Senegal
Senegal is officially called ‘République du Sénégal’ or ‘Sounougal’ in Wolof (the main language) and is situated in Western Africa. To the west lies adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean, in the East to Mali, in the South to Guinea and Guinea-Bissau, and in the north to Mauritania. The Gambia is located in the territory of Senegal. At about 500 kilometres from the coast is the group of islands Cape Verde.
Apart from the hills in the south-east, the Fouta Djallon mountains, Senegal is a very flat land, the hills vary from 300 to 400 metres, the highest point is Nepen Daikha, that is in the south-east and is 581 metres high.
Senegal is a very flat land
Basisgegevens
| Official language(s) | French |
| Capital | Dakar |
| Government | Semi-presidential republic |
| Religion | islam 91%, christianity 5% |
| Area | 196.722 km² (2,1% water) |
| Population | 9.956.202 (2002) 13.711.597 (2009) |
Senegal has an area of 196.722 km², that is approximately 5 times as large as The Netherlands. There are 4 rivers that run by Senegal: the Senegal (1.750 km), the Casamance, the Saloum and the Gambia. The Senegal is also the northern border of Senegal.
In the north there is a lot of sahelsteppe, with short grass and little trees. In the dry areas of Senegal, you can admire the ‘most characteristical tree of Africa’, the boabab. That’s a tree that has a height of approximately 20 metres and may be 1000 years old. The population uses almost everything of this tree, the fruit, the leaves, the wood and the bark.
The baobab plays a major role is African myths and legends.
There is a doornstruiksavanne south, where there are a lot of trees, such as fruit trees and palms. In the performance of the Gambia and the Solomon we find many mangrove forests. More south there are bossavanne.
In the southwest of Senegal is the Casamance-region, with tropical forests.
The lion and the baobab are the national symbols.
Many different international organisations are led by Senegalese. Senegal also sends soldiers for peace-keeping missions of the UN.
The north of Senegal is in the Sahara desert, this rainy period is very brief, but just enough for agriculture. The rainy season is from July to mid-October. The average annual rainfall is increasing from north to south and of the Interior to the coast. The average rainfall in the south-west is 1500-2000 mm and in the north not even 400 mm per year.
In domestic region, the summer temperatures can rise up to 40 or 50 ° C. The most ardent city of Senegal, Kaolack, has the afternoon trend to have a temperature of 38 °C.
Large wild animals, such as lions, elephants, gazelles and buffalo, are only to be found in Niokolo Koba, the largest national park of Senegal (8000 km²).
In the park, there are more than 300 bird species, 70 species of mammals and 60 fish species counted. One can find monkeys, snakes, deer, hyena’s, warthogs and other smaller mammals throughout the entire country.