Senegal officially the Republic of Senegal, is a country of West Africa. It owes its name to the Senegal River, which marks the eastern and northern frontiers of the country. Senegal borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Mauritania to the north, Mali to the east, and Guinea to Guinea-Bissau to the south. Gambia forms a virtual enclave within Senegal, following the Gambia River for more than 300 km inland. The islands of Cape Verde are located 560 km offshore, off the Senegalese coast. The country’s population is estimated at approximately 13 million people. The climate is tropical with two seasons, one dry and one rainy.
Dakar, the capital of Senegal, is located in the westernmost point of the country, in the Cape Verde Peninsula. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, many trading posts belonging to different colonial powers were established on the coast. The city of St. Louis became at this time the capital of French West Africa before it moved to Dakar in 1902. Dakar later became its capital in 1960 at the time of the independence of France. Senegal is located in the western part of the African continent. The Senegalese landscape consists mainly of flat waved by the sand of the west of Sahel that grow until slopes of mountain in the Southeast. The northern border is formed by the river Senegal. Other notable rivers are the Gambia River and the Casamance River. The capital Dakar lies on the Cape Verde peninsula, the westernmost point of continental Africa.
The country extends over extends over 196,192 km2. Compared with neighboring countries (Mali and Mauritania), Senegal is a tiny country. It has about 13,000,000 million inhabitants and its political regime is a presidential democracy with two chambers.