1987 Edition

Boundary disputes

short section with The Gambia is indefinite

Climate

tropical; hot, humid; rainy season (December to April) has strong southeast winds; dry season (May to November) dominated by hot, dry harmattan wind

Comparative area

about the size of South Dakota

Contiguous zone

24 nm

Continental shelf

edge of continental margin or 200 nm

Environment

lowlands seasonally flooded; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification

Exclusive fishing zone

200 nm

Land boundaries

2,680 km total Coastline; 531 km

Land use

27% arable land; 0% permanent crops; 30% meadows and pastures; 31% forest and woodland; 12% other; includes 1% irrigated

Special notes

The Gambia is almost an enclave

Terrain

generally low, rolling, plains rising to foothills in southeast

Territorial sea

12 nm

Total area

150km North Atlantic Ocaan Ziguinchor Boundary representation 1s not necessarily authoritative “See regional map VII

196,190 km?; land area: 192,000 km?

Ethnic divisions

99% African (42% Mandinka, 18% Fula, 16% Wolof, 10% Jola, 9% Serahuli, 4% other); 1% non-Gambian

836% Wolof, 17% Fulani, 17% Serer, 9% Toucouleur, 9% Diola, 9% Mandingo, 1% European and Lebanese

Infant mortality

112/1,000

Infant mortality rate

174/1,000

Labor force

165,000 (1988 est.); 75.0% agriculture; 18.9% industry, commerce, and services; 6.1% government

2,509,000; 77% subsistence agricultural workers; 175,000 wage earners—40% private sector, 60% government and parapublic

Language

English (official); Mandinka, Wolof, Fula, other indigenous vernaculars

French (official); Wolof, Pulaar, Diola, Mandingo

Life expectancy

42

48

Literacy

12%

10%

Nationality

noun—-Gambian(s); adjective—Gambian

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

Organized labor

25-30% of wage labor force

majority of wage-labor force represented by unions; however, dues-paying membership very limited, major confederation is National Confederation of Senegalese Labor (CNTS), an affiliate of governing party

Population

760,362 (July 1987), average annual growth rate 2.44%

7,064,025 (July 1987), average annual growth rate 3.01%

Religion

90% Muslim, 9% Christian, 1% indigenous beliefs

92% Muslim, 6% indigenous beliefs, 2% Christian (mostly Roman Catholic)

Administrative divisions

Banjul and five divisions

10 regions, subdivided into 28 departments, 99 arrondissements

Branches

unicameral legislative branch (43-member parliament), in which four seats are reserved for tribal chiefs, four are government appointed, 35 are filled by election for five-year terms, a Speaker is elected by the House, and the Attorney General is an appointed member; independent judiciary

government dominated by the President; unicameral legislature (120member National Assembly), elected for five years; President elected for five-year term by universal suffrage; judiciary headed by Supreme Court, with members appointed by President

Capital

Banjul

Dakar

Communists

no Communist party

small number of Communists and sympathizers

Elections

general election held March

presidential and legislative elections held February 1983; Socialist Party holds 111 of 120 seats Political parties and leaders: Socialist Party (PS), Abdou Diouf; Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS), Abdoulaye Wade; 18 other small uninfluential parties

Government leader

Sir Dawda Kairaba JAWARA, President (since February 1970) Political parties and leaders: People’s Progressive Party (PPP), secretary general, Dawda K. Jawara; National Convention Party (NCP), Sheriff Dibba; Gambian People’s Party (GPP), Assan Musa Camara; United Party (UP)

Government leaders

Abdou DIOUF, President (since January 1981)

Legal system

based on a composite of English common law, Koranic law, and customary law; constitution came into force upon independence in 1965, new republican constitution adopted in April 1970; accepts compulsory 1CJ jurisdiction, with reservations

based on French civil law system; constitution adopted 1960, revised 1963, 1970, and 1981; judicial review of legislative acts in Supreme Court, which also audits the government’s accounting office; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Member of

