ST. LOUIS, the capital of the French colony of Senegal, West Africa,with a pop. (1933) of 29,827, of whom 1,107 are Europeans. St. Louis, known to the natives as N'dar, is 163 m. by rail N.N.E. of Dakar and is situated on an island III- m. above the mouth of the Senegal river, near the right bank, there separated from the sea by a narrow strip of sand called the Langue de Barbarie. This strip of sand is occupied by the villages of N'dar Toute and Guet N'dar. Three bridges connect the town with the villages; and the Pont Faidherbe, 2,132 ft. long, affords communication with Bouet ville, a suburb on the left bank, and the terminus of the railway to Dakar. The mouth of the Senegal being obstructed by a shifting bar of sand, the steamships of the great European lines do not come up to St. Louis ; passengers embark and land at Dakar, on the eastern side of Cape Verde. From July to the end of September—that is during flood-time—the water over the bar is, however, deep enough to enable smaller vessels to reach St. Louis without difficulty.
St. Louis was founded in 1659 by Dieppe merchants known as the Compagnie normande. It is the oldest colonial establishment in Africa belonging to France. (See SENEGAL.) Its modern de velopment dates from 1854. The town, however, did not receive municipal government till 1872. All citizens, irrespective of colour, can vote. From 1895 to 1903 St. Louis was not only the capital of Senegal, but the residence of the governor-general of French West Africa. There is active trade with all the countries watered by the Senegal and the middle Niger. St. Louis is connected with Brest by a direct cable, and with Cadiz via Canary Islands.