HaCKeRz KrOnIcKLeZ 3/HaCKeRz_KrOnIcKLeZ.iso/anarchy/essays/schoolsucks/senegal.txt

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Geography
Senegal: An In Depth Study

    Senegal is a republic located in western Africa and has Dakar
which is its largest city as capital. On the northern border is located
Mauritania, on the east is Mali and on the Guinea. Senegal is also
bordered by the Atlantic ocean on the west. Located in the center of the
country is the small republic of Gambia. The county is pierced by the
River Gambia. (see figure: 1)

Figure 1



    Senegal primarily is made up of a large plain. The only real
exceptions to this are in the south east where relatively high elevations
exist. There are only a few rivers of any reasonable size in Senegal,
these include; the Saloum, Gambia, Casamance and of course the Senegal
which runs along the northern border of the country. Like all rivers,
these recess during dry seasons and surge forth during wet seasons.
    Like most other countries of this region in Africa, Senegal has a
vast multitude of climatic regions. These range from dry desert to a wet
tropical zone in the southern portion of the country leaving the dry
region to the north. There are two distinct seasons; the dry season, and
the rainy season. The latter lasts from July to October in the north.
(see figure: 2)

Figure 2

Here, the rainfall averages 350 mm . In the south the season starts a
month later in June but ends as it does in the north in October. In the
north the average yearly rainfall averages 1525 mm . In January the
average temperature is 22  degrees centigrade and in July it averages at
28  degrees centigrade. In Senegal the citizens to indeed have to endure
very diverse climatic conditions.

Figure 3

Figure 4
As mentioned before the northern portion of the country is dominated by
very dry desert like conditions while the south is a very wet region. The
northern portion of the Country is part of the Sahal which is a buffer
for the wetter southern part of the country against the Sahara which is
located to the north of the country. In the Sahel the vegetation
resembles that of the movie The Lion King in that it consists primarily
of savanna grasses with random outcroppings of small stunted shrubs (see
Figure: 3). As you move south towards the Gambia trees become more
common. Further south still, there are actual swamps and dense forests.
In these forests the typical tropical woods can be found including
mahogany, palms and bamboo. In the Gambia and the others rivers as well
crocodiles and hippopotamuses can be found. Other animals such as
elephants can be found in the eastern portion of the country. SenegalÆs
infamous varieties of snake include the cobra and the boa constrictor.

    Senegal possess many minerals and other natural resources. Among
these is SenegalÆs principal exploited mineral resource, phosphates.( see
figure:5) Iron ore is also present I but it has not yet been exploited
due to a lack of accessibility.  In the 1970Æs deposits of both natural
gas and petroleum were located off the western coast of Senegal.

Figure 5

    Senegal's economy is based primarily on agriculture.
The soul of the agricultural economy is based on peanuts,
literally.  Although this is the case Senegal has a growing
industrial sector which is the largest in West Africa.  Senegal
receives aid from France and other European countries through
the World Bank.  Senegal is starting to learn to budget, and is
now only spending $700 million  more than the country brings in
every year.
    About 27%  of SenegalÆs land is arable which is very

inproportionate to the 78%  of the population which relies on subsistence
farming.  Because of French colonization,  Senegal is now the leading
producer of peanuts in the world.  These peanuts are primarily grown in
the north-west but are also grown in other
parts of the country.  Peanuts and peanut oils constitute a significant
percent of the yearly export earnings ranging from
29% in the 80s to 12% in the early 90s .  Most of the land is

Figure 6
devoted to the production of peanuts and great strides have been


made recently to diversify the types of crops grown. (see Figure:6) Among
the
crops to be grown are; rice,  and tomatoes.  This will allow the
people of Senegal to produce food which could sustain its
population.  The traditional crops of Senegal are; sugarcane, millet and
sorghum, peanuts, rice, and maize.  The livestock
raised are; cattle,  sheep,  goats, and poultry.  Senegal's
coast is rich with fish. With the use of a modern fishing fleet
Senegal harvested over 319 700 tons which represented 23% of
export earnings in 1990 .
    Mining is not a small business in Senegal, 1990s
production of phosphates totaled 5.1 million cu m . There is also
a oil refinery which processes oil for foreign oil as well as
domestic.  Senegal also employs other processing plants such as
those used for peanuts, flour, chemicals, and tobacco products.
    There are several power plants in Senegal which have the
capacity of 230 kilowatt and can produce 720 kWh  of electricity a year.
All of the power generated in Senegal is done so thermally.(see figure 7)

Figure 7

    The currency in Senegal is the franc, which is broken
down into 100 centimes.  The rate of exchange for the franc is
295.2  to 1 U.S. dollar or 50 francs for 1 French franc.

