Linguère (or Lingeer in SererKlein, Martin A. "Islam and Imperialism in Senegal Sine-Saloum, 1847–1914." Edinburgh University Press (1968) pp 11-15 & 262 and Wolof) is a town and urban commune located in the Linguère Department, Louga Region of

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

History

Linguére was the capital of the

Jolof Empire The Jolof Empire (), also known as Great Jolof or the Wolof Empire, was a Wolof state in modern-day Senegal, that ruled portions of Mauritania and Gambia from the mid-14th centuryFage, J. D.; Oliver, Roland; "The Cambridge History of Africa." Vo ...

and its successor, the Kingdom of Jolof. The name

Lingeer Lingeer (also: ''Linger'' or Linguère) was the title given to the mother or sister of a king in the Serer kingdoms of Sine, Saloum, and previously the Kingdom of Baol; and the Wolof kingdoms of Cayor, Jolof, Baol and Waalo in pre-colonial S ...

was also used as a title for Serer and Wolof queens and royal princesses.

Transport

The town lies on the N3 road connecting it to

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...

and

Touba Touba (Hassaniya Arabic: , 'Felicity'; Wolof: Tuubaa) is a city in central Senegal, part of Diourbel Region and Mbacké district. With a population of 1,120,824 in 2023, it is the second most populated Senegalese city after Dakar. It is the h ...

to the west and Ouro Sogui and

Mauretania Mauretania (; ) is the Latin name for a region in the ancient Maghreb. It extended from central present-day Algeria to the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, encompassing northern present-day Morocco, and from the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean in the ...

to the east. The town was formally the terminus of a branch railway. The train station is now in ruins and the tracks are non-existent as they have been ripped up and used by locals as part of fences.

Infrastructure

The town has roughly 15,000 inhabitants, and is served by a weekly market that takes place on Fridays. There are usually one or two US Peace Corps volunteers stationed in the town, and surrounding villages. There is a post office, a bank, a small daily vegetable market, a bar, a sometimes running internet cafe, and several stores. There is also a 'Gare Routiere', a public transit hub connecting the town to other cities in the east: Louga, Dahra,

, and

. The village of Nguith nearby is a traditional Wolof village (4 km to the west), with a deep-bore well, schools, health post, and functioning village government. The village is run by two families, the Coundouls, and Talls. In 2007, according to official estimates, Linguère had a population of 13,610.

Climate

References

Populated places in Louga region Communes of Senegal {{Senegal-geo-stub