Lebanon (2001) | Senegal (2008) | |
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Administrative divisions | 5 governorates (mohafazat, singular - mohafazah); Beyrouth, Ech Chimal, Ej Jnoub, El Bekaa, Jabal Loubnane | 11 regions (regions, singular - region); Dakar, Diourbel, Fatick, Kaolack, Kolda, Louga, Matam, Saint-Louis, Tambacounda, Thies, Ziguinchor |
Age structure | 0-14 years:
27.57% (male 509,975; female 490,031) 15-64 years: 65.72% (male 1,136,995; female 1,247,184) 65 years and over: 6.71% (male 110,964; female 132,625) (2001 est.) |
0-14 years: 42% (male 2,656,122/female 2,608,423)
15-64 years: 55% (male 3,426,504/female 3,454,372) 65 years and over: 3% (male 176,877/female 199,553) (2007 est.) |
Agriculture - products | citrus, grapes, tomatoes, apples, vegetables, potatoes, olives, tobacco; sheep, goats | peanuts, millet, corn, sorghum, rice, cotton, tomatoes, green vegetables; cattle, poultry, pigs; fish |
Airports | 8 (2000 est.) | 20 (2007) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
5 over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
total: 9
over 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 7 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2007) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total:
3 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
total: 11
1,524 to 2,437 m: 6 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 1 (2007) |
Area | total:
10,400 sq km land: 10,230 sq km water: 170 sq km |
total: 196,190 sq km
land: 192,000 sq km water: 4,190 sq km |
Area - comparative | about 0.7 times the size of Connecticut | slightly smaller than South Dakota |
Background | Lebanon has made progress toward rebuilding its political institutions and regaining its national sovereignty since 1991 and the end of the devastating 16-year civil war. Under the Ta'if Accord - the blueprint for national reconciliation - the Lebanese have established a more equitable political system, particularly by giving Muslims a greater say in the political process while institutionalizing sectarian divisions in the government. Since the end of the war, the Lebanese have conducted several successful elections, most of the militias have been weakened or disbanded, and the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) have extended central government authority over about two-thirds of the country. Hizballah, the radical Shi'a party, retains its weapons. Syria maintains about 25,000 troops in Lebanon based mainly in Beirut, North Lebanon, and the Bekaa Valley. Syria's troop deployment was legitimized by the Arab League during Lebanon's civil war and in the Ta'if Accord. Damascus justifies its continued military presence in Lebanon by citing the continued weakness of the LAF, Beirut's requests, and the failure of the Lebanese Government to implement all of the constitutional reforms in the Ta'if Accord. Israel's withdrawal from its security zone in southern Lebanon in May of 2000, however, has emboldened some Lebanese Christians and Druze to demand that Syria withdraw its forces as well. | The French colonies of Senegal and the French Sudan were merged in 1959 and granted their independence as the Mali Federation in 1960. The union broke up after only a few months. Senegal joined with The Gambia to form the nominal confederation of Senegambia in 1982, but the envisaged integration of the two countries was never carried out, and the union was dissolved in 1989. The Movement of Democratic Forces in the Casamance (MFDC) has led a low-level separatist insurgency in southern Senegal since the 1980s, and several peace deals have failed to resolve the conflict. Nevertheless, Senegal remains one of the most stable democracies in Africa. Senegal was ruled by a Socialist Party for 40 years until current President Abdoulaye WADE was elected in 2000. He was reelected in February 2007, but complaints of fraud led opposition parties to boycott June 2007 legislative polls. Senegal has a long history of participating in international peacekeeping. |
Birth rate | 20.16 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 37.4 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$3.31 billion expenditures: $5.55 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.) |
revenues: $2.212 billion
expenditures: $2.814 billion (2007 est.) |
Capital | Beirut | name: Dakar
geographic coordinates: 14 40 N, 17 26 W time difference: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Climate | Mediterranean; mild to cool, wet winters with hot, dry summers; Lebanon mountains experience heavy winter snows | tropical; hot, humid; rainy season (May to November) has strong southeast winds; dry season (December to April) dominated by hot, dry, harmattan wind |
Coastline | 225 km | 531 km |
Constitution | 23 May 1926, amended a number of times, most recently Charter of Lebanese National Reconciliation (Taif Accord) of October 1989 | adopted 7 January 2001 |
Country name | conventional long form:
Lebanese Republic conventional short form: Lebanon local long form: Al Jumhuriyah al Lubnaniyah local short form: Lubnan |
conventional long form: Republic of Senegal
conventional short form: Senegal local long form: Republique du Senegal local short form: Senegal former: Senegambia (along with The Gambia), Mali Federation |
Currency | Lebanese pound (LBP) | - |
Death rate | 6.39 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 10.96 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Debt - external | $9.6 billion (2000 est.) | $1.604 billion (31 December 2007 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador David M. SATTERFIELD embassy: Antelias, Beirut mailing address: P. O. Box 70-840, Antelias, Beirut; PSC 815, Box 2, FPO AE 09836-0002 telephone: [961] (4) 543600, 543600 FAX: [961] (4) 544136 |
chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Jay Thomas Smith
embassy: Avenue Jean XXIII at the corner of Rue Kleber, Dakar mailing address: B. P. 49, Dakar telephone: [221] 33-823-4296 FAX: [221] 33-822-2991 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Dr. Farid ABBOUD chancery: 2560 28th Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 939-6300 FAX: [1] (202) 939-6324 consulate(s) general: Detroit, New York, and Los Angeles |
chief of mission: Ambassador Amadou Lamine BA
chancery: 2112 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 234-0540 FAX: [1] (202) 332-6315 consulate(s) general: Houston, New York |
Disputes - international | Syrian troops in northern, central, and eastern Lebanon since October 1976; Lebanese government claims Shab'a Farms area of Israeli-occupied Golan Heights as a part of Lebanon from which Hizballah conducts cross-border attacks | The Gambia and Guinea-Bissau attempt to stem separatist violence, cross border raids, and arms smuggling into their countries from Senegal's Casamance region, and in 2006, respectively accepted 6,000 and 10,000 Casamance residents fleeing the conflict; 2,500 Guinea-Bissau residents fled into Senegal in 2006 to escape armed confrontations along the border |
Economic aid - recipient | $3.5 billion (pledges 1997-2001) | $689.3 million (2005 est.) |
Economy - overview | The 1975-91 civil war seriously damaged Lebanon's economic infrastructure, cut national output by half, and all but ended Lebanon's position as a Middle Eastern entrepot and banking hub. Peace enabled the central government to restore control in Beirut, begin collecting taxes, and regain access to key port and government facilities. Economic recovery was helped by a financially sound banking system and resilient small- and medium-scale manufacturers. Family remittances, banking services, manufactured and farm exports, and international aid provided the main sources of foreign exchange. Lebanon's economy has made impressive gains since the launch in 1993 of "Horizon 2000," the government's $20 billion reconstruction program. Real GDP grew 8% in 1994, 7% in 1995, 4% per year in 1996 and 1997 but slowed to 2% in 1998, -1% in 1999, and 1% in 2000. Annual inflation fell during the course of the 1990s from more than 100% to 0%, and foreign exchange reserves jumped from $1.4 billion to more than $6 billion. Burgeoning capital inflows have generated foreign payments surpluses, and the Lebanese pound has remained very stable for the past two years. Lebanon has rebuilt much of its war-torn physical and financial infrastructure. Solidere, a $2-billion firm, has managed the reconstruction of Beirut's central business district; the stock market reopened in January 1996; and international banks and insurance companies are returning. The government nonetheless faces serious challenges in the economic arena. It has funded reconstruction by tapping foreign exchange reserves and by borrowing heavily - mostly from domestic banks. The newly re-installed HARIRI government's announced policies fail to address the ever-increasing budgetary deficits and national debt burden. The gap between rich and poor has widened in the 1990s, resulting in grassroots dissatisfaction over the skewed distribution of the reconstruction's benefits. | 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 