Abdoulaye Wade is a Senegalese politician who was President of Senegal from 2000 to 2012. He is also the Secretary-General of the Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS), having led the party since it was founded in 1974. A long-time opposition leader, he ran for President four times, beginning in 1978, before he was elected in 2000. He won re-election in 2007 with a majority in the first round, but in 2012 he was defeated in a controversial bid for a third term.
Idrissa Seck is a Senegalese politician who was Prime Minister of Senegal from November 2002 to July 2004. He was a leading member of the Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS) and was considered a protégé of President Abdoulaye Wade, but he subsequently went into opposition and was a candidate in the February 2007 presidential election, taking second place with about 15% of the vote.
Senegal is subdivided into 14 regions, each of which is administered by a Conseil Régional elected by population weight at the arrondissement level. Senegal is further subdivided into 45 departments, 103 arrondissements and by collectivités locales which elect administrative officers. Three of these regions were created on 10 September 2008, when Kaffrine Region was split from Kaolack, Kédougou region was split from Tambacounda, and Sédhiou region was split from Kolda.
Ousmane Sembène, often credited in the French style as Sembène Ousmane in articles and reference works, was a Senegalese film director, producer and writer. The Los Angeles Times considered him one of the greatest authors of Africa and he has often been called the "father of African film". Descended from a Serer family through his mother from the line of Matar Sène, Ousmane Sembène was particularly drawn to Serer religious festivals especially the Tuur festival.
Moustapha Niasse is a Senegalese politician and diplomat who has been President of the National Assembly from 2012 until 2022. He served in the government of Senegal as Foreign Minister of Senegal from 1978 to 1984 and again from 1993 to 1998. He was Prime Minister of Senegal for a few weeks in 1983, and he held that position again from 2000 to 2001.
Amath Dansokho was a Senegalese politician. He was Secretary-General of the Party of Independence and Work (PIT) for years; he also served in the government of Senegal as Minister of Urban Planning and Housing from 1991 to 1995 and again, briefly, in 2000. He was mayor of Kédougou for a time. Since 2012, he was a special adviser to the president of Senegal; he was also honorary president of the PIT.
Fama Diagne Sène is a Senegalese writer. Educated in Thiès, she became a teacher there. Ken Bugul listed her among "illustrious women" in Senegalese literature. In 1997, she won the presidential award for art and literature with Chant des ténèbres. Born to a Serer family, Fama's controversial play Mbilem ou le baobab du lion denounces Serer tradition and received great criticism from the Serer traditionalists of Senegal. The Mbilim is a religious festival in the Serer calendar, celebrated once a year and is equivalent to the new year. In pre-colonial times, right until recently, some Serer griots were buried in the trunks of a baobab tree rather than buried in a pyramid tomb with all the regalia dictated by Serer religion. Tomb burial and mummification were always given to the Serer nobility, but some Serer griots were not buried this way. In this play, she criticises this tradition and came head on with the Serer priestly class.
Louis Jacques Senghor is a Senegalese politician, and was a candidate in the February 2007 presidential election. He was the candidate of the Senegalese People's Liberal Movement (MLPS). Senghor is the grandson of the first Senegalese president, Léopold Sédar Senghor.
Iba Der Thiam, also known as I. D. Thiam, was a Senegalese writer, historian, and politician. He served in the government of Senegal as Minister of Education from 1983 to 1988; later, he was First Vice-President of the National Assembly of Senegal from 2001 to 2012.
Pape Diop is a Senegalese politician and a leading member of the Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS) who was President of the Senate of Senegal from 2007 to 2012. He was Mayor of Dakar, the capital city, from 2002 to 2009, as well as President of the National Assembly from 2002 to 2007.
Abdou Latif Guèye was a Senegalese politician. He was Secretary-General of the Senegalese Democratic Rally (RDS), as well as the head of Jamra, a non-governmental organization. He was the Sixth Vice-President of the National Assembly of Senegal from 2007 to 2008.
Senegalese wrestling is a type of folk wrestling traditionally performed by the Serer people and now a national sport in Senegal and parts of The Gambia, and is part of a larger West African form of traditional wrestling. The Senegalese form traditionally allows blows with the hands (frappe), the only one of the West African traditions to do so. As a larger confederation and championship around Lutte Traditionnelle has developed since the 1990s, Senegalese fighters now practice both forms, called officially Lutte Traditionnelle sans frappe and Lutte Traditionnelle avec frappe for the striking version.
The cinema of Senegal is a relatively small film industry which experienced its prime from the 1960s through to the early 1980s, but has since declined to less than five feature films produced in the last ten years.
Dominique Mendy is a Senegalese professional footballer who plays in the Championnat de France amateur for Olympique Noisy-le-Sec.
Mahama Johnson Traoré (1942–2010) was a Senegalese film director, writer, and co-founder of the Ouagadougou-based Pan-African Cinema Festival (FESPACO).
Ibrahima Fall is a Senegalese political leader, professor, former government minister, and Presidential candidate.
Joof or Diouf is a surname that is typically Serer. This surname is also spelt Juuf or Juf.
The Njuup tradition is a Serer style of music rooted in the Ndut initiation rite, which is a rite of passage that young Serers must go through once in their lifetime as commanded in the Serer religion.
The patronym Faye is one of the typical surnames of the Serer people of Senegal, the Gambia and Mauritania. In French-speaking Senegal and Mauritania, and English-speaking Gambia, the surname is spelled Faye.
Angèle Diabang Brener is a Senegalese screenwriter, director and film producer.
