SENEGAL

Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, has a size of 196,723 km2 with an estimated population of nearly 11,658,000 (2005 census). Got independence from France on 20 August 1960. Islam is the predominant religion, practiced by approximately 95 percent of the country's population; the Christian community, at 4 percent of the population.

The main industries include food processing, mining, cement, artificial fertilizer, chemicals, textiles, refining imported petroleum, and tourism. Exports include fish, chemicals, cotton, fabrics, groundnuts, and calcium phosphate, and the principal foreign market is India at 26.7 percent of exports.

Location

Senegal is a country south of the Senegal river in western Africa. Senegal is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Mauritania to the north, Mali to the east, and Guinea and Guinea-Bissau to the south.

Geography

Senegal is a country in Western Africa. With the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Senegal has Guinea-Bissau to the south, Guinea to the southeast, Mali to the east, and Mauritania to the north. The Gambia is almost an enclave of Senegal in the middle of the western coast.

The Senegalese landscape consists mainly of the rolling sandy plains of the western Sahel which rise to foothills in the southeast. The Gambia lies almost entirely within Senegal, surrounded by it on the north, east and south; from its western coast, Gambia's territory follows the Gambia River more than 300 km inland. The Cape Verde islands lie some 560 km off the Senegalese coast.

Capital

Dakar, on the Cap-Vert peninsula

Climate

The local climate is tropical with well-defined dry and humid seasons that result from northeast winter winds and southwest summer winds. Dakar's annual rainfall of about 600 mm occurs between June and October when maximum temperatures average 27 °C ; December to February minimum temperatures are about 17 °C. Interior temperatures can be substantially higher than along the coast, and rainfall increases substantially farther south, exceeding 1.5 m annually in some areas. The far interior of the country, in the region of Tambacounda, particularly on the border or Mali, temperatures can reach as high as 54 °C.

Language

French (Official language) and Wolof

Monetary Unit

CFA franc (XOF)

Largest Cities

Dakar, Saint-Louis, Thies, Pikine, Rufisque, Kaolack, Ziguinchor, Tambacounda, Touba, Tivaouane, Mbour, Matam, Kolda, Diourbel, Linguere

Principal rivers

Senegal, Gambia and Casamance

Places to Visit

Dakar, Interesting Islands namely Fadiout Joal, Ile de Gorée, Karabane, Nature reserves like Niokolo-Koba, Delta du Saloum,
Parc National des oiseaux du Djoudj and Stone circles viz. Nioro du Rip, Keur Ali Lobé, Sali, Kau-Ur to Wassau & Ker Batch.

Air Ports

Dakar : Delta Air Lines flies to Dakar on its Atlanta-Johannesburg route which takes roughly 8 hour. A railway connects Dakar and Koulikoro in Mali. It stops at many cities in Senegal, including Thies. Car hire is available in Dakar (city and airport) and sometimes in MBour and Saly Portudal.