over 5% annually during 1995-2007. Annual inflation had been pushed down to the low single digits. As a member of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), Senegal is working toward greater regional integration with a unified external tariff and a more stable monetary policy. High unemployment, however, continues to prompt illegal migrants to flee Senegal in search of better job opportunities in Europe. Senegal was also beset by an energy crisis that caused widespread blackouts in 2006 and 2007. The phosphate industry has struggled for two years to secure capital, and reduced output has directly impacted GDP. In 2007, Senegal signed agreements for major new mining concessions for iron, zircon, and gold with foreign companies. Firms from Dubai have agreed to manage and modernize Dakar's maritime port, and create a new special economic zone. Senegal still relies heavily upon outside donor assistance. Under the IMF's Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) debt relief program, Senegal has benefited from eradication of two-thirds of its bilateral, multilateral, and private-sector debt. In 2007, Senegal and the IMF agreed to a new, non-disbursing, Policy Support Initiative program. |
Electricity - consumption | 7.86 billion kWh (1999) | 1.456 billion kWh (2005) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2005) |
Electricity - imports | 654 million kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2005) |
Electricity - production | 7.748 billion kWh (1999) | 2.223 billion kWh (2005) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
91.29% hydro: 8.71% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
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Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Mediterranean Sea 0 m highest point: Qurnat as Sawda' 3,088 m |
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed feature near Nepen Diakha 581 m |
Environment - current issues | deforestation; soil erosion; desertification; air pollution in Beirut from vehicular traffic and the burning of industrial wastes; pollution of coastal waters from raw sewage and oil spills | wildlife populations threatened by poaching; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification; overfishing |
Environment - international agreements | party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation |
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling |
Ethnic groups | Arab 95%, Armenian 4%, other 1% | Wolof 43.3%, Pular 23.8%, Serer 14.7%, Jola 3.7%, Mandinka 3%, Soninke 1.1%, European and Lebanese 1%, other 9.4% |
Exchange rates | Lebanese pounds per US dollar - 1,507.5 (January 2001), 1,507.5 (2000), 1,507.8 (1999), 1,516.1 (1998), 1,539.5 (1997), 1,571.4 (1996) | Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 481.83 (2007), 522.89 (2006), 527.47 (2005), 528.29 (2004), 581.2 (2003) |
Executive branch | chief of state:
President Emile LAHUD (since 24 November 1998) head of government: Prime Minister Rafiq HARIRI (since 23 October 2000); Deputy Prime Minister Issam FARES (since 23 October 2000) cabinet: Cabinet chosen by the prime minister in consultation with the president and members of the National Assembly; the current Cabinet was formed in 1998 elections: president elected by the National Assembly for a six-year term; election last held 15 October 1998 (next to be held NA 2004); prime minister and deputy prime minister appointed by the president in consultation with the National Assembly; by custom, the president is a Maronite Christian, the prime minister is a Sunni Muslim, and the speaker of the legislature is a Shi'a Muslim election results: Emile LAHUD elected president; National Assembly vote - 118 votes in favor, 0 against, 10 abstentions |
chief of state: President Abdoulaye WADE (since 1 April 2000)
head of government: Prime Minister Cheikh Hadjibou SOUMARE (since 19 June 2007) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the prime minister in consultation with the president elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term) under new constitution; election last held on 25 February 2007 (next to be held in 2012); prime minister appointed by the president election results: Abdoulaye WADE reelected president in the first round of voting; percent of vote - Abdoulaye WADE 55.9%, Idrissa SECK 14.9%, Ousmane Tanor DIENG 13.6%, Moustapha NIASSE 5.9%, other 9.7% |
Exports | $700 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | 3,889 bbl/day (2004) |
