Demographics of Senegal

The total population of Senegal is 16,294,270 people. People in Senegal speak the French language. The linguistic diversity of Senegal is rather diverse according to a fractionalization scale which for Senegal is 0.7081. The median age is approximately 18.4 years. Life expectancy in Senegal is 64. The female fertility rate in Senegal is 5. Around 7% of the population of Senegal are obese. The ethnic diversity is rather diverse according to a fractionalization scale which for Senegal is 0.6939. To find out specifics of language, religion, age, gender distribution, and advancement of people in Senegal see the sections below, as well as visit the section concerning the education in the country.

Population

In Senegal, the population density is 69 people per square kilometer (180 per square mile). Because of this statistic, this country is considered to be sparsely populated. The total population of Senegal is 16,294,270 people. Senegal has approximately 209,398 foreign immigrants. Immigrants in Senegal represent 0.1 percent of the total number of immigrants in the world. Immigrants in Senegal represent 1.5 percent of the total number of immigrants in the world. The ethnic diversity of Senegal is rather diverse according to a fractionalization scale based on ethnicity. Ethnic fractionalization (EF) deals with the number, sizes, socioeconomic distribution, and geographical location of distinct cultural groups, usually in a state or some otherwise delineated territory. Specific cultural features might refer to language, skin color, religion, ethnicity, customs and traditions, history, or other distinctive criteria, alone or in combination. Frequently, these features are used for social exclusion and the monopolization of power. The index of ethnic fractionalization in Senegal is 0.6939. This means that there is a relatively high number of unique ethnic groups in Senegal. EF is usually measured as 1 minus the Herfindahl concentration index of ethnolinguistic group shares, which reproduces the probability that two randomly drawn individuals from the population belong to different groups. The theoretical maximum of EF of 1 means that each person belongs to a different group. Read below for statistics of Senegal on median age and gender distribution at various ages.

Age

The median age is approximately 18.4 years. The median age for men is 17.5, while the median age for women is 19.3.

Gender

The sex ratio, or the number of males for each female (estimated at birth), is 1.03. It can be further divided into the following categories: sex ratio under 15 - 1.01; sex ratio from 15 to 64 - 0.98; sex ratio over 64 - 0.88; total sex ratio - 0.99. Total sex ratio is different from sex ratio estimated at birth. This is due to the fact that some newborns are considered in the sex ratio estimated at birth but pass away within the first weeks of their life and are not included in the total sex ratio.

Religion

The majority religion of Senegal is Islam, the followers of which comprise 96.4% of all religious believers in the country. Islam (Arabic: الإسلام‎) is a monotheistic and Abrahamic religion articulated by the Quran, a religious text considered by its adherents to be the verbatim word of God (Allāh), and, for the vast majority of adherents, by the teachings and normative example (called the sunnah, Arabic سنة, composed of accounts called hadith, Arabic حديث) of Muhammad, considered by most of them to be the last prophet of God. An adherent of Islam is called a Muslim. Besides Islam, there are some followers of Hinduism in Senegal. The religious diversity of Senegal is vaguely diverse according to a fractionalization scale based on the number of religions in Senegal. The index of religious fractionalization in Senegal is 0.1497. This score means that within the country there is one major with a few other minor beliefs.

General development

Senegal is considered to be a developing nation. The developmental stage of a nation is determined by a number of factors including, but not limited to, economic prosperity, life expectancy, income equality, and quality of life. As a developing nation, Senegal may not be able to offer consistent social services to its citizens. These social services may include things like public education, reliable healthcare, and law enforcement. Citizens of developing nations may have lower life expectancies than citizens of developed nations. In Senegal, 19.2 in every 100 people use internet. Senegal has a Human Development Index (HDI) of 0.485. Senegal has a lower medium HDI score. This indicates that the majority of citizens will struggle to attain a desirable life due to flawed economic and social systems. The migration rate in Senegal is -1.59%. In Senegal, 54% of the population lives below the poverty line. The percentage of citizens living below the poverty line in Senegal is very high when compared with other nations. This situation is indicative of a variety of alarming economic and political factors. It is not advisable to make any investments in countries with this level of poverty.

Language

People in Senegal speak the French language. The linguistic diversity of Senegal is rather diverse according to a fractionalization scale based on the number of unrelated languages spoken in Senegal. The index of linguistic fractionalization in Senegal is 0.7081. This means that there are several major languages spoken in Senegal. Unrelated languages share few characteristics of grammatical structure, vocabulary, and etymological heritage. Linguistic diversity often results in issues of social and cultural fractionalization that can impact a country’s political circumstance and public policies.