Saint Louis or Saint-Louis (Wolof: Ndar), is the capital of Senegal‘s Saint-Louis Region. Located in the northwest of Senegal, near the mouth of the Senegal River, and 320 kilometres (200 mi) north of Senegal’s capital city Dakar. It had a population of 254,171 in 2023. Saint-Louis was the capital of the French colony of Senegal from 1673 until 1902 and French West Africa from 1895 until 1902, when the capital was moved to Dakar. From 1920 to 1957, it also served as the capital of the neighboring colony of Mauritania.
The town was an important economic center during French West Africa, but it is less important now. However, it still has important industries, including tourism, a commercial center, a center of sugar production, and fishing. The tourism industry is in part due to the city being listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000. However, the city is also vulnerable to climate change—where sea level rise is expected to threaten the city center and potential damage historical parts of the city. Moreover, other issues such as overfishing are causing ripple effects in the local economy.
Culture constitutes an important part of Saint-Louis’ economy. The city preserves much of its 19th-century morphology, reminiscent of other cities of the “Creole Atlantic”: Bahia, Cartagena, Havana and New Orleans. Thanks to its distinctive appearance, numerous sites of attraction and its international music festivals and cultural exhibitions, Saint-Louis attracts many tourists each year. Saint-Louis remains the most characteristically French colonial destination in West Africa along with Gorée Island.
Saint-Louis’ characteristic colonial architecture along with its regular town plan, its location on an island at the mouth of the Senegal River (that’s why Saint-Louis is considered the Venice of Africa) and the system of quays, gives Saint-Louis the distinctive appearance and identity that have raised the Island to the rank of world heritage since 2000. The historic town of Saint-Louis exhibits an important exchange of values and influences on the development of education and culture, architecture, craftsmanship, and services in a large part of West Africa. The Island of Saint-Louis, a former capital of West Africa, is an outstanding example of a colonial city, characterized by its particular natural setting, and it illustrates the development of colonial government in this region.
Among interesting and attractive monuments and edifices are the Governor’s Palace, the Gouvernance where are located the town’s administrative offices, the Parc Faidherbe named for the French governor at the centre of town Louis Faidherbe, colonial-era hotels, the historic airport at Dakar-Bango on the mainland, 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.
Among Saint-Louis’ numerous natural sites are the National Park of the Langue de Barbarie, the National Park of the Birds of Djoudj, the Fauna Reserve of Gueumbeul, beaches like that of the Langue de Barbarie, the colonial waterworks at Makhana, the palace of Baron Roger at Richard-Toll, the Diama Dam, and various hunting lodges on the south side of the Senegal River. This park, which is 20 square kilometres large, occupies the southern point of the Langue de Barbarie, the estuary of the Senegal river and part of the continent. It hosts thousands of water birds like cormorants, brushes, pink flamingos, pelicans, herons and ducks each year. The world’s third largest ornithological park, it is located 60 kilometers north of Saint-Louis. This park occupies over 120 km² and includes part of the river, and many lakes, basins, and marshes. About 3 million migrating birds of 400 species visit it each year. Located at a dozen kilometers south of the city of Saint-Louis, this reserve has an area of 7 square kilometres and shelters birds and endangered species such as the dama gazelle, the Patas monkey and the African spurred tortoise.
