| Chapter 2: | Linguistic and Demographic Profile of Senegal |
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Geography and Location
Senegal is a multiparty democratic country located on the westernmost point of Africa, covering a little less than 76,000 square miles (196,190 square kilometres; a size roughly comparable to that of the Czech Republic, Ireland, Jordan, Panama, Sierra Leone, or Sri Lanka). Generally speaking, the country is not densely populated; on average, there are only 35 inhabitants per square mile. However, at the regional level, there are enormous disparities. Dakar, the capital, is the most densely populated region, with 2,707 inhabitants per square mile, accommodating 21.6% of the country's total population on just 0.3% of the country's total land area (Direction de la Prévision et des Statistiques, 1993, p. 9). Areas such as Kolda and Tambacounda are the least populated regions, with two and six inhabitants per square mile, respectively.
Senegal, which is semiarid in the north and forested in the south, has four main rivers: the Senegal River, the Saloum, the Gambia River, and the Casamance River. It shares its borders with Mauritania in the north, Mali in the east, the Republic of Guinea and Guinea Bissau in the south, and the Atlantic Ocean in the west. Since 2008, Senegal has been divided into 14 regions—Dakar, Diourbel, Fatick, Kaffrine, Kaolack, Kédougou, Kolda, Louga, Matam, Saint Louis, Sedhiou, Tambacounda, Thiès, and Ziguinchor—with the capital located in Dakar. Each of these regions is administered by a Conseil Régional (Regional Council).
These regions are subdivided into départements (departments)—Dakar, Kaffrine, Kaolack and Tambacounda each have four départements, and the other regions each have three. The départements are subdivided into arrondissements (boroughs)made up of communautés rurales (rural communities), and the communautés rurales are further subdivided into villages.
The country has two distinct seasons. The rainy season lasts for 4 to 5 months (between June and October), and the dry season runs for around 7 months.