1959 and granted their independence as the Mali Federation in 1960.
The union broke up after only a few months. Senegal joined with The
Gambia to form the nominal confederation of Senegambia in 1982, but
the envisaged integration of the two countries was never carried
out, and the union was dissolved in 1989. The Movement of Democratic
Forces in the Casamance (MFDC) has led a low-level separatist
insurgency in southern Senegal since the 1980s, and several peace
deals have failed to resolve the conflict. Nevertheless, Senegal
remains one of the most stable democracies in Africa. Senegal was
ruled by a Socialist Party for 40 years until current President
Abdoulaye WADE was elected in 2000. He was reelected in February
2007, but complaints of fraud led opposition parties to boycott June
2007 legislative polls. Senegal has a long history of participating
in international peacekeeping.
Geography
Senegal
Location:
Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between
Guinea-Bissau and Mauritania
Geographic coordinates:
14 00 N, 14 00 W
Map references:
Africa
Area:
total: 196,190 sq km
land: 192,000 sq km
water: 4,190 sq km
Area - comparative:
slightly smaller than South Dakota
Land boundaries:
total: 2,640 km
border countries: The Gambia 740 km, Guinea 330 km, Guinea-Bissau
338 km, Mali 419 km, Mauritania 813 km
Coastline:
531 km
Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
Climate:
tropical; hot, humid; rainy season (May to November) has strong
southeast winds; dry season (December to April) dominated by hot,
dry, harmattan wind
Terrain:
generally low, rolling, plains rising to foothills in southeast
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed feature near Nepen Diakha 581 m
Natural resources:
fish, phosphates, iron ore
Land use:
arable land: 12.51%
permanent crops: 0.24%
other: 87.25% (2005)
Irrigated land:
1,200 sq km (2003)
Total renewable water resources:
39.4 cu km (1987)
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):
total: 2.22 cu km/yr (4%/3%/93%)
per capita: 190 cu m/yr (2002)
Natural hazards:
lowlands seasonally flooded; periodic droughts
Environment - current issues:
wildlife populations threatened by poaching; deforestation;
overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification; overfishing
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto
Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law
of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship
Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling
Geography - note:
westernmost country on the African continent; The Gambia is almost
an enclave within Senegal
People
Senegal
Population:
12,853,259 (July 2008 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 41.9% (male 2,717,257/female 2,668,602)
15-64 years: 55.1% (male 3,524,683/female 3,552,643)
65 years and over: 3% (male 183,188/female 206,886) (2008 est.)
Median age:
total: 18.8 years
male: 18.6 years
female: 19 years (2008 est.)
Population growth rate:
2.58% (2008 est.)
Birth rate:
36.52 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Death rate:
10.72 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Net migration rate:
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.88 male(s)/female
total population: 1 male(s)/female (2008 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
total: 58.93 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 62.79 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 54.96 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 57.08 years
male: 55.7 years
female: 58.5 years (2008 est.)
Total fertility rate:
4.86 children born/woman (2008 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
0.8% (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
44,000 (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
3,500 (2003 est.)
Major infectious diseases:
degree of risk: very high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea,
hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, dengue fever,
malaria, Rift Valley fever, and yellow fever
water contact disease: schistosomiasis
respiratory disease: meningococcal meningitis (2008)
Nationality:
noun: Senegalese (singular and plural)
adjective: Senegalese
Ethnic groups:
Wolof 43.3%, Pular 23.8%, Serer 14.7%, Jola 3.7%, Mandinka 3%,
Soninke 1.1%, European and Lebanese 1%, other 9.4%
Religions:
Muslim 94%, Christian 5% (mostly Roman Catholic), indigenous beliefs
1%
Languages:
French (official), Wolof, Pulaar, Jola, Mandinka
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 39.3%
male: 51.1%
female: 29.2% (2002 est.)
