Airports [time series]

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 [time series]

2 major transport aircraft

Roadways (Highways) [time series]

14,000 km total; 3,770 km paved, 10,230 km laterite or improved earth

Waterways (Inland waterways) [time series]

900 km total; 785 km on the Senegal, 115 km on the Saloum

Merchant marine [time series]

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

Ports [time series]

Dakar, Kaolack

Railways (Railroads) [time series]

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

Telecommunication systems (Telecommunications) [time series]

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

Military and security forces (Branches) [time series]

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

Military expenditures (Defense expenditures) [time series]

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

Manpower availability [time series]

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

Agricultural products (Agriculture) [time series]

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 [time series]

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

Exchange rates (Currency) [time series]

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

Economic aid [time series]

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 [time series]

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

Exchange rates [time series]

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 [time series]

$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

Debt - external (External debt) [time series]

$4.1 billion (1989)

Fiscal year [time series]

1 July-30 June

Real GDP (purchasing power parity) (GDP) [time series]

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

Imports [time series]

$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 (Industrial production) [time series]

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

Industries [time series]

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices) [time series]

0.4% (1989 est.)

Economic overview (Overview) [time series]

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 [time series]

3.5% (1987)

Climate [time series]

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

Coastline [time series]

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

Area - comparative (Comparative area) [time series]

slightly smaller than South Dakota

Disputes - international (Disputes) [time series]

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 - current issues (Environment) [time series]

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

Land boundaries [time series]

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

Land use [time series]

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

Natural resources [time series]

fish, phosphates, iron ore

Note [time series]

The Gambia is almost an enclave

Terrain [time series]

generally low, rolling, plains rising to foothills in southeast

Area (Total area) [time series]

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

Administrative divisions [time series]

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

Capital [time series]

Dakar

Political parties (Communists) [time series]

small number of Communists and sympathizers

Constitution [time series]

3 March 1963, last revised in 1984

Diplomatic representation in the US (Diplomatic representation) [time series]

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 [time series]

president, prime minister, Council of Ministers (cabinet)

Flag [time series]

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 [time series]

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 [time series]

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 [time series]

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 [time series]

unicameral National Assembly (Assemblee Nationale)

Country name (Long-form name) [time series]

Republic of Senegal

International organization participation (Member of) [time series]

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 [time series]

Independence Day, 4 April (1960)

Political parties (Other political or pressure groups) [time series]

students, teachers, labor, Muslim Brotherhoods

Suffrage [time series]

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

Government type (Type) [time series]

republic under multiparty democratic rule

Birth rate [time series]

44 births/1,000 population (1991)

Death rate [time series]

13 deaths/1,000 population (1991)

Ethnic groups (Ethnic divisions) [time series]

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

Infant mortality rate [time series]

86 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)

Labor force [time series]

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)

Languages (Language) [time series]

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

Life expectancy at birth [time series]

54 years male, 56 years female (1991)

Literacy [time series]

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

Nationality [time series]

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

Net migration rate [time series]

0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)

Organized labor [time series]

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 [time series]

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

Religions (Religion) [time series]

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

Total fertility rate [time series]

6.2 children born/woman (1991)