Dakar is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.94 million in 2021.
Senegal's music is best known abroad due to the popularity of mbalax, a development of conservative music from different ethnic groups and sabar drumming popularized internationally by Youssou N'Dour.
Road racing is a form of motorsport racing held on a paved road surface. The races can be held either on a closed circuit or on a street circuit utilizing temporarily closed public roads. Originally, road races were held almost entirely on public roads. However, public safety concerns eventually led to most races being held on purpose-built racing circuits.
Sébastien Loeb is a French professional rally, racing and rallycross driver. He is the most successful driver in the World Rally Championship (WRC), having won the world championship a record nine times in a row. He holds several other WRC records, including most event wins, most podium finishes and most stage wins. Loeb retired from full time WRC participation at the end of 2012. He currently drives part time in the WRC for M-Sport Ford World Rally Team, and full time in the World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) for Bahrain Raid Xtreme.
Orchestra Baobab is a Senegalese band established in 1970 as the house band of the Baobab Club in Dakar. Many of the band's original members had previously played with Star Band de Dakar in the 1960s. Directed by timbalero and vocalist Balla Sidibé, the group featured saxophonists Issa Cissoko and Thierno Koité, two singers, two guitarists and a rhythm section with drums, congas and bass guitar. Since their formation, the band has predominantly played a mix of son cubano, Wolof music, and to a lesser extent Mande musical traditions. Following the deaths of Cissoko in 2019 and Sidibé in 2020, Thierno Koité has become the leader of the band.
Renault Sport or Renaultsport, was the motorsport, performance and special vehicles division for Renault-badged cars and is now a sub-badge of Renault cars managed by Alpine. Renault Sport was officially established in 1976 as a merger between the Alpine and Gordini competition departments. It was reorganised in 2002 and 2016. In December 2021, all Renault Sport operations were merged into an Alpine-led business unit. The Renault Sport car range under Alpine is set to be almost completely phased out by the end of 2023.
The Îles de la Madeleine[il də la ma.dlɛn] lie west of Dakar in Senegal. The islands are uninhabited. The main island is Sarpan, known for its Stone Age tool finds. The islands are also known for their birds, fish and plant life. The cliffs are steep, and had been carved by the sea over millions of years. Îles de la Madeleine National Park is one of the smallest national parks in the world.
Louga is a town in northwestern Senegal. Louga is a cattle market centre, and has road and rail links with the port city of Saint-Louis to the northwest and Dakar to the southwest. The area surrounding Louga is at the northern limits of Senegal's peanut- (groundnut-) growing area and is inhabited by the Fulani, who are generally pastoral nomads, and the Wolof, who are sedentary farmers. Louga is located in what is called the Ndiambour, which used to be part of the Cayor province.
Fama Diagne Sène is a Senegalese writer. Educated in Thiès, she became a teacher there. Ken Bugul listed her among "illustrious women" in Senegalese literature. In 1997, she won the presidential award for art and literature with Chant des ténèbres. Born to a Serer family, Fama's controversial play Mbilem ou le baobab du lion denounces Serer tradition and received great criticism from the Serer traditionalists of Senegal. The Mbilim is a religious festival in the Serer calendar, celebrated once a year and is equivalent to the new year. In pre-colonial times, right until recently, some Serer griots were buried in the trunks of a baobab tree rather than buried in a pyramid tomb with all the regalia dictated by Serer religion. Tomb burial and mummification were always given to the Serer nobility, but some Serer griots were not buried this way. In this play, she criticises this tradition and came head on with the Serer priestly class.
Jurgen van den Goorbergh is a Dutch former professional motorcycle road racer also known as The Flying Dutchman. His son, Zonta van den Goorbergh, is also a motorcycle racer and currently competes in Moto2.
Philippe Gache is a French race car driver. He has raced in a number of disciplines, but for the last 20 years has specialized in off-road racing. In 1992 he competed in the Indianapolis 500, but crashed his car. He has driven in the Dakar Rally in 2003–2006 and 7 times in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 2006 he took his best finish on the Dakar, 12th place overall. In the 2010 edition of the Dakar Rally, he drove an SMG Buggy.
Star Band is a music group from Senegal that was the resident band of Dakar's Miami Club. They, along with the many off-shoots of the band, are responsible for many of the crucial developments in Senegalese popular music. They were formed in 1959 by the owner of the Miami Club, Ibra Kasse. As was typical in Africa at the time, Kasse owned the instruments and was the band leader of the Star Band although he only occasionally played piano. Each one of the band's twelve albums released in Senegal featured a photo of Kasse on the back cover stating that he was the band leader, composer and arranger.
Barthélémy Attisso was a Togolese lawyer and self-taught guitarist, most famous for his work with Senegal-based Pan-African band Orchestra Baobab.
Anny-Charlotte Verney is a French racing and rally driver. She competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans for ten straight years from 1974 to 1983, achieving a best overall finish of sixth in 1981, and a class win in 1978. She participated in the 1982 Dakar Rally with Mark Thatcher, son of British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, as her co-driver and navigator. Along with their mechanic Jacky Garnier, they became lost for five days in their Peugeot 504 but were rescued after a military search.
The 2011 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 season was the 21st Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 season. The season commenced on 16 April at Alcañiz and ended on 9 October in Barcelona. The season features seven double-header rounds, with each race lasting for a duration of 30 minutes. All races were part of the World Series by Renault.
The 2015 FIM Moto2 World Championship was a part of the 67th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season. Marc VDS Racing Team rider Tito Rabat started the season as the defending riders' champion, having won his first championship title in 2014.
Transair is a regional airline based in Senegal.
Awa Sène Sarr is a Senegalese actress and comedian.
Cheikh Bamba "C.B." Diallo is a Senegalese basketball player for Jeanne d'Arc of the NM1 and the Senegal national. Standing at 1.91 m, he mainly plays as shooting guard.