Education expenditures:
5% of GDP (2006)
Government
Senegal
Country name:
conventional long form: Republic of Senegal
conventional short form: Senegal
local long form: Republique du Senegal
local short form: Senegal
former: Senegambia (along with The Gambia), Mali Federation
Government type:
republic
Capital:
name: Dakar
geographic coordinates: 14 40 N, 17 26 W
time difference: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during
Standard Time)
Administrative divisions:
11 regions (regions, singular - region); Dakar, Diourbel, Fatick,
Kaolack, Kolda, Louga, Matam, Saint-Louis, Tambacounda, Thies,
Ziguinchor
Independence:
4 April 1960 (from France); note - complete independence achieved
upon dissolution of federation with Mali on 20 August 1960
National holiday:
Independence Day, 4 April (1960)
Constitution:
adopted 7 January 2001
Legal system:
based on French civil law system; judicial review of legislative
acts in Constitutional Court; the Council of State audits the
government's accounting office; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
with reservations
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state: President Abdoulaye WADE (since 1 April 2000)
head of government: Prime Minister Cheikh Hadjibou SOUMARE (since 19
June 2007)
cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the prime minister in
consultation with the president
elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term
(eligible for a second term) under new constitution; election last
held on 25 February 2007 (next to be held in 2012); prime minister
appointed by the president
election results: Abdoulaye WADE reelected president in the first
round of voting; percent of vote - Abdoulaye WADE 55.9%, Idrissa
SECK 14.9%, Ousmane Tanor DIENG 13.6%, Moustapha NIASSE 5.9%, other
9.7%
Legislative branch:
bicameral Parliament consisting of the National Assembly or
Assemblee Nationale (150 seats; 90 members elected by direct popular
vote with the remaining members elected by proportional
representation from party lists to serve five-year terms) and the
Senate reinstituted in 2007 (100 seats; 35 indirectly elected with
the remaining 65 members to be appointed by the president)
elections: National Assembly - last held on 3 June 2007 (next to be
held 2012); note - the National Assembly in December 2005 voted to
postpone legislative elections originally scheduled for 2006;
legislative elections were first rescheduled to coincide with the 25
February 2007 presidential elections and later rescheduled for 3
June 2007; the June election was boycotted by 12 opposition parties,
including the former ruling Socialist Party, that resulted in a
record-low, 35-percent voter turnout; Senate - last held 19 August
2007 (next to be held - NA)
election results: National Assembly results - percent of vote by
party - NA; seats by party - SOPI Coalition 131, other 19; Senate
results - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PDS 34,
AJ/PADS 1, 65 appointed by the president
Judicial branch:
Constitutional Court; Council of State; Court of Final Appeals or
Cour de Cassation; Court of Appeals
Political parties and leaders:
African Party of Independence [Majhemout DIOP]; And-Jef/African
Party for Democracy and Socialism or AJ/PADS [Landing SAVANE];
Alliance of Forces of Progress or AFP [Moustapha NIASSE]; Democratic
League-Labor Party Movement or LD-MPT [Dr. Abdoulaye BATHILY]; Front
for Socialism and Democracy/Benno Jubel or FSD/BJ [Cheikh Abdoulaye
Bamba DIEYE]; Gainde Centrist Bloc or BGC [Jean-Paul DIAS];
Independence and Labor Party or PIT [Amath DANSOKHO]; Jef-Jel [Talla
SYLLA]; National Democratic Rally or RND [Madior DIOUF]; People's
Labor Party or PTP [Elhadji DIOUF]; Reform Party or PR [Abdourahim
AGNE]; Senegalese Democratic Party or PDS [Abdoulaye WADE];
Socialist Party or PS [Ousmane Tanor DIENG]; SOPI Coalition
[Abdoulaye WADE] (a coalition led by the PDS); Union for Democratic
Renewal or URD [Djibo Leyti KA]
Political pressure groups and leaders:
other: labor; students; Sufi brotherhoods, including the Mourides
and Tidjanes; teachers
International organization participation:
ACP, AfDB, AU, CPLP (associate), ECOWAS, FAO, FZ, G-15, G-77, IAEA,
IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF,
IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITSO, ITU,
ITUC, MIGA, MINURCAT, MONUC, NAM, OIC, OIF, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNAMID,
UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, Union Latina, UNMIL, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WADB
(regional), WAEMU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Amadou Lamine BA
