Thiès

Thiès (pronounced  : chess in Noon language) is the third largest city in Senegal with a population officially estimated at 320,000 in 2005. It lies 72 km east of Dakar on the N2 road and at the junction of railway lines to Dakar, Bamako and St-Louis. It is the capital of Thiès Region and is a major industrial city.

History

Before colonization, the Thiès Plateau was a wooded frontier between the kingdoms of Cayor and Baol inhabited by the Serer-Noon, an ethnic sub-group of the Serer people. The Serer-Noon still inhabit the Thiès-Noon neighborhood of the south-west city today. They speak the Noon language, one of the Cangin languages.

The plateau acquired strategic importance when the French embarked upon an expansionist colonial policy. A military post was created in 1864 and the military have marked the city’s development ever since; it is home to a major military base.

Transport

At first a simple rail stop, or "escale", on the Dakar-Saint Louis line (completed in 1885) Thiès became a rail junction with the Dakar-Niger line (built 1906-1923). The national network of paved roads created after WWII likewise converged on Thiès, which thus commands nearly all access to the Cap-Vert Peninsula (Dakar and Rufisque).