Map:

Overview:
Independent from France in 1960, Senegal joined with The Gambia to form the nominal confederation of Senegambia in 1982. However, the envisaged integration of the two countries was never carried out, and the union was dissolved in 1989. Despite peace talks, a southern separatist group sporadically has clashed with government forces since 1982. Senegal has a long history of participating in international peacekeeping.

The People:
Population: 11,126,832 (July 2005 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 42.8% (male 2,404,461/female 2,360,167)
15-64 years: 54.1% (male 2,901,689/female 3,122,854)
65 years and over: 3% (male 161,173/female 176,488) (2005 est.)

Religions:
Muslim 94%, indigenous beliefs 1%, Christian 5% (mostly Roman Catholic)

Government Type:
republic under multiparty democratic rule

Leader(s) to pray for:
chief of state: President Abdoulaye WADE (since 1 April 2000)
head of government: Prime Minister Macky SALL (since 21 April 2004)

Source: The World Factbook

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