Sénégal River
(French: Fleuve Sénégal)
River
Fishermen on the bank of the Sénégal River estuary at the outskirts of Saint-Louis, Senegal
Countries	Senegal, Mauritania, Mali
Mouth
- location	Atlantic Ocean
Length	1,790 km (1,112 mi)
Map of the Sénégal River drainage basin.

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The Sénégal River (French: Fleuve Sénégal) is a 1,790 km (1,110 mi) long river in West Africa that forms the border between Senegal and Mauritania.

Geography[link]

The Sénégal's headwaters are the Semefé (Bakoye) and Bafing rivers which both originate in Guinea; they form a small part of the Guinean-Malian border before coming together at Bafoulabé in Mali. From there, the Senegal river flows west and then north through Talari Gorges near Galougo and over the Gouina Falls, then flows more gently past Kayes, where it receives the Kolimbiné. After flowing together with the Karakoro, it prolongs the former's course along the Mali-Mauritanian border for some tens of kilometers till Bakel where it flows together with the Falémé River, which also has its source in Guinea, subsequently runs along a small part of the Guinea-Mali frontier to then trace most of the Senegal-Mali border up to Bakel. The Senegal further flows through semi-arid land in the north of Senegal, forming the border with Mauritania and into the Atlantic. In Kaedi it accepts the Gorgol from Mauritania. Flowing through Bogué it reaches Richard Toll where it is joined by the Ferlo coming from inland Senegal's Lac de Guiers. It passes through Rosso and, approaching its mouth, around the Senegalese island on which the city of Saint-Louis is located, to then turn south. It is separated from the Atlantic Ocean by a thin strip of sand called the Langue de Barbarie before it pours into the ocean itself.

The river has two large dams along its course, the multi-purpose Manantali Dam in Mali and the Maka-Diama dam on the Mauritania-Senegal border, near the outlet to the sea, preventing access of salt water upstream.

The Senegal River has a drainage basin of 270,000 km², a mean flow of 680 m³/s and an annual discharge of 21.5 km³.^[2][3] Important tributaries are the Falémé River, Karakoro River, and the Gorgol River.

Downstream of Kaédi the river divides into two branches. The left branch called the Doué runs parallel to the main river to the north. After 200 km the two branches rejoin a few kilometres downstream of Pondor. The long strip of land between the two branches is called the Île á Morphil.^[2]

In 1972 Mali, Mauritania and Senegal founded the Organisation pour la mise en valeur du fleuve Sénégal (OMVS) to manage the river basin. Guinea joined in 2005.

At the present time, only very limited use is made of the river for the transport of goods and passengers. The OMVS have looked at the feasibility of creating a navigable channel 55 m in width between the small town of Ambidédi in Mali and Saint-Louis, a distance of 905 km. It would give landlocked Mali a direct route to the Atlantic Ocean.^[2]

The aquatic fauna in the Sénégal River basin is closely associated with that of the Gambia River basin, and the two are usually combined under a single ecoregion known as the Senegal-Gambia Catchments. Although the species richness is moderately high, only three species of frogs and one fish are endemic to this ecoregion.^[4]

History[link]

The existence of the Senegal River was known to the early Mediterranean civilizations. It was called Bambotus by Pliny the Elder (from Phoenician "behemoth" for hippopotamus)^[5] and Nias by Claudius Ptolemy. It was visited by Hanno the Carthaginian around 450 BCE at his navigation from Carthage through the pillars of Herakles to Theon Ochema (Mount Cameroon) in the Gulf of Guinea. There was trade from here to the Mediterranean World, until the destruction of Carthage and its west African trade net in 146 BCE.

Arab sources[link]

In the Early Middle Ages (c.800 CE), the Senegal River restored contact with the Mediterranean world with the establishment of the Trans-Saharan trade route between Morocco and the Ghana Empire. Arab geographers, like al-Masudi of Baghdad (957), al-Bakri of Spain (1068) and al-Idrisi of Sicily (1154), provided some of the earliest descriptions of the Senegal River.^[6] Early Arab geographers believed the upper Senegal River and the upper Niger River were connected to each other, and formed a single river flowing from east to west, which they called the "Western Nile" or the "Nile of the Blacks".^[7] It was believed to be either a western branch of the Egyptian Nile River or drawn from the same source (variously conjectured to some great internal lakes of the Mountains of the Moon, or Ptolemy's Ghir or the Biblical Gihon stream).^[8]

Western Nile (Senegal-Niger River) according to al-Bakri (1068)

Arab geographers Abd al-Hassan Ali ibn Omar (1230), Ibn Said al-Maghribi (1274) and Abulfeda (1331), label the Senegal as the "Nile of Ghana" (Nil Gana or Nili Ganah).^[9]

As the Senegal River reached into the heart of the gold-producing Ghana Empire and later the Mali Empire, Trans-Saharan traders gave the Senegal its famous nickname as the "River of Gold". The Trans-Saharan stories about the "River of Gold" reached the ears of Mediterranean merchants that frequented the ports of Morocco and the lure proved irresistible. Arab historians report at least three separate Arab maritime expeditions - the last one organized by a group of eight mughrarin ("wanderers") of Lisbon (before 1147) - that tried to sail down the Atlantic coast, possibly in an effort find the mouth of the Senegal.^[10]

Cartographic representation[link]

Western Nile (Senegal-Niger River) according to Muhammad al-Idrisi (1154)

Drawing from Classical legend and Arab sources, the "River of Gold" found its way into European maps in the 14th century. In the Hereford Mappa Mundi (c.1300), there is a river labelled "Nilus Fluvius" drawn parallel to the coast of Africa, albeit without communication with Atlantic (it ends in a lake). It depicts some giant ants digging up gold dust from its sands, with the note "Hic grandes formice auream serican arenas".^[11] In the mappa mundi made by Pietro Vesconte for the c.1320 atlas of Marino Sanuto, there is an unnamed river stemming from the African interior and opening in the Atlantic ocean. The 1351 Medici-Laurentian Atlas shows both the Egyptian Nile and the western Nile stemming from the same internal mountain range, with the note that "Ilic coligitur aureaum".^[12] The portolan chart of Giovanni da Carignano (1310s-20s) has the river with the label, iste fluuis exit de nilo ubi multum aurum repperitur.^[13]

In the more accurately-drawn portolan charts, starting with the 1367 chart of Domenico and Francesco Pizzigano and carried on in the 1375 Catalan Atlas, the 1413 chart of Mecia de Viladestes, etc. the "River of Gold" is depicted (if only speculatively), draining into the Atlantic Ocean somewhere just south of Cape Bojador. The legend of Cape Bojador as a terrifying obstacle, the 'cape of no return' to European sailors, emerged around the same time (possibly encouraged by Trans-Saharan traders who did not want to see their land route side-stepped by sea).

