Senegal;Its People and Culture

Saint-Louis, or Ndar as it is called in Wolof (the most widely spoken language in the West African nation of Senegal), is the capital of Senegal's Saint-Louis Region. Located in the northwest area of Senegal, near the mouth of the Senegal River, and 320 kilometers (199 mi) north of Senegal's capital city Dakar , it has a population officially estimated at 176,000 in 2005.

Founded in 1659, Saint-Louis was the capital of the French colony of Senegal until independence in 1960. From 1920 to 1957 it also served as capital of the neighboring French colony of Mauritania.

The city serves as a bridge between savanna and desert, ocean and river, tradition and modernity, Islam and Christianity, Europe and Africa. Its distinctive colonial architecture is among the features that put the island on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 2000. Tourism makes up an important and integral part of Ndar's economy.

Events and festivals Ndar is famous for its urban culture. The heritage of the signares lives on in the city’s many festivals and its cultivated sense of public display, helping Ndar emerge from decades of neglect. "Fanals," which are nighttime processions of giant paper lanterns, take place at Christmas time.

The Saint-Louis Jazz Festival is the most important jazz festival in Africa . Jazz first became popular in the 1930s when records produced in Cuba were aired on the radio . After World War II , visiting American troops popularized jazz bands, and by the 1950s local groups had adopted a "Cuban" sound.

Another music festival, 1, 2, 3 musiques, exhibits various genres. The annual reggata, or pirogue race, organized by teams of fishermen from Guet-Ndar, takes place on the "little branch" of the river, between Ndar Island and the Langue de Barbarie. The Magal of the Niari Rakas, a yearly commemoration of Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba Mbacké’s (the founder of Mouridism) two prayers in the Governor's Palace in 1895, is the city's largest religious gathering.

Ndar’s museum offers panoramas of Senegal’s history, such as exhibitions of traditional clothes and musical instruments. Other attractions are the Governor’s Palace, the Parc Faidherbe (named for the French governor) at the center of town, colonial-era hotels, the Grande Mosquée, the Faidherbe Bridge that connects the island to the Langue de Barbarie, and the Gaol and Servatius bridges that connect the island to the continent.

Pictures Sourced from Google and Story by ‘Damilare Oresanya