The constitution of 1963, amended 1991, provides for a single-chamber
legislature, the 120-member national assembly, elected by universal
suffrage for a five-year term. The president, also elected by universal
suffrage, serves a seven-year term, renewable only once. The president
appoints a prime minister to lead a council of ministers. SenegalÆs ten
regions enjoy a high degree of autonomy, each having its own appointed
governor and elected assembly and controlling a separate budget.
history For early history, see Africa. Portuguese explorers arrived in
the 15th century, and French settlers in the 17th. Senegal had a French
governor from 1854, became part of French West Africa 1895, and a
territory 1902.
     Senegal became an independent republic Sept 1960, with LΘopold
SΘdar Senghor, leader of the Senegalese Progressive Union (UPS), as its
first president. Senghor was also prime minister 1962-70. The UPS was the
only legal party from 1966 until in Dec 1976 it was reconstituted as the
Senegalese Socialist Party (PS) and two opposition parties were legally
registered. In 1978 Senghor was decisively reelected.
Senghor retired at the end of 1980 and was succeeded by Abdou Diouf, who
declared an amnesty for political offenders and permitted more parties to
register. In the 1983 elections the PS won 111 of the assembly seats and
the main opposition, the Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS), eight seats.
Later that year Diouf tightened control of his party and the government,
abolishing the post of prime minister. This met open, sometimes violent,
opposition, but he and the PS remained firmly in power.
    In 1980 Senegal sent troops to the Gambia to protect it against a
suspected Libyan invasion, and it intervened again 1981 to thwart an
attempted coup. As the two countries came closer together, they agreed on
an eventual merger, and the confederation of Senegambia came into being
Feb 1982. Senegal has always maintained close links with France, allowing
it to retain military bases. In the Feb 1988 elections Diouf was
reelected president with 73% of the vote, but his ruling party had a
slightly reduced majority in the national assembly. In April 1989 border
disputes led to a severance of diplomatic relations with neighboring
Mauritania, with more than 450 people killed during violent clashes
between Senegalese and Mauritanians. Over 50,000 people were repaid from
both countries May 1989. In Aug 1989 formal recognition was given of the
ending of the unsuccessful federation of Senegambia.
    Constitutional changes were proposed Sept 1991, including the
reduction of the voting age from 21 to 18 and the limitation of the
presidential mandate to two terms. Diplomatic relations with Mauritania,
severed 1989, were restored April 1992. In March 1993 Diouf was reelected
for a third and (under the revised constitution) final term. In May the
ruling Senegalese Socialist Party (PS) was the assembly elections and in
June a new cabinet was formed, with Habib Thiam as prime minister (the
post having been reinstated 1992).
    The political history of Senegal is not as bloody as many of the
other countries of Africa so the countyÆs fifth world status can not be
blamed on this but rather on the French and their despotic rule of the
country.
    The French persuaded the farmers of  Senegal to produce peanuts
which was a crop of little benefit to the locals, but could fetch a high
price for the French. Very little of the proceeds were actually given to
the farmers with the remaining amount staying in France. Now the farmers
of Senegal are still producing peanuts and receiving very little money
for them because the price has dropped drastically. The result is that
the farmers grow peanuts so that they can get money to buy food. There is
nowhere near enough money to provide for a whole family.
    To drag Senegal out of the fifth world we must first make them
agriculturally self  sufficient so that they are now  no longer starving.
This is possible by teaching them new farming techniques, providing them
with wells, and providing them with seeds that will grow into a wide
variety of crops.