Dakar, Senegal

Dakar
Place de l'Indépendance
Coat of arms
City of Dakar, divided into 19 communes d'arrondissement
Dakar Location within Senegal
Coordinates: 14°41′34″N 17°26′48″W / 14.69278°N 17.44667°W / 14.69278; -17.44667Coordinates: 14°41′34″N 17°26′48″W / 14.69278°N 17.44667°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	Khalifa Sall (2009) (BSS/PS)
• Regional president	Macky Sall (since 2012)
Area
• City	83 km2 (32 sq mi)
Elevation	22 m (72 ft)
Population (2013 estimate)
• City	1,146,053
• Density	12,510/km2 (32,400/sq mi)
• Metro	2,452,656
• Metro density	4,484/km2 (11,610/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	villededakar.org
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Dakar (English pronunciation: /dɑːˈkɑːr, ˈdækər/;French: [da.kaʁ]) is the capital and largest city of Senegal. It is located on the Cap-Vert peninsula on the Atlantic coast and is the westernmost city in the Old World as well as on the African mainland. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 2.45 million.

The area around Dakar was settled in the 15th century. The Portuguese established a presence on the island of Gorée off the coast of Cap-Vert and used it as a base for the Atlantic slave trade. France took over the island in 1677. Following the abolition of the slave trade and French annexation of the mainland area in the 19th century, Dakar grew into a major regional port and a major city of the French colonial empire. In 1902, Dakar replaced Saint-Louis as the capital of French West Africa. From 1959 to 1960, Dakar was the capital of the short-lived Mali Federation. In 1960, it became the capital of the independent Republic of Senegal.