Communications
Airports [time series]
25 total, 19 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]
3 major transport aircraft
Roadways (Highways) [time series]
14,007 km total; 3,777 km paved, 10,230 km laterite or improved earth
Waterways (Inland waterways) [time series]
897 km total; 785 km on the Senegal, 112 km on the Saloum
Merchant marine [time series]
2 ships (1,000 GRT and over) totaling 7,676 GRT/12,310 DWT; includes 1 cargo, 1 bulk
Dakar, Kaolack, Foundiougne, Ziguinchor
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 microwave and cable; broadcast stations - 8 AM, no FM, 1 TV; 3 submarine cables; 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth station
Defense Forces
Military and security forces (Branches) [time series]
Army, Navy, Air Force, Gendarmerie, National Police
Military expenditures (Defense expenditures) [time series]
exchange rate conversion - $100 million, 2% of GDP (1989 est.)
Manpower availability [time series]
males 15-49, 1,814,452; 947,723 fit for military service; 88,271 reach military age (18) annually
Economy
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 (1970-89), $5.23 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $589 million; Communist countries (1970-89), $295 million
Electricity [time series]
215,000 kW capacity; 760 million kWh produced, 100 kWh per capita (1991)
Exchange rates [time series]
Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (CFAF) per US$1 - 269.01 (January 1992), 282.11 (1991), 272.26 (1990), 319.01 (1989), 297.85 (1988), 300.54 (1987)
Exports [time series]
$814 million (f.o.b., 1990 est.) commodities: manufactures 30%, fish products 27%, peanuts 11%, petroleum products 11%, phosphates 10% partners: France, other EC members, Mali, Ivory Coast, India
Debt - external (External debt) [time series]
$2.9 billion (1990)
Fiscal year [time series]
1 July - 30 June; note - in January 1993, Senegal will switch to a calendar year
Real GDP (purchasing power parity) (GDP) [time series]
exchange rate conversion - $5.0 billion, per capita $615; real growth rate 3.6% (1990)
Imports [time series]
$1.05 billion (c.i.f., 1990 est.) commodities: semimanufactures 30%, food 27%, durable consumer goods 17%, petroleum 12%, capital goods 14% partners: France, other EC, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Algeria, China, Japan
Industrial production growth rate (Industrial production) [time series]
growth rate 4.7% (1989); accounts for 15% of GDP
Industries [time series]
agricultural and fish processing, phosphate mining, petroleum refining, building materials
Inflation rate (consumer prices) [time series]
2.0% (1990)
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)
Geography
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
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) on 12 November 1991 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
Area (Land area) [time series]
192,000 km2
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%
Maritime claims [time series]
Contiguous zone: 24 nm Continental shelf: edge of continental margin or 200 nm Exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm Territorial sea: 12 nm
Natural resources [time series]
fish, phosphates, iron ore
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
Government
Administrative divisions [time series]
10 regions (regions, singular - region); Dakar, Diourbel, Fatick, Kaolack, Kolda, Louga, Saint-Louis, Tambacounda, Thies, Ziguinchor
Capital [time series]
Dakar
Constitution [time series]
3 March 1963, last revised in 1991
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 Katherine SHIRLEY; 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; FAX [221] 22-29-91
Executive branch (Elections) [time series]
President: last held 28 February 1988 (next to be held NA February 1993); results - Abdou DIOUF (PS) 73%, Abdoulaye WADE (PDS) 26%, other 1% National Assembly: last held 28 February 1988 (next to be held NA February 1993); results - PS 71%, PDS 25%, other 4%; seats - (120 total) PS 103, PDS 17
Executive branch [time series]
president, prime minister, Council of Ministers (cabinet)
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]
20 August 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)
Executive branch (Leaders) [time series]
Chief of State: President Abdou DIOUF (since 1 January 1981) Head of Government: Prime Minister Habib THIAM (since 7 April 1991)
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
Political parties (Political parties and leaders) [time series]
Socialist Party (PS), President Abdou DIOUF; Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS), Abdoulaye WADE; 13 other small uninfluential parties
Suffrage [time series]
universal at age 18
Government type (Type) [time series]
republic under multiparty democratic rule
People
Birth rate [time series]
44 births/1,000 population (1992)
Death rate [time series]
13 deaths/1,000 population (1992)
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]
80 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)
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 [time series]
French (official); Wolof, Pulaar, Diola, Mandingo
Life expectancy at birth [time series]
54 years male, 57 years female (1992)
Literacy [time series]
38% (male 52%, female 25%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)
Nationality [time series]
noun - Senegalese (singular and plural); adjective - Senegalese
Net migration rate [time series]
0 migrants/1,000 population (1992)
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 the governing party
Population [time series]
8,205,058 (July 1992), growth rate 3.1% (1992)
Religions [time series]
Muslim 92%, indigenous beliefs 6%, Christian 2% (mostly Roman Catholic)
Total fertility rate [time series]
6.2 children born/woman (1992)