Senegal
former: Senegambia (along with The Gambia), Mali Federation

Government type:

republic

Capital:

name: Dakar
geographic coordinates: 14 40 N, 17 26 W
time difference: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during
Standard Time)

Administrative divisions:

11 regions (regions, singular - region); Dakar, Diourbel, Fatick,
Kaolack, Kolda, Louga, Matam, Saint-Louis, Tambacounda, Thies,
Ziguinchor

Independence:

4 April 1960 (from France); note - complete independence achieved
upon dissolution of federation with Mali on 20 August 1960

National holiday:

Independence Day, 4 April (1960)

Constitution:

adopted 7 January 2001

Legal system:

based on French civil law system; judicial review of legislative
acts in Constitutional Court; the Council of State audits the
government's accounting office; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
with reservations

Suffrage:

18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:

chief of state: President Abdoulaye WADE (since 1 April 2000)
head of government: Prime Minister Cheikh Hadjibou SOUMARE (since 19
June 2007)
cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the prime minister in
consultation with the president
elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term
(eligible for a second term) under new constitution; election last
held on 25 February 2007 (next to be held in 2012); prime minister
appointed by the president
election results: Abdoulaye WADE reelected president in the first
round of voting; percent of vote - Abdoulaye WADE 55.9%, Idrissa
SECK 14.9%, Ousmane Tanor DIENG 13.6%, Moustapha NIASSE 5.9%, other
9.7%

Legislative branch:

bicameral Parliament consisting of the National Assembly or
Assemblee Nationale (150 seats; 90 members elected by direct popular
vote with the remaining members elected by proportional
representation from party lists to serve five-year terms) and the
Senate reinstituted in 2007 (100 seats; 35 indirectly elected with
the remaining 65 members to be appointed by the president)
elections: National Assembly - last held on 3 June 2007 (next to be
held 2012); note - the National Assembly in December 2005 voted to
postpone legislative elections originally scheduled for 2006;
legislative elections were first rescheduled to coincide with the 25
February 2007 presidential elections and later rescheduled for 3
June 2007; the June election was boycotted by 12 opposition parties,
including