Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. Senegal is bordered by Mauritania to the north, Mali to the east, Guinea to the southeast and Guinea-Bissau to the southwest. Senegal nearly surrounds The Gambia, a country occupying a narrow sliver of land along the banks of the Gambia River, which separates Senegal's southern region of Casamance from the rest of the country. Senegal also shares a maritime border with Cape Verde. Senegal's economic and political capital is Dakar.
Senegal's first President, Léopold Senghor, advocated close relations with France and negotiation and compromise as the best means of resolving international differences after Senegal's independence from its status as a French colony. To a large extent, the two succeeding presidents, Abdou Diouf and Abdoulaye Wade, have carried on Senghor's policies and philosophies. Senegal has long supported functional integration among French-speaking West African states through the West African Economic and Monetary Union.
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, coming second place with about 15% of the vote.
Macky Sall is a Senegalese politician who served as the 4th President of Senegal from 2012 to 2024. He previously served as the 8th Prime Minister of Senegal from July 2004 to June 2007, under President Abdoulaye Wade and President of the National Assembly from June 2007 to November 2008.
Presidential elections were held in Senegal on 26 February 2012, amidst controversy over the constitutional validity of a third term for incumbent president Abdoulaye Wade. In the runoff on 25 March, Macky Sall defeated the incumbent president. The 2015 documentary film Incorruptible chronicles both campaigns as well as the youth movement Y'en a Marre, which led protests against Wade's administration.
Women in Senegal have a traditional social status as shaped by local custom and religion. According to 2005 survey, the female genital mutilation prevalence rate stands at 28% of all women in Senegal aged between 15 and 49.
Abdoul Mbaye is a Senegalese banker and politician who was Prime Minister of Senegal from April 2012 until September 2013. He is a technocrat who was appointed prime minister by President Macky Sall following the latter's win in the 2012 presidential election.
Aminata Touré is a Senegalese politician who served as the Prime Minister of Senegal from 1 September 2013 to 4 July 2014. She was the second female Prime Minister of Senegal after Mame Madior Boye, and she previously served as Justice Minister from 2012 to 2013. While campaigning for the upcoming elections in February 2024, she was arrested by the police and detained for six hours though never charged with any crime.
Mahammed Boun Abdallah Dionne was a Senegalese politician who served as the Prime Minister of Senegal from 2014 to 2019. He was the third prime minister appointed by President Macky Sall. Dionne served at the Central Bank of West African States, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (ONUDI), and as the advisor of the president, before his appointment as prime minister. He was a computer engineer by training.
Amadou Ba is a Senegalese politician who served as Prime Minister of Senegal from 17 September 2022 to 6 March 2024. He also served as the Foreign Minister of Senegal from 2019 to 2020. He was Minister of Finance and Economy from 2013–2019. Ba lost in the 2024 Senegalese presidential election against PASTEF tax inspector Bassirou Diomaye Faye. Faye replaced him with the leader of PASTEF, Ousmane Sonko.
Abdourahmane Sarr, in Paris, is a Senegalese economist who is the leader of the Movement for Rebirth, Liberty and Development (MRLD) - Moom sa Bopp, Mënël sa Bopp, a Senegalese social movement created in 2011, and the head of the Center for Local Economic Development Financing (CEFDEL), a think tank founded in 2010. He was appointed Minister of Economy, Planning and Cooperation on April 5, 2024 in the Government of Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko.
The Manko Taxawu Sénégal is a group of several political parties organised to contest the 2017 Senegalese legislative elections. The coalition was originally intended to form a unified opposition list to challenge President Macky Sall's Benno Bokk Yakaar coalition, but negotiations among key opposition figures broke down over disputes on whether former President Abdoulaye Wade or imprisoned former Mayor of Dakar, Khalifa Sall, would head the list. Wade instead led his own coalition, Mako Wattu Senegal, into the election.
Soham El Wardini is a Senegalese politician and former mayor of Dakar, Senegal. She is the first woman to be mayor of post-independence Dakar and the first deputy mayor of the city.
Ousmane Sonko is a Senegalese politician and former tax inspector who is serving as the Prime Minister of Senegal since 2024. He is also the Leader of PASTEF ever since the party was founded in January 2014.
Events in the year 2021 in Senegal.
Parliamentary elections were held in Senegal on 31 July 2022 to elect the 165 members of the National Assembly. President Macky Sall's United in Hope coalition remained the largest bloc in the National Assembly but lost its majority it had held since 2012.
The African Patriots of Senegal for Work, Ethics and Fraternity, or just Patriots of Senegal, is a Senegalese political party founded in 2014 by Ousmane Sonko.
Presidential elections were held in Senegal on 24 March 2024. Incumbent president Macky Sall was ineligible to pursue a third term due to term limits in the Constitution of Senegal.
The 2023–2024 Senegalese protests broke out in Senegal on 1 June 2023 following opposition leader Ousmane Sonko's conviction for corrupting young people, which may disqualify him from standing in the 2024 Senegalese presidential election. At least 23 persons died during the protests and about 500 were arrested.
Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye, commonly known mononymously as Diomaye, is a Senegalese politician and former tax inspector who has served as the fifth and current President of Senegal since 2024. He is the general secretary of the banned party PASTEF, who won the 2024 Senegalese presidential election in place of disqualified candidate Ousmane Sonko, whom he later appointed as Prime Minister of Senegal.