Exports - commodities | foodstuffs and tobacco, textiles, chemicals, precious stones, metal and metal products, electrical equipment and products, jewelry, paper and paper products | fish, groundnuts (peanuts), petroleum products, phosphates, cotton |
Exports - partners | UAE 9%, Saudi Arabia 8%, Syria 6%, US 6%, Kuwait 6%, France 5%, Belgium 5%, Jordan 4% (1999) | Mali 19.2%, France 8.3%, India 5.8%, Gambia, The 5.3%, Spain 5.1%, Italy 4.9% (2006) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | three horizontal bands of red (top), white (double width), and red with a green and brown cedar tree centered in the white band | three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), yellow, and red with a small green five-pointed star centered in the yellow band; uses the popular pan-African colors of Ethiopia |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $18.2 billion (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
12% industry: 27% services: 61% (1999 est.) |
agriculture: 16.7%
industry: 18.9% services: 64.4% (2007 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $5,000 (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - real growth rate | 1% (2000 est.) | 4.6% (2007 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 33 50 N, 35 50 E | 14 00 N, 14 00 W |
Geography - note | Nahr al Litani only major river in Near East not crossing an international boundary; rugged terrain historically helped isolate, protect, and develop numerous factional groups based on religion, clan, and ethnicity | westernmost country on the African continent; The Gambia is almost an enclave within Senegal |
Highways | total:
7,300 km paved: 6,350 km unpaved: 950 km (1999 est.) |
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Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%: 2.7%
highest 10%: 33.4% (2001) |
Illicit drugs | inconsequential producer of hashish; a Lebanese/Syrian eradication campaign started in the early 1990s has practically eliminated the opium and cannabis crops | transshipment point for Southwest and Southeast Asian heroin and South American cocaine moving to Europe and North America; illicit cultivator of cannabis |
Imports | $6.2 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | 37,180 bbl/day (2004) |
Imports - commodities | foodstuffs, machinery and transport equipment, consumer goods, chemicals, textiles, metals, fuels, agricultural foods | food and beverages, capital goods, fuels |
Imports - partners | Italy 13%, France 11%, Germany 8%, US 7%, Switzerland 6%, Japan, UK, Syria (1999) | France 25.1%, UK 5.2%, Thailand 4.8%, China 4.5%, Spain 4% (2006) |
Independence | 22 November 1943 (from League of Nations mandate under French administration) | 4 April 1960 (from France); note - complete independence achieved upon dissolution of federation with Mali on 20 August 1960 |
Industrial production growth rate | NA% | 2.7% (2007 est.) |
Industries | banking; food processing; jewelry; cement; textiles; mineral and chemical products; wood and furniture products; oil refining; metal fabricating | agricultural and fish processing, phosphate mining, fertilizer production, petroleum refining, construction materials, ship construction and repair |
Infant mortality rate | 28.35 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | total: 60.15 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 64.06 deaths/1,000 live births female: 56.12 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 0% (2000 est.) | 5.4% (2007 est.) |
International organization participation | ABEDA, ACCT, AFESD, AL, AMF, CCC, ESCWA, FAO, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITU, NAM, OAS (observer), OIC, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNRWA, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer) | ACCT, ACP, AfDB, AU, ECOWAS, FAO, FZ, G-15, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, MINURCAT, MONUC, NAM, OIC, OIF, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, Union Latina, UNMIL, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WADB (regional), WAEMU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 22 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | 860 sq km (1993 est.) | 1,200 sq km (2003) |
Judicial branch | four Courts of Cassation (three courts for civil and commercial cases and one court for criminal cases); Constitutional Council (called for in Ta'if Accord - rules on constitutionality of laws); Supreme Council (hears charges against the president and prime minister as needed) | Constitutional Court; Council of State; Court of Final Appeals or Cour de Cassation; Court of Appeals |
Labor force | 1.3 million (1999 est.)
