Talk:Senegal

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[edit] Sénégal

"Sénégal" indeed! Senegal is an African word, not a French word. Nevertheless, anyone speaking English who pronounces "Senegal" as it it were "C'est n'égale", gets a big cream pie for being a pretentious boob. So, what's next? The Hilton Hôtel? We Wikipedians tend to owlishness anyway; we just have to keep a sense of proportion. --Wetman 21:35, 12 Nov 2004 (UTC)

I agree, the most common form in English is without the acutes. Small villages in darkest France with no English equivalents, acutes are good; not for a nation. Stan 21:43, 12 Nov 2004 (UTC)
Nobody having justified the change, I moved it back. Stan 21:59, 24 Nov 2004 (UTC)
The "african" name is actually Sunu gal or our boats in Wolof. If you're going to be specific. We could also mention this in the article. --Madison Gray 19:11, 24 August 2005 (UTC)
There is no "african name" per se for Senegal. Ancient french maps from the 16th century mention the word "Senaga" for what is known today as the Senegal river. Legend has it that when French explorers asked the river dwellers how they named their river, they answered "suñu gaal" ("our pirogue"), thinking they were referring to their embarcations. The official name of Senegal is "République du Sénégal", and this is what is used at the UN. The article's title should therefore revert to Sénégal, with the accents, as this is the official name of the country, like it or not.
Since the country is assembled from different kingdoms, there is no single african word that can describe it - if it was named Jolof or Saalum, it wouldn't please the Toucouleurs or the Diolas, who'd prefer Fouta Tooro and Bignona, respectively.
It's not necessarily a matter of French, "African" or English usage (nor should it be based on what sounds "pretentious" to me or even "most common") usage. When writing in English we don't routinely refer to "China" in ideograms but with Roman characters, whatever the official usage may be in Beijing (or at the self-consciously multilingual UN, for that matter). The Wikipedia Manual of Style on "National varieties of English" is a useful source here. The local official name in French can always be included in the lead paragraph, but the heading should follow English usage given that this is the English language Wikipedia. To expand just a bit, the Swahili language is just that in English, no matter that it's called KiSwahili by those who speak and teach it even when they speak English (the suffix "ki" means "language" in Swahili--the Swahili language entry does a good job with this although discussions have gone back and forth there, too). Neither is the French language called "français" in English usage, which is directly analogous I think. We might consider that the US State Department officially refers to the Côte d'Ivoire rather than "Ivory Coast" but to the Republic of Senegal rather than "République du Sénégal." Neither the UN or State Department may be the final word, but these are at least points of reference. With the special case of the Côte d'Ivoire notwithstanding, I use Senegal in an English context and Sénégal when I speak or write French.Danrebo 12:19, 18 August 2006 (UTC)
Maybe we should have a seperate list for Senegalese athletes? There seem to be a lot of them. OneWorld22 07:13, 16 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] POV

I know Senegal has one of the best reputations for recent stability, non-corruption etc. in Africa but some of this article is so utterly uncritical it seems weird. "Senegal has 65 political parties. They all contribute to development of the country by giving criticism and working toward a successful transition to democracy in the country and even among all developing countries of the African continent." "Today Senegal has a democratic political culture, and they have contributed to one of the most successful democratic transitions in Africa. Senegal recognizes and respects all cultures, religions and traditions." The last sentence is repeated again later. Now could you say of ANY country in the world "they respect everybody-end of story"? Someone who knows more about this may want to edit out the POV. Marskell 15:42, 6 August 2005 (UTC)

Oh and someone should edit the economy section so it isn't a complete copy of the CIA world factbook...think we can do better than cut and paste. Marskell 15:47, 6 August 2005 (UTC)

The pretention that Senegal is exempt of corruption is unrealistic, and most Senegalese would not agree with it, even in the government. Transparency International ranks Senegal 78th over 155 in its "Corruption Perceptions Index" of 2005, at the same level as China and Morocco.

It would be nice to add information from the World Bank, the World Health Organization, Interpol, and Amnesty International.

