| Chapter 2: | Linguistic and Demographic Profile of Senegal |
|
|
Population
Senegal had a population of 10,127,809 in 2003 (Sud Quotiden, 2004). With an annual growth rate of more than 2.5%, analysts estimate that the population will reach more than 12.2 million in 2010 (Direction de la Prévision et des Statistiques, 2003) and 13.7 million in 2015 (Direction de la Prévision et des Statistiques, 2006). The population of Senegal is characterised by a large proportion of young people (i.e., those younger than 21 years).
More than 92% of the population in Senegal is Muslim. There are also around 20 distinct cultural communities in the country (Direction de la Prévision et des Statistiques, 1993, p. 24). The six most dominant communities, accounting for 94.1% of the total population, are listed in table 1.
The remaining 5.9% of the population consists of other ethnic communities (Direction de la Prévision et des Statistiques, 2004, p. 23): 4.5% are Senegalese, 1.0% are other Africans, and 0.4% are non-African nationals.
Table 1. The dominant ethnic communities in Senegal.
| Dominant Ethnic Communities | Percentage of Population |
| Wolof (including Lébou)2 | 44.5 |
| Pulaar | 25.2 |
| Serrere | 13.8 |
| Jola | 5.0 |
| Mandinka (including Sossé) | 3.9 |
| Soninké | 1.6 |
| Other | 5.9 |
| Sum | 100 |
Source. Direction de la Prévision et des Statistiques (2004, p. 33).