note: in addition, there are as many as 1 million foreign workers (1997 est.) |
4.85 million (2007 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | services NA%, industry NA%, agriculture NA% | agriculture: 77%
industry and services: 23% (1990 est.) |
Land boundaries | total:
454 km border countries: Israel 79 km, Syria 375 km |
total: 2,640 km
border countries: The Gambia 740 km, Guinea 330 km, Guinea-Bissau 338 km, Mali 419 km, Mauritania 813 km |
Land use | arable land:
18% permanent crops: 9% permanent pastures: 1% forests and woodland: 8% other: 64% (1996 est.) |
arable land: 12.51%
permanent crops: 0.24% other: 87.25% (2005) |
Languages | Arabic (official), French, English, Armenian | French (official), Wolof, Pulaar, Jola, Mandinka |
Legal system | mixture of Ottoman law, canon law, Napoleonic code, and civil law; no judicial review of legislative acts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | based on French civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts in Constitutional Court; the Council of State audits the government's accounting office; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations |
Legislative branch | unicameral National Assembly or Majlis Alnuwab (Arabic) or Assemblee Nationale (French) (128 seats; members elected by popular vote on the basis of sectarian proportional representation to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 27 August and 3 September 2000 (next to be held NA 2004) election results: percent of vote by party - Muslim 57% (of which Sunni 25%, Sh'ite 25%, Druze 6%, Alawite less than 1%), Christian 43% (of which Maronite 23%); seats by party - Muslim 64 (of which Sunni 27, Sh'ite 27, Druze 8, Alawite 2), Christian 64 (of which Maronite 34) |
bicameral Parliament consisting of the National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale (150 seats; 90 members elected by direct popular vote with the remaining members elected by proportional representation from party lists to serve five-year terms) and the Senate reinstituted in 2007 (100 seats; 35 indirectly elected with the remaining 65 members to be appointed by the president)
elections: National Assembly - last held on 3 June 2007 (next to be held 2012); note - the National Assembly in December 2005 voted to postpone legislative elections originally scheduled for 2006; legislative elections were first rescheduled to coincide with the 25 February 2007 presidential elections and later rescheduled for 3 June 2007; the June election was boycotted by 12 opposition parties, including the former ruling Socialist Party, that resulted in a record-low, 35-percent voter turnout; Senate - last held 19 August 2007 (next to be held - NA) election results: National Assembly results - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - SOPI Coalition 131, other 19; Senate results - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PDS 34, AJ/PADS 1, 65 appointed by the president |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
71.52 years male: 69.13 years female: 74.03 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 56.69 years
male: 55.34 years female: 58.09 years (2007 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 86.4% male: 90.8% female: 82.2% (1997 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 39.3% male: 51.1% female: 29.2% (2002 est.) |
Location | Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Israel and Syria | Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea-Bissau and Mauritania |
Map references | Middle East | Africa |
Maritime claims | territorial sea:
12 NM |
territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin |
Merchant marine | total:
71 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 379,705 GRT/592,672 DWT ships by type: bulk 10, cargo 42, chemical tanker 1, combination bulk 1, combination ore/oil 1, container 4, liquefied gas 1, livestock carrier 5, refrigerated cargo 1, roll on/roll off 2, vehicle carrier 3 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Netherlands 1, Syria 1 (2000 est.) |
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Military branches | Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF; includes Army, Navy, and Air Force) | Army, Senegalese Navy (Marine Senegalaise), Senegalese Air Force (Armee de l'Air du Senegal) (2007) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $343 million (FY99/00) | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 4.8% (FY99/00) | 1.4% (2005 est.) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
980,412 (2001 est.) |
- |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
605,332 (2001 est.) |
- |
National holiday | Independence Day, 22 November (1943) | Independence Day, 4 April (1960) |
Nationality | noun:
Lebanese (singular and plural) adjective: Lebanese |
noun: Senegalese (singular and plural)
adjective: Senegalese |
Natural hazards | dust storms, sandstorms | lowlands seasonally flooded; periodic droughts |
Natural resources | limestone, iron ore, salt, water-surplus state in a water-deficit region, arable land | fish, phosphates, iron ore |
Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Pipelines | crude oil 72 km (none in operation) | gas 43 km (2007) |
Political parties and leaders | political party activity is organized along largely sectarian lines; numerous political groupings exist, consisting of individual political figures and followers motivated by religious, clan, and economic considerations | African Party of Independence [Majhemout DIOP]; And-Jef/African Party for Democracy and Socialism or (AJ/PADS) [Landing SAVANE]; Alliance of Forces of Progress or AFP [Moustapha NIASSE]; Democratic League-Labor Party Movement or LD-MPT [Dr. Abdoulaye BATHILY]; Front for Socialism and Democracy/Benno Jubel or FSD/BJ [Cheikh Abdoulaye Bamba DIEYE]; Gainde Centrist Bloc or BGC [Jean-Paul DIAS]; Independence and Labor Party or PIT [Amath DANSOKHO]; Jef-Jel [Talla SYLLA]; National Democratic Rally or RND [Madior DIOUF]; People's Labor Party or PTP [Elhadji DIOUF]; Reform Party or PR [Abdourahim AGNE]; Senegalese Democratic Party or PDS [Abdoulaye WADE]; Socialist Party or PS [Ousmane Tanor DIENG]; SOPI Coalition [Abdoulaye WADE] (a coalition led by the PDS); Union for Democratic Renewal or URD [Djibo Leyti KA] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | labor; Sufi brotherhoods, including the Mourides and Tidjanes; students; teachers |
Population | 3,627,774 (July 2001 est.) | 12,521,851 (July 2007 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 28% (1999 est.) | 54% (2001 est.) |
Population growth rate | 1.38% (2001 est.) | 2.645% (2007 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Antilyas, Batroun, Beirut, Chekka, El Mina, Ez Zahrani, Jbail, Jounie, Naqoura, Sidon, Tripoli, Tyre | - |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 20, FM 22, shortwave 4 (1998) | AM 8, FM 20, shortwave 1 (2001) |
Radios | 2.85 million (1997) | - |
Railways | total:
399 km (mostly unusable because of damage in civil war) standard gauge: 317 km 1.435-m narrow gauge: 82 km (1999) |
total: 906 km
narrow gauge: 906 km 1.000 meter gauge (2006) |
Religions | Muslim 70% (including Shi'a, Sunni, Druze, Isma'ilite, Alawite or Nusayri), Christian 30% (including Orthodox Christian, Catholic, Protestant), Jewish NEGL% | Muslim 94%, Christian 5% (mostly Roman Catholic), indigenous beliefs 1% |
Sex ratio | at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.91 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.84 male(s)/female total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.018 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.992 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.886 male(s)/female total population: 1 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
Suffrage | 21 years of age; compulsory for all males; authorized for women at age 21 with elementary education | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment:
telecommunications system severely damaged by civil war; rebuilding well underway domestic: primarily microwave radio relay and cable international: satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean and 1 Atlantic Ocean) (erratic operations); coaxial cable to Syria; microwave radio relay to Syria but inoperable beyond Syria to Jordan; 3 submarine coaxial cables |
general assessment: good system
domestic: above-average urban system; more than half of all fixed-line connections are in Dakar with expansion of fixed-line services in rural areas needed; mobile-cellular service is expanding rapidly; microwave radio relay, coaxial cable and fiber-optic cable in trunk system international: country code - 221; the SAT-3/WASC fiber optic cable provides connectivity to Europe and Asia while Atlantis-2 provides connectivity to South America; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 700,000 (1999) | 282,600 (2006) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 580,000 (1999) | 2.983 million (2006) |
Television broadcast stations | 15 (plus 5 repeaters) (1995) | 4 (2007) |
Terrain | narrow coastal plain; Al Biqa' (Bekaa Valley) separates Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon Mountains | generally low, rolling, plains rising to foothills in southeast |
Total fertility rate | 2.05 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 5 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 18% (1997 est.) | 48%; note - urban youth 45% (2001 est.) |
Waterways | none | 1,000 km (primarily on Senegal, Saloum, and Casamance rivers) (2005) |