Senegal

Remains of Paleolithic and Neolithic civilizations have been discovered by archaeologists in the region now occupied by Senegal. About AD 500 Wolof and Serer peoples arrived from the northeast. In the 9th century Tukolor settled in the Sénégal River valley, and the powerful Tekrur state of the Tukolor dominated eastern Senegal from the 11th to the 14th century. By the 15th century a pattern of Wolof and Serer states was well established there. Until far into the 18th century the decentralized Wolof empire near the coast retained nominal suzerainty over the other Wolof states, including those of Baol, Wale, and Cayor. European Rivalry Modern trade links with Europe were forged after the Portuguese reached the mouth of the Sénégal River and Cap Vert in 1444 and 1445. The Portuguese traded cloth and metal goods in return for gold dust, gum arabic, and ivory. Shortly after 1600 the Portuguese were displaced by the Dutch and French, and by 1700 the French dominated commerce along the coast. Despite British-French rivalry and conflicts in the area during the late 17th and 18th centuries, French influence was extended far into the interior. But most Franco-African trade continued to be handled by African middlemen, who brought goods to the French settlements at the coast. The growth of the Fulani state of Fouta Toro along the lower Sénégal River in the 18th century, however, undermined French activity, and during the Seven Years' War (1756-1763) the British captured the French trading stations; they were returned later in the century. European influence at this time was economic rather than political. French Rule Under Captain Louis Faidherbe, and his successors after the mid-19th century, French control of the Wolof, Serer, and Tukolor states was forcefully extended and consolidated. In 1895 Senegal officially was made a French colony, administered from Saint-Louis. In 1902 government headquarters was shifted to Dakar, which was also the capital of French West Africa. The French developed Senegal's economy around the cultivation of peanuts for export. Along with French residents, the black Africans of St-Louis and Gorée (an island near Dakar) had elected a deputy to the French National Assembly during the period from 1848 to 1852 and again after 1871, when they were joined by the inhabitants of Dakar and Rufisque. In 1914 the first black African, Blaise Diagne, was elected to the French Parliament, and he served until 1934. After World War II (1939-1945) a territorial assembly was established in Senegal, and citizens of the entire colony were enfranchised (1946). Local politics were dominated by Lamine Guèye and Léopold Sédar Senghor, the deputies to the French Parliament. Independence In 1958 Senegal was granted almost complete internal autonomy, and in June 1960, it became fully independent as part of the Mali Federation, which joined Senegal with the Sudanese Republic (now Mali). On August 20, 1960, Senegal withdrew from the federation and became a separate republic. Senghor was elected the first president; he was reelected in 1963, 1968, 1973, and 1978. Following an alleged coup d'état attempt in 1962 by Prime Minister Mamadou Dia, the powers of the president were greatly increased in a new constitution that went into effect in 1963. Under Senghor's regime the country made progress in diversifying its economy, but income from foreign sales of peanuts remained crucial. At times, notably in 1968 and 1973, students staged large demonstrations to protest the concentration of power in Senghor's hands. A multiparty system was established by constitutional amendment in 1976, and at the end of 1980 Senghor stepped down. The office of president was then assumed by Abdou Diouf, who had been prime minister since 1970. In 1982 Senegal joined with its neighbor, The Gambia, to form the confederation of Senegambia, headed by Diouf; the confederation collapsed in 1989, but in 1991 the two nations signed a new treaty of cooperation. When Diouf and his party won the 1988 elections by a large majority, the opposition protested by rioting in Dakar, and the government proclaimed a state of emergency. The late 1980s were also marked by border tensions with Mauritania. Festering hostility between the Senegalese and the Moors caused riots in both nations. More than 400 people, mostly Senegalese, were killed, and war was barely averted. Diouf was reelected in 1993, but again the opposition protested, charging electoral fraud. Following an investigation, the Constitutional Council upheld the elections, stating that Diouf had received 58.4 percent of the vote and his main competitor, Abdoulaye Wade, obtained 34 percent. In 1994 members of the opposition, including Wade and Landing Savane, were accused of starting violent demonstrations in Dakar and faced charges of violating state security. After being released from prison, Wade and Savane formed an opposition coalition, known as Uniting to Change Senegal.