Senegal (2002) | Mexico (2005) | |
Administrative divisions | 10 regions (regions, singular - region); Dakar, Diourbel, Fatick, Kaolack, Kolda, Louga, Saint-Louis, Tambacounda, Thies, Ziguinchor
note: there may be another region called Matam |
31 states (estados, singular - estado) and 1 federal district* (distrito federal); Aguascalientes, Baja California, Baja California Sur, Campeche, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Coahuila de Zaragoza, Colima, Distrito Federal*, Durango, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Mexico, Michoacan de Ocampo, Morelos, Nayarit, Nuevo Leon, Oaxaca, Puebla, Queretaro de Arteaga, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosi, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Tlaxcala, Veracruz-Llave, Yucatan, Zacatecas |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 43.5% (male 2,321,789; female 2,290,105)
15-64 years: 53.4% (male 2,710,178; female 2,943,554) 65 years and over: 3.1% (male 159,445; female 164,500) (2002 est.) |
0-14 years: 31.1% (male 16,844,400/female 16,159,511)
15-64 years: 63.3% (male 32,521,043/female 34,704,093) 65 years and over: 5.6% (male 2,715,010/female 3,258,846) (2005 est.) |
Agriculture - products | peanuts, millet, corn, sorghum, rice, cotton, tomatoes, green vegetables; cattle, poultry, pigs; fish | corn, wheat, soybeans, rice, beans, cotton, coffee, fruit, tomatoes; beef, poultry, dairy products; wood products |
Airports | 20 (2001) | 1,833 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 9
over 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 6 914 to 1,523 m: 2 (2002) |
total: 233
over 3,047 m: 12 2,438 to 3,047 m: 28 1,524 to 2,437 m: 84 914 to 1,523 m: 80 under 914 m: 29 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 11
1,524 to 2,437 m: 6 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 1 (2002) |
total: 1,600
over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 69 914 to 1,523 m: 454 under 914 m: 1,075 (2004 est.) |
Area | total: 196,190 sq km
land: 192,000 sq km water: 4,190 sq km |
total: 1,972,550 sq km
land: 1,923,040 sq km water: 49,510 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than South Dakota | slightly less than three times the size of Texas |
Background | Independent from France in 1960, Senegal joined with The Gambia to form the nominal confederation of Senegambia in 1982. However, the envisaged integration of the two countries was never carried out, and the union was dissolved in 1989. Despite peace talks, a southern separatist group sporadically has clashed with government forces since 1982. Senegal has a long history of participating in international peacekeeping. | The site of advanced Amerindian civilizations, Mexico came under Spanish rule for three centuries before achieving independence early in the 19th century. A devaluation of the peso in late 1994 threw Mexico into economic turmoil, triggering the worst recession in over half a century. The nation continues to make an impressive recovery. Ongoing economic and social concerns include low real wages, underemployment for a large segment of the population, inequitable income distribution, and few advancement opportunities for the largely Amerindian population in the impoverished southern states. Elections held in July 2000 marked the first time since the 1910 Mexican Revolution that the opposition defeated the party in government, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). Vicente FOX of the National Action Party (PAN) was sworn in on 1 December 2000 as the first chief executive elected in free and fair elections. |
Birth rate | 36.99 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 21.01 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $1.373 billion
expenditures: $1.373 billion, including capital expenditures of $357 million (2002 est.) |
revenues: $160 billion
expenditures: $158 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.) |
Capital | Dakar | Mexico (Distrito Federal) |
Climate | tropical; hot, humid; rainy season (May to November) has strong southeast winds; dry season (December to April) dominated by hot, dry, harmattan wind | varies from tropical to desert |
Coastline | 531 km | 9,330 km |
Constitution | a new constitution was adopted 7 January 2001 | 5 February 1917 |
Country name | conventional long form: Republic of Senegal
conventional short form: Senegal local long form: Republique du Senegal local short form: Senegal |
conventional long form: United Mexican States
conventional short form: Mexico local long form: Estados Unidos Mexicanos local short form: Mexico |
Currency | Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XOF); note - responsible authority is the Central Bank of the West African States | - |