I agree that the phrase "Senegal recognizes and respects all cultures, religions and traditions" is probably bogus. I agree that this article is definatly not written from a neutral pov. You'd think Senegal is a haven for everything democratic in the world. I'm sure it's a fine country but this article is almost misleading. I don't know much about Senegal at all so I hope someone can make some good rewrites. --Tainter 01:10, 16 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] demographic information sources

I'm interested in knowing where the demographic information on this page (including the religion section) and on the Senegal demographics page comes from. Sources for statistics should be cited so we know when to replace them when more up-to-date statistics come out. The most recent census that I have gotten a hold of is 1988, which is surely out of date, but it gives statistics different from those reported here. (And some of the statistics on the demographics page are in some instances very different and seem unlikely to me.) I'm tempted to change the statistics to ones I can cite a source for unless someone can demonstrate that they have a credible source for these statistics. Jbenhill 03:06, 2 September 2005 (UTC)

As for most African countries, corruption is possibly the main scourge of the Senegalese economy. This, in turns, causes a trickle down negative flow that affects every other aspect of the country's developement. The social system is steady simply thanks to the strong familial, religious and cultural bonds that inhibit the marginalization of any group or people. This is however absent in the medical, industrial and agricultural fields where the economic weakness of the government, brought about by generations of corrupt political leaders, industry and business heads, allows for a free for all culture and an ineffectiveness that is somehow both accepted and expected by the masses. Presently, another side of the problem is raising its head in the form of claims of nepotism raised by the opponents of the President Ablaye Wade, whose son and daughter act as his close advisors and also anchor and manage public and private business deals whose transparency, if not its legitimacy,is questionned.

[edit] Question about Senegalese transportation system

Moved from article: http://www.air-senegal-international.com/ Besides the presence of a senegalese airplane firm, the road system consists of ??? 81.246.188.34 El_C 10:28, 29 November 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Sticky people

Having visited Senegal, I believe the Wikipedia article lacks an important factor: the stickiness of the local people. I believe you should add something about that too. Aldough I hate to write something bad about Senegal or of the people for that matter, I believe the article wouldn't be complete without it. The stickiness is not exagerated, people keep following tourists and keep trying to sell you stuff, usually they keep walking alongside tourists for well over 20 seconds before they back down. And this every time you pass any of them.

This is common for any developing country. I visited Santo Domingo and had the same experience. Not sure if it's worth mentioning. Codingmonkey 20:08, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Democracy

The politics section seems to highlight Senegal as a democracy, which might just be a self-proclaimed democracy. It is not written in an NPOV encyclopedic style. Cygnus_hansa 01:41, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

I agree with you that the section is not written from a neutral point of view, but you should have done your research before saying that Senegal "might just be a self-proclaimed democracy." The Economic Community of West African States has deemed Senegal's recent presidential elections "free and fair" [1]. The Carter Center writes that "Senegal understands the link between a healthy population and a healthy democracy" [2]. USAID remarks that "Senegal is a democratic and predominantly Muslim nation, one of the most stable countries in an unstable region" [3]. Dr. Alfred C. Stepan, professor of government at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, lauds Senegal as "one of the Islamic world’s most peaceful and democratic countries" [4]. Et cetera. -- WGee 23:19, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Car Rapides

Hi, I think 'car rapides' are worth mentioning on Wikipedia, but I don't know if it merits its own article or if it should be added under this article, or under the Transport_in_Senegal (which is primarily statistics), or the Dakar#transportation section (because, to the best of my knowledge and after speaking with a professor and other Dakar locals regarding it, they are unique to Dakar, but I have not found any verifiable sources that prove or disprove it).

Thanks Wskora (talk) 15:22, 13 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Dakar Senegal is a good place to stay or work with?

Actually I don't have any idea if Senegal is a nice place to stay with or work with, please advise me because I have a job offer letter in Dakar Senegal..please.... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.100.2.3 (talk) 08:03, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] hello

just testing —Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.100.2.3 (talk) 08:05, 15 February 2008 (UTC)