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Ziguinchor (also called Zinguinchor) 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 over 230,000 (2007 estimate). It is the second largest city of Senegal, but largely separated from the north of the country by The Gambia. The city has a tropical savanna climate, with an average annual accumulated rainfall of 1547mm (about 61 inches).〔http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/wetlands/pdf/Africa/Region3/SENEGAL.pdf〕 ==History== The first European settlement in the area was founded by the Portuguese in 1645. According to tradition, Ziguinchor's name and meaning comes from the time when Portuguese traders and explorers came to the region to form a trading post, and derives from Portuguese ''Cheguei e choram'', "I came and they cry". The local people, seeing the Europeans, began crying, thinking they were to be enslaved. The Portuguese objective was to form a trading post and a friendship alliance with the local king. Ziguinchor became in fact a slave port during much of the Portuguese occupation. The spot was not chosen at random. While a Jola village predated the town, it was situated to trade with the Jola kingdom of Kasso, which dates back to the Mali Empire, when Mandinke people moved into the area from the south and east. Following the end of the slave trade, Portuguese commerce stultified, and the town was eventually handed over to France on 22 April 1888, in a deal brokered amongst the colonial powers at the Berlin conference of 1886. Under the French, Ziguinchor became a major trade port, mostly due to the intensive groundnut cultivation the colonial government encouraged in the interior. By 1900, the area was largely converted to Christianity, although significant Syncretist and Muslim communities flourish. Rice growing, the traditional crop of the region, was hurt by the push to cultivate groundnuts, and extensive forest areas were cleared. The French government also imported rice across West Africa from the intensive farming they encouraged in French Indochina, shrinking the market for Casamance's main produce. After independence, the city saw its economic growth slow, in part due to the War of Independence in neighboring Guinea-Bissau. Portuguese military crossed into the area at least once, pursuing PAIG rebels, and cannon fire could be heard in the city for much of the war. During this period Ziguinchor became a main post for both the Senegalese Army and French forces, guarding the frontier; a frontier which cut in two Diola families and communities. As the capital of Casamance, Ziguinchor has been at the center of the three decade long conflict with Dakar, that has flared into open civil war on more than one occasion. With a population with a majority of Diola and Christian,〔Caroline JUILLARD. (Sub-Saharian immigration in France: from diversity to integration ). Université René Descartes-Paris V. Conference paper. University of Texas (2003) pp.9-10. For full population summary, see (Centre culturel régional de Ziguinchor ), Ministère de la Culture, du Patrimoine historique classé, des Langues nationales et de la Francophonie, Government of Senegal (2004).〕 the effects of a large migration of Wolof Muslims fleeing drought in the north during the 1970s caused tensions to flare. A 1983 demonstration against price rises in Ziguinchor Market was put down violently by Senegalese forces, and an insurgency by the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC) followed, effectively wrecking the economy of the region. The 2004 peace accords, signed in Ziguinchor, were hoped to be the end of the violence, but in 2006, sporadic fighting by an MFDC split and laying of land mines again erupted in rural areas nearby.〔(Ernest Harsch. Peace pact raises hope in Senegal: After 22 years, Casamance war is winding down ), From Africa Renewal, Vol.19 #1 (April 2005), page 14. (Crowds cheer Senegal peace deal ), BBC, 30 December 2004. (Casamance rebels attack town ), BBC, 4 January 2002.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ziguinchor」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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