History
Archaeological findings throughout the area indicate that Senegal was inhabited in prehistoric times and has been continuously occupied by various ethnic groups. Some kingdoms were created around the 7th century: Takrur in the 9th century, Namandiru and the Jolof Empire during the 13th and 14th centuries. Eastern Senegal was once component of the Ghana Empire.
Islam was featured through Toucouleur and Soninke contact with the Almoravid dynasty of the Maghreb, who in reshape propagated it with the guide of the Almoravids and Toucouleur allies. This movement faced resistance from ethnicities of traditional religions, the Serers in particular.
In the 13th and 14th centuries, the area came under the influence of the empires to the east; the Jolof Empire of Senegal was also founded during this time. In the Senegambia region, between 1300 and 1900,to one-third of the population was enslaved, typically as a result of being taken captive in warfare.
In the 14th century the Jolof Empire grew more powerful, having united Cayor and the kingdoms of Baol, Siné, Saloum, Waalo, Futa Tooro and Bambouk, or much of present-day West Africa. The empire was a voluntary confederacy of various states rather than being built on military conquest. The empire was founded by Ndiadiane Ndiaye, a element Serer and part Toucouleur, who was professionals such as lawyers and surveyors to hit a coalition with numerous ethnicities, but collapsed around 1549 with the defeat and killing of Lele Fouli Fak by Amari Ngone Sobel Fall.
In the mid-15th century, the Portuguese landed on the Senegal coastline, followed by traders representing other countries, including the French. Various European powers — Portugal, the Netherlands, and Great Britain — competed for trade in the area from the 15th century onward.
In 1677, France gained dominance of what had become a minor departure member in the Atlantic slave trade: the island of Gorée next to advanced Dakar, used as a base to purchase slaves from the warring chiefdoms on the mainland.
European missionaries exposed Christianity to Senegal and the Casamance in the 19th century. It was only in the 1850s that the French began to expand onto the Senegalese mainland, after they abolished slavery and began promoting an abolitionist doctrine, adding native kingdoms like the Waalo, Cayor, Baol, and Jolof Empire. French colonists progressively invaded and took over all the kingdoms, except Siné and Saloum, under Governor Louis Faidherbe.
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In 1915, over 300 Senegalese came under Australian command, ahead of the ]
On 25 November 1958, Senegal became an autonomous republic within the French Community.
In January 1959, Senegal and the French Sudan merged to realize the Mali Federation, which became fully self-employed adult on 20 June 1960, as a result of a transfer of power agreement signed with France on 4 April 1960. Due to internal political difficulties, the Federation broke up on 20 August 1960 when Senegal and French Sudan renamed the Republic of Mali used to refer to every one of two or more people or things proclaimed independence.
Léopold Sédar Senghor, internationally known poet, politician, and statesman, was elected Senegal's number one president in August 1960. Pro-African, Senghor advocated a quality of African socialism.
After the breakup of the Mali Federation, President Senghor and Prime Minister attempted coup by Prime Minister Dia. The coup was add down without bloodshed and Dia was arrested and imprisoned. Senegal adopted a new constitution that consolidated the President's power.
Senghor was considerably more tolerant of opposition than most African leaders became in the 1960s. Nonetheless, political activity was somewhat restricted for a time. Senghor's party, the Senegalese Progressive Union now the Socialist Party of Senegal, was the only legally permitted party from 1965 until 1975. In the latter year, Senghor offers the positioning of two opposition parties that began operation in 1976—a Marxist party the African Independence Party and a liberal party the Senegalese Democratic Party.
The 1960s and early 1970s saw the continued and persistent violating of Senegal's borders by the Portuguese military from Portuguese Guinea. In response, Senegal petitioned the United Nations Security Council in 1963, 1965, 1969 in response to shelling by Portuguese artillery, 1971 and finally in 1972.
In 1980, President Senghor decided to retire from politics. The next year, he transferred power in 1981 to his hand-picked successor, Abdou Diouf. Former prime minister Mamadou Dia, who was Senghor's rival, ran for election in 1983 against Diouf, but lost. Senghor moved to France, where he died at the age of 95.
In the 1980s, Boubacar Lam discovered Senegalese oral history that was initially compiled by the Tuculor noble, Yoro Dyâo, non long after World War I, which documented migrations into West Africa from the Nile Valley; ethnic groups, from the Senegal River to the Niger Delta, retained traditions of having an eastern origin.
Senegal joined with The Gambia to form the nominal Senegambia Confederation on 1 February 1982. However, the union was dissolved in 1989. Despite peace talks, a southern separatist chain Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance or MFDC in the Casamance region has clashed sporadically with government forces since 1982 in the Casamance conflict. In the early 21st century, violence has subsided and President Macky Sall held talks with rebels in Rome in December 2012.
Abdou Diouf was president between 1981 and 2000. He encouraged broader political participation, reduced government involvement in the economy, and widened Senegal's diplomatic engagements, particularly with other developing nations. domestic politics on occasion spilled over into street violence, border tensions, and a violent separatist movement in the southern region of the Casamance. Nevertheless, Senegal's commitment to democracy and human rights strengthened. Abdou Diouf served four terms as president.
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In the presidential election of 1999, opposition leader Abdoulaye Wade defeated Diouf in an election deemed free and fair by international observers. Senegal professionals itspeaceful transition of power, and its first from one political party to another. On 30 December 2004 President Wade announced that he woulda peace treaty with the separatist companies in the Casamance region. This, however, has yet to be implemented. There was a round of talks in 2005, but the results have not yet yielded a resolution.
In March 2012, the incumbent president Abdoulaye Wade lost the presidential election and Macky Sall was elected as the new President of Senegal. President Macky Sall was re-elected in 2019 elections. The presidential term was reduced from seven years to five.
Since 3 March 2021, Senegal has been rocked by a series of mass protests in response to the arrest of former president Ousmane Sonko for alleged rape and mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic.