m (8,000-13,000 ft.)"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> unpaved runways have a surface composition such as grass or packed earth and are most suited to the operation of light aircraft; unpaved runways are usually short, often less than 1,000 m (3,280 ft.) in length; airports with unpaved runways often lack facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control"
"text":"Senegalese Armed Forces (les Forces Armées Sénégalaises, FAS): Army, Senegalese National Navy (Marine Senegalaise, MNS), Senegalese Air Force (l'Armee de l'Air du Senegal), National Gendarmerie (includes Territorial and Mobile components) (2023)",
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> the National Police under the Ministry of Interior operates in major cities, while the Gendarmerie under the FAS primarily operates outside urban areas; both services have specialized anti-terrorism units"
"text":"the FAS inventory includes mostly older or secondhand equipment from a variety of countries, including France, South Africa, and Russia/former Soviet Union; in recent years, the FAS has undertaken a modernization program and has received small amounts of newer equipment from more than 10 countries, with France as the leading supplier (2023)"
"text":"18 years of age for voluntary military service for men and women; 20 years of age for selective compulsory service for men and possibly women; 24-month service obligation (2023)"
"text":"despite limited resources, the FAS is considered to be a well-equipped, experienced, and professional military; it has a history of non-interference in the country’s political process and good relations with civil authorities; it is experienced in foreign deployments and has received considerable assistance from the French military, which maintains a presence in Senegal, and the US, with smaller levels from Germany, Spain, and the UK; the FAS’s primary focuses are border, internal, and maritime security; it is closely watching the prevalence of multiple active terrorist groups across the region and political instability in neighboring Mali and Guinea and has recently established new military and gendarmerie camps along its eastern border; it also works with the government in areas such as preventive healthcare, infrastructure development, environmental protection, and disaster response<br><br>the Army is spread amongst 7 military zones and organized into a mix of light infantry battalions and light armored reconnaissance squadrons, as well as airborne, special operations, and artillery battalions; the Gendarmerie includes mobile units, as well as the Presidential Guard (aka “The Red Guard”); the Navy is a small force of coastal patrol craft; in recent years it has acquired some modern platforms from France and Israel, including its first offshore patrol vessel, to improve the Navy’s ability to patrol Senegal’s coastline and economic exclusion zone, conduct fisheries inspections, counter drug trafficking, and combat piracy; the Air Force is configured for supporting the ground forces and has a small number of light attack aircraft and helicopter gunships, as well as transport and reconnaissance aircraft<br><br>Senegalese security forces have been engaged in a low-level counterinsurgency campaign in the southern Casamance region against various factions of the separatist Movement of Democratic Forces of the Casamance (MDFC) since 1982; the conflict is one of longest running low-level insurgencies in the World, having claimed more than 5,000 lives while leaving another 60,000 displaced; in May 2023, a faction of the MFDC agreed to a peace deal (2023)"
"text":"Tier 2 Watch List — Senegal does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so; efforts included increasing trafficking investigations, prosecutions, and convictions, as well as training judicial and law enforcement officials; the Minister of Justice released instructions to prosecutors urging them to seek harsher penalties consistent with the 2005 anti-trafficking law; however, the government did not demonstrate overall increasing efforts to increase its anti-trafficking capacity; officials did not investigate, prosecute, or convict traffickers exploiting children in forced begging for the second consecutive year, and did not consistently prosecute alleged traffickers or apply penalties consistent with the 2005 law; the government identified significantly fewer victims and made minimal efforts to identify and refer adult victims to services; because the government has devoted sufficient resources to a written plan that, if implemented, would constitute significant efforts to meet the minimum standards, Senegal was granted a waiver per the TVPA from an otherwise required downgrade to Tier 3 and, therefore, remained on Tier 2 Watch List for the third consecutive year (2022)"
"text":"human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in Senegal, and Senegalese abroad; forced begging is the most prevalent form of trafficking in Senegal; corrupt Quranic teachers, or men claiming to be Quranic teachers, force children to beg in the major cities; children and women are exploited in sex trafficking and forced labor in domestic servitude and gold mining; although internal trafficking is most prevalent, boys from Burkina Faso, The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, and Mali are exploited in forced begging as well as forced labor in artisanal gold mines; Nigerian women are exploited in sex trafficking in southeastern Senegal’s gold mining region, where women from Senegal, Ghana, Mali, Guinea, and Sierra Leone are also exploited; West African women and girls are forced into domestic servitude and sex trafficking in Senegal, including sex tourism for tourists from Belgium, France, Germany, and other countries; Senegalese women and girls are exploited as domestic servants in neighboring countries, Europe, and the Middle East (2022)"
"text":"<p>a transit point on the cocaine route from South America to Europe; large production of cannabis in southern Casamance region; the high domestic use of cannabis, crack cocaine and to a lesser extent heroin</p>"