Death rate | 8.14 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 4.73 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Debt - external | $3.1 billion (2002 est.) | $149.9 billion (2004 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Harriet L. ELAM-THOMAS
embassy: Avenue Jean XXIII at the corner of Rue Kleber, Dakar mailing address: B. P. 49, Dakar telephone: [221] 823-4296 FAX: [221] 822-2991 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Antonio O. GARZA
embassy: Paseo de la Reforma 305, Colonia Cuauhtemoc, 06500 Mexico, Distrito Federal mailing address: P. O. Box 9000, Brownsville, TX 78520-0900 telephone: [52] (55) 5080-2000 FAX: [52] (55) 5525-5040 consulate(s) general: Ciudad Juarez, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Tijuana consulate(s): Hermosillo, Matamoros, Merida, Nogales, Nuevo, Laredo |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Amadou L. BA
chancery: 2112 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 234-0540 FAX: [1] (202) 332-6315 consulate(s) general: New York |
chief of mission: Ambassador-designate Carlos Alberto de ICAZA Gonzalez
chancery: 1911 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20006 telephone: [1] (202) 728-1600 FAX: [1] (202) 728-1698 consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, El Paso, Houston, Laredo (Texas), Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Nogales (Arizona), Phoenix, Sacramento, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, San Juan (Puerto Rico) consulate(s): Albuquerque, Brownsville (Texas), Calexico (California), Corpus Christi (Texas), Del Rio (Texas), Detroit, Douglas (Arizona), Eagle Pass (Texas), Fresno (California), Indianapolis (Indiana), Kansas City (Missouri), Las Vegas, McAllen (Texas), Midland (Texas), Omaha, Orlando, Oxnard (California), Philadelphia, Portland (Oregon), Presidio (Texas), Raleigh, Salt Lake City, San Bernardino, Santa Ana (California), Seattle, Tucson, Yuma (Arizona) |
Disputes - international | Senegalese separatists disrupt legal border trade with smuggling, cattle rustling, and other illegal activities in Guinea-Bissau | prolonged drought, population growth, and outmoded practices and infrastructure in the border region have strained water-sharing arrangements with the US; the US has stepped up efforts to stem nationals from Mexico, Central America, and other parts of the world from illegally crossing the border with Mexico |
Economic aid - recipient | $362.6 million (2002 est.) | $1.166 billion (1995) |
Economy - overview | In January 1994, Senegal undertook a bold and ambitious economic reform program with the support of the international donor community. This reform began with a 50% devaluation of Senegal's currency, the CFA franc, which is linked at a fixed rate to the French franc. Government price controls and subsidies have been steadily dismantled. After seeing its economy contract by 2.1% in 1993, Senegal made an important turnaround, thanks to the reform program, with real growth in GDP averaging 5% annually during 1995-2001. Annual inflation had been pushed down to less than 1%, but rose to an estimated 3.3% in 2001. Investment rose steadily from 13.8% of GDP in 1993 to 16.5% in 1997. As a member of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), Senegal is working toward greater regional integration with a unified external tariff. Senegal also realized full Internet connectivity in 1996, creating a miniboom in information technology-based services. Private activity now accounts for 82% of GDP. On the negative side, Senegal faces deep-seated urban problems of chronic unemployment, trade union militancy, juvenile delinquency, and drug addiction. | Mexico has a free market economy that recently entered the trillion dollar class. It contains a mixture of modern and outmoded industry and agriculture, increasingly dominated by the private sector. Recent administrations have expanded competition in seaports, railroads, telecommunications, electricity generation, natural gas distribution, and airports. Per capita income is one-fourth that of the US; income distribution remains highly unequal. Trade with the US and Canada has tripled since the implementation of NAFTA in 1994. Mexico has 12 free trade agreements with over 40 countries including, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, the European Free Trade Area, and Japan, putting more than 90% of trade under free trade agreements. The government is cognizant of the need to upgrade infrastructure, modernize the tax system and labor laws, and provide incentives to invest in the energy sector, but progress is slow. |
