Dakar, the capital city of Senegal, is home to an estimated population of 3,326,000 (2022) although the wider population of the Dakar metropolitan area is around 3.94 million (2022). Senegal is the closest country in Africa to the USA and, as such, had been a main access route for the slave trade, with its nearby Goree Island, then a Portuguese settlement, being the centre of that trade with the processing thousands of men, women and children before they were shipped across the Atlantic Ocean starting in earnest there in 1536. At that time Dakar was little more than a Lebu village and a witness to the changing of control of Goree island between the Portugeuse and Dutch Republic before finally coming under French jurisdiction in 1677.
Goree Island (below), two miles off the coast, is now a UNESCO Historical Monument where visitors can gain some insight into the barbarity of that trade. Today Dakar is an exciting city boasting a wide array of nightclubs, festivals and live music, and this level of activity is reflected in the noise of the place together with its street hawkers, and oh so corrupt officials. Nearby are beach hotels and numerous water sports. After you've watched the video (below) about Dakar, make a virtual landing at Dakar International Airport (also known as Leopold Sedar Senghor International Airport) in another of our profile aricles.
