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Where is Senegal?
About Senegal
The Land
The People
Life and Death
Health, Energy and the Environment
Education and Work
Travel, Communication and the Media

Senegal is an above average country in western Africa.

Senegal borders the Atlantic Ocean.

The land is mostly low, rolling, plains rising to low hills in the south east.

The geographical coordinates for the centre of Senegal, also known as lines of latitude and longitude, are:-
Latitude - 14 00N
Longitude - 14 00W

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Check the weather in Dakar now.

This is the time in Dakar now

The Senegalese flag is three equal vertical stripes of green, at the top, yellow and red with a small green five-pointed star in the centre of the yellow stripe. Green represents Islam, progress and hope while yellow signifies natural wealth and progress. Red is for sacrifice and determination and the star denotes unity and hope.

The capital of Senegal is Dakar.

Senegal is a presidential republic with a president as head of state and head of the government.

In elections everyone over the age of 18 can vote.

The currency in Senegal is the African franc.

French is the official language.

Hear the National Anthem


These are the anthem words

The words ×

These are the words to the Irish National Anthem called Pluck Your Koras, Strike the Balafons. It was adopted in 1960. This is a translation of the words. There are thrre more verses which we haven't got room for here.

If anthem fails to play click here

Sound, all of you, your Koras, beat the drums, The red Lion has roared.
The Tamer of the bush with one leap has rushed forward
Scattering the gloom.
Light on our terrors, lLight on our hopes.
Arise, brothers, Africa behold united!

Chorus:
Shoulder to shoulder,
O people of Senegal, more than brothers to me, arise!
Unite the sea and the springs,
Unite the steppe and the forest!
Hail, mother Africa, Hail, mother Africa! 

Senegal, thou son of the Lion
Arise in the night with great speed,
Restore, oh, restore to us the honour of our ancestors,
Magnificent as ebony and strong as muscles!
We are a straight people-the sword has no fault.

Chorus

We have already written our own history of England but are asking schools in Senegal to provide us with a detailed history of their own country. Check how here.


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The total land area of Senegal is 192,530 sq kms which is the 35th largest in Africa.

Senegal has lakes, rivers and canals which total 4,192 sq kms.

Senegal has boundaries with 5 countries

• The Gambia 749 kms
• Mauritania 742 kms
• Mali 489 kms
• Guinea 363 kms
• Guinea Bissau 341 kms

Senegal has a coastline of 531 kms which is the 23rd longest in Africa.

The highest point in Senegal is unnamed height southeast of Nepen Diaka at 648 metres.

The pie chart below shows how the land is split between agricultural land (crops and pastures), forests and other, which can be towns, villages, desert or frozen waste called tundra.

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The total population of Senegal is 15.02 million people, making it the 25th largest country in Africa by population.

Of this number 7.75 million are females and 7.27 million are males.

A person from Senegal is called a Senegalese.

To be a citizen of Senegal, one of your parents must be a citizen of Senegal. It is not sufficient to be born in Senegal. You have to live in Senegal for 5 years before you can begin to apply for citizenship.

The largest five cities in Senegal, by population are:-

• Dakar 2,476,400 people
• Pikine 874,062
• Touba 529,176
• Thiès 320,000
• Thiès Nones 252,320

For each country we will give you a diagram showing the population density. This is the average number of people for each square kilometre. Each little Owlbut is 1 person and the big yellow rectangle is 1 sq km. After a while you can compare countries and see which ones are the most crowded. Remember it is only an average as more people live closer together in towns and cities than in villages out in the country.



47.2% of the people live in cities or towns.

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The birth rate in Senegal is 32.9 births per 1,000 of population

The death rate in Senegal is 7.9 deaths per 1,000 people.

Check this against the birth rate. If the death rate is higher than the birth rate then the population will decrease unless immigrants arrive in the country.

There are 42.1 deaths of girls under 1 year per 1,000 of births and 53.7 deaths of boys.

The median age for females is 19.9 and for males is 18.1. The median age is that age which divides the population exactly in half so there are the same number of people above the median age as below it.

The average age of a woman when she has her first child is 21.9.

The elderly dependency ratio is 5.6. This is the number of elderly people (ages 65+) per 100 people of working age (ages 15-64).

The potential support ratio is 18.0. This is the number of working-age people (ages 15-64) per one elderly person (ages 65+). As a population ages, the potential support ratio tends to fall, meaning there are fewer potential workers to support the elderly.

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Senegal spends 4.7% of its total income on health care.

There are 0.07 doctors per 1,000 people.

There are 0.3 hospital beds per 1,000 people.

8.8% of the population are estimated as obese.

92.9% of the urban population and 67.3% of the rural population have drinking water that is either piped into their home or they have access to a public tap, a protected borehole, well, spring or protected rainwater collection facility.

65.4% of the urban population and 33.8% of the rural population have access to a flushing toilet that is connected to a sewer, a pit latrine (that is a permanent hole in the ground that is looked after) or a composting toilet.

Senegal releases 7.3 million metric tons of carbon dioxide by burning fossil fuels in the process of producing and consuming energy. This puts it as the 15th highest in Africa.

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Senegal spends 6.2% of its total income on education.

Children usually start school at age 6 in Senegal. Primary education is for six years until age 12 and secondary education must continue till 17 but can go on to 18/19. This may be followed by further education at a university or college.

We are waiting for information about school terms in Senegal.

39.8% of females and 64.8% of males are able to read and write by the age of 15.

8.1% of all people aged between 16 and 24 are not in work. Among females 8.9% are unemployed while with males 7.4% can't find work.

The total number of people available for work in Senegal is 6.97 million.

They work in the following sectors.

• Agriculture includes farming, fishing and forestry work
• Industry includes mining, manufacturing, construction and energy workers
• Services is everything else

48.0% of the workforce are unemployed.

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There are 9 paved airports in Senegal, which is the 25th highest number in Africa.


There are 906 kilometres of railways in Senegal, the 19th longest in Africa.


There are 14,008 kilometres of roads in Senegal, which means Senegal is in 33rd place for the most kilometres of roads in Africa.

There are 5 major national newspapers in Senegal.

There are 15.76 million mobile phone users.

2% of the people have a fixed landline.



3.68 million people have access to the internet at home via any device (computer or mobile).

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