Thiaroye

Thiaroye
Town
Street scene in Thiaroye
Thiaroye
Coordinates: 14°44′N 17°21′W / 14.733°N 17.350°W / 14.733; -17.350Coordinates: 14°44′N 17°21′W / 14.733°N 17.350°W / 14.733; -17.350
Country	Senegal
Region	Dakar Region
Department	Pikine
Time zone	GMT (UTC+0)

Thiaroye (or Tiaroye) is the name of a historic town in Sénégal, situated in the suburbs of Dakar, on the southeast coast of the Cap-Vert peninsula, between Pikine and Rufisque.

Since the administrative reform in 1996, Thiaroye has been divided into independent communes, Thiaroye-Gare, Thiaroye-sur-Mer and Thiaroye-Kao (or Djiddah Thiaroye Kao), with Guinaw-Rail Nord, Guinaw-Rail Sud (both to the west), and Tivaouane-Diacksao (to the east) split off and separating Thiaroye-sur-Mer from the other two inland communes.

The village of Thiaroye was founded sometime around 1800, and as the city of Dakar, created by the French, expanded in the 20th century, Thiaroye was slowly merged into the larger city.

Thiaroye is most known for, and its name has become emblematic of, a single incident in 1944: the Thiaroye Massacre by French forces. On 1 December 1944, at the barracks of Thiaroye, African soldiers clashed with the French state. The uprising involved nearly 1280 African ex-POWs in the first contingent to be repatriated from Europe in 1944. The event was defined as "mutinous" because the men were partially armed, uniformed and under military discipline. The cause of the soldiers' protest was the failure of the French authorities to provide them with back-pay and demobilization premiums. The event in Thiaroye sent shockwaves throughout French West Africa. The uprising reflected a change in attitude towards France. The African ex-POWs had acquired a heightened consciousness of themselves as Africans united by their shared experience in suffering.

Thiaroye is the seat of Thiaroye Arrondissement in the Pikine Department (région de Dakar). The three communes are governed as a single entity, but retain some administrative independence.

Thiaroye-Gare, closest to Dakar, is bordered by Pikine (a city of almost 1 million people), Nimzat, Yeumbeul, Thiaroye Kao, Diaksaw and Darou Rahmane. Thiaroye-sur-Mer is bordered by Bel-Air, Hann-Montagne, Pikine, Guinaw-Rails, Tivaouane, Diammagueun, Mbaw Gou Ndaw and Gorée. Thiaroye-Kao, border Yeumbeul, Boun and Darou Rahmane.