Dakar

Ville de Dakar

(City coat of arms)
(City of Dakar, divided into 19 communes d'arrondissement)
City proper ( commune)
Région	Dakar
Département	Dakar
Mayor	Pape Diop ( PDS) (since 2002)
Area	82.5 km²
Subdivisions	19 communes d'arrondiss.
Population 31.12.2004 estimate	(Ranked 1st) 1,009,256
Density	12,233/km²
Metropolitan area ( Dakar région)
(data here are for the administrative Dakar région, which matches almost exactly the limits of the metropolitan area)
Regional president	Abdoulaye Faye ( PDS) (since 2002)
Communes	7 (as of Dec. 2004), plus 2 communautés rurales
Area	547 km²
Population 31.12.2004 estimate	(Ranked 1st) 2,399,451
Yearly growth	approx. +2.50 %
Density	4,387/km²
Miscellaneous
Sister cities	Washington, D.C. (USA) Taipei (Taiwan) Sfax (Tunisia) Praia (Cape Verde) Oran (Algeria) Niamey (Niger) Milan (Italy) Marseille (France) Kinshasa (D. Rep. Congo) East Jerusalem (Palestine) Douala (Cameroon) Casablanca (Morocco) Brazzaville (Rep. Congo) Bissau (Guinea-Bissau) Banjul (Gambia) Bamako (Mali) Baku (Azerbaijan)

Dakar is the capital of Senegal, home to the Senegal National Assembly and Senegal Presidential Palace.

History

The city of Dakar formed around a French fort. It was founded in 1857 after residents moved from the nearby island of Gorée. It grew as a port and around a railway to Saint-Louis, opened in 1885 but now only used for special excursions. The city later became a naval base, and replaced Saint-Louis as the capital of French West Africa. The Fort D'Estrees on Gorée Island, where slaves were held, auctioned, and packed onto ships, was restored by the Senegalese government in the 20th century and transformed into a museum. French West Africa had its headquarters here when it was founded, in 1862.
September 23- September 25, 1940 battle of Dakar.

Administration

The city of Dakar is a commune (also sometimes known as commune de ville), one of the 67 communes of Senegal. The commune of Dakar was created by the French colonial administration on June 17, 1887 by detaching it from the commune of Gorée. 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).

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. 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. This situation is quite similar to Paris in France which is both a commune and a département. 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 Assanies (which literally means "drained lots"; this is the most populated arrondissement of Dakar), and Plateau/Gorée (downtown Dakar). 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.

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 so on August 30, 1996 Dakar was divided into 19 communes d'arrondissement.

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 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.

The 19 communes d'arrondissement belong to any 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.

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. 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.

The département of Dakar is one of the four départements of the Dakar région, which is one of the 11 régions of Senegal. The Dakar région encompasses the city of Dakar and all its suburbs along the Cape Verde Peninsula. 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. 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. 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.

Sights

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.

Sister Cities

• Taipei, Taiwan
• Ann Arbor, USA