History of Saint-Louis

Tribunal and the School for Chiefs’ Sons, were to play important roles in the history of French Africa. Though relatively small in size (population of 10,000 in 1826; 23,000 in 1914, and 39,000 in 1955) Saint-Louis dominated Senegalese politics throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, not least because of its numerous political parties and associations and its independent newspapers.

Following independence, when Dakar became sole capital of the country, Saint-Louis slipped into a state of lethargy. As its French population and military departed, many of the town’s shops, offices and businesses closed. This generated a loss of jobs and human potential, and less investment in the economic activities of Saint-Louis, thus causing its economic decline. For some people, however, Saint-Louis' decline was not just limited to its economy, but spread to all aspects of its life as the loss of its past status meant less recognition and lack of interest from the colony’s officials and, after Senegal’s independence, from the Senegalese government. When its most famous political son, the French-educated lawyer Lamine Guèye, died in 1968, the city lost its strongest proponent.

Today, rich in three centuries of history, in cultural background, geography, architecture and other characteristics, Saint-Louis is a bridge between the savanna and the desert, the ocean and the river, tradition and modernity, Islam and Christianity, Europe and Africa.

Home to a society with a distinctive lifestyle, Saint-Louis has retained its unique identity. “No one comes without falling in love with the city," proudly say its people who consider Saint-Louis as the birthplace of Senegalese Teranga, the Wolof word for hospitability