
Children play on
N'Gor beach, at the northern tip of Cap-Vert.
'Cap-Vert' is a
peninsula in
Senegal, and the westernmost part of the continent of
Africa. Originally called Cabo Verde or "Cape Green" by Portuguese explorers, it is not to be confused with the ''
Cape Verde'' islands, which are some 560 kilometres further west.
Dakar, the capital of Senegal, is located near the southern tip.
'Cap-Vert' is a rocky promontory extending west from the main sandy areas of
Senegal. Cap-Vert has an excellent harbor, facing
Gorée Island.
Formed by a combination of volcanic offshore islands and a land bridge produced by coastal currents, it projects into the
Atlantic Ocean, bending back to the southeast at its tip. Exposure to southwesterly winds contributes to Cape Verde's seasonal verdant appearance, in contrast to the undulating yellow dunes to the north.
The peninsula is shaped like a triangle (about 9 miles [15 km] per side), with the base of the triangle roughly along the north and its apex on the south, near
Dakar. Near
Pointe des Almadies, the north-western tip of the cape, lies
Dakar's international airport, famous as a transatlantic ferrying point during
World War II. Twin volcanic cones, the Deux Mamelles ("Two Teats"), dominate the landscape along the coast northwest of
Dakar. The peninsula embraces a bay and a natural harbour in the southwest.
The indigenous inhabitants of the peninsula, the
Lebu, lived as fishermen and farmers. Since about 1444, when the Portuguese first sighted the cape, it has been an entrepôt for African-European trade. The French later established the city of
Dakar on the cape in 1857.
External links
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Satellite picture by Google Maps