Electricity - consumption | 1.228 billion kWh (2000) | 189.7 billion kWh (2002) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2000) | 98.65 million kWh (2002) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2000) | 367.7 million kWh (2002) |
Electricity - production | 1.32 billion kWh (2000) | 203.6 billion kWh (2002) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2000) |
- |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed feature near Nepen Diakha 581 m |
lowest point: Laguna Salada -10 m
highest point: Volcan Pico de Orizaba 5,700 m |
Environment - current issues | wildlife populations threatened by poaching; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification; overfishing | scarcity of hazardous waste disposal facilities; rural to urban migration; natural fresh water resources scarce and polluted in north, inaccessible and poor quality in center and extreme southeast; raw sewage and industrial effluents polluting rivers in urban areas; deforestation; widespread erosion; desertification; deteriorating agricultural lands; serious air and water pollution in the national capital and urban centers along US-Mexico border; land subsidence in Valley of Mexico caused by groundwater depletion
note: the government considers the lack of clean water and deforestation national security issues |
Environment - international agreements | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Marine Dumping |
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Ethnic groups | Wolof 43.3%, Pular 23.8%, Serer 14.7%, Jola 3.7%, Mandinka 3%, Soninke 1.1%, European and Lebanese 1%, other 9.4% | mestizo (Amerindian-Spanish) 60%, Amerindian or predominantly Amerindian 30%, white 9%, other 1% |
Exchange rates | Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 742.79 (January 2002), 733.04 (2001), 711.98 (2000), 615.70 (1999), 589.95 (1998), 583.67 (1997); note - from 1 January 1999, the XOF is pegged to the euro at a rate of 655.957 XOF per euro | Mexican pesos per US dollar - 11.286 (2004), 10.789 (2003), 9.656 (2002), 9.342 (2001), 9.456 (2000) |
Executive branch | chief of state: President Abdoulaye WADE (since 1 April 2000)
head of government: Prime Minister Idrissa SECK (since 4 November 2002) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the prime minister in consultation with the president elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term under new constitution; election last held 27 February and 19 March 2000 (next to be held 27 February 2005); prime minister appointed by the president election results: Abdoulaye WADE elected president; percent of vote in the second round of voting - Abdoulaye WADE (PDS) 58.49%, Abdou DIOUF (PS) 41.51% |
chief of state: President Vicente FOX Quesada (since 1 December 2000); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Vicente FOX Quesada (since 1 December 2000); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president; note - appointment of attorney general requires consent of the Senate elections: president elected by popular vote for a six-year term; election last held 2 July 2000 (next to be held 2 July 2006) election results: Vicente FOX Quesada elected president; percent of vote - Vicente FOX Quesada (PAN) 42.52%, Francisco LABASTIDA Ochoa (PRI) 36.1%, Cuauhtemoc CARDENAS Solorzano (PRD) 16.64%, other 4.74% |
Exports | $1 billion f.o.b. (2001) | 1.863 million bbl/day (2004) |
Exports - commodities | fish, groundnuts (peanuts), petroleum products, phosphates, cotton | manufactured goods, oil and oil products, silver, fruits, vegetables, coffee, cotton |
Exports - partners | France 19%, Italy 12%, Spain 6%, Cote d'Ivoire 2% (2000) | US 87.6%, Canada 1.8%, Spain 1.1% (2004) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), yellow, and red with a small green five-pointed star centered in the yellow band; uses the popular pan-African colors of Ethiopia | three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), white, and red; the coat of arms (an eagle perched on a cactus with a snake in its beak) is centered in the white band |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $16.2 billion (2001 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 19%
industry: 21% services: 61% (2000 est.) |
agriculture: 4%
industry: 27.2% services: 68.9% (2004 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $1,580 (2001 est.) | purchasing power parity - $9,600 (2004 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 5.7% (2001 est.) | 4.1% (2004 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 14 00 N, 14 00 W | 23 00 N, 102 00 W |
