Senegal

The French colonies of Senegal and French Sudan were merged in 1959, and became the independent Mali Federation in 1960, but separated shortly after that. A union with The Gambia in 1982 dissolved in 1989, and the ruling Socialist Party remained in power for 40 years, until the current president was elected in 2000. Senegal remains one of the most stable democracies in Africa, and it has long been involved with international peacekeeping. Participating in the International Monetary Fund's Heavily Indebted Poor Countries debt relief program, Senegal's economy has seen real growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) averaging over 5 percent annually since 1995. Counterpart International's (Counterpart) work in the country, which began in 2001, aims to increase access to education and health services, improve child health and nutrition, decrease malaria infection rates through health and sanitation trainings and coordinate care and support trainings for people living with HIV/AIDS.

Map and country information, The World Factbook 2009. Washington, DC: Central Intelligence Agency, 2009.