Energy

LOCATION:

Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea-Bissau and Mauritania

MAP REFERENCES:

Africa

AREA:

total: 196,722 sq km

CLIMATE:

tropical; hot, humid; rainy season (May to November) has strong southeast winds; dry season (December to April) dominated by hot, dry, harmattan wind

NATURAL RESOURCES:

fish, phosphates, iron ore

LANGUAGES:

French (official), Wolof, Pulaar, Jola, Mandinka

RELIGIONS:

Muslim 94% (most adhere to one of the four main Sufi brotherhoods), Christian 5% (mostly Roman Catholic), indigenous beliefs 1%

POPULATION:

13,975,834 (July 2015 est.)

country comparison to the world: 73

GOVERNMENT TYPE:

republic

CAPITAL:

name: Dakar

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:

previous 1959 (preindependence), 1963; latest adopted by referendum 7 January 2001, promulgated 22 January 2001; amended many times, last in 2009 (2014)

LEGAL SYSTEM:

civil law system based on French law; judicial review of legislative acts in Constitutional Court

GDP - real growth rate:

4.5% (2014 est.)

3.5% (2013 est.)

3.4% (2012 est.)

GDP - composition, by sector of origin:

agriculture: 15.6%

industry: 23.8%

services: 60.6% (2014 est.)

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, zircon, and gold mining, construction materials, ship construction and repair

EXPORTS:

$2.462 billion (2014 est.)

$2.563 billion (2013 est.)

EXPORTS - commodities:

fish, groundnuts (peanuts), petroleum products, phosphates, cotton

EXPORTS - partners:

Mali 16%, Switzerland 10.5%, UAE 5.2%, France 4.6% (2014)

IMPORTS:

$5.481 billion (2014 est.)

$5.698 billion (2013 est.)

IMPORTS - commodities:

food and beverages, capital goods, fuels

IMPORTS - partners:

France 18.4%, Nigeria 8.7%, China 7.7%, Netherlands 6.3%, India 5.8%, Turkey 4.6%, Belgium 4.3% (2014)