|
Senegal sits on the
westernmost hump of Africa, well below the Tropic of Cancer. It is hot and
flat, about the size of Nebraska, 76,000 square miles. On the east, the
Faleme River flows north and marks the border with Mali. Independent from France in
1960, Senegal joined with The Gambia to form the nominal confederation of
Senegambia in 1982. However, the envisaged integration of the two
countries was never carried out, and the union was dissolved in 1989.
Despite peace talks, a southern separatist group sporadically has clashed
with government forces since 1982. Senegal has a long history of
participating in international peacekeeping.
The Senegal oil industry is
one of the key elements in the economy of the country. While the upstream
potential of the country has yet to be fully assessed, the downstream oil
industry is well-developed. There is an oil refinery at Dakar and many of
the major international oil companies have a presence in the country.
Senegal's mining industry is a small but important contributor to the
country's GDP and is an important source of export earnings. Other major
industries include maize, rice, sugarcane and livestock.
The Faleme flows into the Senegal
River which sweeps in a great arc to the northwestern corner of Senegal,
defining the national border with Mauritania. The southern boundary with
Guinea-Bissau and Guinea is an east-west line just south of the Casamance
River. Just north of Casamance is Gambia, a micro-nation along the Gambia
River encircled by Senegal. Next going north along the coast is the large
delta of the Saloum River and adjacent estuaries (the Sine Saloum) with a
growing resort industry. Thus, along the coast south of Dakar, the
Casamance, Gambia, and Sine Saloum form large estuaries, mangroves,
marshes, and mud-salt flats.
|
|
