Ville de Dakar (City of Dakar)
N'gor—a northern suburb of Dakar, near the Yoff Airport
Coat of arms
City of Dakar, divided into 19 communes d'arrondissement
Ville de Dakar (City of Dakar) Location within Senegal, Africa
Coordinates: 14°41′34″N 17°26′48″W / 14.69278, -17.44667
Country	Senegal
Région	Dakar
Département	Dakar
Settled	15th century
Communes d'arrondissement	19 Cambérène Parcelles Assaines Pattie d'Oies Hann Bel-Air Dieuppeul Derklé HLM Biscuiterie Grand Dakar Plateau Médina Fass-Gueule Tapée-Colobane Fann Point-E Mermoz-Sacré-Coeur Ouakam Yoff Ngor Liberté Grand-Yoff Cape Verde Peninsula
Government
- Mayor	Pape Diop (since 2002) (PDS)
- Regional president	Abdoulaye Faye (since 2002)
Area [1]
- City	82. Dakar-Yoff-Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport is an international air facility in Dakar, Senegal. Senegal (le Sénégal officially the Republic of Senegal, is a country south of the Sénégal River in western Africa. |||} Senegal is subdivided into 11 regions ( régions, singular région) each of which is administered by a Conseil Régionaux elected by population Dakar région is the smallest and most populated région of Senegal, encompassing the capital city of the country Dakar, and all In the Terminology of Political geography and Historiography a National department (département departamento is an administrative A mayor (from the Latin māior, meaning "greater" is a modern title used in many countries for the highest ranking officer in a municipal government Pape Diop (born 1954) is a Senegalese politician and a leading member of the Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS The Senegalese Democratic Party (Parti Démocratique Sénégalais is a political party in Senegal. Area is a Quantity expressing the two- Dimensional size of a defined part of a Surface, typically a region bounded by a closed Curve. 38 km² (31. To help compare sizes of different geographic regions we list here Areas between 10 km² (1000 Hectares and 100 km² (10000 hectares 8 sq mi)
- Metro	547 km² (211. The square mile is an imperial and US unit of Area equal the area of a square of one statute mile. 2 sq mi)
Population (December 31, 2005 estimate)[2]
- City	1,030,594
- Density	12,510/km² (32,400. Events 406 – Vandals, Alans and Suebians cross the Rhine, beginning an invasion of Gallia. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Population density (in agriculture standing stock and Standing crop) is a measurement of Population per unit area or unit volume 8/sq mi)
- Metro	2,452,656
- Metro Density	4,484/km² (11,613. A metropolitan area is a large population center consisting of a large Metropolis and its adjacent zone of influence or of more than one closely adjoining neighboring central 5/sq mi)
	Data here are for the administrative Dakar région, which matches almost exactly the limits of the metropolitan area
Time zone	GMT (UTC+0)
Website: http://www.dakarville.sn

For the Dakar Rally, see Dakar Rally. Greenwich Mean Time ( GMT) is a term originally referring to mean solar time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London Coordinated Universal Time, the basis for the world's civil time frequently referred to by the name of its predecessor Greenwich Mean Time Western The Dakar Rally (or simply " The Dakar " formerly known as "The Paris Dakar" or "Paris to Dakar Rally" and now as "The Lisboa Dakar" is For the Israeli submarine, see INS Dakar. The submarine was purchased by Israel along with two of her T-class sisters in 1965 HMS Truncheon and HMS Turpin

Dakar is the capital city of Senegal, located on the Cape Verde Peninsula, on the country's Atlantic coast. Senegal (le Sénégal officially the Republic of Senegal, is a country south of the Sénégal River in western Africa. Cap-Vert is a Peninsula in Senegal, and the westernmost part of the continent of Africa. It is Senegal's largest city. Its position, on the western edge of Africa (it is the westernmost African city), is an advantageous departure point for trans-Atlantic and European trade; this fact aided its growth into a major regional port. ||-||-|-||-||-||-||-||-||-|} A port is a facility for receiving Ships and transferring cargo

According to December 31, 2005 official estimates, the city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 2. Events 406 – Vandals, Alans and Suebians cross the Rhine, beginning an invasion of Gallia. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. 45 million people. ^[2]

Dakar is a major administrative centre, home to the National Assembly of Senegal and Senegal Presidential Palace. The National Assembly of Senegal (Assemblée nationale du Sénégal is the lower house of the country's parliament.

