France–Senegal relations are foreign relations between

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...

. Both countries are full members of the

Organisation internationale de la Francophonie The (OIF; sometimes shortened to the Francophonie, french: La Francophonie , but also called International Organisation of in English-language context) is an international organization representing countries and regions where French is a ...

, and the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

History

French colonization

Relations between France and Senegal stretch back as early as the 14th century, when French merchants travelled to and traded among the present-day Senegalese coast.Trade Relations among European and African Nations
/ref> France exported cloth, iron and muskets to Senegal and imported textiles, ivory, spices and slaves. In 1659, France established a trading post in present-day Saint-Louis operated by the

French West India Company The French West India Company (french: Compagnie française des Indes occidentales) was a French trading company founded on 28 May 1664, some three months before the foundation of the corresponding eastern company, by Jean-Baptiste Colbert and diss ...

(later known as the

Compagnie du Sénégal The Compagnie du Sénégal ( French for the "Senegal Company" or, more literally, the "Company of the Senegal") was a 17th-century French chartered company that administered the territories of Saint-Louis and Gorée island as part of French ...

). As a result of the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (175 ...

(1754-1763) between France and the

Kingdom of Great Britain The Kingdom of Great Britain (officially Great Britain) was a Sovereign state, sovereign country in Western Europe from 1 May 1707 to the end of 31 December 1800. The state was created by the 1706 Treaty of Union and ratified by the Acts of ...

, France lost its possession of Saint-Louis. Saint-Louis was returned to France in 1783 as a result of the French victory during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. During the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

, Great Britain captured French possessions in Senegal and in 1807 Britain proclaimed the abolition of the slave trade known as the "

Slave Trade Act 1807 The Slave Trade Act 1807, officially An Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom prohibiting the slave trade in the British Empire. Although it did not abolish the practice of slavery, it ...

". In 1816, Britain returned to France its possessions in Senegal.Senegal profile - Timeline
/ref> During the " Scramble for Africa" France began to insert control of the Senegal river and hinterland of the country. By 1895, Senegal became part of the French West Africa colony with the capital in Saint-Louis before being relocated to

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from :wo:daqaar, daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar ...

in 1902. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Senegalese soldiers known as ''

Senegalese Tirailleurs The Senegalese Tirailleurs (french: Tirailleurs Sénégalais) were a corps of colonial infantry in the French Army. They were initially recruited from Senegal, French West Africa and subsequently throughout Western, Central and Eastern Africa: t ...

'' fought in both wars for France and they fought during the Battle of France and in the Italian Campaign under the

Free France Free France (french: France Libre) was a political entity that claimed to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third Republic. Led by French general , Free France was established as a government-in-exile ...

government in exile led by General Charles de Gaulle. After the Liberation of Paris and the end of World War II, Senegal became part of the

French Union The French Union () was a political entity created by the French Fourth Republic to replace the old French colonial empire system, colloquially known as the " French Empire" (). It was the formal end of the "indigenous" () status of French subj ...

in 1946.

Independence and present times

In April 1959, Senegal and

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mal ...

merged into the

Mali Federation The Mali Federation ( ar, اتحاد مالي) was a federation in West Africa linking the French colonies of Senegal and the Sudanese Republic (or French Sudan) for two months in 1960. It was founded on 4 April 1959 as a territory with self-ru ...

and declared independence from France in June 1960. Senegal became an independent nation in April 1960.

Post Independence

France and Senegal established diplomatic relations in August 1960. Both France and Senegal work closely together in West African regional affairs, and maintain a close cultural and political relationship. In 2010, France closed its military base in Senegal, however, France maintains an air force base within the

Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport (french: link=no, Aéroport international Léopold-Sédar-Senghor, ) is an international freight and former passenger airport serving Dakar, the capital of Senegal. The airport is situated near the t ...

in Dakar.

Trade

In 2016, trade between France and Senegal totaled €834 million Euros.France-Senegal: Economic relations
/ref> Senegal is France's 57th largest trading partner globally and third largest from Africa. France is the largest foreign investor in Senegal with over €1.7 billion Euros worth of investments within the country. Several French multinational companies such as BNP Paribas,

Eramet Eramet is a French multinational mining and metallurgy company, listed on the Euronext Paris exchange under the symbol ERA. The company was founded with the funding of the Rothschild family (although they were careful to avoid being listed as fou ...

Orange S.A. Orange S.A. (), formerly France Télécom S.A. (stylized as france telecom) is a French multinational telecommunications corporation. It has 266 million customers worldwide and employs 89,000 people in France, and 59,000 elsewhere. In 2015, ...

, Necotrans and

Société Générale Société Générale S.A. (), colloquially known in English as SocGen (), is a French-based multinational financial services company founded in 1864, registered in downtown Paris and headquartered nearby in La Défense. Société Générale ...

operate in Senegal.

Resident diplomatic missions

* France has an embassy in

. * Senegal has an embassy in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

and consulates-general in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefect ...

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

and in

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

and a consular agency in

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very ...

.Embassy of Senegal in Paris (in French)
/ref> File:Ambassade du Sénégal en France, 14 avenue Robert-Schuman, Paris 7e.jpg, Embassy of Senegal in Paris File:Consulat du Sénégal en France.jpg, Consulate-General of Senegal in Paris File:Senegalese Consulate, Lyon - exterior.jpg, Consulate-General of Senegal in Lyon

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:France-Senegal relations

Relations of colonizer and former colony