SAINT-LOUIS

Wolof Ndar island city and seaport near the mouth of the Sngal River, and rail terminus north-northeast of Dakar, Senegal, western Africa. The island and city are connected to the mainland by a land bridge. Saint-Louis, founded in 1659, is the oldest colonial city on the western African coast and was the administrative capital of the French West African territories of Mauritania and Senegal. Saint-Louis has participated in French politics since 1848. The establishment of Dakar (with a better port), the building of the railroad linking the two cities, the creation of a French West Africa headquarters at Dakar, and the completion of the DakarNiger railroad led to the decline of Saint-Louis. It is now merely a fishing centre and riverrail transfer point for the trade of the Sngal valley. Pop. (1986 est.) 127,313.