History

Postcard image of Dakar under French colonial governance, 1900

The Cape Verde Peninsula was settled, no later than the 15th century, by the Lebou, an ethnic group related to the neighboring Wolof and Sereer. The Lebou ( Lébou) are an ethnic group of Senegal, West Africa, living on the peninsula of Cap-Vert. The original villages: Ouakam, Ngor, Yoff and Hann, still constitute distinctively Lebou neighborhoods of the city today. Yoff is a town ( commune d'arrondissement) part of the city ( commune) of Dakar. Meanwhile, in 1444, the Portuguese arrived on the island of Gorée and founded a settlement there. Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic (República Portuguesa is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. Île de Gorée (ie "Gorée Island" (pronounced /goʀe/ is one of the 19 communes d'arrondissement (i By 1536, they had begun using it as a base for the export of slaves. The mainland of Cap-Vert, however, was under control of the Jolof Empire, as part of the western province of Cayor which seceded from Jolof in its own right in 1549. The Kingdom of Cayor (1549-1879 was the largest and most powerful kingdom that split off from the Empire of Jolof (Diolof in what is now Senegal. A new Lebou village, called Ndakarou, was established directly across from Gorée in the 17th century to service the European trading factory with food and drinking water. Gorée was captured by the United Netherlands in 1588, which gave it its present name (spelled Goeree, after Goeree-Overflakkee in Holland). "United Netherlands" redirects here For the "Kingdom of the United Netherlands" see United Kingdom of the Netherlands. Goeree-Overflakkee is the southernmost delta Island of the Province of South Holland, Netherlands. The island was to switch hands between the Portuguese and Dutch several more times before falling to the English under Admiral Robert Holmes on January 23, 1664, and finally to the French in 1677. Sir Robert Holmes ( ca 1622 &ndash 18 November 1692) was a British Admiral of the Restoration Navy. Events 393 - Roman Emperor Theodosius I proclaims his nine year old son Honorius co-emperor Though under continuous French administration since, Métis families, descendant from Dutch and French traders and African wives, dominated the slave trade. A Métis is a person born to parents who belong to different groups defined by visible physical differences regarded as racial or the descendant of such persons The infamous "House of Slaves" was built here in 1776. The Door of No Return in the House of Slaves is said to be the final exit point of the slaves from Africa

In 1795 the Lebou of Cape Verde revolted against Cayor rule. A new theocratic state, subsequently called the "Lebou Republic" by the French, was established under the leadership of the Diop, a Muslim clerical family originally from Koki in Cayor. The capital of the republic was established at Ndakarou. In 1857 the French established a military post at Ndakarou (which they called "Dakar") and annexed the Lebou Republic, though its institutions continued to function nominally. The Serigne (also spelled Sëriñ, "Lord") of Ndakarou is still recognized as the traditional political authority of the Lebou by the Senegalese State today.

The slave trade was abolished by France in February 1794. However, Napoleon reinstated it in May 1802, then finally abolished it permanently in March 1815. Despite Napoleon's abolition, a clandestine slave trade continued at Gorée until 1848, when it was abolished throughout all French territories. To replace trade in slaves, the French promoted peanut cultivation on the mainland. As the peanut trade boomed, tiny Gorée Island, whose population had grown to 6,000 residents, proved ineffectual as a port. Traders from Gorée decided to move to the continent and a "factory" with warehouses was established in Rufisque in 1840. Rufisque is a city in the Dakar region of western Senegal, at the base of the Cap-Vert Peninsula

Large public expenditure for infrastructure was allocated by the colonial authorities to Dakar's development. The port facilities were improved with jetties, a telegraph line was established along the coast to Saint-Louis and the Dakar-Saint Louis railway was completed in 1885, at which point the city became an important base for the conquest of the western Sudan. Saint-Louis, or Ndar as it is called in Wolof, is the capital of Senegal 's Saint-Louis Region

Gorée, including Dakar, was recognised as a French commune in 1872. Dakar itself was split off from Gorée as a separate commune in 1887. The citizens of the city elected their own mayor and municipal council and helped send an elected representative to the National Assembly in Paris. Dakar replaced Saint-Louis as the capital of French West Africa in 1902. French West Africa ( Afrique occidentale française, AOF) was a Federation of eight French colonial territories in Africa: A second major railroad, the Dakar-Niger built from 1906–1923, linked Dakar to Bamako and consolidated the city's position at the head of France's West African empire. In 1929, the commune of Gorée Island, now with only a few hundred inhabitants, was merged into Dakar.

