Senegal is one of the few countries in the world with evidence of continuous human life from the Paleolithic period to present. Between the 14th and 16th centuries, the Jolof Empire ruled most of Senegal. Starting in the 15th century, Portugal, the Netherlands, France, and Great Britain traded along the Senegalese coast. Senegal’s location on the western tip of Africa made it a favorable base for the European slave trade. European powers used the Senegalese island of Goree as a base to purchase slaves from the warring chiefdoms on the mainland, and at the height of the slave trade in Senegal, over one-third of the Senegalese population was enslaved. In 1815, France abolished slavery and began expanding inland. During the second half of the 19th century, France took possession of Senegal as a French colony. In 1959, the French colonies of Senegal and French Sudan were merged and granted independence in 1960 as the Mali Federation. The union broke up after only a few months. In 1982, Senegal joined with The Gambia to form the nominal confederation of Senegambia. The envisaged integration of the two countries was never implemented, and the union dissolved in 1989.
Since the 1980s, the Movement of Democratic Forces in the Casamance - a separatist movement based in southern Senegal - has led a low-level insurgency. Several attempts at reaching a comprehensive peace agreement have failed. Since 2012, despite sporadic incidents of violence, an unofficial cease-fire has remained largely in effect. Senegal is one of the most stable democracies in Africa and has a long history of participating in international peacekeeping and regional mediation. The Socialist Party of Senegal ruled for 40 years until Abdoulaye WADE was elected president in 2000 and re-elected in 2007. WADE amended Senegal’s constitution over a dozen times to increase executive power and weaken the opposition. In 2012, WADE’s decision to run for a third presidential term sparked public backlash that led to his defeat to current President Macky SALL. A 2016 constitutional referendum limited future presidents to two consecutive five-year terms. The change, however, does not apply to SALL’s first term. In February 2019, SALL won his bid for reelection; his second term will end in 2024.
land: 192,530 sq km
water: 4,192 sq km
border countries (5): The Gambia 749 km; Guinea 363 km; Guinea-Bissau 341 km; Mali 489 km; Mauritania 742 km
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
mean elevation: 69 m
arable land: 17.4% (2018 est.)
permanent crops: 0.3% (2018 est.)
permanent pasture: 29.1% (2018 est.)
forest: 43.8% (2018 est.)
other: 9.4% (2018 est.)
18,384,660 (2023 est.)
noun: Senegalese (singular and plural)
adjective: Senegalese
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.)
French (official), Wolof, Pular, Jola, Mandinka, Serer, Soninke
Muslim 97.2% (most adhere to one of the four main Sufi brotherhoods), Christian 2.7% (mostly Roman Catholic) (2019 est.)
Senegal has a large and growing youth population but has not been successful in developing its potential human capital. Senegal’s high total fertility rate of almost 4.5 children per woman continues to bolster the country’s large youth cohort – more than 60% of the population is under the age of 25. Fertility remains high because of the continued desire for large families, the low use of family planning, and early childbearing. Because of the country’s high illiteracy rate (more than 40%), high unemployment (even among university graduates), and widespread poverty, Senegalese youths face dim prospects; women are especially disadvantaged.Senegal historically was a destination country for economic migrants, but in recent years West African migrants more often use Senegal as a transit point to North Africa – and sometimes illegally onward to Europe. The country also has been host to several thousand black Mauritanian refugees since they were expelled from their homeland during its 1989 border conflict with Senegal. The country’s economic crisis in the 1970s stimulated emigration; departures accelerated in the 1990s. Destinations shifted from neighboring countries, which were experiencing economic decline, civil wars, and increasing xenophobia, to Libya and Mauritania because of their booming oil industries and to developed countries (most notably former colonial ruler France, as well as Italy and Spain). The latter became attractive in the 1990s because of job opportunities and their periodic regularization programs (legalizing the status of illegal migrants).
0-14 years: 41.19% (male 3,858,937/female 3,714,062)
15-64 years: 55.46% (male 4,925,324/female 5,271,627)
65 years and over: 3.34% (2023 est.) (male 266,485/female 348,225)
total dependency ratio: 81.5
youth dependency ratio: 75.8
elderly dependency ratio: 5.7
potential support ratio: 17.4 (2021 est.)
total: 19 years (2023 est.)
male: 18.2 years
female: 19.8 years
2.52% (2023 est.)
30.8 births/1,000 population (2023 est.)
5 deaths/1,000 population (2023 est.)
-0.7 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2023 est.)
the population is concentrated in the west, with Dakar anchoring a well-defined core area; approximately 70% of the population is rural as shown in this
urban population: 49.6% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization: 3.59% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
3.340 million DAKAR (capital) (2023)
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.93 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.77 male(s)/female
total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2023 est.)
