Given its position at the westernmost point of Africa, Senegal forms the continent’s “Land’s End”. It covers an area of 196,712 km2 with a population of approximately 13 million inhabitants, representing a density of 65 inhabitants per km2. Senegal’s neighbours are Mauritania to the north, Mali to the east, and the Republic of Guinea and Guinea-Bissau to the south. The entire western part of the country is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean over a north-south length of more than 700 km.
Geomorphologically, Senegal is a flat terrain with sedimentary rocks. The few high-altitude areas are located in the south-east, on the border with the Republic of Guinea, where Mount Bassari peaks at 130 metres. It is also worth noting the Thiès plateau, the Diass massif and, finally, the Mamelles in Dakar. The climate is Sudano-Sahelian, with rainfall during the single rainy season ranging from 300 to 1500 millimetres. From the end of October to May, the interior of the country (“the hinterland”) is swept by hot, dry winds. However, on the Atlantic coast, temperatures are more mild due to the effect of the sea and trade winds.
Climatic data have strongly influenced the hydrographic network. Indeed, Senegal has only three major rivers. In order of importance, these are the Senegal River (approximately 1700 km), the Gambia River (750 km) and, lastly, the Casamance River (300 km). Some watercourses have dried up due to the severe drought that affected Senegal during the 1970s. With regard to the development of watercourses, it is important to remember that the governments of Senegal’s neighbouring countries sought to exploit their potential very early on, whether for hydroelectricity or other purposes. It was with this in mind that the OMVS was created in Nouakchott in 1972. It brings together, in addition to Senegal, Mauritania, Mali and the Republic of Guinea. Its achievements include the Diama and Manantali dams. The latter currently produces nearly 750 gigawatts per year. Thanks to the Diama dam, Senegal has a potential of nearly 300,000 hectares of irrigable land.
At the administrative level, Senegal has undergone major reforms, the main ones being the 1972 reform creating the rural community, the 1996 reform which established the regions as local authorities, and the 2013 reform which made the departments new local authorities and enacted full communalisation (rural communities and municipalities now have the same status) while abolishing the regions as local authorities. In addition, the main innovation of these reforms has been the transfer of areas of responsibility from the central government to local authorities. Challenges remain to be met in terms of financing local authorities.
Finally, by Law 2008-14 of 18 March 2008, the State increased the number of administrative regions to 14 (creation of the Kaffrine, Kédougou and Sédhiou regions).