Senegal

Through the ages

Rivals in history

The kingdoms, empires and states Senegal fought or stood against, from the first to today.

1. 🇳🇱 Dutch Republic1617 to 1677

   Dutch traders settle Goree island off Cape Verde in 1617 and make it a fortified trading post. A French fleet under Admiral d'Estrees captures it in 1677, and Goree stays French.

2. 🇬🇧 Kingdom of Great Britain1758 to 1817

   In the Seven Years' War Britain captures Saint Louis and Goree in 1758 and joins them to its Gambia posts as the colony of Senegambia. France retakes Saint Louis in 1779. Britain occupies both again during the Napoleonic Wars and returns them in 1817.

3. 🇲🇷 Emirate of Trarza1833 to 1858

   The Moorish emirs of Trarza, north of the river, raid and dominate Walo and tax the gum trade. Faidherbe's campaigns from 1855 defeat them, and a treaty in 1858 makes the river their southern limit.

4. 🇫🇷 French colonial empire1854 to 1890

   France conquers the river valley and the Wolof kingdoms in three decades of campaigns. Lat Dior of Cayor resists the Dakar to Saint Louis railway until his death in battle in 1886.

5. 🇲🇱 Umar Tall's empire1855 to 1860

   Umar Tall's jihad reaches the upper Senegal. His army besieges the French fort of Medine in 1857 and fails. A truce in 1860 leaves the river to France and the lands to the east to Umar.

6. Casamance separatists (MFDC)Since 1982Still open

   The Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance launches a rebellion for independence in 1982. One of Africa's longest conflicts, it has killed thousands. Fighting has mostly died down, but no final peace covers all factions.

7. 🇲🇷 Mauritania1989 to 1992

   A clash between herders and farmers on the border in April 1989 sparks riots in both countries. Tens of thousands of black Mauritanians are expelled to Senegal, and diplomatic relations are broken until 1992.

8. 🇬🇲 The Gambia1989 to 2017

   After the Senegambia Confederation collapses in 1989, relations sour, especially under Yahya Jammeh. When Jammeh refuses to accept his election defeat, Senegalese troops lead a West African force into The Gambia in January 2017, and he leaves.

Today

Senegal now

Senegal is one of the few countries in the world with evidence of continuous human life from the Paleolithic period to present. Between the 14th and 16th centuries, the Jolof Empire ruled most of Senegal. Starting in the 15th century, Portugal, the Netherlands, France, and Great Britain traded along the Senegalese coast. Senegal’s location on the western tip of Africa made it a favorable base for the European slave trade.

Capital

Dakar

Government

presidential republic

Head of government

Bassirou Diomaye Faye

Languages

Badyara, Balanta, Wolof

Area

196,710 km²

Through time

Then and now

• Population18.1 million2023 · 2.6 million in 1950
• Life expectancy68.7 years2023 · 36.5 years in 1950
• GDP per person$2,6602022 · $2,007 in 1950
• Living in cities56%2025 · 22% in 1950
• Literacy50%2023 · 3% in 1950
• Political regimeElectoral democracy2025 · Closed autocracy in 1950
• Military alliancesNone of these2024 · None of these in 1950
• Military spending1.6% of GDP2025
• War deathsNone2025

Population: HYDE 3.3, Gapminder and UN WPP. GDP per capita: Maddison Project Database 2023. Urban share: UN WPP. Life expectancy: Riley, HMD, UN WPP. Literacy: OWID historical estimates, World Bank, UNESCO. Military spending: SIPRI. War deaths: UCDP. Political regime: V-Dem, Regimes of the World. All via Our World in Data (CC BY 4.0). Alliances and organization memberships: compiled by Atlas. Satellites in orbit: CelesTrak SATCAT. Modern borders, backcast.

Relations

Close partners and tensions

Summarised from World Bank and Wikipedia data, updated 24 October 2026.