Senegal has the required assets for a blooming tourism industry. It is only a few hours away from major tourist markets; five hours away from Western Europe and about seven hours away from the East Coast of the United States. Besides it is a sunny country claiming more than 3000 hours of sunshine yearly. All forms of tourism can be experienced in Senegal seaside resorts (leisure, aquatic sports, horseback riding, discovery and more), cultural tourism, bird watching, sport tourism (hunting, scuba diving), ecotourism, historic museums, gorgeous natural sites, six major game parks and reseves, diversified fauna and flora to name a few.
Despite various influences (Western influence due to a long French presence in West Africa, Middle Eastern influence due to a tradition of multiple exchanges with North Africa and Arab Countries), Senegal has its own brand of exotic music, food and customs that gives it the right dash of spice.
Its weather is tropical, hot and humid:
- the rainy season (May to November) has some strong southeast winds;Senegal is home to some of the most photographed beaches in the world.
- the dry season (Decmber to April) is dominated by hot, dry, humid and harmattan winds.
The reefs and cays of the coastal are heaven for divers, holding out the promise of such extraordinary sightings of the underworld.
Dakar, the melting pot capital city, is one of the busiest cruise ships port in Africa and boasts an exciting restaurant and club scene, as well as duty-free shoppings.
Regions of Senegal, Departments of Senegal, and Arrondissements of Senegal
Senegal is subdivided into 14 regions,[22] each administered by a Conseil Régional (Regional Council) elected by population weight at the Arrondissement level. The country is further subdivided by 45 Départements, 103 Arrondissements (neither of which have administrative function) and by Collectivités Locales, which elect administrative officers.[23]
Regional capitals have the same name as their respective regions:
Demographics of Senegal
Senegal has a population of over 12.5 million,[3] about 42% of whom live in rural areas. Density in these areas varies from about 77 inhabitants per square kilometre (200 /sq mi) in the west-central region to 2 per square kilometre (5.2 /sq mi) in the arid eastern section.
According to the World Refugee Survey 2008, published by the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, Senegal has a population of refugees and asylum seekers numbering approximately 23,800 in 2007. The majority of this population (20,200) is from Mauritania. Refugees live in N'dioum, Dodel, and small settlements along the Senegal River valley.[28]
Ethnicity
Main article: Ethnic groups in Senegal
See also: Languages of Senegal
Senegal has a wide variety of ethnic groups and, as in most West African countries, several languages are widely spoken. The Wolof are the largest single ethnic group in Senegal at 43%; the Fula[29] and Toucouleur (also known as Halpulaar'en, literally "Pulaar-speakers") (24%) are the second biggest group, followed by the Serer (14.7%),[30] then others such as Jola (4%), Mandinka (3%), Maures or (Naarkajors), Soninke, Bassari and many smaller communities (9%). (See also the Bedick ethnic group.) Just as in the Gambia, these figures should be taken with caution.[31]About 50,000 Europeans (mostly French) and Lebanese[32] as well as smaller numbers of Mauritanians and Moroccans[citation needed] reside in Senegal, mainly in the cities. The majority of Lebanese work in commerce.[33] Also located primarily in urban settings are small Vietnamese communities as well as a growing number of Chinese immigrant traders, each numbering perhaps a few hundred people.[34][35] There are also tens of thousands of Mauritanian refugees in Senegal, primarily in the country's north.[36]
French is the official language, used regularly by a minority of Senegalese educated in a system styled upon the colonial-era schools of French origin (Koranic schools are even more popular, but Arabic is not widely spoken outside of this context of recitation). Most people also speak their own ethnic language while, especially in Dakar, Wolof is the lingua franca. Pulaar is spoken by the Fulas and Toucouleur. The Serer language is widely spoken by Serers and non-Serers (including president Sall, whose mother and wife are Serers), so are the Cangin languages, whose speakers are ethnically Serers.
Portuguese Creole is a prominent minority language in Ziguinchor, regional capital of the Casamance, where some residents speak Kriol, primarily spoken in Guinea-Bissau. Cape Verdeans speak their native creole, Cape Verdean Creole, and standard Portuguese.