Léopold Sédar Senghor and Mamadou Dia, the first President and Prime Minister respectively of the Republic of Senegal, pass the National Assembly building in Dakar, 1960

Urbanization during the colonial period was marked by forms of racial and social segregation—often expressed in terms of health and hygiene—which continue to structure the city today. Sir Léopold Sédar Senghor ( 9 October 1906 20 December 2001) was a Senegalese Poet, politician and cultural theorist who Mamadou Dia (born July 18 1910) was the first prime minister of Senegal. Following a plague epidemic in 1914, the authorities forced most of the African population out of old neighborhoods, or "Plateau", and into a new quarter, called Médina, separated from it by a "sanitary cordon". As first occupants of the land, the Lebou inhabitants of the city successfully resisted this expropriation. They were supported by Blaise Diagne, the first African to be elected Deputy to the National Assembly. Blaise Diagne ( October 13, 1872 - May 11, 1934) was a Senegalese political leader the first black African elected to the Nonetheless, the Plateau thereafter became an administrative, commercial, and residential district increasingly reserved for Europeans and served as model for similar exclusionary administrative enclaves in French Africa's other colonial capitals (Bamako, Conakry, Abidjan, Brazzaville). Meanwhile, the Layene Sufi order, established by Seydina Mouhammadou Limamou Laye, was thriving among the Lebou in Yoff and in a new village called Cambérène. Seydina Mouhammadou Limamou Laye (1843-1909 was the founder of the Layene Sufi order Since independence, urbanization has sprawled eastward past Pikine, a commuter suburb whose population (2001 est. 1,200,000) is greater than that of Dakar proper, to Rufisque, creating a conurbation of almost 3 million (over a quarter of the national population). A conurbation is an Urban area or Agglomeration comprising a number of Cities, large Towns and larger urban areas that through Population

In its colonial heyday Dakar was one of the major cities of the French Empire, comparable to Hanoi or Beirut. Hanoi ( Vietnamese: Hà Nội Hán Tự: 河[[wikt 内|内]], estimated population 3398889 (2007, is the Capital of Vietnam Beirut (بيروت Bayrūt) is the Capital and Largest city of Lebanon with a population of over 2 French trading firms established branch offices there and industrial investments (mills, breweries, refineries, canneries) were attracted by its port and rail facilities. It was also strategically important to France, which maintained an important naval base and coaling station in its harbor and which integrated it into its earliest air force and airmail circuits, most notably with the legendary Mermoz airfield (no longer extant).

During the Battle of Dakar, which took place off the coast of Dakar on September 23–September 25, 1940, the British navy attempted to rally the colonial administration in Dakar to the Allied cause and detach it from Vichy. The Battle of Dakar, also known as Operation Menace, was an unsuccessful attempt in September 1940 by the Allies to capture the strategic port of Dakar Events 1122 - Concordat of Worms. 1459 - Battle of Blore Heath, the first major battle of the English Events 303 - On a voyage preaching the Gospel, Saint Fermin of Pamplona is beheaded in Amiens, France Year 1940 ( MCMXL) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. In November 1944 West African conscripts of the French army mutinied against poor conditions at the Thiaroye camp, on the outskirts of the city. The mutiny was seen as an indictment of the colonial system and constituted a watershed for the nationalist movement.

Dakar was the capital of the short-lived Mali Federation from 1959 to 1960, after which it became the capital of Senegal.

Dakar is a major financial center, home to a dozen national and regional banks (including the BCEAO which manages the unified West African CFA currency), and to numerous international organizations, NGOs and international research centers. Dakar has a large Lebanese community (concentrated in the import-export sector) that dates to the 1920s, a community of Moroccan business people, as well as Mauritanian, Cape Verdian and Guinean communities. The city is home to as many as 20,000 French expatriates. France still maintains an air force base at Yoff and the French fleet is serviced in Dakar's port.

Geography and climate

Dakar is located at 14°40'20" North, 17°25'22" West (14. 67222, -17. 422778). ^[3]

Administration

Market street in the working class Gueule Tapée quarter

The city of Dakar is a commune, (also sometimes known as commune de ville), one of the 67 communes of Senegal. A township (or Municipality) is a settlement which has the status and powers of a unit of local government The commune of Dakar was created by the French colonial administration on June 17, 1887 by detaching it from the commune of Gorée. Events 1462 - Vlad III the Impaler attempts to assassinate Mehmed II ( The Night Attack) forcing him to retreat Year 1887 ( MDCCCLXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Île de Gorée (ie "Gorée Island" (pronounced /goʀe/ is one of the 19 communes d'arrondissement (i The commune of Gorée, created in 1872, was itself one of the oldest Western-style municipalities in Africa (along with the municipalities of Algeria and South Africa). Algeria ( ar [[Arabic]] الجزائر, Al Jaza'ir ælʤæˈzæːʔir Amazigh: ⴷⵥⴰⵢⴻⵔ Dzayer) officially the People's The Republic of South Africa (also known by other official names) is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa

The commune of Dakar has been in continuous existence since 1887, being preserved by the new state of Senegal after independence in 1960, although its limits have varied considerably over time. The limits of the commune of Dakar have been unchanged since 1983. The commune of Dakar is ruled by a democratically elected municipal council (conseil municipal) serving five years, and a mayor elected by the municipal council. There have been 20 mayors in Dakar since 1887. The first black mayor was Blaise Diagne, mayor of Dakar from 1924 to 1934. Blaise Diagne ( October 13, 1872 - May 11, 1934) was a Senegalese political leader the first black African elected to the The longest serving mayor was Mamadou Diop, mayor for 18 years between 1984 and 2002.

The commune of Dakar is also a département, one of the 34 départements of Senegal. In the Terminology of Political geography and Historiography a National department (département departamento is an administrative This situation is quite similar to Paris, which is both a commune and a département. Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city However, contrary to French départements, départements in Senegal have no political power (no departmental assembly), and are merely local administrative structures of the central state, in charge of carrying out some administrative services as well as controlling the activities of the communes within the département.

The département of Dakar is divided into four arrondissements: Almadies, Grand Dakar, Parcelles Assainies (which literally means "drained lots"; this is the most populated arrondissement of Dakar), and Plateau/Gorée (downtown Dakar). The departments of Senegal are subdivided into Arrondissements The arrondissements are listed below by department Bakel Bala Diawara These arrondissements are quite different from the arrondissements of Paris, being merely local administrative structures of the central state, like the Senegalese départements, and are thus more comparable to French departmental arrondissements. The city of Paris is divided into twenty arrondissements municipaux, more simply referred to as arrondissements (əˈɹɒndɨsmənt in The 100 French departments are divided into 342 arrondissements, which may be translated into English as districts.

Residential street in the upscale Mermoz quarter

The Assemblée nationale on the Plateau, the heart of old Dakar

In 1996 a massive reform of the administrative and political divisions of Senegal was voted by the Parliament of Senegal. The commune of Dakar, whose population approached 1 million inhabitants, was deemed too large and too populated to be properly managed by a central municipality, and thus on August 30, 1996 Dakar was divided into 19 communes d'arrondissement. Events 1363 - Beginning date of the Battle of Lake Poyang; the forces of two Chinese rebel leaders— Chen Youliang and Year 1996 ( MCMXCVI) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar) These communes d'arrondissement were given extensive powers, and are very much like regular communes. They have more powers than the arrondissements of Paris, and are more akin to the London boroughs. The administrative area of Greater London contains thirty-two London boroughs. The commune of Dakar was maintained above these 19 communes d'arrondissement, and it coordinates the activities of the communes d'arrondissement, much as Greater London coordinates the activities of the London boroughs. Greater London is the top-level administrative subdivision covering London, England. The 19 communes d'arrondissement belong to either of the four arrondissements of Dakar, and the sous-préfet of each arrondissement is in charge of controlling the activities of the communes d'arrondissement in his arrondissement. Prefect (from the Latin praefectus, perfect participle of praeficere: "make in front" i

The commune d'arrondissement of Dakar-Plateau (34,626 inhabitants), in the arrondissement of Plateau/Gorée, is the historical heart of the city, and most ministries and public administrations are located there. Dakar-Plateau is an arrondissement in the Dakar Department, and forms the central district of the city of Dakar. The densest and most populated commune d'arrondissement is Médina (136,697 inhabitants), in the arrondissement of Plateau/Gorée. The commune d'arrondissement of Yoff (55,995 inhabitants), in the arrondissement of Almadies, is the largest one, while the smallest one is the commune d'arrondissement of Île de Gorée (1,034 inhabitants), in the arrondissement of Plateau/Gorée. Yoff is a town ( commune d'arrondissement) part of the city ( commune) of Dakar. Île de Gorée (ie "Gorée Island" (pronounced /goʀe/ is one of the 19 communes d'arrondissement (i

The département of Dakar is one of the four départements of the Dakar région, which is one of the 11 régions of Senegal. Dakar région is the smallest and most populated région of Senegal, encompassing the capital city of the country Dakar, and all |||} Senegal is subdivided into 11 regions ( régions, singular région) each of which is administered by a Conseil Régionaux elected by population The Dakar région encompasses the city of Dakar and all its suburbs along the Cape Verde Peninsula. Cap-Vert is a Peninsula in Senegal, and the westernmost part of the continent of Africa. Its territory is thus roughly the same as the territory of the metropolitan area of Dakar. Since the administrative reforms of 1996, the régions of Senegal, which until then were merely local administrative structures of the central state, have been turned into full-fledged political units, with democratically elected regional councils, and regional presidents. They were given extensive powers, and manage economic development, transportation, or environmental protection issues at the regional level, thus coordinating the actions of the communes below them.

