Senegal

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

Civil air

2 major transport aircraft

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

Merchant marine

3 ships (1,000 GRT and over) totaling 9,263 GRT/15,167 DWT; includes 2 cargo, 1 bulk

Ports

Dakar, Kaolack

Railroads

1,034 km 1.000-meter gauge; all single track except 70 km double track Dakar to Thies

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

Branches

Army, Navy, Air Force, paramilitary Gendarmerie; Surete Nationale

Defense expenditures

$100 million, 2% of GDP (1989 est.)

Manpower availability

males 15-49, 1,749,540; 913,806 fit for military service; 91,607 reach military age (18) annually

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

Budget

revenues $921 million; expenditures $1,024 million; including capital expenditures of $14 million (FY89 est.)

Currency

Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (plural--francs); 1 CFA franc (CFAF) = 100 centimes

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

Electricity

210,000 kW capacity; 760 million kWh produced, 100 kWh per capita (1989)

Exchange rates

Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (CFAF) per US$1--256.54 (January 1991), 272.26 (1990), 319.01 (1989), 297.85 (1988), 300.54 (1987), 346.30 (1986), 449.26 (1985)

Exports

$801 million (f.o.b., 1989 est.); commodities--manufactures 30%, fish products 27%, peanuts 11%, petroleum products 11%, phosphates 10%; partners--US, France, other EC, Ivory Coast, India

External debt

$4.1 billion (1989)

Fiscal year

1 July-30 June

GDP

$4.6 billion, per capita $615; real growth rate 0.6% (1989)

Imports

$1.0 billion (c.i.f., 1989 est.); commodities--semimanufactures 30%, food 27%, durable consumer goods 17%, petroleum 12%, capital goods 14%; partners--US, France, other EC, Nigeria, Algeria, China, Japan

Industrial production

growth rate 4.7% (1989); accounts for 17% of GDP

Industries

fishing, agricultural processing, phosphate mining, petroleum refining, building materials

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

0.4% (1989 est.)

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.

Unemployment rate

3.5% (1987)

Climate

tropical; hot, humid; rainy season (December to April) has strong southeast winds; dry season (May to November) dominated by hot, dry harmattan wind

Coastline

531 km Contiguous zone: 24 nm; Continental shelf: edge of continental margin or 200 nm; Exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm; Territorial sea: 12 nm

Comparative area

slightly smaller than South Dakota

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

Environment

lowlands seasonally flooded; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification

Land boundaries

2,640 km total; The Gambia 740 km, Guinea 330 km, Guinea-Bissau 338 km, Mali 419 km, Mauritania 813 km

Land use

arable land 27%; permanent crops 0%; meadows and pastures 30%; forest and woodland 31%; other 12%; includes irrigated 1%

Natural resources

fish, phosphates, iron ore

Note

The Gambia is almost an enclave

Terrain

generally low, rolling, plains rising to foothills in southeast

Total area

196,190 km2; land area: 192,000 km2

Administrative divisions

10 regions (regions, singular--region); Dakar, Diourbel, Fatick, Kaolack, Kolda, Louga, Saint-Louis, Tambacounda, Thies, Ziguinchor

Capital

Dakar

Communists

small number of Communists and sympathizers

Constitution

3 March 1963, last revised in 1984

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

Executive branch

president, prime minister, Council of Ministers (cabinet)

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

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

Judicial branch

Supreme Court (Cour Supreme) Chief of State--President Abdou DIOUF (since 1 January 1981); Head of Government--Prime Minister Habib THIAM (since 7 April 1991) Socialist Party (PS), President Abdou DIOUF; Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS), Abdoulaye WADE; 13 other small uninfluential parties

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

Legislative branch

unicameral National Assembly (Assemblee Nationale)

Long-form name

Republic of Senegal

Member of

ACCT, ACP, AfDB, CCC, CEAO, ECA, ECOWAS, FAO, FZ, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITU, LORCS, NAM, OAU, OIC, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIIMOG, UPU, WADB, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

National holiday

Independence Day, 4 April (1960)

Other political or pressure groups

students, teachers, labor, Muslim Brotherhoods

Suffrage

universal at age 21 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

Type

republic under multiparty democratic rule

Birth rate

44 births/1,000 population (1991)

Death rate

13 deaths/1,000 population (1991)

Ethnic divisions

Wolof 36%, Fulani 17%, Serer 17%, Toucouleur 9%, Diola 9%, Mandingo 9%, European and Lebanese 1%, other 2%

Infant mortality rate

86 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)

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)

Language

French (official); Wolof, Pulaar, Diola, Mandingo

Life expectancy at birth

54 years male, 56 years female (1991)

Literacy

38% (male 52%, female 25%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)

Nationality

noun--Senegalese (sing. and pl.); adjective--Senegalese

Net migration rate

0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)

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

Population

7,952,657 (July 1991), growth rate 3.1% (1991)

Religion

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

Total fertility rate

6.2 children born/woman (1991)