The World Factbook (1982)/Senegal

by the Central Intelligence Agency

SENEGAL

(See reference map VII)

LAND

196,840 km²; 13% forested, 40% agricultural (12% cultivated), 47% built-up areas, waste, or other

Land boundaries: 2,680 km

WATER

Limits of territorial waters (claimed): 150 nm

Coastline: 531 km

PEOPLE

Population: 5,991,000 (July 1982), average annual growth rate 2.7%

Nationality: noun—Senegalese (sing. and pl.); adjective—Senegalese

Ethnic divisions: 36% Wolof, 17.5% Fulani, 16.5% Serer, 9% Tukulor, 9% Dyola, 6.5% Malinke, 4.5% other African, 1% Europeans and Lebanese

Religion: 80% Muslim, 15% animist, 5% Christian (mostly Roman Catholic)

Language: French official, but regular use limited to literate minority; most Senegalese speak own tribal language; use of Wolof vernacular spreading—now spoken to some degree by nearly half the population

Literacy: 10% (est.) in 14 plus age group

Labor force: 1,732,000; about 80% subsistence agricultural workers; about 170,000 wage earners

Organized labor: majority of wage-labor force represented by unions; however, dues-paying membership very limited, three labor central unions, major central is CNTS, an affiliate of governing party

GOVERNMENT

Official name: Republic of Senegal

Type: republic (early in 1982, Senegal and The Gambia formed a loose confederation named Senegambia which calls for the integration of their armed forces, economies and monetary systems, and foreign policies)

Capital: Dakar

Political subdivisions: 8 regions, subdivided into 27 departments, 95 arrondissements

Legal system: based on French civil law system; constitution adopted 1960, revised 1963 and 1970; judicial review of legislative acts in Supreme Court (which also audits the government's accounting office); legal education at University of Dakar; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

National holiday: Independence Day, 4 April

Branches: government dominated by President who is assisted by Prime Minister, appointed by President, and subject to dismissal by President or censure by National Assembly; 100-member National Assembly, elected for five years (effective 1978); President elected for five-year term (effective 1978) by universal suffrage; judiciary headed by Supreme Court, with members appointed by President

Government leaders: Abdou DIOUF, President; Habib THIAM, Prime Minister

Suffrage: universal adult

Elections: presidential and legislative elections held February 1978 for five-year term

Political parties and leaders: legal parties are Parti Socialiste (PS), moderate ruling party led by President Abdou Diouf; Parti Démocratique Sénégalaise (PDS), progressive socialist party led by Abdoulaye Wade; Rassemblement National Démocratique (RND), left-leaning Nationalist group led by Cheikh Anta Diop; Mouvement Républicain Sénégalais (MRS), conservative group led by Boubakar Gueye; Parti Africain de l'Indépendance (PAI), Marxist-Leninist group led by Mahjemout Diop; Parti de l'Indépendance et du Travail (PIT) Marxist-Leninist group led by Amath Dansoko; Mouvement Démocratique et Populaire (MDP), left-leaning activist group led by Mamadou Dia; Mouvement Révolutionnaire pour la Démocratie Nouvelle (MRDN)-Andé Jeuf, Maoist group led by Landing Savané; Ligue Démocratique-Mouvement pour le Parti du Travail (LD-MPT), Marxist-Leninist group led by Babacar Sane; Union pour la Démocratique Populaire (UDP), Marxist-Leninist group led by Hamedine Racine Guisse; Parti Populaire Sénégalaise (PPS), ill-defined left-leaning Nationalist group led by Oumar Wone.

Communists: small number of Communists and sympathizers

Other political or pressure groups: students and teachers occasionally strike

Member of: AFDB, APC, CEAO, EAMA, ECA, ECOWAS, EIB (associate), FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMCO, IMF, ISCON, ITU, NAM, OAU, OCAM, OMVS (Organization for the Development of the Senegal River Valley), UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

ECONOMY

GDP: $2.1 billion (1980), $378 per capita; real growth -11.9% in 1980; nominal growth -3.9% in 1980

Agriculture: main crops—peanuts, millet, sorghum, manioc, rice; peanuts primary cash crop; production of food crops increasing but still insufficient for domestic requirements

Fishing: catch 359,230 metric tons (1980); exports $153.8 million (1980)

Major industries: fishing, agricultural processing plants, light manufacturing, mining

Electric power: 310,850 kW capacity (1981); 1.106 billion kWh produced (1981), 92 kWh per capita

Exports: $570.3 million (f.o.b., 1980 est.); peanuts and peanut products; phosphate rock; canned fish

Imports: $1,022.2 million (c.i.f., 1980 est.); food, consumer goods, machinery, transport equipment

Major trade partners: France, EC (other than France), and franc zone

Budget: (1981/82) public revenue $432.7 million, current expenditures $432.7 million, development expenditures $191.7 million

Monetary conversion rate: francs; about 211.3 Communaute Financiere Africaine francs=US$1 (1980)

Fiscal year: 1 July-30 June

COMMUNICATIONS

Railroads: 1,033 km meter gauge (1.00 m); 64 km double track

Highways: 13,898 km total; 3,461 km paved, 10,437 km other

Inland waterways: 1,505 km

Ports: 1 major (Dakar), 3 minor

Civil air: 5 major transport aircraft

Airfields: 28 total, 28 usable; 11 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 20 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Telecommunications: above average urban system; 40,200 telephones (0.8 per 100 popl.); 8 AM stations, no FM, and 1 TV station; 2 submarine cables; 1 Atlantic Ocean satellite station

DEFENSE FORCES

Military manpower: males 15-49, 1,324,000; 668,000 fit for military service; 61,000 reach military age (18) annually

Military budget: for fiscal year ending 30 June 1981, $70.7 million; about 7.4% of central government budget