Following the political transition of 2000 when Abdoulaye Wade, leader of the opposition (Senegalese Democratic Party, or PDS), defeated President Abdou Diouf (Socialist Party of Senegal), local elections were held in 2002. Abdoulaye Wade (born May 29 1926 is the third and current President of Senegal, in office since 2000 The Senegalese Democratic Party (Parti Démocratique Sénégalais is a political party in Senegal. Abdou Diouf (Abdu Juuf (born September 7, 1935) was the second President of Senegal, serving from 1981 to 2000 The Socialist Party of Senegal ( Parti Socialiste du Sénégal, PS is a Political party in Senegal. Two leaders of the PDS, Pape Diop and Abdoulaye Faye, ambitioned to become mayor of Dakar. Eventually, a compromise was found: Pape Diop would run for the municipal election of Dakar, while Abdoulaye Faye would run for the regional election of Dakar. The local elections of Senegal were held on May 12, 2002, and saw the PDS largely defeating the Socialists. Events 1191 - Richard I of England marries Berengaria of Navarre. See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. Pape Diop was elected mayor of Dakar, defeating the long time Socialist mayor Mamadou Diop, while Abdoulaye Faye was elected president of the regional council of the Dakar région, defeating the Socialists who hitherto controlled the région.

Notable places

The Dakar Railway Station

Attractions in Dakar include major markets, Dakar Grand Mosque (built in 1964), Gorée Island, the IFAN Museum of West African culture, clifftop walks and beaches, and Hann Park, home to Senegal Zoo. Sao Paulo Stock Exchangejpg|thumb| Virtual market arena where buyer and seller are not present and trade via intemediates and electronical information The Dakar Grand Mosque (also Grande Mosquée de Dakar) is one of the most important religious buildings in the capital of Sénégal. Île de Gorée (ie "Gorée Island" (pronounced /goʀe/ is one of the 19 communes d'arrondissement (i The Musée de l'Institut Fondamental d'Afrique Noire or IFAN Museum of African Arts in Dakar, Senegal is one of the oldest art museums in West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the Westernmost Region of the African Continent. In Geography and Geology, a cliff is a significant vertical or near vertical rock exposure

The town serves as a port and is home to the Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport. Dakar-Yoff-Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport is an international air facility in Dakar, Senegal. It is also the terminus of the Dakar-Niger railroad line. The Dakar-Niger Railway connects Dakar, ( Senegal) to Koulikoro, ( Mali)

Dakar is the finishing point of the Dakar Rally and is a member of the Organization of World Heritage Cities. The Dakar Rally (or simply " The Dakar " formerly known as "The Paris Dakar" or "Paris to Dakar Rally" and now as "The Lisboa Dakar" is The Organization of World Heritage Cities (OWHC was founded on September 8 1993 in Fez Morocco. Cheikh Anta Diop University, also known as the University of Dakar, was established in 1957. Cheikh Anta Diop University ( French: Université Cheikh Anta Diop or UCAD) also known as the University of Dakar, is a University Cheikh Anta Diop University ( French: Université Cheikh Anta Diop or UCAD) also known as the University of Dakar, is a University

Notable residents

• Alioune "Akon" Thiam, R&B singer
• Ségolène Royal, French politician born in Dakar
• Ousmane Barro, basketball player, Marquette University
• Youssou N'Dour, singer and percussionist
• Patrick Vieira, soccer player, Inter Milan
• DeSagana Diop, basketball player, Dallas Mavericks
• Boris Diaw, basketball player, Phoenix Suns
• Cheikh Samb, basketball player, Detroit Pistons
• Abdoulaye Wade, President of Senegal
• Patrice Evra,soccer player, Manchester United

References

External links

• (French) Official website

• Dakar is at coordinates 14°41′34″N 17°26′48″W / 14.6929, -17.4466 (Dakar)Coordinates: 14°41′34″N 17°26′48″W / 14.6929, -17.4466 (Dakar)

Photos

• Photos of Dakar
• Photos of Dakar on Flickr - Photos tagged with Dakar Senegal on Flickr. A geographic coordinate system enables every location on the Earth to be specified in three coordinates using mainly a spherical coordinate system. com