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Saint-Louis, or Ndar as it is called in Wolof, is the capital of Senegal's Saint-Louis Region. Located in the northwest of Senegal, near the mouth of the Senegal River, and 200 miles north of Senegal's Capital City Dakar, it has a population officially estimated at 176,000 in 2005. Saint-Louis was the capital of the French colony of Senegal from 1673 until independence in 1960. From 1920 to 1957 it also served as capital of the neighboring colony of Mauritania.
The Battle of Fandane-Thiouthioune also known as the Battle of Somb occurred on 18 July 1867. It was a religious war between the Serer people and the Muslim Marabouts of Senegambia, but also had a political and economic dimension : vendetta and empire-building. Fandane, Thiouthioune and Somb were part of the pre-colonial Serer Kingdom of Sine now part of independent Senegal. The Muslim army was led by the Islamic religious leader Maba Diakhou Bâ, whilst the Serer army was led by the King of Sine - Maad a Sinig Kumba Ndoffene Famak Joof.
In the early hours of the battle, the Muslim Marabouts prevailed but the Serer army held firm. In the latter part of the battle, the Marabouts were defeated. Maba Diakhou was killed and his body decapitated. Damel-Teigne Lat Jor Ngone Latir Jop and Bourba Jolof Alboury Sainabou Njie—respective kings of Cayor and Baol, and Jolof, and part of Maba's army fled the battlefield. Maad a Sinig Kumba Ndoffene Famak was victorious but injured. Maba's general - Mama Gaolo Nyang was held prisoner.
The media of Senegal is varied and includes multiple television channels, numerous private radio stations, and over 15 newspapers.
The reading public for Senegal's diverse press is largely limited to Dakar and Thies. The quasi-official Le Soleil is a daily newspaper. Other major popular independent newspapers in Senegal include the dailies Sud Quotidien, WalFadjri, Le Quotidien, Le Matin, Le Populaire, Il Est Midi, and the economic weekly Nouvel Horizon. National newspapers are in French. English-language newspapers such as the International Herald Tribune are also available at many newsstands.
The Senegambia Confederation was a loose confederation in the late 20th century between the West African countries of Senegal and its neighbour The Gambia, which is almost completely surrounded by Senegal. The confederation was founded on 1 February 1982 following an agreement between the two countries signed on 12 December 1981. It was intended to promote cooperation between the two countries, but was dissolved by Senegal on 30 September 1989 after The Gambia refused to move closer toward union. The Senegambia Confederation should not be confused with the historic Senegambia region, also shortened to Senegambia.
Fatick | |
|---|---|
Town | |
  Fatick | |
| Coordinates: 14°20′0″N 16°24′25″W / 14.33333°N 16.40694°W | |
| Country |  Senegal |
| Region | Fatick Region |
| Population (2005) | |
• Total | 24,243 |
| Time zone | UTC+0 (GMT) |
Fatick is a town in Senegal, located between M'bour and Kaolack and primarily inhabited by the Serer people. Its 2005 population was estimated at 24,243. It is the capital of the Fatick Region and the Fatick Department.
The city has several ancient sites classified as historical monuments and added to the World Heritage Site list. There is also the site of Mind Ngo Mindiss, located in the Sine River, where libations and offerings are made, the site of Ndiobaye, where traditional ceremonies takes place, and Ndeb Jab, which houses a sacred tree at Ndiaye-Ndiaye.
The Jolof Empire (French: Djolof or Diolof), also known as the Wolof or Wollof Empire, was a West African state that ruled parts of Senegal from 1350 to 1549. Following the 1549 Battle of Danki, its vassal states were fully or de facto independent; in this period it is known as the Jolof Kingdom. This was largely conquered by the imamate of Futa Jallon in 1875 and its territories fully incorporated into French West Africa by 1890.
There are various ethnic groups in Senegal, none of which forms the ethnic majority in the country. Many subgroups of those can be further distinguished, based on religion, location and language. According to one 2005 estimate, there are at least twenty distinguishable groups of largely varying size.