AfBD, APC, Commonwealth, ECA, ECOWAS, FAO, G-77, GATT, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, 1DB—Inter-American Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, IMF, IMO, IRC, ITU, NAM, OAU, OIC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTO

AfDB, APC, CEAO, EAMA, ECA, ECOWAS, EIB (associate), FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB—Islamic Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, ITU, NAM, OAU, OCAM, OIC, OMVS (Organization for the Development of the Senegal River Valley), UN, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

National holiday

Independence Day, 18 February

Independence Day, 4 April Senegal (continued)

Official name

Republic of The Gambia

Republic of Senegal

Other political or pressure groups

students, teachers, labor, Muslim Brotherhoods

Suffrage

universal adult over 21

universal adult

Type

republic; independent since February 1965; in 1982 The Gambia and Senegal formed a loose confederation named Senegambia that calls for the eventual integration of their armed forces and economic cooperation

republic under multiparty democratic rule; (early in 1982, Senegal and The Gambia formed a loose confederation named Senegambia, which calls for the eventual integration of their armed forces and economic cooperation)

Voting strength

PPP 27 seats, NCP 4 seats, others 4 seats

Agriculture

peanuts, millet, sorghum, rice, maize, palm kernels, cotton

peanuts (primary cash crop), millet, sorghum, manioc, maize, rice, livestock; deficit production of food

Aid

Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF (1970-84), $283 million; US (FY70-85), $54 million

Budget

revenues, $44.2 million; current expenditures, $34.90 million; development expenditures, $19.7 million (1982-83 est.)

(1984/85) public revenues, $467 million; current expenditures, $489 million; capital expenditures, $75 million

Electric power

29,000 kW capacity; 63 million kWh produced, 81 kWh per capita (1986)

187,000 kW capacity; 737 million kWh produced, 105 kWh per capita (1986)

Exports

$59 million (f.o.b., FY85 est.) peanuts and peanut products, fish, palm kernels

$525 million (f.0.b., 1984); peanuts and peanut products, phosphate rock, fish, petroleum products (reexport)

Fiscal year

1 July-30 June

1 July-30 June

Fishing

catch 9,600 metric tons (1983)

catch 230,000 metric tons (1984); exports $120 million (1984)

GDP

$125 million, about $200 per capita; real growth rate —7.8% (FY84)

$2.3 billion, $850 per capita; real growth rate 3.8% (1984)

Imports

$73 million (f.0.b., FY85 est.); textiles, foodstuffs, tobacco, machinery, petroleum products, chemicals

$805 million (f.0.b., 1984); food, consumer goods, machinery, transport equipment, petroleum

Major industries

peanut processing, tourism, brewing, soft drinks, agricultural machinery assembly, small woodworking and metalworking, clothing

fishing, agricultural processing plants, light manufacturing, mining

Major trade partners

exports—mainly EC, Africa; imports—EC, Africa

France, other EC, and franc zone

Monetary conversion rate

7.52 dalasi=US$1 (November 1986)

about 331.24 Communauté Financiére Africaine (CFA) francs=US$1 (November 1986)

Natural resources

fish

fish, phosphates

Airfields

25 total, 21 usable; 10 with permanent-surface runways; | with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 16 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Highways

13,898 km total; 3,461 km paved, 6,741 km gravel or graded earth, 8,696 km of unimproved roads

Inland waterways

1,505 km

Ports

] major (Dakar), 2 minor Civil air; 8 major transport aircraft

Railroads

none

1,084 km 1.000-meter gauge; 70 km double track

Telecommunications

above-average urban system, using radio-relay and cable; 40,200 telephones (0.6 per 100 popl.); 8 AM , no FM stations; 1 TV station; 3 submarine cables; 1 Atlantic Ocean satellite station

Branches

Army, Navy, Air Force, paramilitary Gendarmerie Military manpower; males 15-49, 1,498,000; 782,000 fit for military service; 80,000 reach military age (18) annually