chancery: 2112 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 234-0540
FAX: [1] (202) 332-6315
consulate(s) general: Houston, New York
Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Marcia S. BERNICAT
embassy: Avenue Jean XXIII at the corner of Rue Kleber, Dakar
mailing address: B. P. 49, Dakar
telephone: [221] 33-829-2100
FAX: [221] 33-822-2991
Flag description:
three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), yellow, and red
with a small green five-pointed star centered in the yellow band;
uses the popular pan-African colors of Ethiopia
Economy
Senegal
Economy - overview:
In January 1994, Senegal undertook a bold and ambitious economic
reform program with the support of the international donor
community. This reform began with a 50% devaluation of Senegal's
currency, the CFA franc, which was linked at a fixed rate to the
French franc. Government price controls and subsidies have been
steadily dismantled. After seeing its economy contract by 2.1% in
1993, Senegal made an important turnaround, thanks to the reform
program, with real growth in GDP averaging over 5% annually during
1995-2007. Annual inflation had been pushed down to the low single
digits. As a member of the West African Economic and Monetary Union
(WAEMU), Senegal is working toward greater regional integration with
a unified external tariff and a more stable monetary policy. High
unemployment, however, continues to prompt illegal migrants to flee
Senegal in search of better job opportunities in Europe. Senegal was
also beset by an energy crisis that caused widespread blackouts in
2006 and 2007. The phosphate industry has struggled for two years to
secure capital, and reduced output has directly impacted GDP. In
2007, Senegal signed agreements for major new mining concessions for
iron, zircon, and gold with foreign companies. Firms from Dubai have
agreed to manage and modernize Dakar's maritime port, and create a
new special economic zone. Senegal still relies heavily upon outside
donor assistance. Under the IMF's Highly Indebted Poor Countries
(HIPC) debt relief program, Senegal has benefited from eradication
of two-thirds of its bilateral, multilateral, and private-sector
debt. In 2007, Senegal and the IMF agreed to a new, non-disbursing,
Policy Support Initiative program.
GDP (purchasing power parity):
$21.02 billion (2007 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate):
$11.12 billion (2007 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
4.6% (2007 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP):
$1,700 (2007 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 16%
industry: 19.4%
services: 64.6% (2007 est.)
Labor force:
4.85 million (2007 est.)
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 77.5%
industry and services: 22.5% (2007 est.)
Unemployment rate:
48% (2007 est.)
Population below poverty line:
54% (2001 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2.7%
highest 10%: 33.4% (2001)
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
41.3 (2001)
Investment (gross fixed):
25.2% of GDP (2007 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $2.614 billion
expenditures: $3.036 billion (2007 est.)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
Public debt:
22.9% of GDP (2007 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
5.9% (2007 est.)
Central bank discount rate:
4.25% (31 December 2007)
Commercial bank prime lending rate:
NA (31 December 2007)
Stock of money:
$2.842 billion (31 December 2007)
Stock of quasi money:
$1.579 billion (31 December 2007)
Stock of domestic credit:
$2.97 billion (31 December 2007)
Agriculture - products:
peanuts, millet, corn, sorghum, rice, cotton, tomatoes, green
vegetables; cattle, poultry, pigs; fish
Industries:
agricultural and fish processing, phosphate mining, fertilizer
production, petroleum refining; iron ore, zircon, and gold mining,
construction materials, ship construction and repair
Industrial production growth rate:
5.2% (2007 est.)
Electricity - production:
2.28 billion kWh (2006 est.)
Electricity - consumption:
1.657 billion kWh (2006 est.)
Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (2001)
Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2005 est.)
Oil - consumption:
36,200 bbl/day (2006 est.)
Oil - exports:
4,298 bbl/day (2005)
Oil - imports:
40,450 bbl/day (2005)
Oil - proved reserves:
0 bbl (1 January 2006 est.)
Natural gas - production:
50 million cu m (2006 est.)
Natural gas - consumption:
50 million cu m (2006 est.)
Natural gas - exports:
NA cu m
Natural gas - imports:
NA cu m
Natural gas - proved reserves:
NA cu m
Current account balance:
-$1.458 billion (2007 est.)
