Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Portuguese explorer Dinis Dias stepped onto Gorée Island in 1444, marking the first European contact with what is now Senegal. This event occurred on a small island just off the coast of Dakar.
Baunez ridge rises 2.7 kilometers southeast of Nepen Diakha as the highest point in the entire territory. The landscape shifts from rolling sandy plains to foothills, featuring Sahelian climates that range from near-hot desert conditions in the Lompoul desert to tropical wet and dry climates in the southern Casamance region.
Ndiadiane Ndiaye founded this confederacy around 1300. The empire collapsed around 1549 following the defeat and death of Lele Fouli Fak at the hands of Amari Ngone Sobel Fall.
Senegal gained full independence on the 20th of June 1960 through a transfer of power agreement signed with France on the 4th of April 1960. Léopold Sédar Senghor was elected the country's first president in August 1960.
Agriculture remains central to the economy, with peanuts serving as the primary crop. Fishing constitutes about 3.2 percent of Senegal's GDP and provides around 600,000 jobs, while mining, cement production, artificial fertilizer manufacturing, chemicals, textiles, and tourism form other major industries.
About 97.2 percent of the population practices Islam today according to CIA World Factbook data. Islamic communities organize around Sufi orders called tariqas, headed by a khalif who is usually a direct descendant of the group's founder.