Introduction
Background
The French began to expand onto the Senegalese mainland in the second half of the 19th century and made it a French colony. The French colonies of Senegal and French Sudan were merged in 1959 and granted independence in 1960 as the Mali Federation. The union broke up after only a few months. Senegal joined with The Gambia to form the nominal confederation of Senegambia in 1982. The envisaged integration of the two countries was never implemented, and the union was dissolved in 1989.
Geography
Area
total: 196,722 sq km
land: 192,530 sq km
water: 4,192 sq km
Climate
tropical; hot, humid; rainy season (May to November) has strong southeast winds; dry season (December to April) dominated by hot, dry, harmattan wind
Natural resources
fish, phosphates, iron ore
People and Society
Population
18,384,660 (2023 est.)
Ethnic groups
Wolof 39.7%, Pular 27.5%, Serer 16%, Mandinka 4.9%, Jola 4.2%, Soninke 2.4%, other 5.4% (includes Europeans and persons of Lebanese descent) (2019 est.)
Languages
French (official), Wolof, Pular, Jola, Mandinka, Serer, Soninke
Religions
Muslim 97.2% (most adhere to one of the four main Sufi brotherhoods), Christian 2.7% (mostly Roman Catholic) (2019 est.)
Population growth rate
2.52% (2023 est.)
Government
Government type
presidential republic
Capital
name: Dakar
Executive branch
chief of state: President Macky SALL (since 2 April 2012)
head of government: Prime Minister Amadou BA (since 17 September 2022)
Legislative branch
description: unicameral National Assembly or Assemblée Nationale (165 seats; 112 members including 15 representing Senegalese diaspora directly elected by plurality vote in single- and multi-seat constituencies and 53 members directly elected by proportional representation vote in a single nationwide constituency; member term is 5-years)
Economy
Economic overview
lower middle-income, services-driven West African economy; key mining, construction, agriculture, and fishing industries; tourism and exports hit hard by COVID-19; large informal economy; developing offshore oil and gas fields; systemic corruption
Real GDP (purchasing power parity)
$58.991 billion (2021 est.)
$55.618 billion (2020 est.)
$54.89 billion (2019 est.)
Real GDP per capita
$3,500 (2021 est.)
$3,400 (2020 est.)
$3,400 (2019 est.)
Agricultural products
groundnuts, watermelons, rice, sugar cane, cassava, millet, maize, onions, sorghum, vegetables
Industries
agricultural and fish processing, phosphate mining, fertilizer production, petroleum refining, zircon, and gold mining, construction materials, ship construction and repair
Remittances
10.46% of GDP (2020 est.)
10.78% of GDP (2019 est.)
10.5% of GDP (2018 est.)
Exports
$5.287 billion (2018 est.)
$4.593 billion (2017 est.)
Exports - partners
Mali 22%, Switzerland 14%, India 9%, China 7% (2019)
Exports - commodities
gold, refined petroleum, phosphoric acid, fish, ground nuts (2019)
Imports
$8.96 billion (2018 est.)
$7.499 billion (2017 est.)
Imports - partners
China 17%, France 11%, Belgium 7%, Russia 7%, Netherlands 7% (2019)
Imports - commodities
refined petroleum, crude petroleum, rice, cars, malt extract, clothing and apparel (2019)
Exchange rates
Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar -
Exchange rates:
554.531 (2021 est.)
575.586 (2020 est.)
585.911 (2019 est.)
555.446 (2018 est.)
580.657 (2017 est.)
Page last updated: Tuesday, December 19, 2023
