AFRICA

Senegal

The westernmost country on mainland Africa, Senegal reaches out toward the Atlantic at Dakar and gave the world the rolling, drum-driven sound of mbalax music.

WHAT THE FLAG MEANS ◢

A vertical tricolour with a green five-pointed star at the centre of the middle band. Article 1 of the constitution composes the flag of three equal vertical bands coloured green, gold and red, and places the star in green at the centre of the gold band; it assigns none of them a meaning. The colours are conventionally read as Pan-African, with green for hope and Islam, gold for wealth and progress and red for sacrifice, but that reading is not the constitution's.

Senegal FACTS ◢

Capital	Dakar
Continent	Africa
Population	18,931,966 (2025)
Area	196,722 km²
Population density	96/km²
Currency	West African CFA franc (XOF)
Official language	French
Calling code	+221
Internet TLD	.sn
Time zone	UTC±00:00
Drives on the	Right
ISO codes	SN / SEN

DID YOU KNOW? ◢

Its Cape Verde peninsula, near Dakar, is the westernmost point of continental Africa.
Lake Retba, or the 'Pink Lake', can turn a vivid rose colour thanks to salt-loving microorganisms.
The Dakar Rally, the famous off-road race, took its name from Senegal's capital, its original finish line.
The island of Gorée, off Dakar, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site remembered as a centre of the Atlantic trade.