Ziguinchor is the largest city of the homonymous Ziguinchor region in Casamance, the southern part of Senegal, and has over 200,000 inhabitants. It is the commercial center of the Casamance and important trading place between Gambia and Guinea-Bissau. Ziguinchor is a military base and has a civilian airport connected to Dakar and other major cities in the region. The city was visited in 1992 by Pope John Paul II and forms the Christian center of Senegal. The inhabitants of the Casamance - especially those from the Diola ethnic group - have a strong identity of their own. Already in 1942 there was an uprising against the French colonial power and even today the conflict in the region smolders. There have been and still are efforts to break away from Senegal.
Source: Wikipedia