The river is frequently depicted with a great river island midway, the "Island of Gold", first mentioned by al-Masudi, and famously called "Wangara" by al-Idrisi and "Palolus" in the 1367 Pizzigani brothers chart. It is conjectured that this riverine "island" is in fact just the Bambuk-Buré goldfield district, which is practically surrounded on all sides by rivers - the Senegal river to the north, the Falémé River to the west, the Bakhoy to the east and the Niger and Tinkisso to the south.^[14]

Course of the "River of Gold" (Senegal-Niger) in the 1413 portolan chart of Mecia de Viladestes.

The 1413 portolan chart of Mecia de Viladestes gives perhaps the most detailed depiction of the early state of European knowledge about the Senegal River prior to the 1440s. Viladestes labels it "River of Gold" ("riu del or") and locates it a considerable distance south of Cape Bojador (buyeter) - indeed, south of a mysterious "cap de abach" (possibly Cape Timris). There are extensive notes about the plentifulness of ivory and gold in the area, including a note that reads

"This river is called Wad al-Nil and also is called the River of Gold, for one can here obtain the gold of Palolus. And know that the greater part of those that live here occupy themselves collecting gold on the shores of the river which, at its mouth, is a league wide, and deep enough for the largest ship of the world."^[15]

The galley of Jaume Ferrer is depicted off the coast on the left, with a quick note about his 1346 voyage. The golden round island at the mouth of the Senegal River is the indication (customary on portolan charts) of river mouth bars or islands - in this case, probably a reference to the Langue de Barbarie or the island of Saint-Louis). The first town, by the mouth of the Senegal, is called "isingan" (arguably the etymological source of the term "Senegal"). East of that, the Senegal forms a riverine island called "insula de bronch" (Île à Morfil). By its shores lies the city of "tocoror" (Takrur). Above it is a depiction of the Almoravid general Abu Bakr ibn Umar ("Rex Bubecar") on a camel. Further east, along the river, is the seated emperor (mansa) of Mali ("Rex Musa Meli", prob. Mansa Musa), holding a gold nugget. His capital, "civitat musa meli" is shown on the shores of the river, and the range of Emperor of Mali's sway is suggested by all the black banners (an inscription notes "This lord of the blacks is called Musa Melli, Lord of Guinea, the greatest noble lord of these parts for the abundance of the gold which is collected in his lands".^[16] Curiously, there is a defiant gold-bannered town south of the river, labelled "tegezeut" (probably the Ta'adjast of al-Idrisi), and might be an ichoate reference to Djenné.

East of Mali, the river forms a lake or "Island of Gold" shown here studded with river-washed gold nuggets (this is what the Pizzigani brothers called the island of "Palolus", and most commentators take to indicate the Bambuk-Buré goldfields). It is connected by many streams to the southerly "mountains of gold" (labelled "montanies del lor", the Futa Djallon/Bambouk Mountains and Loma Mountains of Sierra Leone). It is evident the Senegal river morphs east, unbroken, into the Niger River - the cities of "tenbuch" (Timbuktu), "geugeu" (Gao) and "mayna" (Niamey? or a misplaced Niani?) are denoted along the same single river. South of them (barely visible) are what seem like the towns of Kukiya (on the eastern shore of the Island of Gold), and east of that, probably Sokoto (called "Zogde" in the Catalan Atlas) and much further southeast, probably Kano.^[17]

North of the Senegal-Niger are the various oases and stations of the trans-Saharan route ("Tutega" = Tijigja, "Anzica" = In-Zize, "Tegaza" = Taghaza, etc.) towards the Mediterranean coast. There is an unlabeled depiction of a black African man on a camel traveling from "Uuegar" (prob. Hoggar) to the town of "Organa" ("ciutat organa", variously identified as Kanem or Ouargla or possibly even a misplaced depiction of Ghana - long defunct, but, on the other hand, contemporaneous with the depicted Abu Bakr). Nearby sits its Arab-looking king ("Rex Organa") holding a scimitar. The River of Gold is sourced at a circular island, what seem like the Mountains of the Moon (albeit unlabeled here). From this same source also flows north the White Nile towards Egypt, which forms the frontier between the Muslim "king of Nubia" ("Rex Onubia", his range depicted by crescent-on-gold banners) and the Christian Prester John ("Preste Joha"), i.e. the emperor of Ethiopia in the garb of a Christian bishop (coincidentally, this is the first visual depiction of Prester John on a portolan chart).

