HIstory>1960(Yousef)


 * Government **

On the left is Leopold Senghor, in the middle is Abdou Diouf, in the two right pictures is Abdoulaye Wade. Leopold was the first president of senegal, he was president from 1960 to 1981. He was a democrat who was in office for 20 years. Abdou Douf was the second leader of Senegal, in office from 1981 to 2000. He was a socialist and Senegal had violent outbreaks when he was in office. 3,500 people died in 2 decades of violence. Abdoulaye Wade was the third leader of Senegal. He restablished friendly relatons with the country. He has been the leader of Senegal since 2000 and still is. Senegal is a relatively new country. It became independent in 1960. Since the begining of the country Senegal has been friendly with all other nations.

Military

Armee de l'Air du Senegal, Armee, Marine Senegalaise

In Senegal you must be at least 18 to, voluntarily or through draft, be in the military. If you are drafted then you must serve for at least 2 years (as of 2004). 307,000 people reach the age of 18 every year. 154,000 are men and 153,000 are women. Senegal devotes 1,4% of there GDP to the military annually. This amount is only number 115 in the world. There are currently about 6 million people in Senegal who are at the age that they can join the military. About 4 million of those are fit to join the military.

**Education** The Senegalese education system is based on the French model. All school classes are taught in French. Most of the population knows how to read and write in French. Even though French is not used outside of school, officials don't want to get rid of it. They fear it would detach them from western civilization. Most people in Senegal are Muslim and speak Arabic so it would make sense to teach that instead.

** Civil Unrest **

2 years after Senghor was elected Mamadou Dia, the prime minister, tried to overthrow the president. It didn't work and he ended up in prison. Afterwards Senghor eliminated the Prime Minister position. Then in the last 1960s Senegal had some economic problems. There was a drought, the prices of peanuts went down and France didn't send as much aid. These economics problems led to civil unrest. In May 1968 students and workers were upset so they held a big demonstration. They were able to keep the government from functioning. Senghor had to get the military to help. In 1974 Senghor allowed the Prime Minister position again. And a new part was formed called Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS). Senghor resigned in 1980. In 1982 fighting started in the southern Casamance region. The Movement for the Democratic Forces of Casamance wanted to separate from Senegal. Problems still go on today even though they signed a peace treaty in 2004.

**Bibliography**

The Diagram Group. ////African Nations and Leaders////. New York: Facts On File, 2001. Print. ////https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sg.html////. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2010. "Republic of Senegal, Education." ////CultureGrams World Edition////. CultreGrams, n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2010. . "Republic of Senegal, History." ////CultureGrams World Edition////. CultureGrams, n.d. Web. 9 Mar. 2010. . Rotberg, Robert I. ////Continent in the Balance: Africa; Senegal////. Philadelphia: Mason Crest Publishers, 2007. Print.