21.9 years (2019 est.)
note: data represents median age at first birth among women 25-49
261 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)
total: 31.8 deaths/1,000 live births (2023 est.)
male: 35.1 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 28.3 deaths/1,000 live births
total population: 70.3 years (2023 est.)
male: 68.5 years
female: 72.1 years
4.17 children born/woman (2023 est.)
2.03 (2023 est.)
26.9% (2019)
improved: urban: 95.9% of population
rural: 79.3% of population
total: 87.3% of population
unimproved: urban: 4.1% of population
rural: 20.7% of population
total: 12.7% of population (2020 est.)
5.2% of GDP (2020)
0.09 physicians/1,000 population (2019)
improved: urban: 94.1% of population
rural: 55.5% of population
total: 74.1% of population
unimproved: urban: 5.9% of population
rural: 44.5% of population
total: 25.9% of population (2020 est.)
degree of risk: very high (2023)
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: malaria and dengue fever
water contact diseases: schistosomiasis
animal contact diseases: rabies
respiratory diseases: meningococcal meningitis
8.8% (2016)
total: 0.25 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
beer: 0.21 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
wine: 0.02 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
spirits: 0.02 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
other alcohols: 0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
total: 6.9% (2020 est.)
male: 13.1% (2020 est.)
female: 0.7% (2020 est.)
14.4% (2019)
65.3% (2023 est.)
women married by age 15: 8.8%
women married by age 18: 30.5%
men married by age 18: 0.7% (2019 est.)
5.5% of GDP (2020 est.)
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 56.3%
male: 68.4%
female: 45.4% (2021)
total: 9 years
male: 8 years
female: 10 years (2021)
deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification; periodic droughts; seasonal flooding; overfishing; weak environmental protective laws; wildlife populations threatened by poaching
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
tropical; hot, humid; rainy season (May to November) has strong southeast winds; dry season (December to April) dominated by hot, dry, harmattan wind
agricultural land: 46.8% (2018 est.)
arable land: 17.4% (2018 est.)
permanent crops: 0.3% (2018 est.)
permanent pasture: 29.1% (2018 est.)
forest: 43.8% (2018 est.)
other: 9.4% (2018 est.)
urban population: 49.6% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization: 3.59% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
severe localized food insecurity: due to localized shortfalls in cereal production and reduced incomes - according to the latest analysis, about 881,000 people are estimated to be in need of humanitarian assistance between June and August 2022, mostly on account of localized shortfalls in cereal production in 2021 and reduced incomes owing to the impact of the COVID‑19 pandemic (2022)
1.46% of GDP (2018 est.)
0% of GDP (2018 est.)
particulate matter emissions: 38.21 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)
carbon dioxide emissions: 10.9 megatons (2016 est.)
methane emissions: 11.74 megatons (2020 est.)
municipal solid waste generated annually: 2,454,059 tons (2016 est.)
Senegal (shared with Guinea [s], Mali, and Mauritania [m] ) - 1,641 km; Gambie (Gambia) (shared with Guinea [s] and The Gambia [m]) - 1,094 km
note – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth
Atlantic Ocean drainage: Senegal (456,397 sq km)
Senegalo-Mauritanian Basin
municipal: 260 million cubic meters (2020 est.)
industrial: 58 million cubic meters (2017 est.)
agricultural: 2.76 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)
38.97 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)
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
$58.991 billion (2021 est.)
$55.618 billion (2020 est.)
$54.89 billion (2019 est.)
note: data are in 2017 dollars
6.06% (2021 est.)
1.33% (2020 est.)
4.61% (2019 est.)
$3,500 (2021 est.)
$3,400 (2020 est.)
$3,400 (2019 est.)
note: data are in 2017 dollars
$23.576 billion (2019 est.)
2.55% (2020 est.)
1.76% (2019 est.)
0.46% (2018 est.)
Moody’s rating: Ba3 (2017)
Standard & Poors rating: B+ (2000)
note: The year refers to the year in which the current credit rating was first obtained.
agriculture: 16.9% (2017 est.)
industry: 24.3% (2017 est.)
services: 58.8% (2017 est.)comparison rankings:
household consumption: 71.9% (2017 est.)
government consumption: 15.2% (2017 est.)
investment in fixed capital: 25.1% (2017 est.)
investment in inventories: 3.4% (2017 est.)
exports of goods and services: 27% (2017 est.)
imports of goods and services: -42.8% (2017 est.)
groundnuts, watermelons, rice, sugar cane, cassava, millet, maize, onions, sorghum, vegetables
agricultural and fish processing, phosphate mining, fertilizer production, petroleum refining, zircon, and gold mining, construction materials, ship construction and repair
10.91% (2021 est.)
