Senegal

Radio broadcast stations

AM 8, FM 6, shortwave 1

Radios

850,000 (1993 est.)

Telephone 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)

Telephones

81,988 (1995 est.)

Television broadcast stations

1

Televisions

61,000 (1993 est.)

Agriculture - products

peanuts, millet, corn, sorghum, rice, cotton, tomatoes, green vegetables; cattle, poultry, pigs; fish

Budget

revenues: $876 million expenditures: NA, including capital expenditures of $NA

Currency

1 Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (CFAF) = 100 centimes

Debt - external

$4.1 billion (1995 est.)

Economic aid

recipient: ODA, $439 million (1993)

Economy - overview

In 1994 Senegal embarked on its most concerted structural adjustment effort yet to exploit the 50% devaluation of the currencies of the 14 Francophone African nations which took place on 12 January of that year. After years of foot-dragging, the government passed a liberalized labor code which should lower the cost of labor and improve the manufacturing sector's competitiveness. Inroads also have been made in closing tax loopholes, eliminating monopoly power in several sectors, and privatizing state-owned firms. At the same time, the government is holding the line on current fiscal expenditure under the watchful eyes of international organizations on which it depends for substantial support. The IMF, in mid-1995, announced that the government met most economic targets as called for in its Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility agreement and released the second $50 million tranche. The country's narrow tax and resource base, environmental degradation, and untamed growth of the population will continue to hold back improvement in living standards over the medium term. According to the draft budget, GDP will again rise by 5% in 1997.

Electricity - capacity

303,440 kW

Electricity - consumption per capita

109 kWh (1997 est.)

Electricity - production

1.027 billion kWh (1997 est.)

Exchange rates

CFA francs (CFAF) per US$1 - 541.69 (January 1997), 511.55 (1966), 499.15 (1995), 555.20 (1994), 283.16 (1993), 264.69 (1992) note: beginning 12 January 1994, the CFA franc was devalued to CFAF 100 per French franc from CFAF 50 at which it had been fixed since 1948

Exports

total value: $968 million (f.o.b., 1995) commodities: fish, ground nuts (peanuts), petroleum products, phosphates, cotton partners : France, other EU countries, Cote d'Ivoire, Mali

Fiscal year

calendar year

GDP

purchasing power parity - $15.6 billion (1996 est.)

GDP - composition by sector

agriculture : 21% industry: 19% services: 60% (1995 est.)

GDP - per capita

purchasing power parity - $1,700 (1996 est.)

GDP - real growth rate

5% (1996 est.)

Imports

total value: $1.22 billion (f.o.b., 1995.) commodities: foods and beverages, consumer goods, capital goods, petroleum products partners: France 30%, other EU countries, Nigeria, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Algeria, China, Japan

Industrial production growth rate

2% (1994)

Industries

agricultural and fish processing, phosphate mining, petroleum refining, construction materials

Inflation rate - consumer price index

7.8% (1995)

Labor force

total: 2.509 million (77% are engaged in subsistence farming; 175,000 wage earners) by occupation: private sector 40%, government and parapublic 60%

Unemployment rate

NA%

Area

total: 196,190 sq km land: 192,000 sq km water: 4,190 sq km

Area - comparative

slightly smaller than South Dakota

Climate

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

Coastline

531 km

Elevation extremes

lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point : unnamed location in the Futa Jaldon foothills 581 m

Environment - current issues

wildlife populations threatened by poaching; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification; overfishing

Environment - 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, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Marine Dumping

Geographic coordinates

14 00 N, 14 00 W

Geography - note

The Gambia is almost an enclave of Senegal

Irrigated land

710 sq km (1993 est.)

Land boundaries

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

Land use

arable land : 12% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 16% forests and woodland: 54% other: 18% (1993 est.)

Location

Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea-Bissau and Mauritania

Map references

Africa

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

Natural hazards

lowlands seasonally flooded; periodic droughts

Natural resources

fish, phosphates, iron ore

Terrain

generally low, rolling, plains rising to foothills in southeast

Administrative divisions

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

Constitution

3 March 1963, revised 1991

Country name

conventional long form: Republic of Senegal conventional short form: Senegal local long form : Republique du Senegal local short form: Senegal

Data code

SG

Diplomatic representation from the US

chief of mission: Ambassador Dane Farnsworth SMITH, Jr. (5 August 1996) embassy: Avenue Jean XXIII at the corner of Avenue Kleber, Dakar mailing address: B. P. 49, Dakar telephone: [221] 23 42 96, 23 34 24

Diplomatic representation in the US

chief of mission: Ambassador Mamadou Mansour SECK chancery: 2112 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone : [1] (202) 234-0540, 0541

