Page last updated on January 27, 2020
Location:
Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea-Bissau and Mauritania
Geographic coordinates:
14 00 N, 14 00 W
Map references:
Africa
Area:
total: 196,722 sq km
[see also: Area - total country ranks ]
land: 192,530 sq km
[see also: Area - land country ranks ]
water: 4,192 sq km
[see also: Area - water country ranks ]
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
89
Area - comparative:
slightly smaller than South Dakota; slightly larger than twice the size of Indiana
Area comparison map:
slightly smaller than South Dakota; slightly larger than twice the size of Indiana
Land boundaries:
total: 2,684 km
[see also: Land boundaries - total country ranks ]
border countries (5):
The Gambia 749 km, Guinea 363 km, Guinea-Bissau 341 km, Mali 489 km, Mauritania 742 km
Coastline:
531 km
[see also: Coastline country ranks ]
Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 12
nm
[see also: Maritime claims - territorial sea country ranks ]
exclusive economic zone: 200
nm
[see also: Maritime claims - exclusive economic zone country ranks ]
contiguous zone: 24
nm
[see also: Maritime claims - contiguous zone country ranks ]
continental shelf: 200
nm or to the edge of the continental margin
[see also: Maritime claims - continental shelf country ranks ]
Climate:
tropical; hot, humid; rainy season (May to November) has strong southeast winds; dry season (December to April) dominated by hot, dry, harmattan wind
More Climate Details
Terrain:
generally low, rolling, plains rising to foothills in southeast
Elevation:
mean elevation: 69 m
[see also: Elevation - mean elevation country ranks ]
lowest point:
Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point:
unnamed elevation 2.8 km southeast of Nepen Diaka 648 m
Natural resources:
fish, phosphates, iron ore
Land use:
agricultural land: 46.8%
(2011 est.)
[see also: Land use - agricultural land country ranks ]
arable land: 17.4%
(2011 est.)
[see also: Land use - arable land country ranks ]
permanent crops: 0.3%
(2011 est.)
[see also: Land use - permanent crops country ranks ]
permanent pasture: 29.1%
(2011 est.)
[see also: Land use - permanent pasture country ranks ]
forest: 43.8%
(2011 est.)
[see also: Land use - forest country ranks ]
other: 9.4%
(2011 est.)
[see also: Land use country ranks ]
Irrigated land:
1,200 sq km
(2012)
[see also: Irrigated land country ranks ]
Population distribution:
the population is concentrated in the west, with Dakar anchoring a well-defined core area; approximately 70% of the population is rural
Natural hazards:
lowlands seasonally flooded; periodic droughts
Environment - current issues:
deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification; periodic droughts; seasonal flooding; overfishing; weak environmental protective laws; wildlife populations threatened by poaching
Environment - international agreements:
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
signed, but not ratified:
none of the selected agreements
Geography - note:
westernmost country on the African continent; The Gambia is almost an enclave within Senegal
NOTE: 1) The information regarding Senegal on this page is re-published from the 2020 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Senegal Geography 2020 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Senegal Geography 2020 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.
2) The rank that you see is the CIA reported rank, which may have the following issues:
a) They assign increasing rank number, alphabetically for countries with the same value of the ranked item, whereas we assign them the same rank.
b) The CIA sometimes assigns counterintuitive ranks. For example, it assigns unemployment rates in increasing order, whereas we rank them in decreasing order.
This page was last modified 27-Jan-20
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