Senegal

Geography

Senegal is a country at the western tip of Africa. The land has a total area of 196,710 km² (75,950 mi²) and a total coastline of 531 km (329.9 mi). This land area is approximately 95% of the area of Minnesota. Senegal is thus the 25th smallest country in Africa and ranked 88th in the world. Only slightly less than half of all residents (49%) live within cities.

Senegal is very deep with an average elevation of only 69 m above sea level. The highest elevation in the country (Nepen Diakha Mountains) is 645 meters. The country has about 40 islands. There are direct national borders with the five neighboring countries Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali and Mauritania. The distance between New York City and the Capital Dakar is about 6,150 km (3,821 mi).

The climate in Senegal

In Senegal, as in all equatorial countries, there is a tropical climate. Unlike in Europe or the USA, there is almost no difference between the seasons. The daylight hours vary little, and the temperature differences between summer and winter are also lower. Depending on the season, the average daytime temperatures range between 33 and 38 degrees. In some parts of the country, the temperature rises to 44 °C. In the colder months, and depending in the region, the temperature drops to 18 °C in a month's average.

• Detailed climate data for Senegal and 11 individual regions
• Hurricanes

Languages

Mother tongue	Distribution
Wolof	43.1 %
Fula	20.7 %
Serer	12.5 %
Bambara	10.3 %
Diola	5.0 %
Malinke	3.8 %
French	1.4 %
Soninke	1.3 %
other	1.9 %

Religions

Religion	Distribution
Roman Catholics	5.0%
Native religions	1.0%
Muslims	94.0%

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Economy

GDP:	27.63 bn $
Exportations:	5,287.0 M $
Importations:	8,960.1 M $
› Tourism receipts:	557.00 M $
› Unemployment rate:	3.4 %
› Inflation rate:	2.55 %
› Corruption index:	43 (bad)
› Energy consumption:	4.7 bn kWh

Due to its political and financial situation, Senegal is considered one of the least developed countries in the world and is also one of the heavily indebted poor countries.

In terms of revenues, it still ranks 157th in the world and, with an average annual income of 1,570 USD is one of the lower middle-income countries.

Land use

1% Urban areas:	1,796 km²
46% Agricultural areas:	90,605 km²
42% Forest:	82,441 km²
2% Water areas:	4,180 km²
11% Others:	21,868 km²

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Transport

Roadways:	16,665 km
Railways:	906 km
Waterways:	1,000 km
Commercial harbors:	35
› Airports:	3