Thiaroye

Traders set up along the autoroute in Thiaroye.

Street scene in Thiaroye.

Thiaroye (or Tiaroye) is the name of an historic town in Sénégal, situated in the suburbs of Dakar, on the southeast coast of the Cap-Vert peninsula, between Pikine and Rufisque.

Since the administrative reform in 1996, Thiaroye has been divided into independent communes, Thiaroye-Gare, Thiaroye-sur-Mer and Thiaroye-Kao (or Djiddah Thiaroye Kao), with Guinaw-Rail Nord, Guinaw-Rail Sud (both to the west), and Tivaouane-Diacksao (to the east) split off and separating Thiaroye-sur-Mer from the other two inland communes.

History

The village of Thiaroye was founded sometime around 1800, and as the city of Dakar, created by the French, expanded in the 20th century, Thiaroye was slowly merged into the larger city.

Thiaroye is most known for, and it's name has become emblematic of, a single incident in 1944: the Thiaroye Massacre.

Administration and politics

Thiaroye is in the Pikine department (région de Dakar). The three communes are governed as a single entitiy, but retain some administrative independence.

Physical Geography

Thiaroye-Gare, closest to Dakar, is bordered by Pikine (a city of almost 1 million people), Nimzat, Yeumbeul, Thiaroye Kao, Diaksaw and Darou Rahmane. Thiaroye-sur-Mer is bordered by Bel-Air, Hann-Montagne, Pikine, Guinaw-Rails, Tivaouane, Diammagueun, Mbaw Gou Ndaw and Gorée. Thiaroye-Kao, border Yeumbeul, Boun and Darou Rahmane.

Population

As of 2002 the population of Thiaroye-Gare has grown to 21,873, Thiaroye-sur-Mer to 36,602, and that of Thiaroye-Kao to 90,586.

As of 2007 official estimates put the population of the three communes at 24,867, 41,612 and 102,985.

Economic activity

Thiaroye continues to be integrated economically into Dakar, with much of the population communting to the city center for work.

Thiaroye-Gare is named for the large train station on the line leading to Dakar, and continues to be a major trasport center. Goods and people travelling to and from Dakar must pass here, and it is one of the reasons neighboring Pikine was founded as a relocation camp in 1952.

Small scale industry, artisnal trades and commerce make up much of the rest of the economy, though unemployment remains high, as in other outer suburbs, which see regular immigration from rural areas.

Market

Thiaroye-Gare market is situated along the border with Pikine near the Thiaroye station, and is the largest produce market in the Dakar region, fed by suppliers from Nyayes, Cap-Vert, Casamance, and Keur Massar. The tram line (the Petit train bleu) from Dakar stops at the very center of the market, making it easy for city residents to shop there, and avoiding the higher city prices.

Around the produce market have grown markets for general manufactures, one of the largest lumber markets in Dakar, and wholesale companies suppling markets in city center. There are over 4500 formal traders, almost that many street sellers and a thousand or more wholesale shops surrounding the market. The lumber market has also drawn artisnal woodcarvers and an industry selling wood for barbarque cooking at festivals and family celebrations.^[1]

Institutions

Thiaroye is also the home of the Centre de recherches océanographiques de Dakar-Thiaroye (CRODT), and a large mental hospital.

References

^ Laurence Wilhelm. Transport and Inter-market Supplies in African Cities. FAO Inter-regional Programme: “Food Supply and Distribution to Cities”, Communication delivered to the Sub-regional FAO-ISRA Seminar “Food supply and distribution in francophone African Towns” Dakar, 14-17 April 1997

Bibliography

This article is based on a translation of an article from the German Wikipedia. Dirke Köpp, Untersuchungen zum Sprachgebrauch im Senegal : Mikrostudie im Drogenpräventionszentrum Centre de Sensibilisation and d'Informations sur les Drogues in Thiaroye (Dakar), 2002
(English) Myron Echenberg, « Tragedy at Thiaroye: The Senegalese Soldiers' Uprising of 1944 », in Peter Gutkind, Robin Cohen and Jean Copans (sous la direction de), African Labor History, Beverly Hills, 1978, p. 109-128
(English) S. C. Faye, S. Faye, S. Wohnlich and C.B. Gaye, « An assessment of the risk associated with urban development in the Thiaroye area (Senegal) », Environmental Geology, 2004, vol. 45, section 3, p. 312-322
(French) Boubacar Boris Diop, Thiaroye terre rouge, dans Le Temps de Tamango, L'Harmattan, 1981
(French) Jacques Weber, Les enquêtes socio-économiques au Centre de recherches océanographiques de Dakar-Thiaroye, Centre de recherches océanographiques de Dakar-Thiaroye, 1982
(English)Abdoul, M. The production of the city and urban informalities: the Borough of Thiaroye-sur-mer in the City of Pikine, Senegal. in Under Siege: Four African Cities - Freetown, Johannesburg, Kinshasa, Lagos. (O. Enwezor, C. Basualdo, U. M. Baueret eds) Ostfildern-Ruit, Hatje Cantz Publishers(2002). pp337-58

Filmography

(French) Ousmane Sembène, Camp de Thiaroye, long métrage en couleurs, 1988, 147'
(French) Thiaroye sur Mer, entre l'océan and les industries, film documentaire, 1998, 13'

External Links

(English) Maps, weather and airports for Tiaroye-Gare
(English) Maps, weather and airports for Tiaroye-Mer
(English) Maps, weather and airports for Tiaroye-Kaw
(French) « Quitter Dakar » (reportage RFI à Thiaroye-sur-Mer, 28 mai 2006)
(French) Histoire de Thiaroye-Gare
(French) Présentation de la commune d'arrondissement de Djiddah Thiaroye Kao
(French) « 1er décembre 1944 : le massacre du camp de Thiaroye » (article de Hervé Mbouguen, 23 octobre 2003)
(French)Camp de Thiaroye (extrait vidéo sur le site de la Médiathèque des Trois Mondes)
(French)/(English)Website of the Centre de recherches océanographiques de Dakar-Thiaroye (CRODT).

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