Kaolack

Kaolack is the successor city to Kahone, historic capital of the kingdom of Saloum. Originally marked by a sacred tree on the right bank of the Saloum River facing the island of Kouyong, Kahone consisted of a number of distinct neighborhoods separated by open fields, each under the jurisdiction of a different dignitary or official. Kaolack, {{Convert|8|km|}} downriver, was one of these.

One legend holds that it was founded by Sega and Massar, two brothers of Fulani origin from Macina in today's Mali. Sega’s son, Alioune Mboutou Sow, later served as the Chef de Canton of Kaolack. The Mboutou family house still stands in the middle of the town centre. Mboutou Sow's daughter Ramatoulaye (Rahmat'oullah) was given in marriage to the son of Amadou Bamba, hence the saying Kaolack worrou Mboutou (Kaolack, Mboutou's fiefdom).{{citation needed|date=August 2023}} An alternative telling is that Kaolack was founded by a princess of Baol who took shelter there under the protection of the Maad Saloum Mbegan Ndour, whom she later married, and founded the traditional cult of the West African Nile monitor, known as mbossé in Wolof, the totem of the city. Mboutou Sow arrived later, and became chief through his erudition.{{cite book| last = Kesteloot| first = Lilyan | last2 = Veirman| first2 = Anja| author-link = | date = 1999| title = Histoire d'Afrique : les enjeux de mémoire|chapter = Un lieu de mémoire sans stèle et sans visite guidée : le culte du Mboose à Kaolack (Sénégal)| url = https://archive.org/details/histoiredafrique0000unse/page/83/mode/1up| location = Paris| publisher = Karthala| pages = 83–91|language = French}}

French interests in the Saloum River increased in the early 19th century as legitimate articles of trade were sought to replace trade in slaves. By mid-century, peanut production had been introduced to the kingdom of Saloum and, with the permission of its king, a fortified factory was established by the French on the riverfront at Kaolack, more favorably placed for shipping than Kahone. They laid out a first grid of lots in 1860, in what would become the city center or "Escale" neighborhood. The construction of a rail spur from the port to the Dakar-Niger line in 1911 caused the town to boom as a peanut processing and export center. Its population grew rapidly, rising from 5,600 in 1925 to 44,000 in 1934.{{citation needed|date=August 2023}}

It is at this time that Kaolack became an important center for the Tijaniyyah Sufi order, with {{ill|Allaaji Abdulaay Ñas|fr|Abdoulaye Niasse}} opening a first major zâwiyah, or “lodge”, in the Leona neighborhood in 1910.{{Cite book |last1=Salm |first1=Steven J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SBj3HTJ3wJ4C&dq=Kaolack+1930&pg=PA256 |title=African Urban Spaces in Historical Perspective |last2=Falola |first2=Toyin |date=2005 |publisher=University Rochester Press |isbn=978-1-58046-314-0 |page=256 |language=en}} His son Ibrahim Niass moved the community, known as the Jamāʿat al-fayḍa ({{Lit|The Community of the Divine Flood|i=yes|lk=yes}}), to a new suburb of Kaolack called Madina Baye in the early 1930s, now a part of the city itself.{{Cite book |last=Wright |first=Zachary Valentine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2h2oBgAAQBAJ&dq=Kaolack+1930&pg=PA3 |title=Living Knowledge in West African Islam: The Sufi Community of Ibrāhīm Niasse |date=2015-02-04 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-28946-8 |page=3 |language=en}}

Today, there is a peanut oil processing plant with its own port facilities in the downstream suburb of Lyndiane, while salt pans across the Saloum river constitute the city’s only other major industrial activity.

Kaolack has a hot semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification: BSh), with a short rainy season and a lengthy dry season.

{{Weather box

| width = auto

| metric first = yes

| single line = yes

| location = Kaolack (1991–2020)

