Destination Dakar

Situation géographique

At the western tip of Africa, facing the Atlantic Ocean and Brazil beyond, Senegal borders Mauritania to the north, Mali to the East and Guinea & Guinea-Bissau to the south.

Half the size of Japan at 196 720 square kilometers, Senegal is home to around 12 million people.

Senegal’s capital city, Dakar, sits on the southern plateau of peninsula that stretches north to the airport and Les Almadies. The Terroun-Bi is on the West Corniche, 10 minutes from the airport and 5 from the heart of the city.

Only 5 hours away from most European capitals, Dakar connects you to the wider region: Mauritania, Gambia, Mali, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau.

Climate

Senegal’s climate, tropical sub-desert, alternates between a dry season (November to June) and a rainy one (July to October). On the edge of the Atlantic, Dakar enjoys mild climate with day time temperatures ranging from 18° in January to 35° in August. Sunny all year: Senegal is one of the sunniest countries in the world with more than 3000 hours of sunlight a year.

History

A former Lebu and Wolof fishing village, the city of Dakar is founded in 1857 when Capitaine Protêt moves the French army garrison from tiny and overpopulated Gorée Island to the mainland. It soon competes with St. Louis, the main French presence at the time. Its natural harbor is its major asset.

In 1902 it became the political, administrative, military, social and cultural capital of French West Africa (AOF). The first governor, Ernest, launched large-scale urban works, including the Governor’s Palace, the General Administration and Kermel covered market. In 1910, more than 25,000 people lived in Dakar.

It is laid out like most port-cities of West Africa and has an organization that reflects pre-1945 colonial segregation policy: port, ‘block’ colonial and indigenous quarters organized in neat geometrical patterns. (Plateau city center, Independence Square, business and administration district for the first, Medina, the SICAP, Point E for the latter)

On April 4th 1960, it became the capital of newly independent Senegal. It now hosts almost all the country’s economic and administrative activity.

Dakar today is a cosmopolitan city, both African and European, with 25% of the country’s population (around 2.5 million) and 80% of economic activity.

Heritage & Culture: Places to discover

Gorée Island

15 minutes from Dakar by boat (‘chaloupe’), Gorée Island bears the dramatic scars of History yet has a charm of its own, seducing visitors with its very rich and mixed architecture.

The island hosts the Slave House (Maison des Esclaves), the Henriette Bathily Women’s Museum, the Fort Estrées History Museum, the Castel and the Sea Museum.

IFAN Theodore Monod Museum of African Art
This museum, dedicated to the arts and traditions of West Africa, is part of the Fundamental Institute of Black Africa (IFAN) and showcases approximately 9000 objects and a wide panorama of masks, statues, tools, clothing, musical instruments and furniture from the sub-region. Temporary exhibitions are regularly organized.

The Arts Village of Dakar
On the road to the L. Sédar Senghor international airport, the Arts Village is dedicated to artistic thought and creation. It includes 52 workshops, an exhibition gallery and a library. All year round, it welcomes artists from all fields of visual arts: painters, sculptors, photographers, ceramists and videographers whose workshops are open the public.

The Boribana Museum of Contemporary Art
Opened in 1998, in a building with large bay windows surrounded by a garden, the museum Boribana aims to initiate the public to the works of the best contemporary painters of the Caribbean, American and African Diaspora.

The Gate of the 3rd millennium
Also known as The Gate of Africa, it was built in 2001 by the Senegalese architect Pierre Atepi Goudiaby on the West Corniche. It symbolizes the call of the twenty-first century.

Also in the city andsurrounding area, the Presidential Palace, Independence Square, the Great Mosque, the Mamelles light-house, Les Almadies, N’gor island and Lac Rose.

Shopping

Take in the city’s atmosphere by visiting its markets: Kermel market in the Old Dakar, the Malian Market near the train station, or Soumbedioune on the West Corniche between the Terrou-Bi and the city.