Uniquely, the Viladestes map shows another river, south of the Senegal, which it labels the "flumen gelica" (poss. angelica), which some have taken to depict the Gambia River. In the 1459 mappa mundi of Fra Mauro, drawn a half-century later, after the Portuguese had already visited the Senegal (albeit still trying to respect Classical sources), shows two parallel rivers running east to west, both of them sourced from the same great internal lake (which, Fra Mauro asserts, is also the same source as the Egyptian Nile). Mauro names the two parallel rivers differently,calling one "flumen Mas ("Mas River"), the other the "canal dal oro" ("Channel of Gold"), and makes the note that "Inne larena de questi do fiume se trova oro de paiola" ("In the sands of both these rivers gold of 'palola' may be found"), and nearer to the sea, "Qui se racoce oro" ("Here gold is collected"), and finally, on the coast, "Terra de Palmear" ("Land of Palms"). It is notable that Fra Mauro knew of the error of Henry the Navigator's captains about the Daklha inlet, which Mauro carefully labels "Reodor" ("Rio do Ouro", Western Sahara), distinctly from the "Canal del Oro" (Senegal River).^[18]

European contact[link]

Christian Europeans soon began attempting to find the sea route to the mouth of the Senegal. The first known effort may have been by the Genoese brothers Vandino and Ugolino Vivaldi, who set out down down the coast in 1291 in a pair of ships (nothing more is heard of them). In 1346, the Majorcan sailor, Jaume Ferrer set out on a galley with the explicit objective of finding the "River of Gold" (Riu de l'Or), where he heard that most people along its shores were engaged in the collection of gold and that the river was wide and deep enough for the largest ships. Nothing more is heard of him either. In 1402, after establishing the first European colony on the Canary Islands, the French Norman adventurers Jean de Béthencourt and Gadifer de la Salle set about immediately probing the African coast, looking for directions to the mouth of Senegal.

The project of finding the Senegal was taken up in the 1420s by the Portuguese Prince Henry the Navigator, who invested heavily to reach it. In 1434, one of Henry's captains, Gil Eanes, finally surpassed Cape Bojador and returned to tell about it. Henry immediately dispatched a follow up mission in 1435, under Gil Eanes and Afonso Gonçalves Baldaia. Going down the coast, they turned around the al-Dakhla peninsula in the Western Sahara and emerged into an inlet, which they excitedly believed to be the mouth of the Senegal River. The name they mistakenly bestowed upon the inlet - "Rio do Ouro" - is a name it would remain stuck with down to the 20th century.

Realizing the mistake, Henry kept pressing his captains further down the coast, and in 1445, the Portuguese captain Nuno Tristão finally reached the Langue de Barbarie, where he noticed the desert end and the treeline begin, and the population change from 'tawny' Sanhaja Berbers to 'black' Wolof people. Bad weather or lack of supplies prevented Tristão from actually reaching the mouth of the Senegal River, but he rushed back to Portugal to report he had finally found the "Land of the Blacks" (Terra dos Negros), and that the "Nile" was surely nearby. Shortly after (possibly still within that same year) another captain, Dinis Dias (sometimes given as Dinis Fernandes) was the first known European since antiquity to finally reach the mouth of the Senegal River. However, Dias did not sail upriver, but instead kept sailing down the Grande Côte to the bay of Dakar.

The very next year, in 1446, the Portuguese slave-raiding fleet of Lançarote de Freitas arrived at the mouth of the Senegal. One of its captains, Estêvão Afonso, volunteered to take a launch to explore upriver for settlements, thus becoming the first European to actually enter the Senegal river. He didn't get very far. Venturing ashore at one point along the river bank, Afonso tried to kidnap two Wolof children from a woodsman's hut. But he ran into their father, who proceeded to chase the Portuguese back to their launch and gave them such a beating that the explorers gave up on going any further, and turned back to the waiting caravels.^[19]

Sometime between 1448 and 1455, the Portuguese captain Lourenço Dias opened regular trade contact on the Senegal River, with the Wolof statelets of Waalo (near the mouth of the Senegal River) and Cayor (a little below that), drumming up a profitable business exchanging Mediterranean goods (notably, horses) for gold and slaves.^[20] Chronicler Gomes Eanes de Zurara, writing in 1453, still called it the "Nile River", but Alvise Cadamosto, writing in the 1460s, was already calling it the "Senega" [sic], and it is denoted as Rio do Çanagà on most subsequent Portuguese maps of the age.^[21] Cadamosto relates the legend that both the Senegal and the Egyptian Nile were branches of the Biblical Gihon River that stems from the Garden of Eden and flows through Ethiopia.^[22] He also notes that the Senegal was called "the Niger" by the ancients - probably a reference to Ptolemy's legendary 'Nigir' (below the Gir), which would be later identified by Leo Africanus with the modern Niger River.^[23] Much the same story is repeated by Marmol in 1573, with the additional note that both the Senegal River and Gambia River were tributaries of the Niger River.^[24] However, the contemporary African atlas of Venetian cartographer Livio Sanuto, published in 1588, sketches the Senegal, the Niger and the Gambia as three separate, parallel rivers.

Senegambia region, detail from the map of Guillaume Delisle (1707), which still assumes the Senegal connected to the Niger; this would be corrected in subsequent edititions of Delisle's map (1722, 1727), where it was shown ending at a lake, south of the Niger.

Portuguese chronicler João de Barros (writing in 1552) says the river's original local Wolof name was Ovedech (which according to one source, comes from "vi-dekh", Wolof for "this river").^[25] His contemporary, Damião de Góis (1567) records it as Sonedech (from "sunu dekh", Wolof for "our river").^[26] Writing in 1573, the Spanish geographer Luis del Marmol Carvajal asserts that the Portuguese called it Zenega, the 'Zeneges' (Berber Zenaga) called it the Zenedec, the 'Gelofes' (Wolofs) call it Dengueh, the 'Tucorones' (Fula Toucouleur) called it Mayo, the 'Çaragoles' (Soninke Sarakole of Ngalam) called it Colle and further along (again, Marmol assuming Senegal was connected to the Niger), the people of Bagamo' (Bambara of Bamako?) called it Zimbala (Jimbala?) and the people of Timbuktu called it the Yça.^[27]

Etymology[link]

The 16th C. chronicler Joao de Barros asserts the Portuguese renamed it "Senegal" because that was the personal name of a local Wolof chieftain who frequently conducted business with the Portuguese traders.^[28] But this etymology is doubtful (e.g. the ruler of Senegalese river state of Waalo bears the title 'Brak', and Cadamosto gives the personal name of the Senegal river chieftan as "Zucholin").^[29] The confusion may have arisen because Cadamosto says the Portuguese interacted frequently with a certain Wolof chieftain south of the river, somewhere on the Grande Côte, which he refers to as Budomel.^[30] "Budomel" is almost certainly a reference to the ruler of Cayor, a combination of his formal title ("Damel"), prefixed by the generic Wolof term bor ("lord").^[31] Curiously, Budomel is reminiscent of Vedamel already used by the Genoese back in the 14th C. as an alternative name of the Senegal River.^[32] It is almost certain that the Genoese "Vedamel" are corruptions from the Arabic, either Wad al-mal ("River of Treasure", i.e. Gold) or, alternatively, Wad al-Melli ("River of Mali") or even, by transcription error, Wad al-Nill ("River of Nile").^[33]

