ABSTRACT
SENEGALESE COMMUNITIES Frequently with the assistance of relief agencies, the United States since the 1980s has been a haven for thousands of Senegalese immigrants from West Africa. From 1990 to 2005 alone, more than seven thousand Senegalese entered the United States. Many were classified by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) as refugees because they had been displaced by a civil war raging since 1982 between the people of the Casamance (southern region of Senegal) and the government in Dakar. The nation’s natural resources had also been adversely affected by drought and desertification, forcing many Senegalese to seek economic opportunities outside the country. Once a colony of France, Senegal gained independence in 1960, and still to the present day, most Senegalese are French-speaking Muslims, with a small minority being Roman Catholics. Many Senegalese also speak a tribal language and have an indigenous identity-Wolof (43.3 percent), Serer (14.7 percent), Pulaar (8 percent), Jola (3.7 percent), and Mandinka (1.1 percent).
