Ras Nouadhibou
| Ras Nouadhibou | ||
 Map from 1958 showing the border line between Mauritania and the Spanish Sahara |
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| Geographical location | ||
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| Coordinates | 21 ° 0 ′ N , 17 ° 3 ′ W | |
| Waters 1 | Atlantic Ocean | |
| Waters 2 | Dakhlet Nouadhibou | |
| length | 60 km | |
Ras Nouadhibou ( Arabic رأس نواذيبو, DMG Raʾs Nawāḏībū , formerly: Portuguese Cabo Branco , French Cap Blanc , Spanish Cabo Blanco ) is a narrow peninsula around 40 kilometers long , about half of which lies on the national territory of Mauritania and the Western Sahara . The headland facing south ends at the cape of the same name . The bay, which lies between the peninsula and the Mauritanian mainland coast, is called Dakhlet Nouadhibou , in colonial times: Baie du Lévrier .
The border runs through the peninsula to the Cape and was established in this form in 1912 between the colonial powers Spain and France . Today the western part belongs to the Western Sahara occupied by Morocco , the eastern part to Mauritania.
The second largest city in Mauritania, Nouadhibou , formerly Port-Étienne, lies on the protected east side; the colonial settlement of La Gouira on the west coast, a few kilometers away , was abandoned.
A small colony of the very rare Mediterranean monk seals still lives on the southern tip of the sandy bays below the steep limestone cliffs .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Pablo Fernández de Larrinoa, Miguel Angel Cedenilla: Human Disturbance at the Cabo Blanco Monk Seal Colony. (PDF; 75 kB) Monachus Guardian, 6 (1), June 2003