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Gorée
Île de Gorée (French pronunciation: [ildəɡoʁe]; "Gorée Island"; Wolof: Beer Dun)[citation needed] 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 / 14.667°N 17.400°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.
Portugal 1444–1588
Dutch Republic 1588
Portugal 1588–1621
West India Company 1621–1663
England 1663–1664 West India Company 1664–1677
France 1677–1758
Great Britain 1758–1763 France 1763–1779 Great Britain 1779–1783
France 1783–1801 Great Britain 1801–1804
France 1804 Great Britain 1804–1815 France 1815–1960
Senegal 1960–present
Gorée is a small island 900 metres (3,000 ft) in length and 350 metres (1,150 ft) in width sheltered by the Cap-Vert Peninsula. Now part of the city of Dakar, it was a minor port and site of European settlement along the coast.
Being almost devoid of drinking water, the island was not settled before the arrival of Europeans, although the presence of domesticated sheep noted by Portuguese explorers indicates the island was frequented by local peoples of the nearby mainland. The island of Gorée was one of the first places in Africa to be frequented by European traders, as the Portuguese traders established themselves on the island in 1444. According to Valentim Fernandes, the Portuguese established a chapel with dry stone walls and a roof made out of straw on the island. This chapel was visited by Vasco da Gama in 1502 and probably also by Amerigo Vespucci, Tristão da Cunha and Afonso de Albuquerque in 1501 and 1506, respectively.
Due to the destruction of much of the archive of the First Dutch West India Company, it is unknown when and how the Dutch replaced the Portuguese on the island. According to Olfert Dapper, the island was gifted to the Dutch West India Company by the local chief Biram in 1617. This statement is problematic, not the least because the Dutch West India Company was only established in 1621. The first contemporary Dutch account of a landing at Gorée is by Johannes de Laet, who reported that a fleet of Dirck Symonsz van Uytgeest destined for Brazil anchored at Gorée on 20 July 1628. De Laet mentions that the Dutch West India Company had built a fort on the island and had named the island Goeree. This could either be after the Dutch island of Goeree or, as is the case for the Dutch island itself, be an allusion to the quality of the anchorage at the island, as goede reede means "good roadstead" in Dutch.
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Gorée AI simulator
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Gorée
Île de Gorée (French pronunciation: [ildəɡoʁe]; "Gorée Island"; Wolof: Beer Dun)[citation needed] 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 / 14.667°N 17.400°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.
Portugal 1444–1588 Dutch Republic 1588 Portugal 1588–1621 West India Company 1621–1663 England 1663–1664 West India Company 1664–1677 France 1677–1758 Great Britain 1758–1763 France 1763–1779 Great Britain 1779–1783 France 1783–1801 Great Britain 1801–1804
France 1804 Great Britain 1804–1815 France 1815–1960 Senegal 1960–present
Gorée is a small island 900 metres (3,000 ft) in length and 350 metres (1,150 ft) in width sheltered by the Cap-Vert Peninsula. Now part of the city of Dakar, it was a minor port and site of European settlement along the coast.
Being almost devoid of drinking water, the island was not settled before the arrival of Europeans, although the presence of domesticated sheep noted by Portuguese explorers indicates the island was frequented by local peoples of the nearby mainland. The island of Gorée was one of the first places in Africa to be frequented by European traders, as the Portuguese traders established themselves on the island in 1444. According to Valentim Fernandes, the Portuguese established a chapel with dry stone walls and a roof made out of straw on the island. This chapel was visited by Vasco da Gama in 1502 and probably also by Amerigo Vespucci, Tristão da Cunha and Afonso de Albuquerque in 1501 and 1506, respectively.
Due to the destruction of much of the archive of the First Dutch West India Company, it is unknown when and how the Dutch replaced the Portuguese on the island. According to Olfert Dapper, the island was gifted to the Dutch West India Company by the local chief Biram in 1617. This statement is problematic, not the least because the Dutch West India Company was only established in 1621. The first contemporary Dutch account of a landing at Gorée is by Johannes de Laet, who reported that a fleet of Dirck Symonsz van Uytgeest destined for Brazil anchored at Gorée on 20 July 1628. De Laet mentions that the Dutch West India Company had built a fort on the island and had named the island Goeree. This could either be after the Dutch island of Goeree or, as is the case for the Dutch island itself, be an allusion to the quality of the anchorage at the island, as goede reede means "good roadstead" in Dutch.