Nouadhibou

The town was established as a small fishing port, controlled by the Portuguese, the Dutch and finally the French.[1]

In 1907 by decree of the governor-general of French West Africa Ernest Roume, it was renamed Port-Étienne after the former French Minister of the Colonies Eugène Étienne.[2] After Mauritania became independent in 1960, the town name changed to Nouadhibou.

On 30 June 1973, at the time of the second-longest solar eclipse in the 20th century, an Aerobee rocket was launched at Nouadhibou for solar research.[3]

From February 2006 onwards Nouadhibou has become the departure point for African migrants trying to reach the Canary Islands. This extremely dangerous route to reach the European Union has become popular as a result of increased emigration controls along the Moroccan-controlled coast and around the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla in the second half of 2005.

The city is reputedly also a center of trading of meteorites found in the Sahara.[4]

Population history Population of the commune of Nouadhibou (2000—2013) Year Population 2000[5]

72,337

2013[5]

118,167

^ Wilaya de Dakhlet Nouadhibou, Garde Nationale ^ Jean Abel Gruvel, Les pêcheries des côtes du Sénégal et des rivières du Sud, A. Challamel, Paris, 1908, p. 13 ISBN 2-11-091134-4 ^ "Nouadhibou". www.astronautix.com. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved Mar 13, 2019. ^ "Meteorite smugglers anger scientists". BBC. London. 2007-04-16. Retrieved 2007-06-23. ^ a b Mauritania, citypopulation.de