Route of the Senegal, map from 1889

Other etymological theories for "Senegal" abound. A popular one, first proposed by Fr. David Boilat (1853), was that "Senegal" comes from the Wolof phrase sunu gaal, meaning "our canoe" (more precisely, "our pirogue").^[34] Bailot speculates the name probably arose as a misunderstanding, that when a Portuguese captain came across some Wolof fishermen and asked them what the name of the river was, they believed he was asking who their fishing boat belonged to, and replied simply "it is our canoe" (sunu gaal).^[35] The "our canoe" theory has been popularly embraced in modern Senegal for its charm and appeal to national solidarity ("we're all in one canoe", etc.).

More recent historians suggest the name "Senegal" is probably a derivation of Azenegue, the Portuguese term for the Saharan Berber Zenaga people that lived north of it.^[36]

A strong challenge to this theory is that "Senegal" is much older, and might derive from "Sanghana" (also given as Isenghan, Asengan, Singhanah), a city described by the Arab historian al-Bakri in 1068 as located by the mouth of the Senegal River (straddling both banks) and the capital of a local kingdom.^[37] The location Senegany is depicted in 1351 Genoese map known as the Medici Atlas (Laurentian Gaddiano portolan).^[38] This town ("Isingan") is fantastically depicted in the 1413 portolan map of Majorcan cartographer Mecia de Viladestes.^[39] The name itself might be of Berber Zenaga origin, speculatively related to 'Ismegh' ('black slave', analogous to the Arabic 'abd) or 'sagui nughal' ('border').^[40] Some sources claim 'Isinghan' remained the usual Berber term to refer to the Wolof kingdom of Cayor.^[41]

Some Serer people from the south have advanced the claim that the river's name is originally derived from the compound of the Serer term "Sene" (from Roge Sene, Supreme Deity in Serer religion) and "O Gal" (meaning "body of water").

References[link]

Sources[link]

• João de Barros (1552–59) Décadas da Ásia: Dos feitos, que os Portuguezes fizeram no descubrimento, e conquista, dos mares, e terras do Oriente.. Vol. 1 (Dec I, Lib.1-5).

• Beazley, C.R. (1899) "Introduction" to vol. 2 of C.R. Beazley and E. Prestage, editors, Zurara's The Chronicle of the Discovery and Conquest of Guinea. London: Haklyut

• Fr. David Boilat (1853)Esquisses sénégalaises: physionomie du pays, peuplades, commerce, religions, passé et avenir, récits et légendes Paris: Bertrand. online

• Alvise Cadamosto (1460s) "Il Libro di Messer Alvise Ca da Mosto Gentilhuomo Venetiano" & "Navigatione del Capitano Pietro di Sintra Portoghese scritta per il medesimo M. Alvise da Ca da Mosto", as printed in Venice (1550), by Giovanni Battista Ramusio, ed., Primo volume delle navigationi et viaggi nel qua si contine la descrittione dell'Africa, et del paese del Prete Ianni, on varii viaggi, dal mar Rosso a Calicut,& infin all'isole Molucche, dove nascono le Spetierie et la navigatione attorno il mondo.. online (English translation: "Original Journals of the Voyages of Cada Mosto and Piedro de Cintra to the Coast of Africa, the former in the years 1455 and 1456, and the latter soon afterwards", in R. Kerr, 1811, A General History of Voyages and Travels to the end of the 18th century, vol. 2, Edinburgh: Blackwood. online)

• Cooley, W.D. (1841) The Negroland of the Arabs examined and explained; or, An inquiry into the early history and geography of Central Africa London: Arrowsmith. online

• Delafosse, M. (1912) Haut-Sénégal-Niger. 3 vols, Paris: Emil Larose.

• Hrbek, I. (1992) Africa from the Seventh to the Eleventh century. University of California Press.

• Levtzion, N. (1973) Ancient Ghana and Mali London: Methuen

• Levtzion, N. and J.F.P. Hopkins, editors, (2000) Corpus of early Arabic sources for West African history, Princeton, NJ: Markus Wiener.

• Leo Africanus (1526) "Descrittione dell’ Africa, & delle cose notabili che lui sono, per Giovan Lioni Africano"Descrittione dell’Africa", as printed in Venice (1550), by Giovanni Battista Ramusio, ed., Primo volume delle navigationi et viaggi nel qua si contine la descrittione dell'Africa, et del paese del Prete Ianni, on varii viaggi, dal mar Rosso a Calicut,& infin all'isole Molucche, dove nascono le Spetierie et la navigatione attorno il mondo.. English trans. 1896, as The History and Description of Africa, and of the notable things therein contained. London: Haklyut. vol. 1

• Major, Richard Henry (1868) The Discoveries of Prince Henry the Navigator: and their results; being the narrative of the discovery by sea, within one century, of more than half the world. 1877 edition, London: S. Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington online

• Luis de Marmol Carvajal (1573) Primera Parte de la Descripción General de Áffrica, con todos los successos de guerras que a auido entre los infieles, ye el pueblo Christiano, y entre ellos mesmos, desde que Mahoma inueto su secta, hasta el año del señor 1571. Granada: Rabut.

• Mauny, R. (1961) Tableau géographique de l'ouest africain au moyen-âge d' après les sources écrites, la tradition et l'archéologie, Memoire de l'Institut Fondemental d'Afrique Noire No. 61, Dakar.

• McIntosh, S.K. (1981) "A Reconsideration of the Wangara/Palolus Island of Gold", Journal of African History, vol. 2, p. 145-58.

• Monteil, Vincent (1964) l'Islam Noir. Paris: Edit. du Seuil.

