[3] Those who acquire nationality at birth include: Naturalization can be granted to persons who have resided in the territory for a sufficient period of time to confirm they understand the customs and traditions of Senegal and are integrated into the society.
[22] Human presence in the Senegambia began over 10,000 years ago and included the ancestors of the Fulani, Jola, Serer, Tukulor, and Wolof peoples.
The kingdom stretched across the Senegal River valley from the Ferlo Desert to the Sahara and was involved with the Zenaga Berbers in the trans-Saharan trade.
[23][24] In the thirteenth century, Takrur was conquered by the Mali Empire and the Kingdom of Jolof arose in the northwestern savanna area of what is now Senegal.
The following year, French explorers returned and established a chain of trading stations as far south as the Senegal River.
[28][29] Later that year, Dinis Dias, inspired by these earlier voyages, sighted the Senegal River and encountered the Jolof Empire before continuing south to Cape Verde and the Ilha da Palma, now known as Gorée.
[33] Weak kingdoms could not protect their subjects from raiders or traders, giving rise to internal factionalism and conflict.
The seizures were led by Jean du Casse, who was hired by the Company of Senegal to expel rival traders and safeguard French holdings.
In 1678, he seized the Dutch post at Arguin and the following year launched raids against the Wolof, Bawol and Sine rulers, to force them to sign treaties of protection and grant exclusive trade rights in their territories.
[25] The Ancien Régime of France developed a system of feudal allegiance in which subjects were bound together by a scheme of protection and service tied to land ownership.
Classified as originaires, inhabitants of Dakar, Gorée, Rufisque, and Saint-Louis, were distinguished as different from Africans of the interior because of their level of assemilation to French culture.
[57] The 1802 coup d'état of Napoleon Bonaparte rolled back gains made during the French Revolutionary period, re-establishing the law and customs in effect before the Revolution of 1789.
This provision laid the groundwork for nationality legislation based upon whether the native inhabitants were able to be assimilated by adopting European standards.
[66] Nationals in the older colonies of the Antilles, Guiana, Réunion and parts of India and the Four Communes of Senegal were granted political rights, but those in Algeria were confirmed by a decree on 14 July 1865 to be subjects and not citizens, unless they renounced their allegiance to native custom and possessed sufficient understanding of the obligations of citizenship.
[71][72] Natives, as non-citizen nationals were governed by traditional laws concerning marriage and inheritance which placed the well-being of the community above individual rights.
[73] These laws prevented a wife from being treated as a slave, required her husband to support her, and entitled her kin to a bride price, to compensate them for the loss of her fertility to their kinship group and secure the legality of the union.
[79] Clarification in the 1897 decree included that bestowing nationality by birth in French territory only applied to children born in France, restoring descent requirements for the colonies.
The language requirement could be waived for those who had received military medals or recognition of the Legion of Honor or were in the French civil service.
[83] The decree noted that married women and minor children acquired the status of their husband or father however, this was only the case if the marriage had been conducted under French law, rather than customary practice.
24 on 25 March 1915 that allowed subjects or protected persons who were non-citizen nationals and had established domicile in a French territory to acquire full citizenship, including the naturalization of their wives and minor children, by having received the cross of the Legion of Honor, having obtained a university degree, having rendered service to the nation, having attained the rank of an officer or received a medal from the French army, who had married a Frenchwoman and established a one-year residency; or who had resided for more than ten years in a colony other than their country of origin.
[93] It also allowed children born in France to native-born French women married to foreigners to acquire their nationality from their mothers.
[76][95] Under Article 26 of the 1928 decree was the stipulation that it did not apply to natives of the French possessions except Algeria, Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Réunion.
[96] Between 1933 and 1947, the territory of Upper Volta was divided up and incorporated into the colonies of French Sudan, the Ivory Coast, and Niger.
[99] At the end of World War II, a statute issued on 7 March 1944 granted French citizenship to those who had performed services to the nation, such as serving as civil servants or receiving recognitions.
[101] It expressly applied to Algeria, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique and Réunion and was extended to the Overseas Territories in 1953, but in the case of the latter had distinctions for the rights of those who were naturalized.
[106][107] The law was not intended to create independent states, but rather to allow the African colonies to participate in restructuring their place within the French Union.
[2] The vagueness of the wording for recognition as Senegalese created problems for the Lebanese-Syrian and French inhabitants in acquiring nationality, eventually leading to reforms in 1970.
[115] In 1967, an amendment was passed (Loi N° 67–17) which allowed people to naturalize after five years if they were employed in the Senegalese civil service or a private enterprise.
In 1970, an amendment (Loi N° 70–31) was passed which barred persons who had not assimilated into Senegalese society from acquiring nationality at birth even if the child and parent were both born in Senegal.
[117] The new law continued to allow customary marriage practices, but required that those unions be registered to provide an official legal status, as opposed to an unregistered living arrangement.