Middle East / Africa
Country profile: Senegal
Location: | Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea-Bissau and Mauritania |
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 |
Size: | 196190 sq. km total (Land area: 192000 sq. km Water area: 4190 sq.km) |
Population: | 12,853,259 (July 2008 est.) |
Languages: | French (official), Wolof, Pulaar, Jola, Mandinka |
Government: | republic |
Capital city: | Dakar |
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 |
Currency: | based on French civil law system; judicial review |
Licensing: |
Country profile
Regional leaders created the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on May 28, 1975 in Lagos, Nigeria. ECOWAS is comprised of 15 countries, which include: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote d’Ivoire , The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria , Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo. The leaders established ECOWAS to promote regional integration and economic growth in West Africa, as well as to create a monetary union in the region. However, ECOWAS has encountered problems in the process of regional integration including: political instability and lack of good governance that has plagued many member countries, the insufficient diversification of national economies, the absence of reliable infrastructure, and the multiplicity of organizations for regional integration with the same objectives.
The French colonies of Senegal and the French Sudan were merged in 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.
Energy production and consumption
Oil | Gas | |
Production: | 2 billion cu m (2006 est.) | |
Consumption: | 35,000 bbl/day (2005 est.) | 2 billion cu m (2006 est.) |
Exports: | 3,889 bbl/day (2005 est.) | |
Imports: | 37,180 bbl/day (2005 est.) | |
Reserves: | ||
Major fields: |
Senegal - recent news
29 Nov 22 |
Senegal: Woodside completes Sangomar FPSO construction phase Woodside Energy has passed another important milestone for the Sangomar Field Development Phase 1 with the completion of the construction phase for the floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) facility which will be deployed at the field offshore Senegal. |
13 Apr 22 |
Senegal: Wood awarded contract for first oil development offshore Senegal Wood has been awarded a contract by Woodside Energy for the Sangomar FPSO development, located 100km south of Dakar, Senegal. |
11 Oct 21 |
Senegal: Saipem selects Fugro’s InclinoCam for precise pile positioning contract offshore Senegal Fugro has been awarded by Saipem a monitoring contract to support the construction of a liquid natural gas (LNG) jetty for BP’s Greater Tortue Ahmeyim field offshore Senegal/Mauritania. |
27 Sep 21 |
Senegal: TMC to supply Woodside Sangomar FPSO with compressors TMC Compressors has been contracted to supply the marine compressed air system for the Woodside Sangomar FPSO, offshore Senegal. Once completed, the FPSO will be deployed at the Sangomar (formerly SNE) field located approx. 100 km south of Dakar, Senegal. |
14 Jul 21 |
Senegal: Woodside launches Senegal drilling campaign Woodside, as operator of the Rufisque Offshore, Sangomar Offshore and Sangomar Deep Offshore (RSSD) joint venture, which includes PETROSEN, plans to begin the drilling campaign this week for the Sangomar Field Development Phase 1 offshore Senegal. |
Senegal - more news
Other countries in this region
- Algeria,
- Angola,
- Bahrain,
- Benin,
- Botswana,
- Burundi,
- Cameroon,
- Central Africa Republic,
- Chad,
- Comoros,
- Congo (Brazzaville),
- Congo (Democratic Rep.),
- Cote d'Ivoire,
- Djibouti,
- Egypt,
- Equatorial Guinea,
- Eritrea,
- Ethiopia,
- Gabon,
- Gambia,
- Ghana,
- Guinea (Republic),
- Guinea Bissau,
- Iran,
- Iraq,
- Israel,
- Jordan,
- Kenya,
- Kuwait,
- Lebanon,
- Liberia,
- Libya,
- Madagascar,
- Malawi,
- Mali,
- Mauritania,
- Mauritius,
- Morocco,
- Mozambique,
- Namibia,
- Niger,
- Nigeria,
- Oman,
- Palestine,
- Qatar,
- Rwanda,
- Sao Tome,
- Saudi Arabia,
- Seychelles,
- Sierra Leone,
- Somalia,
- Somaliland,
- South Africa,
- South Sudan,
- Sudan,
- Syria,
- Tanzania,
- Togo,
- Tunisia,
- Uganda,
- United Arab Emirates,
- Western Sahara,
- Yemen,
- Zambia,
- Zimbabwe