Population: 12,855,153 (est.)
- The official currency of Senegal is the West African CFA franc.
- Islam is the predominant religion in the country. Islam is practiced by approximately 94% of the country’s population; the Christian community takes up about 5% of the population.
- Predominantly rural and with limited natural resources, the Economy of Senegal gains most of its foreign exchange from fish, phosphates, groundnuts, tourism, and services.
- The local climate is tropical with well-defined dry and humid seasons that result from northeast winter winds and southwest summer winds. The dry season (December to April) is dominated by hot, dry, harmattan wind.
- Senegal’s main tourist destinations include Dakar, Goree Island (Ile de Goree), Sine-Saloum Delta, St Louis.
- People travel from all over West Africa to the town of Yoff, near Dakar, to have their mental illness treated by a faith healer.
Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is a country in West Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north. Senegal is externally bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Mauritania to the north, Mali to the east, and Guinea and Guinea-Bissau to the south; internally it almost completely surrounds the Gambia, namely on the north, east and south, except for Gambia‘s short Atlantic coastline. Senegal covers a land area of almost 197,000 square kilometres (76,000 sq mi), and has an estimated population of about 13 million. The climate is tropical with two seasons: the dry season and the rainy season.
Dakar, the capital city of Senegal, is located at the westernmost tip of the country on the Cap-Vert peninsula. About 500 kilometres (300 mi) off the coast lie the Cape Verde Islands. During the 17th and 18th centuries, numerous trading posts, belonging to various colonial empires, were established along the coast. The town of St. Louis became the capital of French West Africa (Afrique occidentale française, or AOF) before it was moved to Dakar in 1902. Dakar became its capital in 1960 at the time of independence from France. The country is part of The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Integrated with the main bodies of the international community, Senegal is also a member of the African Union (AU) and the Community of Sahel-Saharan States. Since 2 April 2012, the country’s president has been Macky Sall.