Fatick (; ; ) is a town and urban commune in

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 ...

, located between M'bour and Kaolack and inhabited by the

Serer people The Serer people (''Serer language, Serer proper'': Seereer or Sereer) are a West African ethnoreligious groupGastellu, Jean-Marc, ''Petit traité de matrilinarité. L'accumulation dans deux sociétés rurales d'Afrique de l'Ouest'', Cahiers ORST ...

. Its 2023 population was at 39,361. It is the capital of the Fatick Region and the Fatick Department.

Toponymy

Its name (Fatick), including its region and department take their names from one of the Serer maternal clans (''Fatik'')—which derives from the Serer term ''Fati Ubadik'' ("we have more to go"). The name is also spelled ''Patik'' following its pronunciation which is the same as the Fatik matriclan. The 15th century King of Sine Wasilla Faye named it after his father's matriclan. His father was a member of the Patik matriclan.

History

The city has several ancient sites classified as historical monuments and added to the

World heritage World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

list. There is also the site of ''Mind Ngo Mindiss'', located in the

Sine River The River Sine or Sine River (Siin in Serer language; ''La Rivière Sine'' in French language) is a river in Senegal. It flows into the Atlantic Ocean with the River Saloum in the delta of Sine-Saloum. See also *Saloum Delta National Park, a U ...

, where libations and offerings are made, the site of Ndiobaye, where traditional ceremonies takes place, and Ndeb Jab, which houses a sacred tree at Ndiaye-Ndiaye. These sites are sacred places in

Serer religion The Serer religion or Serer spirituality (''Serer language, Serer:'' A ƭat Roog, meaning "the way of the Divine", "path of God", or "religious life"Kalis, Simone, ''Médecine traditionnelle, religion et divination chez les Seereer Siin du Sén� ...

.''African Studies Quarterly'', Volume 14, Issue 3 (March 2014), "Fed Up: Creating a New Type of Senegal through the Arts", Guest Editors: Enz, Molly Krueger and Bryson, Devin, Published by the Center for African Studies,

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

, p. 36 (note 5),

(Retrieved 4 June 2018) The '' Xooy ceremony'' (or ''Khoy''), performed by the Serer high priests and priestesses (the Saltigues), takes place at Fatick once a year.

Geography

Fatick is located "in the savanna belt of the West African

Sahel The Sahel region (; ), or Sahelian acacia savanna, is a Biogeography, biogeographical region in Africa. It is the Ecotone, transition zone between the more humid Sudanian savannas to its south and the drier Sahara to the north. The Sahel has a ...

, a sandy arid region south of the

Sahara desert The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...

." The nearest towns are Nerane, Pourham, Mbirk Pourham and Tok.

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 ...

, the capital of Senegal, is located 155 km away.

Climate

Under Köppen-Geiger climate classification system, it has a

hot semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of sem ...

(BSh).

Population

In the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

es of 1988 and 2002, the estimate population figures were 18,416 and 23,149 respectively. In 2007, according to official estimates, the population was 24,855.

Economy

Since the peanut trade is losing momentum,

salt marshes A salt marsh, saltmarsh or salting, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open Seawater, saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the ti ...

are the main local resource.

Notable people from Fatick

Macky Sall Macky Sall (, , ; born 11 December 1961) is a Senegalese politician who served as the fourth president of Senegal from 2012 to 2024. He previously served as the eighth Prime Minister of Senegal, prime minister from 2004 to 2007, under President ...

, former

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

and former

President of Senegal The president of Senegal () is the head of state of Senegal. In accordance with the 2001 Senegalese constitutional referendum, constitutional reform of 2001 and since a 2016 Senegalese constitutional referendum, referendum that took place on 20 ...

* Chérif Ousmane Sarr, footballer * Alioune Badara M'Bengue, politician * Babacar Touré, businessman and journalist

References

{{Authority control Communes of Senegal Fatick region Regional capitals in Senegal Populated places in Fatick region Serer holy places Holy cities