Senegal is a country located in West Africa. It has an area of 196,722 square kilometers and a population of approximately 16 million people. The ethnic composition of Senegal is mainly Wolof, with other minority groups including Fula, Serer, Jola, and Mandinka. The majority of the population are adherents to Islam, with around 94% following the religion and the rest being either Christian or other faiths. Education is compulsory for children up to the age of 16 and the literacy rate is estimated to be around 62%. The official language is French but there are also many other languages spoken throughout the country such as Wolof, Pulaar, Jola, Mandinka, and Soninke. The capital city Dakar has an estimated population of over 3 million people making it the largest city in Senegal. Check hyperrestaurant to learn more about Senegal in 2009.
Social conditions
Poor living conditions in the countryside (e.g. lack of work and clean drinking water) lead to extensive relocation from the countryside to the cities, with rising urban unemployment as a result. Poverty is still widespread in the country; About 60% of the population lives on less than $ 2 a day. In rural areas, every other Senegalese lacks access to clean water. The average life expectancy is 63 years for men and 67 years for women (2015). About every twenty children die during their first year of life. Check to see Senegal population.
Since the 1960s, the main focus of the social and health care programs has been on the development of local health centers. Of public expenditure, 12% is spent on health care (2009), but the availability of care is very poor; there are three hospital beds and fewer than one doctor per 10,000 residents (2008). Qualified personnel are available for half of the deliveries. Health conditions are generally better in cities than in rural areas, and the majority of the country’s doctors are in Dakar. Common diseases are malaria, measles, tuberculosis and whooping cough. Many children also die from pneumonia and diarrhea. Of the population aged 15-49, about 1% is estimated to be affected by HIV/AIDS (2009).
The woman’s position is still weak in Senegal, although development is progressing. Visit AbbreviationFinder to see the definitions of SEN and acronym for Senegal. Admittedly, there is now a larger proportion of girls than boys in primary school, but clearly more boys than girls go on to secondary school. Only about 2/3 of the women are professionally active. Of the MEPs, 23% are women. Polygamy and violence against women are common. Since genital mutilation (female circumcision) was banned by law in 1999, the practice seems to have almost ceased in the country.
Dakar
Dakar, capital and largest city of Senegal located on Africa’s westernmost peninsula, Cap Vert (Cape Verde); approximately 2.4 million residents (2011). The Great Harbor, Railways to St. Louis and Bamako in Mali and the important airport Yoff make Dakar the transport hub for the region; a port expansion was completed in 1993 with new container facilities, and further expansions for phosphate exports started in 1999. The city is the political and economic center of Senegal and partly of French-speaking West Africa. The relocation and urban growth has been very large; the same goes for the satellite cities of Pikine and Rufisque. The large urban growth in 1999 led to water shortages, and the water supply had to be supplemented from the outside.
The central part of Dakar itself, Le Plateau, consists of business, administration and mixed residential neighborhoods. The sidewalk cafes and elegant shops on Avenue Pompidou and Place de l’Indépendance have helped give the city the name of Africa’s Paris. To the north are the poor, overpopulated neighborhoods of La Médina, Grand Dakar and others and the industrial districts with refineries, peanut oil mills, textile and fish canning factories and other light industries.
Dakar has a university, museums, such as the ethnographic IFAN museum and the slave house on the dele de Gorée, and several markets.
History
In 1857, the French government set up a fort at Point Dakar, and the port of Dakar became an important bunkering ground for the French steamers. Two years after the opening of the Dakar-St. In 1887, Louis granted Dakar the status of a municipality, and both French and local residents gained the right to vote for the City Council and the Chamber of Deputies in Paris. In 1908, Dakar became the seat of the Governor-General of French West Africa. It was connected to the Niger River via the Thiès-Kayes railway in 1924 and then became the region’s central import-export port. In 1940, the Governor-General, who was kind to the Vichy government, rejected an attack by the British Navy and the Free French forces. After joining the Allies in 1943, a beginning industry was built. At independence in 1959, the country’s capital was moved from St. Petersburg. Louis to Dakar.