Geography - note | westernmost country on the African continent; The Gambia is almost an enclave of Senegal | strategic location on southern border of US; corn (maize), one of the world's major grain crops, is thought to have originated in Mexico |
Heliports | - | 2 (2004 est.) |
Highways | total: 14,576 km
paved: 4,271 km unpaved: 10,305 km (1996) |
total: 329,532 km
paved: 108,087 km (including 6,429 km of expressways) unpaved: 221,445 km (1999 est.) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 1%
highest 10%: 43% (1991) |
lowest 10%: 1.6%
highest 10%: 35.6% (2002) |
Illicit drugs | transshipment point for Southwest and Southeast Asian heroin moving to Europe and North America; illicit cultivator of cannabis | illicit cultivation of opium poppy (cultivation in 2001 - 4,400 hectares; potential heroin production - 7 metric tons) and of cannabis (in 2001 - 4,100 hectares); government eradication efforts have been key in keeping illicit crop levels low; major supplier of heroin and largest foreign supplier of marijuana and methamphetamine to the US market; continues as the primary transshipment country for US-bound cocaine from South America, accounting for about 70 percent of estimated annual cocaine movement to the US; major drug syndicates control majority of drug trafficking throughout the country; producer and distributor of ecstasy; significant money-laundering center |
Imports | $1.3 billion f.o.b. (2001) | 205,000 bbl/day (2004) |
Imports - commodities | foods and beverages, consumer goods, capital goods, petroleum products | metalworking machines, steel mill products, agricultural machinery, electrical equipment, car parts for assembly, repair parts for motor vehicles, aircraft, and aircraft parts |
Imports - partners | France 27%, Nigeria 19%, Germany 4%, US 4%, Italy 3% (2000) | US 53.7%, China 7%, Japan 5.1% (2004) |
Independence | 4 April 1960 (from France); complete independence was achieved upon dissolution of federation with Mali on 20 August 1960 | 16 September 1810 (from Spain) |
Industrial production growth rate | 5.2% (2000 est.) | 3.8% (2004 est.) |
Industries | agricultural and fish processing, phosphate mining, fertilizer production, petroleum refining, construction materials | food and beverages, tobacco, chemicals, iron and steel, petroleum, mining, textiles, clothing, motor vehicles, consumer durables, tourism |
Infant mortality rate | 55.41 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) | total: 20.91 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 22.85 deaths/1,000 live births female: 18.88 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 3.3% (2001 est.) | 5.4% (2004 est.) |
International organization participation | ACCT, ACP, AfDB, CCC, ECA, ECOWAS, FAO, FZ, G-15, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ITU, MIPONUH, MONUC, NAM, OAU, OIC, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOVIC, UPU, WADB (regional), WAEMU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO | APEC, BCIE, BIS, CDB, CE (observer), EBRD, FAO, G-3, G-6, G-15, G-19, G-24, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAES, LAIA, NAM (observer), NEA, OAS, OECD, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMOVIC, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2002) | - |
Irrigated land | 710 sq km (1998 est.) | 65,000 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Constitutional Court; Council of State; Court of Final Appeals or Cour de Cassation; Court of Appeals; note-the judicial system was reformed in 1992 | Supreme Court of Justice or Suprema Corte de Justicia Nacional (justices or ministros are appointed by the president with consent of the Senate) |
Labor force | NA | 34.73 million (2004 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 70% | agriculture 18%, industry 24%, services 58% (2003) |
Land boundaries | total: 2,640 km
border countries: The Gambia 740 km, Guinea 330 km, Guinea-Bissau 338 km, Mali 419 km, Mauritania 813 km |
total: 4,353 km
border countries: Belize 250 km, Guatemala 962 km, US 3,141 km |
Land use | arable land: 11.58%
permanent crops: 0.19% other: 88.23% (1998 est.) |
arable land: 12.99%
permanent crops: 1.31% other: 85.7% (2001) |
Languages | French (official), Wolof, Pulaar, Jola, Mandinka | Spanish, various Mayan, Nahuatl, and other regional indigenous languages |
Legal system | based on French civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts in Constitutional Court; the Council of State audits the government's accounting office; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | mixture of US constitutional theory and civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations |
Legislative branch | unicameral National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale (120 seats; members are elected by direct, popular vote to serve five-year terms)