• Monteil, Vincent (1968) "al-Bakri (Cordoue, 1068) - Routier de l'Afrique blanche et noire du Nord-Ouest: Traduction nouvelle de seize chapitres, sur le MS arabe 17 Bd PSS/902 du British Museum". Bulletin de l'Ifan, Vol. 30, p. 39-116

• A Phérotée de La Croix (1688) Relation universelle de l'Afrique, ancienne et moderne Alyon: Amaulry

• Pliny the Elder (c. 30 AD) Naturalis Historiae. [1855 edition, John Bostock and Henry Thomas Riley transl. The Natural History of Pliny. London: H.G. Bohn. vol 1. (Bks I - V)

• Russell, P.E. (2000) Prince Henry 'the Navigator': a life. New Haven, Conn: Yale University Press.

• Livio Sanuto (1588) Geografia di M. Livio Sanvto distinta in XII libri. Ne' quali, oltra l'esplicatione di molti luoghi di Tolomeo e della Bussola, e dell' Aguglia; si dichiarano le Provincie, Popoli, Regni, Città; Porti, Monti, Fiumi, Laghi, e Costumi dell' Africa. Con XII tavole di essa Africa in dissegno di rame. Aggiuntivi de piu tre Indici da M. Giovan Carlo Saraceni, Venice: Damiano Zenaro.

• Winter, H. (1962) "The Fra Mauro Portolan Chart in the Vatican", Imago Mundi, vol. 16, p. 17-28.

• Gomes Eanes de Zurara (1453) Crónica dos feitos notáveis que se passaram na Conquista da Guiné por mandado do Infante D. Henrique or Chronica do descobrimento e conquista da Guiné. [Trans. 1896-99 by C.R. Beazley and E. Prestage, The Chronicle of the Discovery and Conquest of Guinea, London: Haklyut, v.1, v.2

Further reading[link]

• Betz, R.L. (2007) The Mapping of Africa: a cartobibliography of printed maps of the African continent to 1700, Hes & de Graaf

• Davidson, Basil (1998) West Africa Before the Colonial Era: a history to 1850. London: Longman.

• De la Roncière, Charles (1925) La découverte de l'Afrique au moyen âge, 2 volumes, Cairo: Société Royale de Géographie d'Égypte.

External links[link]

• The Hydrology of Senegal (PowerPoint presentation)

Coordinates: 15°47′17″N 16°31′44″W / 15.78806°N 16.52889°W / 15.78806; -16.52889

This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in the French Wikipedia. (February 2010) Don't speak French? Click here to read a machine-translated version of the French article. Click [show] on the right to review important translation instructions before translating. Google's machine translation is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. After translating, {{Translated|fr|Sénégal}} must be added to the talk page to ensure copyright compliance. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Republic of Senegal République du Sénégal (French)
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: "Un Peuple, Un But, Une Foi"  (French) "One People, One Goal, One Faith"
Anthem: Pincez Tous vos Koras, Frappez les Balafons Everyone strum your koras, strike the balafons
Location of Senegal within the African Union
Capital (and largest city)		Dakar 14°40′N 17°25′W / 14.667°N 17.417°W / 14.667; -17.417
Official language(s)		French
Recognised regional languages		Wolof, Soninke, Serer, Fula, Maninka, Diola,[1]
Ethnic groups		Wolof 43.3% Pular 23.8% Serer 14.7% Jola 3.7 Mandinka 3% Soninke 1.1% European and Lebanese 1% other 9.4%[2]
Demonym		Senegalese
Government		Semi-presidential republic
-	President	Macky Sall
-	Prime Minister	Abdoul Mbaye
Legislature		Parliament
-	Upper house	Senate
-	Lower house	National Assembly
Independence
-	from France with French Sudan as the Mali Federation	20 June 1960
-	from Mali Federation	20 August 1960
Area
-	Total	196,723 km2 (87th) 76,000 sq mi
-	Water (%)	2.1
Population
-	2011 estimate	12,855,153[3] (67th)
-	2002 census	9,967,299
-	Density	65.3/km2 (134th) 169.1/sq mi
GDP (PPP)		2011 estimate
-	Total	$25.152 billion[4]
-	Per capita	$1,871[4]
GDP (nominal)		2011 estimate
-	Total	$14.461 billion[4]
-	Per capita	$1,075[4]
Gini (1995)		41.3 (medium)
HDI (2010)		0.411 (low) (144th)
Currency		CFA franc (XOF)
Time zone		UTC
Drives on the		right
ISO 3166 code		SN
Internet TLD		.sn
Calling code		221

Senegal ⁱ/ˌsɛnɨˈɡɔːl/ (French: le Sénégal), officially the Republic of Senegal (République du Sénégal, IPA: [ʁepyblik dy seneɡal]), is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north. Senegal is externally bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Mauritania to the north, Mali to the east, and Guinea and Guinea-Bissau to the south; internally it almost completely surrounds The Gambia, namely on the north, east and south, exempting Gambia's short Atlantic Ocean coastline. Senegal covers a land area of almost 197,000 square kilometres (76,000 sq mi), and has an estimated population of about 13 million. The climate is tropical with two seasons: the dry season and the rainy season.

Dakar, the capital city of Senegal, is located at the westernmost tip of the country on the Cap-Vert peninsula. About 500 kilometres (300 mi) off the coast, in the Atlantic Ocean, lie the Cape Verde Islands. During the 17th and 18th centuries, numerous trading posts, belonging to various colonial empires, were established along the coast. The town of St. Louis became the capital of French West Africa (Afrique occidentale française, or AOF) before it was moved to Dakar in 1902. Dakar later became its capital in 1960 at the time of independence from France.

Etymology[link]

The country is named after the Sénégal River, the etymology of which is contested. One popular theory (proposed by David Boilat in 1853) is that it stems from the Wolof phrase sunu gaal, which means "our canoe" (or pirogue), resulting from a miscommunication between 15th C. Portuguese sailors and Wolof fishermen. Modern historians believe its name is probably a reference to the Berber Zenaga people who lived on the northern side of the river. A competing theory is that it derives from the Medieval town of "Sanghana" (also given as Isenghan, Asengan, Singhanah), described by the Arab geographer al-Bakri in 1068 as located by the mouth of the river. Nonetheless, the "our canoe" theory has been popularly embraced in modern Senegal for its charm and its use in appeals to national solidarity (e.g. "we're all in the same canoe") are frequently heard in the media.

