Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

GOREE

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V12, Page 255 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

GOREE , an See also:

island off the See also:west See also:coast of See also:Africa, forming See also:part of the See also:French See also:colony of See also:Senegal. It lies at the entrance of the • large natural See also:harbour formed by the See also:peninsula of Cape Verde. The island, some 900 yds. See also:long by 330 broad, and 3 M. distant frdm the nearest point of the mainland, is mostly barren See also:rock. The greater part of its See also:surface is occupied by a See also:town, formerly a thriving commercial entrep8t and a strong military See also:post. Until 1906 it was a See also:free See also:port. With the rise of See also:Dakar (q.v.), c. 186o, on the adjacent coast, Goree lost its See also:trade and its inhabitants, mostly Jolofs, had dwindled in 1905 to about 1500. Its healthy See also:climate, however, makes it useful as a See also:sanatorium. The streets are narrow, and the houses, mainly built of dark-red See also:stone, are See also:flat-roofed. The See also:castle of St See also:Michael, the See also:governor's See also:residence, the See also:hospital and See also:barracks, testify to the former importance of the town. Within the castle is an artesian well, the only See also:water-See also:supply, See also:save that collected in See also:rain tanks, on the island. Goree was first occupied by the Dutch, who took See also:possession of it See also:early in the 17th See also:century and called it Goeree or Goedereede, in memory of the island on their own coast now See also:united with Overflakkee.

Its native name is Bir, i.e. a belly, in allusion to its shape. It was captured by the See also:

English under See also:Commodore ('afterwards See also:Admiral See also:Sir See also:Robert) See also:Holmes in 1663, but retaken in the following See also:year by de Ruyter. The Dutch were finally expelled in 1677 by the French under Admiral d'See also:Estrees. Goree subsequently See also:fell again into the hands of the English, but was definitely occupied by See also:France in 1817 (see SENEGAL: See also:History).

End of Article: GOREE

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
GORE, CHARLES (1853– ) 		[next]
GORGE

Site © 2006 - Net Industries