SenegalSénégal

The Senegal River valley was among the first parts of West Africa to meet Islam: Takrur, a Fula and Tukulor state on the middle river, had a Muslim king by the 11th century and sent warriors north with the Almoravids. Later the Jolof empire united Wolof country, then broke apart in the 16th century into the kingdoms of Kajoor, Bawol, Waalo and Jolof, while Serer kingdoms held the Sine and the Saloum.

Portuguese ships reached Cap-Vert in 1444. Over the next three centuries the Dutch, English and French fought for trading posts: Gorée off the Dakar peninsula, Saint-Louis at the river mouth, and forts on the Gambia. Gum arabic, hides and gold were traded, and so were people. Historians debate how many enslaved Africans passed through Gorée itself — the island was smaller than the great ports farther south — but it has become the country's memorial to the whole trade.

Coastal towns grew a mixed society: the signares, African and Eurafrican women who ran trading houses in Saint-Louis and Gorée, and Catholic mulatto families who later formed the first local political class.

In the 19th century Governor Louis Faidherbe pushed French rule up the river and into the Wolof kingdoms, building the Dakar–Saint-Louis railway that ruined the old states' control of the groundnut trade. Lat Dior, ruler of Kajoor, fought the line until he was killed in 1886; he is now a national hero.

Residents of the Four Communes — Saint-Louis, Gorée, Rufisque and Dakar — held French citizenship rights, and in 1914 they elected Blaise Diagne, the first black African in the French parliament. Dakar became the capital of French West Africa in 1902 and the region's port, university and administrative centre.

Léopold Sédar Senghor, poet and co-founder of the Négritude movement, led the country to independence in 1960, first briefly in the Mali Federation with today's Mali. He governed for twenty years and then retired voluntarily, rare in Africa at the time. Abdou Diouf followed; in 2000 he lost to Abdoulaye Wade and handed over power, and in 2012 Wade lost to Macky Sall.

In 2024, after an election delay sparked protests, voters chose Bassirou Diomaye Faye, a former tax inspector released from prison days before the vote, with Ousmane Sonko as prime minister. The new government has pushed for economic sovereignty and saw French forces leave their last bases in 2025.

Most Senegalese are Muslim, and most belong to a Sufi order: the Mouridiyya, founded by Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba; the Tijaniyya, centred on Tivaouane and Kaolack; the Layène of the Lebu fishing community in Yoff; and the older Qadiriyya. Followers pledge allegiance to a marabout, a spiritual guide, and the orders run schools, farms and businesses.

Bamba's exile by the French and his peaceful resistance are central to Mouride identity. His city, Touba, is effectively self-governing, bans alcohol and tobacco, and receives millions at the Grand Magal each year. The brotherhoods mediate between state and society, and politicians visit the religious capitals before elections.

Christians, mostly Catholic, are about 5% of the population, concentrated among the Serer and in Casamance; interfaith marriages and shared holidays are common, and Senghor himself was Catholic.

Senegal is flat: its highest point, in the south-east near Kédougou, barely passes 580 m. The Senegal River forms the northern border with Mauritania, watering a strip of irrigated rice and a Fula herding culture; the Saloum and Casamance rivers end in mangrove deltas; the Gambia cuts the country almost in two.

Climate runs from Sahelian in the north to humid tropical in Casamance. The coast is cooled by the Canary Current and trade winds, which is why Dakar stays mild while Tambacounda passes 40 °C. The rains come from July to October; the rest of the year is dry, with the dusty Harmattan wind from the Sahara in the first months of the year.

Coastal erosion eats into Saint-Louis's Langue de Barbarie, and overfishing by foreign trawlers has pushed many young fishermen to attempt the dangerous pirogue crossing to the Canary Islands.

Mbalax — dance music driven by the sabar drums of Wolof celebrations — made Youssou N'Dour a world star; Baaba Maal sings the Fula music of the river; Orchestra Baobab mixed Cuban son with local sounds in the 1970s. Griots, the hereditary musicians and historians, still perform at naming ceremonies and weddings.

Laamb, Senegalese wrestling, is the most popular sport, with stars paid more than footballers and bouts preceded by drumming and protective charms. Football follows: the national team won the Africa Cup of Nations in 2022.

Dakar hosts the Biennale of contemporary African art (Dak'Art), and Ousmane Sembène, the father of African cinema, filmed here. Painting on glass (souwère) and colourful car rapides — now being retired — are the popular arts.

Teranga, Wolof for hospitality, is a national point of pride: guests are fed first and pressed to eat more. Lunch is the main meal, served in a single large bowl around which the family eats, each from their own segment.

Thiéboudienne, fish and rice cooked in tomato broth, was reportedly first made in Saint-Louis and is on UNESCO's list of intangible heritage. Yassa comes from Casamance; mafé shows the importance of groundnuts, which Senegal has exported since the 19th century.

Attaya, strong sweet green tea, is brewed after meals in three rounds, from bitter to sweet, and making it is a social act. Street stalls sell café Touba, bissap and baobab juice.