Some Serer people from the south believe the river's name is originally derived from the compound of the Serer term "Sene" (from Roge Sene, Supreme Deity in Serer religion) and "O Gal" (meaning "body of water").

History[link]

Archaeological findings throughout the area indicate that Senegal was inhabited in prehistoric times.

Senegal was part of the kingdom of Takrur in the 9th century and the Jolof kingdom, during the 13th and 14th centuries. In the mid-15th century, the Portuguese landed on the Senegal coastline, followed by other countries including the French.^[5]

Eastern Senegal was once part of the Empire of Ghana. Modern Senegal has always been occupied by various ethnic groups. Around the 11th Century Islam became the religion of some Senegalese tribes, though not in great numbers. In the 13th and 14th centuries, the area came under the influence of the empires to the east; the Jolof Empire of Senegal was also founded during this time. In the Senegambia region, between 1300 and 1900, close to one-third of the population was enslaved.^[6] Various European powers—Portugal, the Netherlands, and Great Britain—competed for trade in the area from the 15th century onward, until in 1677, France ended up in possession of what had become a minor slave trade departure point—the island of Gorée next to modern Dakar, used as a base to purchase slaves from the warring chiefdoms on the mainland.^[7][8]

Slave traders in Gorée, 18th century.

Some kingdoms were created around the 7th century: the Tekrour, the Namandirou kingdom and then the Djolof with distant ties to the Ghana empire. In the 14th century the Djolof kingdom became a powerful empire having united Cayor, and the kingdoms of Baol, Sine, Saloum, Waalo, Fouta-Toro and Bambouk. The empire was a voluntary confederacy of various states rather than an empire built on military conquest.^[9][10] The empire was founded by Ndiadiane Ndiaye, a part Serer^[11][12] and part Toucouleur, who was able to form a coalition with many ethnicities, but collapsed around 1549 with the defeat and killing of Lele Fouli Fak by Amari Ngone Sobel Fall. French colonialists progressively invaded and took over all kingdoms except Sine and Saloum under governor Louis Faidherbe.^[9][13]

Islam was introduced in Senegal during the 8th and 9th centuries by Berber merchants^{[citation needed][dubious – discuss]}. They peacefully converted the Toucouleurs and Sarakholles^{[dubious – discuss]} who in turn propagated it. Later on, in the 11th century, the Almoravids, with the help of the Toucouleurs used Jihad as a mean of conversion. This movement faced resistance from ethnicities of traditional religion, the Serers in particular.^[14][15] Eventually, Berbers won a peaceful conversion among the Wolofs with the intervention of leaders like Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba, El Hadj Malick Sy, and Seydina Limamou Laye who were able to convince their followers^{[citation needed]}. They saw Islam as a way to unite and fight against colonial power^{[dubious – discuss]}. The populations were getting weary of repeated jihads and forced colonization. Europeans missionaries introduced Christianity to Senegal and the Casamance in the 19th century. An emblematic figure of Casamance is Aline Sitoe Diatta, a woman who led the resistance movement against European colonialists.^[16]

It was only in the 1850s that the French began to expand onto the Senegalese mainland (by now rid of slavery and promoting abolitionist doctrine), adding native chiefdoms such as Waalo, Cayor, Baol, and Jolof. Senegalese chiefs' resistance to the French expansion and curtailing of their lucrative slave trade was led in part by Lat-Dior, Damel of Cayor, and Maad a Sinig Kumba Ndoffene Famak Joof, the Maad a Sinig of Sine, resulting in the Battle of Logandème.

On 4 April 1959 Senegal and the French Sudan merged to form the Mali Federation, which became fully independent on 20 June 1960, as a result of the independence and the transfer of power agreement signed with France on 4 April 1960. Due to internal political difficulties, the Federation broke up on 20 August, when Senegal and French Sudan (renamed the Republic of Mali) proclaimed independence. Léopold Senghor was proclaimed Senegal's first president in September 1960. Senghor was a very well read man, educated in France. He was a poet, a philosopher and personally drafted the Senegalese national anthem, "Pincez tous vos koras, frappez les balafons". He was very pro-African, and also advocated a brand of African socialism.^[17]

Colonial Saint Louis c. 1900. Europeans and Africans on the Rue Lebon.

In 1980, President Senghor decided to retire from politics, and he handed power over in 1981 to his handpicked successor, Abdou Diouf. Mamadou Dia ran for reelection in 1983 against Abdou Diouf but lost. Senghor moved to France where he later died at the age of 96.

Senegal joined with The Gambia to form the nominal confederation of Senegambia on 1 February 1982. However, the union was dissolved in 1989. Despite peace talks, a southern separatist group in the Casamance region had clashed sporadically with government forces since 1982. Senegal has had a long history of participating in international peacekeeping.^[2]

Abdou Diouf was president between 1981 and 2000. He encouraged broader political participation, reduced government involvement in the economy, and widened Senegal's diplomatic engagements, particularly with other developing nations. Domestic politics on occasion spilled over into street violence, border tensions, and a violent separatist movement in the southern region of the Casamance. Nevertheless, Senegal's commitment to democracy and human rights strengthened. Abdou Diouf served four terms as president.

In the presidential election of 1999, opposition leader Abdoulaye Wade defeated Diouf in an election deemed free and fair by international observers. Senegal experienced its second peaceful transition of power, and its first from one political party to another. On 30 December 2004 President Abdoulaye Wade announced that he would sign a peace treaty with the separatist group in the Casamance region. This, however, has yet to be implemented. There was a round of talks in 2005, but the results did not yet yield a resolution.

Politics[link]

Abdoulaye Wade, previous president of Senegal

Senegal is a republic with a presidency; the president is elected every five years as of 2001, previously being seven years, by adult votes. The current president is Macky Sall, elected in March 2012.

