Dakar is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The department of Dakar has a population of 1,182,417, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.9 million in 2023. Dakar is situated on the Cap-Vert peninsula, the western-most point of mainland Africa. Cap-Vert was colonized by the Portuguese in the early 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....
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Dakar is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The department of Dakar has a population of 1,182,417, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.9 million in 2023. Dakar is situated on the Cap-Vert peninsula, the western-most point of mainland Africa. Cap-Vert was colonized by the Portuguese in the early 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. In 1960, it became the capital of the independent Republic of Senegal.
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