Thiès

Thiès is the third largest city in Senegal with a population officially estimated at 320,000 in 2005. It lies 72 km east of Dakar on the N2 road and at the junction of railway lines to Dakar, Bamako and St-Louis. It is the capital of Thiès Region and is a major industrial city.HistoryBefore colonization, the Thiès Plateau was a wooded frontier between the kingdoms of Cayor and Baol inhabited by the Serer-Noon, an ethnic sub-group of the Serer people. The Serer-Noon still inhabit the Thiès-Noon neighborhood of the south-west city today. They speak the Noon language, one of the Cangin languages.The plateau acquired strategic importance when the French embarked upon an expansionist colonial policy. A military post was created in 1864 and the military have marked the city’s development ever since; it is home to a major military base.TransportAt first a simple rail stop, or "escale", on the Dakar-Saint Louis line (completed in 1885) Thiès became a rail junction with the Dakar-Niger line (built 1906-1923). The national network of paved roads created after World War II likewise converged on Thiès (the N3 road joins the N2 road in the town), which thus commands nearly all access to the Cap-Vert Peninsula (Dakar and Rufisque).