note: the former National Assembly, dissolved in the spring of 2001, had 140 seats elections: last held 29 April 2001 (next to be held NA 2006) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - SOPI Coalition 89, AFP 11, PS 10, other 10 |
bicameral National Congress or Congreso de la Union consists of the Senate or Camara de Senadores (128 seats; 96 are elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms, and 32 are allocated on the basis of each party's popular vote) and the Federal Chamber of Deputies or Camara Federal de Diputados (500 seats; 300 members are directly elected by popular vote to serve three-year terms; remaining 200 members are allocated on the basis of each party's popular vote, also for three-year terms)
elections: Senate - last held 2 July 2000 for all of the seats (next to be held 2 July 2006); Chamber of Deputies - last held 6 July 2003 (next to be held 2 July 2006) election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PRI 60, PAN 46, PRD 16, PVEM 5, unassigned 1; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PRI 222, PAN 151, PRD 95, PVEM 17, PT 6, CD 5, unassigned 4; note - special elections were held in December 2003; the PRI and the PRD each won one seat and were each assigned one additional proportional representation seat |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 62.93 years
male: 61.29 years female: 64.61 years (2002 est.) |
total population: 75.19 years
male: 72.42 years female: 78.1 years (2005 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 39.1% male: 51.1% female: 28.9% (2001 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 92.2% male: 94% female: 90.5% (2003 est.) |
Location | Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea-Bissau and Mauritania | Middle America, bordering the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, between Belize and the US and bordering the North Pacific Ocean, between Guatemala and the US |
Map references | Africa | North America |
Maritime claims | contiguous zone: 24 NM
continental shelf: 200 NM or to the edge of the continental margin exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin |
Merchant marine | - | total: 57 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 649,389 GRT/942,766 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 2, cargo 6, chemical tanker 5, liquefied gas 5, passenger/cargo 9, petroleum tanker 26, roll on/roll off 4 foreign-owned: 4 (Denmark 1, Germany 1, UAE 1, United States 1) registered in other countries: 6 (2005) |
Military branches | Army, Navy, Air Force, National Gendarmerie, National Police (Surete Nationale) | Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena): Army and Air Force (FAM)
Secretariat of the Navy (Semar): Naval Air and Marines (2004) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $68.6 million (FY02) | $6.043 billion (2004) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.4% (FY02) | 0.9% (2004) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 2,406,337 (2002 est.) | - |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 1,257,423 (2002 est.) | - |
Military manpower - military age | 18 years of age (2002 est.) | - |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males: 114,189 (2002 est.) | - |
National holiday | Independence Day, 4 April (1960) | Independence Day, 16 September (1810) |
Nationality | noun: Senegalese (singular and plural)
adjective: Senegalese |
noun: Mexican(s)
adjective: Mexican |
Natural hazards | lowlands seasonally flooded; periodic droughts | tsunamis along the Pacific coast, volcanoes and destructive earthquakes in the center and south, and hurricanes on the Pacific, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean coasts |
Natural resources | fish, phosphates, iron ore | petroleum, silver, copper, gold, lead, zinc, natural gas, timber |
Net migration rate | 0.21 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) | -4.57 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Pipelines | - | crude oil 28,200 km; petroleum products 10,150 km; natural gas 13,254 km; petrochemical 1,400 km (2003) |
