Gorée
Senegal · Africa
About
Île de Gorée (French pronunciation: [ildəɡoʁe]; "Gorée Island"; Wolof: Beer Dun) is one of the 19 communes d'arrondissement (i.e. districts) of the city of Dakar, Senegal. It is an 18.2-hectare (45-acre) island located two kilometres (1.1 nmi; 1.2 mi) at sea from the main harbour of Dakar (14°40′N 17°24′W), famous as a destination for people interested in the Atlantic slave trade.
Its population as of the 2013 census was 1,680 inhabitants, giving a density of 5,802 inhabitants per square kilometre (15,030/sq mi), which is only half the average density of the city of Dakar. Gorée is both the smallest and the least populated of the 19 communes d'arrondissement of Dakar.
Other important centres for the slave trade from Senegal were further north, at Saint-Louis, Senegal, or to the south in the Gambia, at the mouths of major rivers for trade. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and was one of the first 12 locations in the world to be designated as such in 1978.
The name is a corruption of its original Dutch name Goeree, named after the Dutch island of Goeree. The island was also known as Palma, or Bezeguiche in Portuguese.
Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)。Photography via Wikimedia Commons.