The Ghana Empire (c. 300 until c. 1235) was located in what is now southeastern Mauritania and western Mali. Complex societies had existed in the region since about 1500 BC, and around Ghana's core region since about 300 AD. When Ghana's ruling dyna…
The Richat Structure, also known as the Eye of the Sahara and Guelb er Richat, is a prominent circular feature in the Sahara desert near Ouadane, west–central Mauritania. This structure is a deeply eroded, slightly elliptical, 40 km in diameter dome…
Arguin (Portuguese: Arguim) is an island off the western coast of Mauritania in the Bay of Arguin. It is approximately 6x2 km in size, with extensive and dangerous reefs around it.
A majority of the population of Mauritania depends on agriculture and livestock for a livelihood, even though most of the nomads and many subsistence farmers were forced into the cities by recurrent droughts in the 1970s and 1980s. Mauritania has ex…
Nouakchott International Airport (French: Aéroport de Nouakchott) (IATA: NKC, ICAO: GQNN) is an international airport located in Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania. Until late 2010, it served as hub of Mauritania Airways.
Ouadane or Wādān (Arabic: وادان) is a small town in the desert region of central Mauritania, situated on the southern edge of the Adrar Plateau, 93 km northeast of Chinguetti. The town was a staging post in the trans-Saharan trade and for caravans …
Chinguetti (Arabic: شنقيط Šenqīṭ) is a ksar or medieval trading centre in northern Mauritania, located on the Adrar Plateau east of Atar.
Mauritania, a country in the western region of the continent of Africa, is generally flat, its 1,030,700 square kilometres forming vast, arid plains broken by occasional ridges and clifflike outcroppings. It borders the North Atlantic Ocean, between…
Koumbi Saleh, sometimes Kumbi Saleh is the site of a ruined medieval town in south east Mauritania that may have been the capital of the Ghana Empire.
Oualata or Walata (Arabic: ولاته) (also Biru in 17th century chronicles) is a small oasis town in southeast Mauritania, located at the eastern end of the Aoukar basin.
Rosso is the major city of south-western Mauritania and capital of Trarza region. It is situated on the Senegal River at the head of year-round navigation. The town is 204 km south of the capital Nouakchott.
Ras Nouadhibou (Arabic: رأس نواذيبو) is a 40-mile peninsula or headland in the African coast of the Atlantic Ocean, by the Tropic of Cancer.
Adrar (Arabic: ولاية آدرار) is a large administrative region in Mauritania, named for the Adrar Plateau.
Tichit (or Tichitt) (Arabic: تيشيت) is a partly abandoned village at the foot of the Tagant Plateau in central southern Mauritania that is known for its vernacular architecture.
Atar (Arabic: أطار, Berber for mountain) is a town in northwestern Mauritania, the capital of the Adrar Region and the main settlement on the Adrar Plateau.
La Güera (also known as La Agüera, Lagouira, or El Gouera) (Arabic: الكويرة) is a ghost town on the Atlantic coast at the southern tip of Western Sahara, on the western side of the Ras Nouadhibou peninsula, 15 km west of Nouadhibou. It is also the n…
Aoudaghost (also known as Awadaghust, Awdughast, Awdaghusht and Awdhaghurst) was an important oasis town at the southern end of a trans-Saharan caravan route that is mentioned in a number of early Arabic manuscripts.
The Adrar (Berber: , lit. mountain) is a highland natural and historical region of the Sahara Desert in northern Mauritania.
Kiffa is a city and department in south-central Mauritania. Kiffa is capital of Assaba Region.
Trarza (Arabic: ولاية الترارزة) is a region in southwest Mauritania. Its capital is Rosso. Other major cities and towns include Mederdra and Boutilimit. The region borders the Mauritanian regions of Inchiri and Adrar to the north, Brakna to the eas…
Tiris Zemmour (Arabic: ولاية تيرس زمور) is the northern-most region of Mauritania. Its capital is Zouérat. Other major cities/towns include F'dérik and Bir Moghrein.
Akjoujt, (Arabic: أكجوجت) is a small city in western Mauritania. It is the capital of Inchiri region."Akjoujt" (ɑk'ʤuʤt) means 'wells'.
Néma is a town in southeastern Mauritania, close to the border with Mali. It is located at around (16°37′0″N7°15′0″W) at the eastern end of the Aoukar.
Nouadhibou Airport (IATA: NDB, ICAO: GQPP) is an airport serving Nouadhibou (formerly Port-Étienne), a city in the Dakhlet Nouadhibou region of Mauritania.
Kaédi (Arabic: كيهيدي) is the largest city and administrative center of the Gorgol region of Southern Mauritania.
Hodh Ech Chargui (Arabic: ولاية الحوض الشرقي) is a large region in eastern Mauritania, with an area of 182,700 sq.km. Its capital is Néma, but the largest town, in Bassiknou Department, is Vassale at the extreme southeast of Mauritania, with 65,927…
Choum is a town in northern Mauritania, lying in the Adrar Region close to the border with the Western Sahara (Non-Self-Governing Territory).
Brakna (Arabic: ولاية البراكنة) is a region in south-west Mauritania. Its capital is Aleg. Other major cities/towns include Boghé. The region borders the Mauritanian region of Tagant to the north-east, the Mauritanian regions of Assaba and Gorgol t…
Aleg is the capital of the Brakna Region, Mauritania.
Tagant (Arabic: ولاية تكانت) is a region in south-central Mauritania named for the Tagant Plateau. Its capital is Tidjikdja. Other major cities/towns include Tichit and Rachid, Nbeika. The region borders the Mauritanian regions of Adrar to the nort…
Magta-Lahjar is a town and commune in the Brakna Region of southern Mauritania.
Kediet ej Jill is a mountain in Tiris Zemmour, Mauritania, with the city of Zouérat on its east and Fderick at west.
Hodh El Gharbi (Arabic: ولاية الحوض الغربي) is a region in southern Mauritania, with an area of 53,400 square km.
Gorgol (Arabic: ولاية كركول) is a region in southern Mauritania. Its capital is Kaédi and the Gorgol River forms parts of the landscape. Other major cities/towns include Mbout and Maghama. The region borders the Mauritanian regions of Brakna and As…
Dakhlet Nouadhibou (Arabic: ولاية داخلت نواذيبو) is the western-most region of Mauritania. Its capital is Nouadhibou. The region borders Western Sahara to the north, the Mauritanian region of Inchiri to the east and the Atlantic Ocean to the west.
The Bay of Arguin, or Banc d'Arguin, is a bay on the Atlantic shore of Mauritania.