49 Fun Facts About Senegal

Senegal almost completely surrounds which small country?

The Gambia, a strip seldom more than 50 km wide along the Gambia River, is bordered by Senegal on three sides and by the Atlantic on the fourth.

What is the capital and largest city of Senegal?

Dakar, on the Cap-Vert peninsula, became the capital of the colonial federation of West Africa in 1902; its metropolitan area holds roughly a quarter of Senegal's population.

Which river forms Senegal's entire border with Mauritania?

The Senegal River marks the whole frontier with Mauritania and gave the country its name; its main headstream, the Bafing, rises in Guinea's Fouta Djallon highlands.

Which language is Senegal's lingua franca, spoken by roughly four in five people?

French is official but understood by only about a quarter of people; over 30 languages are spoken in all.

Which island near Dakar was a colonial base for buying slaves from 1677 and a UNESCO site since 1978?

Goree was among the first twelve World Heritage sites inscribed in 1978; its House of Slaves, with the 'Door of No Return', is the island's best-known building.

Which medieval state, founded by Ndiadiane Ndiaye, united Cayor, Baol, Sine, Saloum and Waalo?

The Jolof Empire, founded around 1350, was a loose confederacy rather than a conquest state; it broke up after Cayor's victory at the Battle of Danki in 1549.

Which colonial governor led the 1850s conquest of the Senegalese mainland kingdoms?

Louis Faidherbe, governor from 1854, annexed Waalo in 1855, built a fort at Medine against El Hadj Umar Tall, and defeated the kingdom of Sine at Logandeme in 1859.

The 1940 Battle of Dakar was an unsuccessful Allied attempt to seize the port from whom?

De Gaulle's Free French and the Royal Navy were beaten off; Dakar stayed loyal to Vichy until 1942.

Senegal gained independence in 1960 as part of a short-lived federation with which neighbour?

The Mali Federation broke up on 20 August 1960 after two months; Senegal's flag kept its colours, swapping a stick figure for a star.

Who was Senegal's first president, a poet later elected to the Académie française?

Leopold Sedar Senghor, a leading poet of the negritude movement, was president from 1960 until he stepped down voluntarily at the end of 1980; he entered the Academie francaise in 1983.

Who became the youngest president in Senegal's history in March 2024?

Bassirou Diomaye Faye, 44 when sworn in on 2 April 2024, won the March election outright in the first round, ten days after his release from prison alongside his ally Ousmane Sonko.

Senegal's separatist conflict since 1982 has been centred on which southern region?

Casamance, the region around the Casamance River in the far south, has been the MFDC's base since a December 1982 independence march in Ziguinchor was put down, starting the insurgency.

Which colonial city was capital of the whole West African federation from 1895 until 1902?

Saint-Louis, founded in 1659 on an island at the river mouth, became a World Heritage site in 2000; it also served as capital of colonial Mauritania from 1920 to 1957.

Senegal's tricolour flag bears what symbol at its centre?

The green five-pointed star sits on the yellow central band of the green, yellow and red tricolour adopted in 1960; the three colours are the pan-African colours used by several neighbours.

Senegal's national football team is nicknamed the Lions of what?

Teranga is the Wolof word for hospitality, a point of national pride.

Which reigning champions did Senegal beat 1-0 in the 2002 World Cup's opening match?

France, the 1998 winners, lost 1-0 in Seoul to a Papa Bouba Diop goal; Senegal then reached the quarter-finals, the second African side to do so after Cameroon in 1990.

Senegal won its first Africa Cup of Nations by beating which team in the 2021 edition's final?

They had been runners-up in 2002 and 2019; the final went to penalties in Yaounde.

Which Senegalese forward became Africa's most expensive player when Liverpool signed him in 2016?

Sadio Mane joined Liverpool from Southampton for about 34 million pounds in June 2016; he won the Premier League and Champions League there and finished second in the 2022 Ballon d'Or.

Which traditional sport is described as Senegal's national obsession?

Senegalese wrestling, known as laamb, fills stadiums with tens of thousands of fans; star wrestlers such as Yekini and Balla Gaye 2 earn purses far above the average wage.

Which Olympic event did the IOC award to Senegal in 2018, the first ever for Africa?

The Summer Youth Olympics were awarded to Senegal's capital in October 2018 for 2022, then pushed back to 2026 by the pandemic; it is the first Olympic event of any kind awarded to an African nation.

The famous rally to Senegal's capital, first run in 1979, originally started from which city?

Paris was the start line of Thierry Sabine's first rally, which set off on 26 December 1978 and reached Senegal in January 1979; the 2008 edition was cancelled over security fears in Mauritania.

Lake Retba near Dakar is famous for what colour, caused by Dunaliella salina algae?

Pink is the colour of Lake Retba, also called Lac Rose; Dunaliella salina algae make a red pigment in water whose salt content reaches about 40 percent, and salt is harvested by hand.

What is Senegal's national dish?

Thieboudienne (ceebu jen), fish cooked with rice, tomato and vegetables, was added to UNESCO's intangible heritage list in 2021 and is claimed as the ancestor of jollof rice.

Which Senegalese musical style, rooted in Serer percussion, was popularised by Youssou N'Dour?

Mbalax fuses fast sabar drumming with Cuban and Western pop elements; Youssou N'Dour's Super Etoile band carried it abroad from the 1980s, and Ismael Lo and Baaba Maal are other major names.

Youssou N'Dour's 1994 hit '7 Seconds' was a duet with which singer?

Neneh Cherry duetted with Youssou N'Dour on '7 Seconds', a 1994 single sung in three languages that reached number three in the UK and topped charts across Europe.