Health
Main article: Health in Senegal
Public expenditure on health was at 2.4% of the GDP in 2004, whereas private expenditure was at 3.5%.[37] Health expenditure was at US$ 72 (PPP) per capita in 2004.[37] The fertility rate was at about 5.2 in the early 2000s (decade).[37] There were 6 physicians per 100,000 persons in the early 2000s (decade).[37] Infant mortality was at 77 per 1,000 live births in 2005.[37]
Malaria is the largest cause of infant mortality, but rates are
dropping, thanks to the support of the President's Malaria Initiative.Religion
Islam is the predominant religion in the country. Islam is practiced by approximately 94% of the country's population; the Christian community, at 5% of the population, includes Roman Catholics and diverse Protestant denominations. There is also a 1% population who maintain animism in their beliefs, particularly in the southeastern region of the country.[2] Many Serer people follow the Serer religion.[38][39]
The Halpulaar (Pulaar-speakers), composed of Fula people, a widespread group found along the Sahel from Chad to Senegal, and Toucouleurs, represent 23.8% of the population.[2] Historically, they were the first to become Muslim. Many of the Toucouleurs, or sedentary Halpulaar of the Senegal River Valley in the north, converted to Islam around a millennium ago and later contributed to Islam's propagation throughout Senegal. Success was gained among the Wolofs, but repulsed by the Serers.
Most communities south of the Senegal River Valley, however, were not thoroughly Islamized. The Serer people stood out as one of this group, who spend over one thousand years resisting Islamization (see Serer history (medieval era to present)). Although some Serers are Christians or Muslim, their conversion to Islam in particular is very recent, who converted on their own free will rather than by force, although force had been tried centuries earlier unsuccessfully (see the Battle of Fandane-Thiouthioune).[40]
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About 10% of the population of Senegal adheres to Christianity. Small Roman Catholic communities are mainly found in coastal Serer, Jola, Mankanya and Balant populations, and in eastern Senegal among the Bassari and Coniagui. The Protestant churches are mainly attended by immigrants but during the second half of the 20th century Protestant churches led by Senegalese leaders from different ethnic groups have evolved. In Dakar Catholic and Protestant rites are practiced by the Lebanese, Cape Verdean, European, and American immigrant populations, and among certain Africans of other countries as well as by the Senegalese themselves. Although Islam is Senegal's majority religion, Senegal's first president, Léopold Sédar Senghor, was a Catholic Serer.
Serer religion encompasses a belief in a supreme deity called Rog, cosmology and divination ceremonies such as the annual Xoy ceremony precided over by the Serer Saltigues (high priests and priestesses). Senegambian (both Senegal and the Gambia) Muslim festivals such as "Tobaski", "Gamo", "Koriteh" and "Weri Kor", etc., are all borrowed words from the Serer religion.[41] They were ancient Serer festivals rooted in Serer religion, not Islam.[41]
The Boukout is one of the Jola's religious ceremonies.
There are small numbers of adherents of Judaism and Buddhism. Judaism is followed by members of several ethnic groups[who?], while Buddhism is followed by a number of Vietnamese.[citation needed] The Bahá'í Faith in Senegal was established after `Abdu'l-Bahá, the son of the founder of the religion, mentioned Africa as a place that should be more broadly visited by Bahá'ís.[42] The first Bahá'is to set foot in the territory of French West Africa that would become Senegal arrived in 1953.[43] The first Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assembly of Senegal was elected in 1966 in Dakar.[44] In 1975 the Bahá'í community elected the first National Spiritual Assembly of Senegal. The most recent estimate, by the Association of Religion Data Archives in a 2005 report details the population of Senegalese Bahá'ís at 22,000.[45]
Culture
See also: Senegalese cuisine, Languages of Senegal, List of Senegalese writers, List of Senegalese, and Music of Senegal
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Senegal is well known for the West African tradition of storytelling, which is done by griots, who have kept West African history alive for thousands of years through words and music. The griot profession is passed down generation to generation and requires years of training and apprenticeship in genealogy, history and music. Griots give voice to generations of West African society.[5]
Education
Main article: Education in Senegal
Articles 21 and 22 of the Constitution adopted in January 2001 guarantee access to education for all children.[46] Education is compulsory and free up to the age of 16.[46]
The Ministry of Labor has indicated that the public school system is
unable to cope with the number of children that must enroll each year.[46] Illiteracy is high, particularly among women.[37] The net primary enrollment rate was 69 % in 2005. Public expenditure on education was 5.4 % of the 2002–2005 GDP.
Further information: List of universities in Senegal
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