Executive branch

chief of state: President Abdou DIOUF (since 1 January 1981) head of government: Prime Minister Habib THIAM (since 7 April 1991) 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 21 February 1993 (next to be held NA February 2000); prime minister appointed by the president election results: Abdou DIOUF reelected president; percent of vote - Abdou DIOUF (PS) 58.4%, Abdoulaye WADE (PDS) 32.03%, other 9.57%

FAX

[221] 22 29 91

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

Government type

republic under multiparty democratic rule

Independence

4 April 1960 from France; complete independence was achieved upon dissolution of federation with Mali on 20 August 1960 (The Gambia and Senegal signed an agreement on 12 December 1981 that called for the creation of a loose confederation to be known as Senegambia, but the agreement was dissolved on 30 September 1989)

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, NAM, OAU, OIC, PCA, UN, UNAVEM III, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNMIBH, UPU, WADB, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO

Judicial branch

under the terms of a reform of the judicial system implemented in 1992, the principal organs of the judiciary are as follows; Constitutional Court; Council of State; Court of Final Appeals or Cour de Cessation; Court of Appeals

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; Senegal has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Legislative branch

unicameral National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale (120 seats; members are elected by direct popular vote to serve five-year terms) elections: last held 9 May 1993 (next to be held NA May 1998) election results: percent of vote by party - PS 70%, PDS 23%, other 7%; seats by party - PS 84, PDS 27, LD-MPT 3, AND/JEF-PADS 3, PIT 2, UDS-R 1

National capital

Dakar

National holiday

Independence Day, 4 April (1960)

Political parties and leaders

African Party for Democracy and Socialism or AND/JEF-PADS [Landing SAVANE, secretary-general]; Democratic League-Labor Party Movement or LD-MPT [Dr. Abdoulaye BATHILY]; Democratic and Patriotic Convention or CDP Garab-Gi [Dr. Iba Der THIAM]; Independent Labor Party or PIT [Amath DANSOKHO]; Let Us Unite Senegal (coalition of African Party for Democracy and Socialism and National Democratic Rally); National Democratic Rally or RND [Madier DIOUF]; Senegalese Democratic Party or PDS [Abdoulaye WADE]; Senegalese Democratic Union-Renewal or UDS-R [Mamadou Puritain FALL]; Socialist Party or PS [President Abdou DIOUF]; other small uninfluential parties

Political pressure groups and leaders

students; teachers; labor; Muslim Brotherhoods

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

Current issues

Serbia and Montenegro have asserted the formation of a joint independent state, but this entity has not been formally recognized as a state by the US; the US view is that the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) has dissolved and that none of the successor republics represents its continuation.

Military branches

Army, Navy, Air Force, National Gendarmerie, National Police (Surete Nationale)

Military expenditures - dollar figure

$81 million (1996 est.)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP

2.1% (1996 est.)

Military manpower - availability

males age 15-49: 1,938,693 (1997 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service

males: 1,012,181 (1997 est.)

Military manpower - military age

18 years of age

Military manpower - reaching military age annually

males: 94,397 (1997 est.)

Age structure

0-14 years: 48% (male 2,259,765; female 2,270,363) 15-64 years: 49% (male 2,190,263; female 2,418,385) 65 years and over: 3% (male 130,742; female 134,028) (July 1997 est.)

Birth rate

44.91 births/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Death rate

11.4 deaths/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Ethnic groups

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

Infant mortality rate

62.6 deaths/1,000 live births (1997 est.)

Languages

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

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 56.93 years male: 54.15 years female: 59.79 years (1997 est.)

Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population : 33.1% male: 43% female: 23.2% (1995 est.)

Nationality

noun: Senegalese (singular and plural) adjective: Senegalese

Net migration rate

0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Population

9,403,546 (July 1997 est.)

Population growth rate

3.35% (1997 est.)

Religions

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

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.91 male(s)/female 65 years and over : 0.98 male(s)/female total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (1997 est.)

Total fertility rate

6.24 children born/woman (1997 est.)

Disputes - international

short section of boundary with The Gambia is indefinite

Illicit drugs

transshipment point for Southwest and Southeast Asian heroin moving to Europe and North America; illicit cultivator of cannabis SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO

Airports

17 (1996 est.)

Airports - with paved runways

total : 10 over 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 7 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (1996 est.)

Airports - with unpaved runways

total : 7 1,524 to 2,437 m: 5 914 to 1,523 m: 2 (1996 est.)

Highways

total: 14,580 km paved: 4,214 km unpaved: 10,366 km (1995 est.)

Merchant marine

total: 1 bulk ship, 1,995 GRT/3,775 DWT (1996 est.)

Ports and harbors

Dakar, Kaolack, Matam, Podor, Richard-Toll, Saint-Louis, Ziguinchor

Railways

total: 904 km narrow gauge: 904 km 1.000-meter gauge (70 km double track) (1995)

Waterways

897 km total; 785 km on the Senegal river, and 112 km on the Saloum river