Independence Day, 4 April

a new Constitution was adopted 7 January 2001

based on French civil law system ; judicial review of legislative acts in Constitutional Court; the Council of State audits the government's accounting office; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Universal (voting age :18 years)

Chief of State: President Abdoulaye WADE (since 1 April 2000) Head of Government: Prime Minister Macky SALL Cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the Prime Minister in consultation with the President.

Unicameral National Assembly of 120 seats; members are elected by direct, popular vote to serve five-year term)

Constitutional Court; Council of State; Court of Final Appeals (Cour de Cassation); Court of Appeals; note - the judicial system was reformed in 1992.

74 recognized parties out of which 8 are represented in the National Assembly

In January 1994, Senegal undertook a bold and ambitious economic reform program with the support of the international donor community. This reform began with a 50% devaluation of Senegal's currency, the CFA franc, which was linked at a fixed rate to the French franc. Government price controls and subsidies have been steadily dismantled. After seeing its economy contract by 2.1% in 1993, Senegal made an important turnaround, thanks to the reform program, with real growth in GDP averaging 5% annually during 1995-2003. Annual inflation had been pushed down to the low single digit. 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 also realized full Internet connectivity in 1996, creating a miniboom in information technology-based services. Private activity now accounts for 82% of GDP. In 2004, GDP will probably again grow at about 7%.

In pre-colonial times, the portion of West Africa between the Senegal and Casamance Rivers emerged as an important strategic territory for vast empires intent on controlling trans-Saharan trade. Later, Gorée Island, Senegal's and Africa's western extreme, became the point of departure for the majority of West Africans forcibly exported to the Americas during the brutal era of slavery. The French began and based their West African colonial campaigns in the Senegalese port city of Saint-Louis, at the mouth of the Senegal River.

Senegal's first post-Independence president, writer and intellectual Léopold Sédar Senghor, ruled for two decades, maintaining close ties to France and establishing Dakar, the Senegalese capital, as a center of commerce and culture in West Africa.

Senegal's largest ethnic group, the Wolof, have co-existed mostly peacefully with the Fulani, Tukulor, Serer and Jola.

Around 94% of the population are Sunni Muslims while 5% are Christians predominantly Roman Catholic and around 1% follow local native tribal beliefs.
The official language is French, although only about 12% of the population can speak it. Other minority languages include Serer, Pulaar, Diola, Manding and Sarakole while Wolof is the national language.

Do go to Senegal, gateway to Black Africa. Fly there in under five hours, from Europe to hundreds of miles of soft sandy beaches.
From December to May, there lies the California of Africa. Sea, the Canaries' stream gently warms up. Cool air, gently swept up by trade-winds. Cloudless skies streaming with blazing sunshine that warms, invigorates and gives white skins the velvet touch of black skins.
Do visit Kayar beach where miraculous loads of fish are carried ashore, Niokolo-Koba Park where lions and elephants, hippopotamuses and buffaloes enjoy free life..."

Senegal has a history of active co-operation with the international community and its attentiveness to international concerns about human rights. It was the first state to ratify the statute of the international criminal court.