Exports:
$1.65 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)
Exports - commodities:
fish, groundnuts (peanuts), petroleum products, phosphates, cotton
Exports - partners:
Mali 18.9%, France 9.1%, Italy 5.9%, India 5.7%, Gambia, The 5.2%
(2007)
Imports:
$3.731 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)
Imports - commodities:
food and beverages, capital goods, fuels
Imports - partners:
France 22.2%, Netherlands 10%, China 7.4%, UK 6.2%, Thailand 5.2%,
Belgium 4.5% (2007)
Economic aid - recipient:
$477 million (2007 est.)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$1.66 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
Debt - external:
$2.19 billion (31 December 2007)
Market value of publicly traded shares:
$NA
Currency (code):
Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XOF); note - responsible
authority is the Central Bank of the West African States
Currency code:
XOF
Exchange rates:
Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 481.83
(2007), 522.89 (2006), 527.47 (2005), 528.29 (2004), 581.2 (2003)
note: since 1 January 1999, the XOF franc has been pegged to the
euro at a rate of 655.957 XOF francs per euro
Communications
Senegal
Telephones - main lines in use:
269,100 (2007)
Telephones - mobile cellular:
4.123 million (2007)
Telephone system:
general assessment: good system
domestic: above-average urban system with a fiber-optic network;
nearly two-thirds of all fixed-line connections are in Dakar where a
call-center industry is emerging; expansion of fixed-line services
in rural areas needed; mobile-cellular service is expanding rapidly;
microwave radio relay, coaxial cable and fiber-optic cable in trunk
system
international: country code - 221; the SAT-3/WASC fiber optic cable
provides connectivity to Europe and Asia while Atlantis-2 provides
connectivity to South America; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat
(Atlantic Ocean) (2007)
Radio broadcast stations:
AM 8, FM 20, shortwave 1 (2001)
Radios:
1.24 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations:
4 (2007)
Televisions:
361,000 (1997)
Internet country code:
.sn
Internet hosts:
217 (2008)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
1 (2002)
Internet users:
820,000 (2007)
Transportation
Senegal
Airports:
20 (2007)
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 9
over 3,047 m: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 7
914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2007)
Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 11
1,524 to 2,437 m: 6
914 to 1,523 m: 4
under 914 m: 1 (2007)
Pipelines:
gas 43 km (2007)
Railways:
total: 906 km
narrow gauge: 906 km 1.000 meter gauge (2006)
Roadways:
total: 13,576 km
paved: 3,972 km (includes 7 km of expressways)
unpaved: 9,604 km (2003)
Waterways:
1,000 km (primarily on Senegal, Saloum, and Casamance rivers) (2005)
Ports and terminals:
Dakar
Military
Senegal
Military branches:
Army, Senegalese Navy (Marine Senegalaise), Senegalese Air Force
(Armee de l'Air du Senegal) (2008)
Military service age and obligation:
18 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military service;
conscript service obligation - 2 years (2004)
Manpower available for military service:
males age 16-49: 2,943,619
females age 16-49: 2,955,179 (2008 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:
males age 16-49: 1,866,602
females age 16-49: 1,947,076 (2008 est.)
Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:
male: 141,832
female: 139,541 (2008 est.)
Military expenditures:
1.4% of GDP (2005 est.)
Transnational Issues
Senegal
Disputes - international:
The Gambia and Guinea-Bissau attempt to stem separatist violence,
cross border raids, and arms smuggling into their countries from
Senegal's Casamance region, and in 2006, respectively accepted 6,000
and 10,000 Casamance residents fleeing the conflict; 2,500
Guinea-Bissau residents fled into Senegal in 2006 to escape armed
confrontations along the border
Refugees and internally displaced persons:
refugees (country of origin): 19,630 (Mauritania)
IDPs: 22,400 (approximately 65% of the IDP population returned in
2005, but new displacement is occurring due to clashes between
government troops and separatists in Casamance region) (2007)
Illicit drugs:
transshipment point for Southwest and Southeast Asian heroin and
South American cocaine moving to Europe and North America; illicit
cultivator of cannabis
This page was last updated on 18 December, 2008
======================================================================
@Serbia
Introduction
Serbia
Background:
The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes was formed in 1918; its
name was changed to Yugoslavia in 1929. Various paramilitary bands
resisted Nazi Germany's occupation and division of Yugoslavia from
1941 to 1945, but fought each other and ethnic opponents as much as
the invaders. The military and political movement headed by Josip
TITO (Partisans) took full control of Yugoslavia when German and
Croatian separatist forces were defeated in 1945. Although
Communist, TITO's new government and his successors (he died in
1980) managed to steer their own path between the Warsaw Pact
nations and the West for the next four and a half decades. In 1989,
Slobodan MILOSEVIC became president of the Serbian Republic and his
ultranationalist calls for Serbian domination led to the violent
breakup of Yugoslavia along ethnic lines. In 1991, Croatia,
Slovenia, and Macedonia declared independence, followed by Bosnia in
1992. The remaining republics of Serbia and Montenegro declared a
new Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) in April 1992 and under
MILOSEVIC's leadership, Serbia led various military campaigns to
unite ethnic Serbs in neighboring republics into a "Greater Serbia."
