TOTAL AREA: 196,190 sq km (75,657 sq mi); LAND AREA: 192,000 sq km (74,041 sq mi)
COMPARATIVE AREA: slightly smaller than South Dakota
LAND BOUNDARIES: 2,640 km (1,640 mi) total; The Gambia 740 km (460 mi), Guinea 330 km (205 mi), Guinea-Bissau 338 km (210 mi), Mali 419 km (260 mi), Mauritania 813 km (505 mi)
COASTLINE: 531 km (329 mi)
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
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: 27% arable land; 0% permanent crops; 30% meadows and pastures; 31% forest and woodland; 12% other; includes 1% irrigated
NET MIGRATION RATE: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1989)
INFANT MORTALITY RATE: 96 deaths/1,000 live births (1989)
LIFE EXPECTANCY AT BIRTH: 51 years male, 54 years female (1989)
TOTAL FERTILITY RATE: 6.6 children born/woman (1989)
NATIONALITY: noun--Senegalese (sing. and pl.); adjective--Senegalese
ETHNIC DIVISIONS: 36% Wolof, 17% Fulani, 17% Serer, 9% Toucouleur, 9% Diola, 9% Mandingo, 1% European and Lebanese
RELIGION: 92% Muslim, 6% indigenous beliefs, 2% Christian (mostly Roman Catholic)
LANGUAGE: French (official); Wolof, Pulaar, Diola, Mandingo
LITERACY: 10%
LABOR FORCE: 2,509,000; 77% subsistence agricultural workers; 175,000 wage earners--40% private sector, 60% government and parapublic; 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
.GOVERNMENT OF SENEGAL
LONG-FORM NAME: Republic of Senegal
TYPE: republic under multiparty democratic rule; on 1 February 1982, Senegal and The Gambia formed a loose confederation named Senegambia that calls for the eventual integration of their armed forces and economic cooperation
INDEPENDENCE: 4 April 1960 (from France); Senegambian confederation agreement formally signed with The Gambia on 12 December 1981 (effective 1 February 1982)
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)
BRANCHES: government dominated by the president; unicameral legislature (120-member National Assembly), elected for five years; president elected for five-year term by universal suffrage; judiciary headed by Supreme Court, with members appointed by president
CHIEF OF STATE: Abdou DIOUF, President (since January 1981)
SUFFRAGE: universal adult
ELECTIONS: presidential and legislative elections held 28 February 1988
POLITICAL PARTIES AND LEADERS: Socialist Party (PS), Abdou Diouf; Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS), Abdoulaye Wade; 13 other small uninfluential parties
DIPLOMATIC REPRESENTATION: Ambassador Ibra Deguene KA; Chancery at 2112 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 234-0540 or 0541
U.S. FOREIGN SERVICE POST: Ambassador George E. MOOSE; Embassy on Avenue Jean XXIII at the corner of Avenue Kleber, Dakar (mailing address is B. P. 49, Dakar); telephone
FLAG: 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 OF SENEGAL
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 more important to the economy.
GDP: $2.0 billion, per capita $290; real growth rate 4.2% (1987)
INFLATION RATE (CONSUMER PRICES): - 4.3% (1987)
UNEMPLOYMENT RATE: 3.5% (1987)
BUDGET: revenues $443 million; expenditures $474 million; including capital expenditures of $31 million (FY86)
EXPORTS: $749 million (f.o.b., 1987); commodities-- manufactures 30%, fish products 27%, peanuts 11%, petroleum products 11%, phosphates 10%; partners-- US 15%, France, other EC, Ivory Coast, India
IMPORTS: $983 million (f.o.b., 1987); commodities-- semimanufactures 33%, food 26%, durable consumer goods 17%, petroleum 14%, capital goods 14%; partners-- US 8%, France, other EC, Nigeria, Algeria, China, Japan
EXTERNAL DEBT: $3.7 billion (1987)
INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION: growth rate 4.9% (1986)
ELECTRICITY: 210,000 kW capacity; 758 million kWh produced, 100 kWh per capita (1988)
INDUSTRIES: fishing, agricultural processing, phosphate mining, petroleum refining, building materials
AGRICULTURE: peanuts (primary cash crop), millet, sorghum, manioc, maize, rice, livestock; deficit production of food
AID: NA
CURRENCY: Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (plural--francs); 1 CFA franc (CFAF) = 100 centimes
RAILROADS: 1,034 km (642 mi) 1.000-meter gauge; all single track except 70 km double track Dakar to Thies
HIGHWAYS: 14,007 km (8,698 mi) total; 3,777 km paved, 10,230 km laterite or improved earth
INLAND WATERWAYS: 970 km (602 mi)
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: 3 major transport aircraft
AIRPORTS: 25 total, 21 usable; 10 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 16 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, 2 TV; 3 submarine cables; 1 Atlantic Ocean satellite station
.DEFENSE FORCES OF SENEGAL
BRANCHES: Army, Navy, Air Force, paramilitary Gendarmerie
MILITARY MANPOWER: males 15-49, 1,615,384; 843,568 fit for military service; 85,699 reach military age (18) annually
MILITARY BUDGET: $13.37 billion, 35.5% of central government budget (FY88)
.TRAVEL IN SENEGAL
REQUIRED DOCUMENTS: Passport and visa required. Transit visa, valid up to 3 days, $5.10. Entry visa (tourist or business), valid up to 3 months, $5.10, requires 3 photos. Personal checks not accepted. Include postage for return of passport by registered mail. Vaccination certificate required for yellow fever.
HEALTH: Tapwater is not potable. Unwashed raw foods or undercooked meats are not safe to eat. Malaria and hepatitis prophylaxes, and inoculations against cholera, tetanus, polio, and typhoid are recommended. Health requirements change; check latest information.
WEATHER AND CLOTHING: Lightweight clothing for hot, humid summer (Jun-Nov); winters have warm days and chilly nights.
TELEPHONE: When direct dialing to Senegal from the U.S., dial 011 (international access code) + 221 [country code] + local number.
TIME: 5 hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Standard Time, and the same as Greenwich Mean Time.
ELECTRIC CURRENT: 110V
NATIONAL HOLIDAYS: New Year's Day (Jan 1); Senegambia Day (Feb 1); Independence Day (Apr 4); Paques (Apr 8); Labor day (May 1); Ascension Day (May 16); Pentecost (Jun 27); Korite (variable); Assumption Day (Aug 15); Tabaski, Tamxarit (variable); All Saints' Day (Nov 1); Maoloud (variable); Christmas Day (Dec 25).
TOURIST ATTRACTIONS: Excellent swimming, boating, fishing (marlin, swordfish, mackerel, barracuda, bluefish, bass, red mullet, and sea trout), sailing, skindiving, and spearfishing.
IMPORTANT!! All requirements/recommendations are subject to change. Be sure to check latest information.
