From the top to bottom-right, Welcome to Nouadhibou, Ship Graveyard, Central Nouadhibou,Iron-Ore transporter Train arriving in Nouadhibou, Residential area
Nouadhibou (/ˈnwædiːbuː,ˈnwɑː-/;Arabic:نواذيبو,Hassaniyya:[nwaðiːbu]ⓘ), formerly namedPort-Étienne,[1] is the second largest city inMauritania and serves as a major commercial center. The city has about 173,000 inhabitants.[2] It is situated on a 65-kilometrepeninsula or headland calledRas Nouadhibou,Cap Blanc, orCabo Blanco, of which the western side has the city ofLa Güera. Nouadhibou is consequently located merely a couple of kilometers from the border between Mauritania andWestern Sahara. Its current mayor is Elghassem Ould Bellali, who was installed on 15 October 2018.[3][4]
Nouadhibou is a major hotspot formigrant smuggling, serving as a key departure point for those attempting to reach Europe.[5]
The city consists of four major areas: the city center, including the internationalairport;Numerowatt to the north;Cansado, the main residential area, to the south; and adormitory town for the workers of the harbor facilities which are located a few kilometers south of the city, near the tip of the Ras Nouadhibou peninsula, atPort Minéralier.
Boats in Nouadhibou's harbourShips graveyard, Nouadhibou
The port of Nouadhibou is the final resting place of over 300 scuttled ships, forming the world's largest ship graveyard. Unlike the arrivalen masse of ships atMallows Bay, here the number of craft has built up over time, as corrupt officials accepted bribes from boat owners to allow them to dump their vessels in the area.
Nouadhibou has long been an important transit point for international transport. In the beginning of the 20th century, it was a stopover for theLatécoère air-transport network for mail and passengers for western Africa and overseas colonies likeMartinique.Antoine de Saint-Exupery spent much time there as a pilot and as writer.
The town was established as a small fishing port, controlled by the Portuguese, the Dutch and finally the French.[6]
In 1907 by decree of the governor-general ofFrench West AfricaErnest Roume, it was renamedPort-Étienne after the former French Minister of the ColoniesEugène Étienne.[7] After Mauritania became independent in 1960, the town was renamed Nouadhibou.
On 30 June 1973, at the time of the second-longest solar eclipse in the 20th century, anAerobee rocket was launched at Nouadhibou for solar research.[8]
Since February 2006, Nouadhibou has emerged as a major departure point for African migrants aiming to reach theCanary Islands. This extremely dangerous route to reach theEuropean Union gained popularity due to heightened emigration controls along Morocco's coast and near the Spanish enclaves ofCeuta andMelilla in late 2005.[citation needed] As of 2024, the city remains a significant departure hub for irregular migrants to Europe, with over 80% of arrivals in the Canary Islands originating from Mauritania, many of whom are fromMali.[5]
The city is reputedly also a center of trading ofmeteorites found in theSahara.[9]
Nouadhibou features ahot desert climate (BWh) under theKöppen climate classification. The city sees virtually no rainfall during the course of the year averaging a paltry 18 millimetres (0.71 in) annually. Despite the fact that it features a hot desert climate, the area does not quite see the extreme temperatures that other areas with this climate feature because of strong maritime influences, which also causes aseasonal lag in the warmer months. The average annual temperature in the city is 21.3 °C (70.3 °F) and the average annual high temperature is 27.1 °C (80.8 °F).
Climate data for Nouadhibou (extremes 1906-present)
Nouadhibou is linked with the Coastal Motorway RN2 to the capitalNouakchott (a distance of 450 km (280 mi)) and by highway to theWestern Saharan border in the north (a distance of 70 km (43 mi)).
Nouadhibou also is connected by railway to the iron mines inZouérat, 670 km to the east. The freight trains can be as long as 3 km, reputedly the longest in the world. Therailway also carries passengers and calls atChoum.
Plans were drawn up at the beginning of 1963 to build a port called Port Wharf in the fishing harbour, which included the construction of industrial and trade buildings. This became operational in 1966. This wharf was designed to accommodate traffic of up to 50,000 tonnes.
In 1977, the wharf was lengthened to provide 3 extra berths for ships of average tonnage raising its capacity to 320,000 tonnes.[citation needed]