These actions led to Yugoslavia being ousted from the UN in 1992,
but Serbia continued its - ultimately unsuccessful - campaign until
signing the Dayton Peace Accords in 1995. MILOSEVIC kept tight
control over Serbia and eventually became president of the FRY in
1997. In 1998, an ethnic Albanian insurgency in the formerly
autonomous Serbian province of Kosovo provoked a Serbian
counterinsurgency campaign that resulted in massacres and massive
expulsions of ethnic Albanians living in Kosovo. The MILOSEVIC
government's rejection of a proposed international settlement led to
NATO's bombing of Serbia in the spring of 1999 and to the eventual
withdrawal of Serbian military and police forces from Kosovo in June
1999. UNSC Resolution 1244 in June 1999 authorized the stationing of
a NATO-led force (KFOR) in Kosovo to provide a safe and secure
environment for the region's ethnic communities, created a UN
interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) to foster
self-governing institutions, and reserved the issue of Kosovo's
final status for an unspecified date in the future. In 2001, UNMIK
promulgated a constitutional framework that allowed Kosovo to
establish institutions of self-government and led to Kosovo's first
parliamentary election. FRY elections in September 2000 led to the
ouster of MILOSEVIC and installed Vojislav KOSTUNICA as president. A
broad coalition of democratic reformist parties known as DOS (the
Democratic Opposition of Serbia) was subsequently elected to
parliament in December 2000 and took control of the government. DOS
arrested MILOSEVIC in 2001 and allowed for him to be tried in The
Hague for crimes against humanity. (MILOSEVIC died in March 2006
before the completion of his trial.) In 2001, the country's
suspension from the UN was lifted. In 2003, the FRY became Serbia
and Montenegro, a loose federation of the two republics with a
federal level parliament. Widespread violence predominantly
targeting ethnic Serbs in Kosovo in March 2004 caused the
international community to open negotiations on the future status of
Kosovo in January 2006. In May 2006, Montenegro invoked its right to
secede from the federation and - following a successful referendum -
it declared itself an independent nation on 3 June 2006. Two days
later, Serbia declared that it was the successor state to the union
of Serbia and Montenegro. A new Serbian constitution was approved in
October 2006 and adopted the following month. After 15 months of
inconclusive negotiations mediated by the UN and four months of
further inconclusive negotiations mediated by the US, EU, and
Russia, on 17 February 2008, the UNMIK-administered province of
Kosovo declared itself independent of Serbia.
Geography
Serbia
Location:
Southeastern Europe, between Macedonia and Hungary
Geographic coordinates:
44 00 N, 21 00 E
Map references:
Europe
Area:
total: 77,474 sq km
land: 77,474 sq km
water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative:
slightly smaller than South Carolina
Land boundaries:
total: 2,026 km
border countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina 302 km, Bulgaria 318 km,
Croatia 241 km, Hungary 151 km, Kosovo 352 km, Macedonia 62 km,
Montenegro 124 km, Romania 476 km
Coastline:
0 km (landlocked)
Maritime claims:
none (landlocked)
Climate:
in the north, continental climate (cold winters and hot, humid
summers with well distributed rainfall); in other parts, continental
and Mediterranean climate (relatively cold winters with heavy
snowfall and hot, dry summers and autumns)
Terrain:
extremely varied; to the north, rich fertile plains; to the east,
limestone ranges and basins; to the southeast, ancient mountains and
hills
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: NA
highest point: Midzor 2,169 m
Natural resources:
oil, gas, coal, iron ore, copper, zinc, antimony, chromite, gold,
silver, magnesium, pyrite, limestone, marble, salt, arable land
Land use:
arable land: NA
permanent crops: NA
other: NA
Irrigated land:
NA
Total renewable water resources:
208.5 cu km (note - includes Kosovo) (2003)
Natural hazards:
destructive earthquakes
Environment - current issues:
air pollution around Belgrade and other industrial cities; water
pollution from industrial wastes dumped into the Sava which flows
into the Danube
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate
Change-Kyoto Protocol, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of
the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer
Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note: