Senegal

Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal (French: République du Sénégal ) is a sovereign state in West Africa whose form of government is a semi-presidential republic. Its territory is divided into 14 regions .

It owes its name to the Senegal River , which marks the eastern and northern border. Senegal borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west , Mauritania to the north, Mali to the east, and Guinea and Guinea- Bissau to the south. Gambia forms a virtual enclave within Senegal , following the Gambia River more than 300 km inland. The Cape Verde Islands are located 560 km offshore , off the Senegalese coast. The country's population is estimated at about 13 million people. The climate is tropical with two seasons, dry and rainy .

Dakar , the capital of Senegal, is located at the westernmost point of the country, on the Cape Verde Peninsula . During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries , numerous trading posts belonging to various colonial powers were established on the coast. The town of St. Louis became the capital in this era of French West Africa before he moved to Dakar in 1902. Dakar later became its capital in 1960 at the time of independence from France .