Found­ed as a French colo­nial set­tle­ment in the 17th cen­tu­ry, Saint-Louis was urbanised in the mid-19th cen­tu­ry. It was the cap­i­tal of Sene­gal from 1872 to 1957 and played an impor­tant cul­tur­al and eco­nom­ic role in the whole of West Africa. The loca­tion of the town on an island at the mouth of the Sene­gal Riv­er, its reg­u­lar town plan, the sys­tem of quays, and the char­ac­ter­is­tic colo­nial archi­tec­ture give Saint-Louis its dis­tinc­tive appear­ance and iden­ti­ty.