SENEGAL
GEOGRAPHY
Total area: 196,190 km2; land area: 192,000 km2
Comparative area: slightly smaller than South Dakota
Land boundaries: 2,640 km total; 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: edge of continental margin or 200 nm;
Exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Disputes: short section of the boundary with The Gambia is
indefinite; the International Court of Justice (ICJ) rendered its
decision on the Guinea-Bissau/Senegal maritime boundary in favor
of Senegal--that decision has been rejected by Guinea-Bissau;
boundary with Mauritania
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%; includes irrigated
1%
PEOPLE
Population: 7,952,657 (July 1991), growth rate 3.1% (1991)
Birth rate: 44 births/1,000 population (1991)
Death rate: 13 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
Infant mortality rate: 86 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
Life expectancy at birth: 54 years male, 56 years female (1991)
Total fertility rate: 6.2 children born/woman (1991)
Nationality: noun--Senegalese (sing. and pl.);
adjective--Senegalese
Ethnic divisions: Wolof 36%, Fulani 17%, Serer 17%, Toucouleur
9%, Diola 9%, Mandingo 9%, European and Lebanese 1%, other 2%
Religion: Muslim 92%, indigenous beliefs 6%, Christian 2%
(mostly Roman Catholic)
Language: French (official); Wolof, Pulaar, Diola, Mandingo
Literacy: 38% (male 52%, female 25%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1990 est.)
Labor force: 2,509,000; 77% subsistence agricultural workers;
175,000 wage earners--private sector 40%, government and parapublic 60%;
52% of population of working age (1985)
Organized labor: majority of wage-labor force represented by
unions; however, dues-paying membership very limited; major confederation
is National Confederation of Senegalese Labor (CNTS), an affiliate of
governing party
Independence: 4 April 1960 (from France); The Gambia and Senegal
signed an agreement on 12 December 1981 (effective 1 February 1982) that
called for the creation of a loose confederation to be known as
Senegambia, but the agreement was dissolved on 30 September 1989
Constitution: 3 March 1963, last revised in 1984
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
National holiday: Independence Day, 4 April (1960)
Executive branch: president, prime minister, Council of Ministers
(cabinet)
Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly (Assemblee
Nationale)
Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Cour Supreme)
Leaders:
Chief of State--President Abdou DIOUF (since 1 January 1981);
Head of Government--Prime Minister Habib THIAM (since 7 April
1991)
Political parties and leaders:
Socialist Party (PS), President Abdou DIOUF;
Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS), Abdoulaye WADE;
13 other small uninfluential parties
Suffrage: universal at age 21
Elections:
President--last held 28 February 1988 (next to be held February
1993);
results--Abdou DIOUF (PS) 73%, Abdoulaye WADE (PDS) 26%, other 1%;
National Assembly--last held 28 February 1988 (next to be
held February 1993);
results--PS 71%, PDS 25%, other 4%;
seats--(120 total) PS 103, PDS 17
Communists: small number of Communists and sympathizers
Other political or pressure groups: students, teachers, labor,
Muslim Brotherhoods
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Ibra Deguene KA; Chancery at
2112 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 234-0540
or 0541;
US--Ambassador George E. MOOSE; Embassy on Avenue Jean XXIII at the
corner of Avenue Kleber, Dakar (mailing address is B. P. 49, Dakar);
telephone 221 23-42-96 or 23-34-24
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: The agricultural sector accounts for about 20% of GDP and
provides employment for about 75% of the labor force. About 40% of the
total cultivated land is used to grow peanuts, an important export crop.
The principal economic resource is fishing, which brought in about $200
million or about 25% of total foreign exchange earnings in 1987. Mining
is dominated by the extraction of phosphate, but production has faltered
because of reduced worldwide demand for fertilizers in recent years. Over
the past 10 years tourism has become increasingly important to the
economy.
GDP: $5.0 billion, per capita $615; real growth rate 3.6% (1990)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.0% (1990)
Unemployment rate: 3.5% (1987)
Budget: revenues $921 million; expenditures $1,024 million;
including capital expenditures of $14 million (FY89 est.)
partners--France, other EC, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Algeria, China,
Japan
External debt: $2.9 billion (1990)
Industrial production: growth rate 4.7% (1989); accounts for
15% of GDP
Electricity: 210,000 kW capacity; 760 million kWh produced,
100 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: fishing, agricultural processing, phosphate mining,
petroleum refining, building materials
Agriculture: including fishing, accounts for 20% of GDP and more
than 75% of labor force; major products--peanuts (cash crop), millet,
corn, sorghum, rice, cotton, tomatoes, green vegetables; estimated
two-thirds self-sufficient in food; fish catch of 299,000 metric tons
in 1987
Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $551
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1970-88), $4.8 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $589 million;
Communist countries (1970-89), $295 million
Currency: Communaute Financiere Africaine franc
(plural--francs); 1 CFA franc (CFAF) = 100 centimes
COMMUNICATIONS
Railroads: 1,034 km 1.000-meter gauge; all single track except
70 km double track Dakar to Thies
Highways: 14,000 km total; 3,770 km paved, 10,230 km laterite or
improved earth
Inland waterways: 900 km total; 785 km on the Senegal, 115 km
on the Saloum
Ports: Dakar, Kaolack
Merchant marine: 3 ships (1,000 GRT and over) totaling 9,263
GRT/15,167 DWT; includes 2 cargo, 1 bulk
Civil air: 2 major transport aircraft
Airports: 25 total, 20 usable; 10 with permanent-surface runways;
none with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m;
15 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: above-average urban system, using radio relay
and cable; 40,200 telephones; stations--8 AM, no FM, 1 TV; 3 submarine
cables; 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth station
DEFENSE FORCES
Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, paramilitary Gendarmerie;
Surete Nationale
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 1,749,540; 913,806 fit for
military service; 91,607 reach military age (18) annually
Defense expenditures: $100 million, 2% of GDP (1989 est.)