4.377 million (2021 est.)
3.72% (2021 est.)
3.62% (2020 est.)
2.86% (2019 est.)
total: 5% (2021 est.)
male: 3.5%
female: 7.5%
46.7% (2011 est.)
38.1 (2018 est.)
lowest 10%: 2.5%
highest 10%: 31.1% (2011)
revenues: $4.76 billion (2019 est.)
expenditures: $5.662 billion (2019 est.)
-3.6% (of GDP) (2017 est.)
48.3% of GDP (2017 est.)
47.8% of GDP (2016 est.)
16.38% (of GDP) (2018 est.)
calendar year
-$2.215 billion (2018 est.)
-$1.526 billion (2017 est.)
-$795.648 million (2016 est.)
$5.287 billion (2018 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$4.593 billion (2017 est.)
Mali 22%, Switzerland 14%, India 9%, China 7% (2019)
gold, refined petroleum, phosphoric acid, fish, ground nuts (2019)
$8.96 billion (2018 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$7.499 billion (2017 est.)
China 17%, France 11%, Belgium 7%, Russia 7%, Netherlands 7% (2019)
refined petroleum, crude petroleum, rice, cars, malt extract, clothing and apparel (2019)
$1.827 billion (31 December 2017 est.)
$116.9 million (31 December 2016 est.)
$8.571 billion (31 December 2017 est.)
$6.327 billion (31 December 2016 est.)
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.)
population without electricity: 5 million (2020)
electrification - total population: 67.9% (2021)
electrification - urban areas: 93.9% (2021)
electrification - rural areas: 43.4% (2021)
installed generating capacity: 1.312 million kW (2020 est.)
consumption: 4,735,980,000 kWh (2019 est.)
exports: 0 kWh (2019 est.)
imports: 324 million kWh (2019 est.)
transmission/distribution losses: 764 million kWh (2019 est.)comparison rankings:
fossil fuels: 84.8% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
nuclear: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
solar: 6% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
wind: 0.5% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
hydroelectricity: 6.3% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
tide and wave: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
geothermal: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
biomass and waste: 2.4% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
production: 0 metric tons (2020 est.)
consumption: 894,000 metric tons (2020 est.)
exports: 0 metric tons (2020 est.)
imports: 894,000 metric tons (2020 est.)
proven reserves: 0 metric tons (2019 est.)
total petroleum production: 0 bbl/day (2021 est.)
refined petroleum consumption: 57,500 bbl/day (2019 est.)
crude oil and lease condensate exports: 0 bbl/day (2018 est.)
crude oil and lease condensate imports: 20,500 bbl/day (2018 est.)
crude oil estimated reserves: 0 barrels (2021 est.)
17,590 bbl/day (2015 est.)
4,063 bbl/day (2015 est.)
32,050 bbl/day (2015 est.)
production: 60.003 million cubic meters (2019 est.)
consumption: 60.003 million cubic meters (2019 est.)
exports: 0 cubic meters (2021 est.)
imports: 0 cubic meters (2021 est.)
proven reserves: 0 cubic meters (2021 est.)
10.696 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
from coal and metallurgical coke: 1.955 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
from petroleum and other liquids: 8.64 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
from consumed natural gas: 101,000 metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
9.221 million Btu/person (2019 est.)
number of registered air carriers: 2 (2020)
inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 11
annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers: 21,038 (2018)
annual freight traffic on registered air carriers: 40,000 (2018) mt-km
6V
20 (2021)
9
note: paved runways have a concrete or asphalt surface but not all have facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control; the length of a runway required for aircraft to safely operate depends on a number of factors including the type of aircraft, the takeoff weight (including passengers, cargo, and fuel), engine types, flap settings, landing speed, elevation of the airport, and average maximum daily air temperature; paved runways can reach a length of 5,000 m (16,000 ft.), but the “typical” length of a commercial airline runway is between 2,500-4,000 m (8,000-13,000 ft.)
11
note: unpaved runways have a surface composition such as grass or packed earth and are most suited to the operation of light aircraft; unpaved runways are usually short, often less than 1,000 m (3,280 ft.) in length; airports with unpaved runways often lack facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control
43 km gas, 8 km refined products (2017)
total: 906 km (2017) (713 km operational in 2017)
narrow gauge: 906 km (2017) 1.000-m gauge
total: 16,665 km (2017)
paved: 6,126 km (2017) (includes 241 km of expressways)
unpaved: 10,539 km (2017)
1,000 km (2012) (primarily on the Senegal, Saloum, and Casamance Rivers)
total: 35 (2022)
by type: general cargo 5, oil tanker 1, other 29
major seaport(s): Dakar
manyapis