It borders Gambia and is a common stopping point for travel between Dakar and Banjul.

Its borders correspond roughly to the Saalum Kingdom of precolonial days, and the area is still spoken of as the Saalum in Wolof, and its inhabitants are called Saalum-Saalum.

Brewing, leather tanning, cotton ginning, and fish processing are also important industries.

The city is on the railroad from Dakar to the Niger River in Mali.

Kaolack is the international centre of the Ibrahimiyyah branch of the Tijaniyyah Sufi order, whose mosque is on the city's outskirts.