| Jan high C = 35.1

| Feb high C = 37.3

| Mar high C = 39.7

| Apr high C = 40.8

| May high C = 40.2

| Jun high C = 37.4

| Jul high C = 34.8

| Aug high C = 33.5

| Sep high C = 33.7

| Oct high C = 36.3

| Nov high C = 37.5

| Dec high C = 35.6

| year high C = 36.8

| Jan low C = 18.3

| Feb low C = 19.9

| Mar low C = 21.0

| Apr low C = 21.8

| May low C = 23.0

| Jun low C = 24.7

| Jul low C = 25.2

| Aug low C = 24.9

| Sep low C = 24.5

| Oct low C = 24.7

| Nov low C = 21.6

| Dec low C = 19.1

| year low C = 22.4

| Jan record low C = 11.5

| Feb record low C = 12.5

| Mar record low C = 15.0

| Apr record low C = 15.8

| May record low C = 15.0

| Jun record low C = 16.5

| Jul record low C = 21.0

| Aug record low C = 20.0

| Sep record low C = 17.5

| Oct record low C = 19.7

| Nov record low C = 15.8

| Dec record low C = 12.4

| year record low C = 11.5

| precipitation colour = green

| Jan precipitation mm = 0.9

| Feb precipitation mm = 0.6

| Mar precipitation mm = 0.0

| Apr precipitation mm = 0.0

| May precipitation mm = 1.7

| Jun precipitation mm = 36.0

| Jul precipitation mm = 117.9

| Aug precipitation mm = 238.5

| Sep precipitation mm = 190.5

| Oct precipitation mm = 43.6

| Nov precipitation mm = 0.9

| Dec precipitation mm = 0.0

| year precipitation mm = 630.6

| unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm

| Jan precipitation days = 0.1

| Feb precipitation days = 0.1

| Mar precipitation days = 0.0

| Apr precipitation days = 0.0

| May precipitation days = 0.2

| Jun precipitation days = 2.8

| Jul precipitation days = 8.7

| Aug precipitation days = 13.8

| Sep precipitation days = 12.1

| Oct precipitation days = 4.0

| Nov precipitation days = 0.2

| Dec precipitation days = 0.0

| year precipitation days = 42.0

|Jand sun = 8.4

|Febd sun = 9.1

|Mard sun = 9.5

|Aprd sun = 9.9

|Mayd sun = 9.6

|Jund sun = 8.6

|Juld sun = 8.0

|Augd sun = 7.5

|Sepd sun = 7.6

|Octd sun = 8.4

|Novd sun = 8.5

|Decd sun = 7.5

| Jan sun = 260

| Feb sun = 257

| Mar sun = 295

| Apr sun = 297

| May sun = 298

| Jun sun = 258

| Jul sun = 248

| Aug sun = 233

| Sep sun = 228

| Oct sun = 260

| Nov sun = 255

| Dec sun = 233

| year sun =

| source 1 = NOAA{{cite web

|url = https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/archive/arc0216/0253808/2.2/data/0-data/Region-1-WMO-Normals-9120/Senegal/CSV/Kaolack_61679.csv

|title = World Meteorological Organization Climate Normals for 1991-2020 — Kaolack

|publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

|access-date = January 9, 2024}}

|source 2 = Deutscher Wetterdienst (sunshine){{cite web

| url = https://www.dwd.de/DWD/klima/beratung/ak/ak_616790_rw.pdf

| title = Climate Averages for Kaolack

| language = de

| publisher = DWD

| access-date = 7 September 2022}}

}}

Among Kaolack's many neighbourhoods are:

• Lewna (Léona in French), which includes much of the city center. It includes Lewna Ñaseen (Léona Niassène in French), the headquarters of the branch of the Tijānī Islamic order founded in 1910 by {{ill|Allaaji Abdulaay Ñas|fr|Abdoulaye Niasse}} after his exile in Gambia. But now the Tijānī Islamic Order is held by the eldest son of Mame Khalifa who was the oldest son of Allaji Abdoulaye Niass .
• Jaleñ (Dialègne in French), between Lewna Ñaseen and Medina Mbàbba.
• Medina Mbàbba (Médina Mbaba in French), also called "Medina I", named after Baabakar Njaay, nicknamed "Mbàbba Njaay," who was the Serer chief of the village when it was incorporated into Kaolack.
• Medina Baay (Médina Baye in French), also called "Medina II", on the northeast edge of the city. It is the center of the Ibrāhīmiiya branch of the Tijānī order founded in 1930 by Allaaji Abdulaay Ñas's son, Ibrayima Ñas, known to his followers as "Baay" ("Father" in Wolof). The name in Arabic means "The City of Baay."
• Saam (Sam in French), west of Medina Baay in the north of Kaolack, also founded by Ibrayima Ñas. Saam was originally designated as the fields and orchards of Ibrayima Ñas's disciples, but since the 1970s the trees have been replaced by houses.
• Ndoorong (Ndorong in French), west of Saam, founded by Bashiru Mbàkke and his Murid disciples.
• Coofog (Thiofoke in French), north of Saam, which existed before Kaolack as a Serer village ruled by the Guelowar dynasty.

{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in Africa#Senegal|l1=List of twin towns and sister cities in Senegal}}

Kaolack is twinned with:

• {{flagicon|ITA}} Aosta, Italy
• {{flagicon|FRA}} Mérignac, France{{cite web| url = http://www.cncd.fr/frontoffice/bdd-region.asp?action=getRegion&id=2#tabs3| title = National Commission for Decentralised cooperation| access-date = 2013-12-26| work = Délégation pour l’Action Extérieure des Collectivités Territoriales (Ministère des Affaires étrangères)| language = fr| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://archive.today/20131008010503/http://www.cncd.fr/frontoffice/bdd-region.asp?action=getRegion&id=2#tabs3| archive-date = 2013-10-08}}
• {{flagicon|USA}} Memphis, United States

• Adji Bousso Dieng, computer scientist and statistician
• Jamal Thiaré, footballer

• Railway stations in Senegal

{{Reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20120227175541/http://pcsenegal.org/kaolack.html Peace Corps Senegal, Kaolack Page]

{{Authority control}}

Category:Populated places in Kaolack region

Category:Kaolack region

Category:Regional capitals in Senegal

Category:Communes of Senegal