Saint-Louis

Saint-Louis , city (1988 pop. 160,689), NW Senegal, a port at the mouth of the Senegal River. The terminus of a railroad from Dakar , it is a fishing, trade, and export center for peanuts, hides, and skins. The oldest French colonial settlement in Africa, Saint-Louis was founded (1638) on an island in the river as a trade base. In 1659 a French fort was built there. Except for brief periods (1758-79; 1809-15) of British rule, it was the capital of all French possessions in W Africa and capital of French West Africa from its inception (1895) until 1902. Saint-Louis was subsequently (1902-58) capital of both Senegal and Mauritania. It has declined since independence but remains an important administrative, tourist, and trading center.

Saint Louis, Canada, France, Guadeloupe, Réunion, Senegal, USA 1. Some towns are spelt St Louis and others Saint‐Louis. There is also a river and a lake with this name in Quebec, Canada, and a river in Minnesota, USA. They are named after St Louis IX (1214–70), King of France (1226–70).2. Senegal: the local Wolof name is Ndar. Founded in 1659, the city‐port was the administrative capital of the French West African territories of Mauritania and Senegal until 1958. It was named supposedly for the reigning French monarch, Louis XIV the Sun King^†, but in actual fact after his patron saint, St Louis IX.3. USA (Missouri): founded as a fur trading post in 1764 by a Frenchman, Pierre Laclède Liguest, and named after St Louis IX.