The African Renaissance Monument, unveiled in Dakar in 2010, holds what record?

At 49 metres the African Renaissance Monument is the tallest statue in Africa; the bronze family group was built by North Korea's Mansudae Overseas Projects and was criticised for its cost of about 27 million dollars.

Roughly what share of Senegal's population is Muslim?

About 95 percent of Senegalese are Muslim, most of them Sunni followers of Sufi brotherhoods such as the Tijaniyya and Mourides; Christians, mostly Catholic, make up around 4 percent.

Senegal's Muslims are largely organised in Sufi orders known by what Arabic term?

Tariqas (Sufi orders) such as the Tijaniyya, Mouridiyya, Qadiriyya and Layene structure Senegalese Islam; each is headed by a khalif, usually a descendant of the founder.

What is Senegal's official language?

French has been the sole official language since independence in 1960 and is used in government, courts and schooling, though only about a quarter of the population speaks it.

Which currency does Senegal use?

The West African CFA franc, shared by the eight UEMOA member states and issued by the BCEAO from Senegal's capital, is pegged to the euro at 655.957 francs.

Senegal's highest point, near the Guinean border in the southeast, rises to what height?

Senegal's highest point is 648 m, an unnamed rise near Nepen Diakha in the Kedougou region; most of the country is low Sahelian plain under 200 m.

How long is a Senegalese presidential term?

Five years has been the presidential term since a referendum under Macky Sall cut it from seven; the constitution limits a president to two consecutive terms.

Senegal's largest export market in 2020, taking about a fifth of exports, was which country?

Mali, landlocked and supplied through Senegal's ports, took about a fifth of exports in 2020, mainly refined petroleum, cement and food; Switzerland (gold) and India came next.

Fishing provides roughly how many Senegalese jobs?

About 600,000 people, roughly a sixth of the workforce, depend on fishing in Senegal, much of it from wooden pirogues; fish is also one of the leading exports.

Senegal severed diplomatic ties with which country in 2011, accusing it of arming southern rebels?

Iran was cut off in February 2011 after an arms shipment seized in Nigeria the previous year was traced to Tehran and suspected of being bound for the rebels in the south.

Which youth movement helped block President Wade's disputed third-term bid in 2011-12?

Y'en a Marre ('fed up'), founded in January 2011 by rappers and journalists, led protests against Wade's third term; Wade lost the 2012 runoff to Macky Sall and conceded.

Which fruit juice, made from the fruit of the baobab, is a popular Senegalese drink?

Bouye is made from the powdery pulp of baobab fruit, known as monkey bread, mixed with water, sugar and often milk; bissap is hibiscus and corossol is soursop.

Eid al-Adha is known in Senegal by what local name?

Tabaski is the West African name for Eid al-Adha, when each family tries to sacrifice a ram; Korite is the local name for Eid al-Fitr and the Magal is the Mouride pilgrimage.

Senegal's worst military loss, a 1991 transport-plane crash in Saudi Arabia, came during which conflict?

The Gulf War drew about 500 Senegalese troops into the coalition against Iraq; 92 of them died when a Saudi C-130 crashed on 21 March 1991 while flying them back from the front.

Which creole, a legacy of early European traders, survives around Ziguinchor?

Portuguese Creole survives around Ziguinchor because Portuguese traders founded the town in 1645 and the area stayed Portuguese until 1888; the local variety is close to the creole of neighbouring Guinea-Bissau.

Which prime minister was jailed in December 1962 after a showdown with Senegal's first president?

Mamadou Dia, Senegal's first head of government, was accused of an attempted coup when he had deputies removed from the assembly during a censure vote; he stayed in prison until 1974.

What was the nominal 1982-89 political union with its enclave neighbour called?

The Senegambia Confederation, formed in February 1982 after Senegalese troops put down a coup in Banjul, aimed to merge the two armies and economies but was dissolved by Senegal in September 1989.

Which Senegalese in 1914 became the first black African elected to the metropolitan parliament?

Blaise Diagne won the Senegal seat in the Chamber of Deputies in 1914, secured full citizenship rights for the Four Communes in 1916, and later served as under-secretary of state for the colonies.

Who succeeded Senegal's first president when he stepped down at the end of 1980?

Abdou Diouf, prime minister since 1970, took over on 1 January 1981 and governed until his defeat by Abdoulaye Wade in 2000; he later headed the Francophonie from 2003 to 2014.

Which holy city is Senegal's second most populous settlement?

Touba, founded in 1887 by Mouride leader Amadou Bamba, houses his tomb and one of Africa's largest mosques; its Grand Magal pilgrimage draws millions each year.

Into how many regions is Senegal subdivided?

Senegal has had 14 regions since Kaffrine, Kedougou and Sedhiou were created in 2008; each is headed by a governor appointed by the president and is subdivided into departments.

Which city on the Saloum River is the hub of Senegal's groundnut trade?

Kaolack, on the north bank of the Saloum River, grew as the centre of the groundnut basin and has one of West Africa's largest covered markets; it is also a Tijaniyya centre.

Roughly how far off the Senegalese coast do the Cape Verde islands lie?

About 560 km of Atlantic separate the Cape Verde islands from the mainland coast; the islands took their name from the Cap-Vert peninsula, which Portuguese sailors reached in 1444.

What is the name of the supreme deity in the traditional Serer religion?

Roog (or Roog Sene) is the creator god of the Serer, who resisted Islam for centuries; their Saltigue priests preside over the annual Xooy divination ceremony.