Senegal has more than 80 political parties. The bicameral parliament consists of the National Assembly, which has 120 seats, and the Senate, which has 100 seats and was reinstituted in 2007.^[2] An independent judiciary also exists in Senegal. The nation's highest courts that deal with business issues are the constitutional council and the court of justice, members of which are named by the president.

Currently, Senegal has a quasi-democratic political culture, trying to be one of the more successful post-colonial democratic transitions in Africa. Local administrators are appointed by, and responsible to, the president. The marabouts, religious leaders of the various Senegalese Muslim brotherhoods, also exercise a strong political influence in the country especially during Wade's presidency. In 2009, however, Freedom House downgraded Senegal's status from 'Free' to 'Partially Free', based on increased centralisation of power in the executive.

In 2008, Senegal finished in 12^th position on the Ibrahim Index of African Governance.^[18] The Ibrahim Index is a comprehensive measure of African governance (limited to sub-Saharan Africa until 2008), based on a number of different variables which reflect the success with which governments deliver essential political goods to their citizens. When the Northern African countries were added to the index in 2009, Senegal's 2008 position was retroactively downgraded to 15th place (with Tunisia, Egypt and Morocco placing themselves ahead of Senegal), where it remains today according to the latest Ibrahim Index (for 2010).^[18]

On 22 February 2011, it was reported that Senegal has severed diplomatic ties with Iran, saying Tehran supplied rebels with weapons which killed Senegalese troops.

On 26 February 2012, Senegal held presidential elections which were perceived as controversial due to President Wade's candidacy. The controversy stemmed from the fact that although the Senegalese constitution did not allow a president to serve more than two terms, President Wade amended the constitution last year which allowed him to run for a third term. Several youth opposition movements, including M23 and Y'en a Marre, emerged in June 2011 to contest the amendment.

Geography[link]

Landscape of Casamance

Senegal is located on the west of the African continent. It lies between latitudes 12° and 17°N, and longitudes 11° and 18°W.

The Senegalese landscape consists mainly of the rolling sandy plains of the western Sahel which rise to foothills in the southeast. Here is also found Senegal's highest point, an otherwise unnamed feature near Nepen Diakha at 584 m (1,916 ft). The northern border is formed by the Senegal River, other rivers include the Gambia and Casamance Rivers. The capital Dakar lies on the Cap-Vert peninsula, the westernmost point of continental Africa.

The Cape Verde islands lie some 560 kilometres (350 mi) off the Senegalese coast, but Cap Vert ("Cape Green") is a maritime placemark, set at the foot of "Les Mammelles", a 105-metre (344 ft) cliff resting at one end of the Cap Vert peninsula onto which is settled Senegal's capital Dakar, and 1 kilometre (0.6 mi) south of the "Pointe des Almadies", the western-most point in Africa.

Climate[link]

The local climate is tropical with well-defined dry and humid seasons that result from northeast winter winds and southwest summer winds. The dry season (December to April) is dominated by hot, dry, harmattan wind.^[2] Dakar's annual rainfall of about 600 mm (24 in) occurs between June and October when maximum temperatures average 30 °C (86.0 °F) and minimums 24.2 °C (75.6 °F); December to February maximum temperatures average 25.7 °C (78.3 °F) and minimums 18 °C (64.4 °F).^[19] Interior temperatures are higher than along the coast (for example, average daily temperatures in Kaolack and Tambacounda for May are 30 °C (86.0 °F) and 32.7 °C (90.9 °F) respectively, compared to Dakar's 23.2 °C (73.8 °F) ),^[20] and rainfall increases substantially farther south, exceeding 1,500 mm (59.1 in) annually in some areas. In the far interior of the country, in the region of Tambacounda, particularly on the border of Mali, temperatures can reach as high as 54 °C (129.2 °F).

Administrative divisions[link]

Regions of Senegal

Senegal is subdivided into 14 regions,^[21] 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.^[22]

Regional capitals have the same name as their respective regions:

Major cities[link]

Major cities in Senegal

Senegal's capital of Dakar is by far the largest city in Senegal, with over two million residents.^[23] The second most populous city is Touba, a de jure communaute rurale (rural community), with half a million.^[23][24]

Economy[link]

Grand Market in Kaolack

Graphical depiction of Senegal's product exports in 28 color coded categories.

After its economy retracted by 2.1% in 1993 Senegal instigated a major economic reform program with the support of the international donor community. This reform began with a 50% devaluation of the country's currency (the CFA franc). Government price controls and subsidies were also dismantled. As a result, Senegal's inflation went down, investments went up, and the gross domestic product rose approximately 5% a year between 1995 and 2001.^[2]

Parts of this article (those related to 1990s GDP & export partners (percent), and the 2001 inflation stats in the paragraph above & the paragraph below) are outdated. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. Please see the talk page for more information. (August 2009)

The main industries include food processing, mining, cement, artificial fertilizer, chemicals, textiles, refining imported petroleum, and tourism. Exports include fish, chemicals, cotton, fabrics, groundnuts, and calcium phosphate, and the principal foreign market is India at 26.7% of exports (as of 1998). Other foreign markets include the United States, Italy and the United Kingdom.

As a member of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), Senegal is working toward greater regional integration with a unified external tariff. Senegal is also a member of the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA).^[25]

Senegal realized full Internet connectivity in 1996, creating a mini-boom in information technology-based services. Private activity now accounts for 82% of GDP.^{[citation needed]} On the negative side, Senegal faces deep-seated^{[citation needed]} urban problems of chronic high unemployment, socioeconomic disparity, and juvenile delinquency^{[citation needed]}.

