Rufisque
city in Senegal
Rufisque (Arabic: روفيسك; Wolof: Tëngeéj) is a city in the Dakar region of western Senegal, at the base of the Cap-Vert Peninsula 25 kilometres (16 mi) east of Dakar, the capital. It has a population of 295,459 (2023 census). In the past it was an important port city in its own right, but is now a suburb of Dakar.
Rufisque is also the capital of the department of the same name.
History
Originally a Lebou fishing village called Tenguedj (Wolof: Tëngéej), Rufisque became important in the 16th century as the principal port of the kingdom of Cayor, being frequented by Portuguese (who named it Rio Fresco, meaning "Freshwater River", hence the name of the modern city), Dutch, French and English traders. A Euro-African Creole, or Métis, community of merchants grew up there, in close contact with similar communities in Saint Louis, Gorée and other places along the Petite Côte (Saly-Portudal, Joal) south to the Gambia River. By the 1650s, the Dutch West India Company had consolidated control over the coastal trade and built a fortified factory at Rufisque.
In 1840 a couple of Saint Louis merchants built warehouses on the waterfront to stock peanuts. Gorée merchants followed suit. There followed a period of commercial expansion as peanut production in Cayor boomed.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Rufisque” as city in Senegal. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as city in Senegal. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Oct 17, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q1019424. VIAF identifies the subject as 157095665. The Library of Congress control number is n79099510. Authority coordinates are 14.714, -17.272. 2 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2023 and 1840.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Rufisque”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Rufisque primary sources, Rufisque archive and Rufisque research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Rufisque”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Rufisque” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.