Mpack, Senegal
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Mpack (also spelt Mpak) is a village in
Niaguis Arrondissement Niaguis Arrondissement is an arrondissements of Senegal, arrondissement of the Ziguinchor Department in the Ziguinchor Region of Senegal. Subdivisions

The arrondissement is divided administratively into 3 Rural communities of Senegal, rural ...
, Ziguinchor Department, Ziguinchor Region in southern
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 ...
. Government statistics classified it as a rural community and recorded its population as 518 people in 72 households. It is located about seven kilometres from the regional capital of
Ziguinchor Ziguinchor (; ; ) is the capital of the Ziguinchor Region, and the chief town of the Casamance area of Senegal, lying at the mouth of the Casamance River. It has a population of 214,874 (2023 census). It is the eighth largest city of Senegal ...
. It is one of the endpoints of the 90-km long
Oussouye Oussouye (or Husuy in JolaWilson, William André Auquier. 2007. ''Guinea Languages of the Atlantic group: description and internal classification''. (Schriften zur Afrikanistik, 12.) Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.) is a small town and urban commu ...
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Kabrousse Kabrousse (also spelled Cabrousse) is a village in the rural community of Diembéring, Oussouye, Ziguinchor, Casamance, Senegal. It is a coastal village located a few kilometers south of Cap Skirring. In a straight line, it is the closest place ...
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Cap Skirring Cap Skirring, also spelled Cap Skiring, is a town on the Atlantic Ocean coast of the Basse Casamance (Ziguinchor) region of Senegal, near the border of Guinea-Bissau. It is a popular seaside resort with Europeans and has an airport and a golf ...
-Ziguinchor-Mpack road, which is being rebuilt with 17 billion
CFA francs CFA franc (, ) is the name of two currencies used by 210 million people (as of 2023) in fourteen African countries: the West African CFA franc (where "CFA" stands for , i.e. "African Financial Community" in English), used in eight West African co ...
of funding from the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
. The village used to be on the front lines of the
Casamance Conflict The Casamance conflict is an ongoing low-level conflict that has been waged between the Politics of Senegal, Government of Senegal and the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC) since 1982. On May 1, 2014, the leader of the MFDC Suing f ...
between the Senegalese government and the
Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance The Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (; MFDC) is the main separatism, separatist movement in the Casamance region of Senegal, founded in 1982. It was supported by Guinea-Bissau President of Guinea-Bissau, President João Bernardo Viei ...
. The town contains the only
border checkpoint A border checkpoint is a location on an international border where travelers or goods are inspected and allowed (or denied) passage through. Authorization often is required to enter a country through its borders. Access-controlled borders of ...
between Senegal and
Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau, officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, is a country in West Africa that covers with an estimated population of 2,026,778. It borders Senegal to Guinea-Bissau–Senegal border, its north and Guinea to Guinea–Guinea-Bissau b ...
with an
asphalt Asphalt most often refers to: * Bitumen, also known as "liquid asphalt cement" or simply "asphalt", a viscous form of petroleum mainly used as a binder in asphalt concrete * Asphalt concrete, a mixture of bitumen with coarse and fine aggregates, u ...
road; its counterpart on the Guinea-Bissau side is Sao Domingos. During the 1998
Guinea-Bissau Civil War The Guinea-Bissau Civil War was fought from 7 June 1998 to 10 May 1999 and was triggered by an attempted 1998 Guinea-Bissau coup attempt, coup d'état against the government of Heads of State of Guinea-Bissau, President João Bernardo Vieira led ...
, up to 100 refugees an hour passed through the checkpoint and the village as they fled the fighting. Later, as the Casamance Conflict intensified, the checkpoint was frequently closed, as MDFC members were believed to be taking refuge in Guinea-Bissau. The area was also heavily mined during the fighting; local NGOs made efforts to clear the mines in 2002 and 2003, rehabilitating over 100 houses in the village and its surrounding area, following which the Senegalese military declared the area safe; however, casualties due to exploding mines continued to occur in 2004. A camp was set up in the Bourgadié neighbourhood there in March 2006 to receive Senegalese
refugee A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...
s fleeing Guinea-Bissau after the October 2004 army mutiny left the country in disarray.


References

{{reflist, 2 Populated places in the Ziguinchor department Guinea-Bissau–Senegal border crossings