Senegal is a major recipient of international development assistance. Donors include USAID, Japan, France and China. Over 3000 Peace Corps Volunteers have served in Senegal since 1963.^[26]

Demographics[link]

Girls in Saint Louis

Population in Senegal, 1962–2004

A street market in Malem-Hodar

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.^[27]

Largest cities[link]

v t e Largest cities or towns of Senegal Senegal - Largest Cities
	Rank	City name	Region	Pop.
Dakar Grand Dakar Grand Dakar	1	Dakar	Dakar	2 476 400	Pikine Thiès Nones Thiès Nones
	2	Grand Dakar	Dakar	2 352 057
	3	Pikine	Dakar	874 062
	4	Thiès Nones	Thiès	252 320
	5	Saint-Louis	Saint-Louis	176 000
	6	Kaolack	Kaolack	172 305
	7	Ziguinchor	Ziguinchor	159 778
	8	Tiébo	Diourbel	100 289
	9	Tambacounda	Tambacounda	78 800
	10	Mbaké	Diourbel	74 100

Ethnicity[link]

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^[28] and Toucouleur (also known as Halpulaar'en, literally "Pulaar-speakers") (24%) are the second biggest group, followed by the Serer (14.7%),^[29] 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.^[30]

About 50,000 Europeans (mostly French) and Lebanese^[31] 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.^[32] 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.^[33][34] There are also tens of thousands of Mauritanian refugees in Senegal, primarily in the country's north.^[35]

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[link]

Public expenditure on health was at 2.4% of the GDP in 2004, whereas private expenditure was at 3.5%.^[36] Health expenditure was at US$ 72 (PPP) per capita in 2004.^[36] The fertility rate was at about 5.2 in the early 2000s (decade).^[36] There were 6 physicians per 100,000 persons in the early 2000s (decade).^[36] Infant mortality was at 77 per 1,000 live births in 2005.^[36] Malaria is the largest cause of infant mortality, but rates are dropping, thanks to the support of the President's Malaria Initiative.

Religion[link]

Islam is the predominant religion in the country. Islam is practiced by approximately 90% of the country's population^{[dubious – discuss]}; the Christian community, at 10% of the population, includes Roman Catholics and diverse Protestant denominations. There is also a 1%^{[dubious – discuss]} population who maintain animism in their beliefs, particularly in the southeastern region of the country.^[2] Many Serer people follow the Serer religion.^[37][38]

The Mosquée de la Divinité in Ouakam

The Dakar Cathedral

Islamic communities in Senegal are generally organized around one of several Islamic Sufi orders or brotherhoods, headed by a khalif (xaliifa in Wolof, from Arabic khalīfa), who is usually a direct descendant of the group’s founder. The two largest and most prominent Sufi orders in Senegal are the Tijaniyya, whose largest sub-groups are based in the cities of Tivaouane and Kaolack, and the Murīdiyya (Murid), based in the city of Touba.

The Halpulaar (Pulaar-speakers), composed of Fula people, a widespread group found along the Sahel from Chad to Senegal, and Toucouleurs, represent 20%^{[citation needed]} of the Senegalese population. 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).^[39]

Part of a series on
Serers and Serer religion
Main doctrines Animism Astronomy Cosmology Divination Ethnoreligious Immortality of the soul Intercession of saints Panentheism Polytheism Rainmaker Reincarnation Religious symbolism Spirituality
Sacred places Cekeen Tumulus Fatick Senegambian stone circles Sine The Point of Sangomar Tukar
Related articles Lamane Saltigue Serer ancient history Serer people States headed by ancient Serer Lamanes Timeline of Serer history
Defenders of the Faith Ama Gôdô Maat Issa Laye Thiaw Maad a Sinig Kumba Ndoffene Famak Joof
Notable figures Lamane Jegan Joof Maad Semou Njekeh Joof
Relations with other religions Serer views on incarnation Serer history (medieval era to present) Religious persecution Serer views on interfaith marriage Serer views on heaven and hell
Education Ndut
See also Index of articles relating to Serer history Index of articles relating to Serer religion Index of all articles relating to Serer people
Category Portal
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The spread of formal Quranic school (called daara in Wolof) during the colonial period increased largely through the effort of the Tijaniyya. In Murid communities, which place more emphasis on the work ethic than on literary Quranic studies, the term daara often applies to work groups devoted to working for a religious leader. Other Islamic groups include the much older Qādiriyya order and the Senegalese Laayeen order, which is prominent among the coastal Lebu. Today, most Senegalese children study at daaras for several years, memorizing as much of the Qur'an as they can. Some of them continue their religious studies at informal Arabic schools (majlis) or at the growing number of private Arabic schools and publicly funded Franco-Arabic schools. A modern messianic sect in Islam, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is also present in the country.

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.^[40] They were ancient Serer festivals rooted in Serer religion, not Islam.^[40]

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.^[41] The first Bahá'is to set foot in the territory of French West Africa that would become Senegal arrived in 1953.^[42] The first Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assembly of Senegal was elected in 1966 in Dakar.^[43] 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.^[44]

Culture[link]

This section requires expansion.

Senegal is known across Africa for its musical heritage, due to the popularity of mbalax, which originated from the Serer percussive tradition, it has been popularized by Youssou N'Dour and others. Sabar drumming is especially popular. The sabar is mostly used in special celebrations like weddings. Another instrument, the tama, is used in more ethnic groups. Other popular international renown Senegalese musicians are Ismael Lô, Cheikh Lô, Orchestra Baobab, Baaba Maal, Akon Thione Seck, Viviane, Titi, and Pape Diouf.

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[link]

Articles 21 and 22 of the Constitution adopted in January 2001 guarantee access to education for all children.^[45] Education is compulsory and free up to the age of 16.^[45] 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.^[45] Illiteracy is high, particularly among women.^[36] The net primary enrollment rate was 69 % in 2005. Public expenditure on education was 5.4 % of the 2002–2005 GDP.

Hospitality[link]

Hospitality, in theory, is given such importance in Senegalese culture that it is widely considered to be part of the national identity. The Wolof^[46] word for hospitality is "teranga"^{[dubious – discuss]},^[46] and it is so identified with the pride of Senegal that the national football team is known as the Lions of Teranga.^{[5][original research?]}

See also[link]

	Africa portal
	Geography portal
	Senegal portal

	Book: Senegal
Wikipedia books are collections of articles that can be downloaded or ordered in print.

References[link]