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Monday, 5 January
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Independence Day, Senegal
Senegal celebrates Independence Day on 20th August each year. The day marks Senegal's achievement of complete independence after the dissolution of the Mali Federation in 1960.
The Republic of Senegal, is a country South of the Sénégal River in Western Africa. Senegal is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean, Mauritania, Mali, Guinea and Guinea-Bissau. The Gambia lies almost entirely within Senegal.
Senegal was once part of the ancient Empire of Ghana, which spread extensively across Africa. In later times, various European powers, including Portugal, the Netherlands, and Britain, competed for trade in the area from the 15th century onwards until in 1677 France ended up in possession of what had become an important slave trade departure point - the infamous island of Gorée, which is located close to modern Dakar.
It was only in the 1850s that the French began to expand their foothold onto the adjacent African (Senegalese) mainland, at the expense of native kingdoms such as Waalo, Cayor, Baol, and Jolof.
In the late 1950s France began to divest itself of many of its colonies and overseas possessions, especially as several (mainly in Africa, such as Algeria and Tunisia) were in open revolt, and a substantial draw upon French military and financial resources. So, in January 1959, Senegal and the French Sudan merged to form the Mali Federation, which became fully independent on 20th June 1960. This decision came as a result of independence and the transfer of power agreement signed with France on 4th April 1960, but it is clear with hindsight that it was ill-conceived and rushed, out of political expediency rather than substantive thinking.
Due to internal political difficulties which should have been foreseen, the Federation broke up on 20th August, having existed for just two months. Senegal and the former French Sudan (renamed the Republic of Mali) both proclaimed independence on that day and Léopold Senghor was elected Senegal's first President in September 1960.
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