The major ethnic groups include the Wolof, Fula, Serer and Jola.
The history of Senegal is commonly divided into a number of periods, encompassing the prehistoric era, the precolonial period, colonialism, and the contemporary era.
The earliest evidence of human life is found in the valley of the Falémé in the south-east.
The presence of man in the Lower Paleolithic is attested by the discovery of stone tools characteristic of Acheulean such as hand axes reported by Théodore Monod at the tip of Fann in the peninsula of Cap-Vert in 1938, or cleavers found in the south-east. There were also found stones shaped by the Levallois technique, characteristic of the Middle Paleolithic. Mousterian Industry is represented mainly by scrapers found in the peninsula of Cap-Vert, as well in the low and middle valleys of the Senegal and the Falémé. Some pieces are explicitly linked to hunting, like those found in Tiémassass, near M'Bour, a controversial site that some claim belongs to the Upper Paleolithic, while other argue in favor of the Neolithic.
The environmental issues in Senegal are varied. According to the CIA world factbook, pressing problems exist with: diminishing wildlife populations which are threatened by poaching, deforestation, overgrazing, soil erosion, desertification, and overfishing.
Thieboudienne or chebu jen is a traditional dish from Senegal. It is made from fish, rice and tomato sauce. Other ingredients often include onions, carrots, cabbage, cassava and peanut oil. These ingredients are common in the country. The name of the dish comes from Wolof words meaning "rice" (ceeb) and "fish" (jën).
Jollof rice /ˈdʒɒləf/ or just jollof, also called Benachin (Wolof: "one pot"), is a one-pot rice dish popular in many West African countries.
Jollof rice is one of the most common dishes in Western Africa, consumed throughout the regions of Nigeria, Senegal, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Togo, Liberia, Niger, Mali, Ivory Coast and Cameroon. In West Africa it is a common favorite at ceremonies such as weddings, graduations and birthday.
There are several regional variations in name and ingredients. In Mali it is called zaamè in Bamanankan, and is a typical Sunday lunchtime favorite in urban, middle-class families. The name Jollof derives from the name of the Wolof people, though in Senegal and Gambia the dish is referred to in Wolof as ceebu jën or benachin. In French-speaking areas, it is called riz au gras. Despite the variations, the dish is "mutually intelligible" across the region, and has spread along with the diaspora to become the best known African dish outside the continent.
Based on its name, the origins of Jollof rice can be traced to the Senegambian region that was ruled by the Jolof Empire.
The French conquest of Senegal started from 1659 with the establishment of Saint-Louis, Senegal, followed by the French capture of the island of Gorée from the Dutch in 1677, but would only become a full-scale campaign in the 19th century.
The Capture of Senegal took place in 1758 during the Seven Years' War with France, as part of a concerted British strategy to weaken the French economy by damaging her international trade. To this end, a succession of small British military expeditions landed in Senegal and captured the French settlements of Saint-Louis and Gorée, seizing French vessels and supplies. By late 1758 the Senegalese coast was entirely in British hands with local administration controlled by the first British Governor of Senegal, Lieutenant Colonel Richard Worge.
The Battle of Logandème (18 May 1859) was an uprising led by Maad a Sinig Kumba Ndoffene Famak Joof, king of Sine, against the French Empire. The battle took place at Logandème (in Fatick) which was a part of Sine at the time.
After the defeat of Queen Ndaté Yalla Mbodj of Waalo in 1855, governor Louis Faidherbe of France decided to launch wars against the kingdoms of Sine and Saloum, and declared all previously signed treaties between the two kingdoms and France null and void and asked for the establishment of new treaties on Faidherbe's terms.
The Siege of the Fort du Médine took place in 1857 at Médine near Kayes (on the Senegal River) in modern-day Mali, when the Toucouleur forces of El Hadj Umar Tall unsuccessfully besieged French colonial troops under General Louis Faidherbe, governor of Senegal.
