1981 Edition
CIA World Factbook 1981 (Internet Archive)
Geography
Area
196,840 km2; 13% forested, 40% agricultural (12% cultivated), 47% built-up areas, waste, or other
Coastline
531 km
Land boundaries
2,680 km
Limits of territorial waters (claimed)
150 inn
People and Society
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
Labor force
1,732,000; about 80% subsistence agricultural workers; about 170,000 wage earners
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
Nationality
noun — Senegalese (sing, and pi.); adjective — Senegalese
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
Population
5,991,000 (July 1982), average annual growth rate 2.7%
Religion
80% Muslim, 15% animist, 5% Christian (mostly Roman Catholic)
Government
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
Capital
Dakar
Communists
small number of Communists and sympathizers
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 Democratique Senegalaise (PDS), progressive socialist party led by Abdoulaye Wade; Rassemblement National Democratique (RND), left-leaning Nationalist group led by Cheikh Anta Diop; Mouvement Republicain Senegalais (MRS), conservative group led by Boubakar Gueye; Parti Africain de 1'Independance (PAI), MarxistLeninist group led by Mahjemout Diop; Parti de 1'Independance et du Travail (PIT) Marxist-Leninist group led by Amath Dansoko; Mouvement Democratique et Populaire (MDP), left-leaning activist group led by Mamadou Dia; Mouvement Revolutionnaire pour la Democratic Nouvelle (MRDN)-Ande Jeuf, Maoist group led by Landing Savane; Ligue Democratique-Mouvement pour le Parti du Travail (LD-MPT), Marxist-Leninist group led by Babacar Sane; Union pour la Democratique Populaire (UDP), MarxistLeninist group led by Hamedine Racine Guisse; Parti Populaire Senegalaise (PPS), ill-defined left-leaning Nationalist group led by Oumar Wone.
Government leaders
Abdou DIOUF, President; Habib THIAM, Prime Minister
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
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
National holiday
Independence Day, 4 April
Official name
Republic of Senegal
Other political or pressure groups
students and teachers occasionally strike
Political subdivisions
8 regions, subdivided into 27 departments, 95 arrondissements
Suffrage
universal adult
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)