Senegal in West Africa has long been considered one of the region’s model democracies, boasting a history of stable government and civilian rule. It borders 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. It also shares a maritime border with Cape Verde. Senegal’s economic and political capital is Dakar.
The country of Senegal is named after the Senegal River. The name of the river may derive from a Portuguese transliteration of the name of the Zenaga, also known as the Sanhaja. Alternatively, it could be a combination of the supreme deity in Serer religion (Rog Sene) and o gal meaning body of water in the Serer language. French author and priest David Boilat put forward the theory that the name derives from the Wolof phrase “sunuu gaal”, which means “our canoe”.
Almost two-fifths of Senegal’s people are Wolof, members of a highly stratified society whose traditional structure includes a hereditary nobility and a class of musicians and storytellers called griots. Contemporary Senegalese culture, especially its music and other arts, draws largely on Wolof sources, but the influences of other Senegalese groups (among them the Fulani, the Serer, the Diola, and the Malinke) are also evident. Wolof predominate in matters of state and commerce as well, and this dominance has fueled ethnic tension over time as less-powerful groups vie for parity with the Wolof majority.
In 1960, Senegal gained independence as part of the Mali Federation – an alliance linking Senegal and the Sudanese Republic (previously French Sudan). However, the federation lasted just two months when it was dissolved following Senegal’s secession and the Sudanese Republic became the Republic of Mali. In 1982, Senegal also briefly merged with Gambia to form a confederation to combine the countries’ military and security forces. Known as the Senegambian Confederation, it was dissolved in 1989.
The Senegalese flag has green, yellow and red vertical stripes with a central green star. These are pan-African colours with green (along with the star) representing hope and the country’s major religion (Islam), yellow representing the natural riches and the wealth obtained through labour and red representing the struggle for independence, life and socialism.
The region today known as Senegal was long a part of the ancient Ghana and Djolof kingdoms and an important node on trans-Saharan caravan routes. It was also an early point of European contact and was contested by England, France, Portugal, and the Netherlands before ultimately coming under French control in the late 19th century. It remained a colony of France until 1960, when, under the leadership of the writer and statesman Léopold Senghor, it gained its independence—first as part of the short-lived Mali Federation and then as a wholly sovereign state.
Senegal, being a Muslim country, takes its sacrifices very seriously. The Tabaski or Eid al-Adha is a time when sheep and goats sell like hot cakes when every family wants an animal to sacrifice. Not a great time for PETA to be in town. Because Senegal borders the Atlantic Ocean, fish is very important in Senegalese cooking. Chicken, lamb, peas, eggs, and beef are also used, but pork is usually not due to the nation’s largely Muslim population. Peanuts, Senegal’s primary cash crop, as well as millet, white rice, sweet potatoes, cassava, black-eyed peas and various vegetables, are also incorporated into many recipes. Meats and vegetables are typically stewed or marinated in herbs and spices, and then poured over rice or millet couscous or eaten with bread.