Political parties and leaders | African Party for Democracy and Socialism or And Jef (also known as PADS/AJ) [Landing SAVANE, secretary general]; African Party of Independence [Majhemout DIOP]; Alliance of Forces of Progress or AFP [Moustapha NIASSE]; Democratic and Patriotic Convention or CDP (also known as Garab-Gi) [Dr. Iba Der THIAM]; Democratic League-Labor Party Movement or LD-MPT [Dr. Abdoulaye BATHILY]; Front for Socialism and Democracy or FSD [Cheikh Abdoulaye DIEYE]; Gainde Centrist Bloc or BGC [Jean-Paul DIAS]; Independence and Labor Party or PIT [Amath DANSOKHO]; National Democratic Rally or RND [Madier DIOUF]; Senegalese Democratic Party or PDS [Abdoulaye WADE]; Socialist Party or PS [Ousmane Tanor DIENG]; SOPI Coalition (a coalition led by the PDS) [Abdoulaye WADE]; Union for Democratic Renewal or URD [Djibo Leyti KA]; other small parties | Convergence for Democracy or CD [Dante DELGADO Ranauro]; Institutional Revolutionary Party or PRI [Roberto MADRAZO Pintado]; Mexican Green Ecological Party or PVEM [Jorge Emilio GONZALEZ Martinez]; National Action Party or PAN [Luis Felipe BRAVO Mena]; Party of the Democratic Revolution or PRD [Leonel GODOY]; Workers Party or PT [Alberto ANAYA Gutierrez] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | labor; Muslim brotherhoods; students; teachers | Confederation of Employers of the Mexican Republic or COPARMEX; Confederation of Industrial Chambers or CONCAMIN; Confederation of Mexican Workers or CTM; Confederation of National Chambers of Commerce or CONCANACO; Coordinator for Foreign Trade Business Organizations or COECE; Federation of Unions Providing Goods and Services or FESEBES; National Chamber of Transformation Industries or CANACINTRA; National Peasant Confederation or CNC; National Union of Workers or UNT; Regional Confederation of Mexican Workers or CROM; Revolutionary Confederation of Workers and Peasants or CROC; Roman Catholic Church |
Population | 10,589,571 (July 2002 est.) | 106,202,903 (July 2005 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 54% (2001 est.) | 40% (2003 est.) |
Population growth rate | 2.91% (2002 est.) | 1.17% (2005 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Dakar, Kaolack, Matam, Podor, Richard Toll, Saint-Louis, Ziguinchor | Altamira, Manzanillo, Morro Redondo, Salina Cruz, Tampico, Topolobampo, Veracruz |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 8, FM 20, shortwave 1 (2001) | AM 850, FM 545, shortwave 15 (2003) |
Radios | 1.24 million (1997) | - |
Railways | total: 906 km
narrow gauge: 906 km 1.000-meter gauge (70 km double-tracked) (2001) |
total: 17,634 km
standard gauge: 17,634 km 1.435-m gauge (2004) |
Religions | Muslim 94%, indigenous beliefs 1%, Christian 5% (mostly Roman Catholic) | nominally Roman Catholic 89%, Protestant 6%, other 5% |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.92 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.97 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2002 est.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.83 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2005 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal and compulsory (but not enforced) |
Telephone system | general assessment: good system
domestic: above-average urban system; microwave radio relay, coaxial cable and fiber-optic cable in trunk system international: 4 submarine cables; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
general assessment: low telephone density with about 15.2 main lines per 100 persons; privatized in December 1990; the opening to competition in January 1997 improved prospects for development, but Telmex remains dominant
domestic: adequate telephone service for business and government, but the population is poorly served; mobile subscribers far outnumber fixed-line subscribers; domestic satellite system with 120 earth stations; extensive microwave radio relay network; considerable use of fiber-optic cable and coaxial cable international: country code - 52; satellite earth stations - 32 Intelsat, 2 Solidaridad (giving Mexico improved access to South America, Central America, and much of the US as well as enhancing domestic communications), numerous Inmarsat mobile earth stations; linked to Central American Microwave System of trunk connections; high capacity Columbus-2 fiber-optic submarine cable with access to the US, Virgin Islands, Canary Islands, Morocco, Spain, and Italy (1997) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 234,916 (2001) | 15,958,700 (2003) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 373,965 (2001) | 28.125 million (2003) |
Television broadcast stations | 1 (1997) | 236 (plus repeaters) (1997) |
Terrain | generally low, rolling, plains rising to foothills in southeast | high, rugged mountains; low coastal plains; high plateaus; desert |
Total fertility rate | 5.03 children born/woman (2002 est.) | 2.45 children born/woman (2005 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 48% (urban youth 40%) (2001 est.) | 3.2% plus underemployment of perhaps 25% (2004 est.) |
Waterways | 897 km
note: 785 km on the Senegal river, and 112 km on the Saloum river |
2,900 km
note: navigable rivers and coastal canals (2004) |