The Cheikh Anta Diop University (French: Université Cheikh Anta Diop or UCAD), also known as the University of Dakar, is a university in Dakar, Senegal. It is named after the Senegalese physicist, historian and anthropologist Cheikh Anta Diop and has an enrollment of over 60,000.
Cheikh Anta Diop University predates Senegalese independence and grew out of several French institutions set up by the colonial administration. In 1918, the French created the "école africaine de médecine" (African medical school), mostly to serve white and Métis students but also open to the small educated elite of the four free towns of Senegal with nominal French citizenship. In 1936, under the Popular Front government in France, Dakar became home to the Institut Fondamental d'Afrique Noire (IFAN), an institute for the study of African culture.
The Jola people (Diola, in French transliteration) are an ethnic group found in Senegal (where they predominate in the region of Casamance), the Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau.
The Jola have a very rich music tradition and have for a long time resisted Islamization and Christinization. Their Surpreme Deity is referred to as Emit or Ata Emit. Some Jola religious festivals include the Samay, Kumpo and Niasse.
Casamance is the area of Senegal south of the Gambia including the Casamance River. It consists of the Lower Casamance (Basse Casamance, Baixa Casamança—i.e. Ziguinchor Region) and the Upper Casamance (Haute Casamance, Alta Casamança—i.e. Kolda Region and Sédhiou Regions). The largest city of Casamance is Ziguinchor.
The Casamance was subject to both French and Portuguese colonial efforts before a border was negotiated in 1888 between the French colony of Senegal and Portuguese Guinea (now Guinea-Bissau) to the south.
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| Type | Broadcast television network |
|---|---|
| Country | |
| Availability | National; international |
| Founded | 1950 (radio), 1965 (television) |
| Motto | "Une fenêtre dans le monde" ("A window in the world") |
Official website | http://www.rts.sn |
Radiodiffusion Télévision Sénégalaise (RTS) is the Senegalese public broadcasting company.
The French military opened the first radio broadcasting station in Dakar in 1932. It began broadcasting civilian programming in 1939. The origins of RTS are in Radio-Dakar, created in 1950, that broadcast eight hours per day. In 1951 two channels appear: Dakar Inter and Dakar Afrique, broadcast to listeners across western Africa.
The 1981 Gambian coup d'état attempt began on 30 July 1981 and was quashed in early August following a Senegalese military intervention. The insurrection was carried out by members of the Gambia Socialist Revolutionary Party and disaffected staff of the Gambia Field Force. At the time, President Dawda Jawara was in the United Kingdom attending the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer. The failure of the coup precipitated the creation of the Senegambia Confederation in 1982.
The Mauritania–Senegal Border War was a conflict fought between the West African countries of Mauritania and Senegal during 1989–1991. The conflict began around disputes over the two countries' River Senegal border and grazing rights, and resulted in the rupture of diplomatic relations between the two countries for several years, the creation of thousands of refugees from both sides, as well as having a significant impact on domestic Senegalese politics.
The Point of Sangomar is a sand spit located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Saloum Delta, which marks the end of the Petite Côte west of Senegal.
This narrow sandbar extends south about twenty kilometers from Palmarin Diakhanor. Long threatened by coastal erosion, the fragile cord was again broken by a tidal wave in 1987, giving birth to the island of Sangomar. The gap between this new island and the point where the village of Djiffer continues to widen.
The Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary (French: Parc national des oiseaux du Djoudj) lies on the southeast bank of the Senegal River in Senegal, in northern Biffeche, north east of St-Louis.
It provides a range of wetland habitats which prove very popular with migrating birds, many of which have just crossed the Sahara. Of almost 400 species of birds, the most visible are pelicans and flamingos. Less conspicuous are the aquatic warblers migrating here from Europe; for these, the park is the single most important wintering site yet discovered. A wide range of wildlife also inhabits the park, which is designated a World Heritage Site. The site was added to the list of World Heritage in Danger in 2000 due to the introduction of the invasive giant salvinia plant, which threatens to choke out the park's native vegetation. However it was removed from the list in 2006.
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