Home/Countries/Senegal

West Africa

Senegal

Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea-Bissau and Mauritania.

Muslim population97.2%of the population

Population19.6 millionpeople (current)

CapitalDakarUTC 0

Currency606 = $1Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) (2024)

Country basics

Senegal is a West African republic on the Atlantic, at the westernmost point of the continent.

Senegal is a republic with Dakar as its capital and French as its official language, alongside Wolof and other national languages. The West African CFA franc is the currency, and fish, phosphates, gold and groundnuts lead exports.

Official name

Republic of Senegal

Region

Africa · Western Africa

Government

Unitary semi-presidential republic

Time zonesCheck the offset for your own city

UTC

Driving side

Right

Phone code

+221

Currency

West African CFA franc (XOF, Fr)

Member of

UN; African Union

Website

https://www.gouv.sn

Faith and language

Religions

Muslim 97.2% (most adhere to one of the four main Sufi brotherhoods), Christian 2.7% (mostly Roman Catholic)

Languages

French

People and cities

Population

19.6 million (current)

Median ageHalf the population is younger than this

19.4 years (2025)

Living in cities

49.6% (2023)

Largest cities

Dakar (capital) 3.340 million

Money and cost of living

Exchange rateYearly average; check today’s rate before you budget

606 Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar (2024)

Income per personGDP per person, adjusted for local prices (2021 dollars)

$4,500 (2024)

InflationHow much prices rose over the year

0.8% (2024)

Unemployment

3% (2024)

Health and daily life

Life expectancy

70.6 years (2024)

Doctors

0.11 per 1,000 people (2023)

Hospital beds

0.7 per 1,000 people (2019)

Safe drinking water

86.2% of people (2022)

Electricity

67.9% of people (2022)

Internet users

61% of people (2023)

Literacy

50.4% of adults (2023)

Land and climate

Climate

Tropical; hot, humid; rainy season (May to November) has strong southeast winds; dry season (December to April) dominated by hot, dry, harmattan wind

SizeSlightly smaller than South Dakota; slightly larger than twice the size of Indiana

196,722 sq km

Natural hazards

Lowlands seasonally flooded; periodic droughts

National holiday

Independence Day, 4 April (1960)