or Gorée Island
Island, Senegal.
Inhabited by the Lebu people when it was occupied by the Portuguese in the mid 15th century, it was later occupied by the Dutch and then taken by the French in 1677. It was a major Atlantic slave-trading centre until 1848. Millions of Africans are said to have been shipped through the island; many died there. Under French control until Senegal's independence in 1960, it later lost importance with the rise of St.-Louis and Dakar on the mainland. It is now a World Heritage site ; a museum there displays slavery artifacts.