🇸🇳 Senegal
Dakar
Dakar (population 3.7 million metropolitan area) is the westernmost capital city in continental Africa — the most Atlantic-positioned capital on the African continent, jutting into the ocean on the Cape Verde Peninsula. The African Renaissance Monument (the most dramatic and the most controversial large sculpture in Africa — the 49m bronze statue taller than the Statue of Liberty), Gorée Island (UNESCO — the most haunting slavery memorial in West Africa: the "House of Slaves" with its "Door of No Return"), the IFAN Museum of African Arts (the most important collection of African traditional art in West Africa), the colourful Sandaga Market (the most vibrant single outdoor market in Dakar), the Grande Mosquée de Dakar (the most important mosque in Senegal), and the most dynamic live music scene in Africa (Dakar is the birthplace of mbalax — the most influential West African popular music genre: the fusion of Wolof traditional percussion with Cuban salsa developed by Youssou N'Dour — the most internationally famous Senegalese musician) make Dakar the most culturally vibrant and the most intellectually energetic capital city in West Africa.