User:Digerbop

Cultural The two important parts of the Senegalese culture are their cuisine, and their music. The main meats used in Senegalese cooking are chicken, lamb, and beef and fish. The primary crops are peanuts, couscous, white rice, bananas, sweet potatoes, and lentils, so these are used a lot in their cooking as well. Their music is very percussion based, and “mbalax” is a popular style of music. Mbalax is a style of music which is very rhythm intensive, but it uses modern western instruments such as electric guitars. Political Senegal has a republic government. They have an election every seven years for president. Senegal also has a total of 65 political parties. Senegal also runs under the standard three branches of government, these being the Executive branch, the Legislative branch, and the Judicial branch. Economical In Senegal, they use a currency called the Central African Franc (or the CFA) which has a fixed rate to the Euro. The GDP per capita is $1 800. Twenty-eight per cent of the people in Senegal are unemployed, and many of those that are employed get low wages. The top industries in Senegal are: agricultural processing, phosphate mining, production of fertilizer, petroleum refining, construction materials, and ship construction/repair. Among Senegal’s agricultural products there are: peanuts, millet, corn, sorghum, rice, cotton, tomatoes, green vegetables, cattle, poultry, pigs, and fish.

Physical Senegal is located in western Africa, directly south of the Sénégal River. Senegal has water from the Atlantic Ocean for it’s western border, and countries border the rest of it. The border countries for Senegal are Mauritania to the north, Mali to the east and both Guinea and Guinea-Bissau. Senegal’s landscape is rather homogenous, consisting of rolling sandy plains, which are part of the West African Sahel. In the southeast of the country these plains slowly rise to foothills. The Senegal River shapes the northern border of Senegal. Other rivers in the country would include the Gambia and Casamance Rivers. Dakar, the capital is situated on a tiny peninsula on the western side of the country known as the Cap-Vert. This peninsula is also the most western point in Africa. The Climate is Senegal is what you would call tropical. The country basically has two well-defined seasons of dry and humid. The annual rainfall in the capital of Dakar, which is 600mm, happens during the humid season, which consists of the month between June and October. The average temperature in the country at this time is about 27°C The minimum temperature in the country is around 17°C, which usually occurs during the months between December and February. Both the amount of rainfall, and the temperature increases as you go further south in the country.