Dakhlet Nouadhibou

Nouadhibou is Mauritania's second-largest city and its principal northern seaport, set on the Ras Nouadhibou peninsula where the Atlantic meets the Sahara. Formerly known as Port-Étienne, the city blends a working maritime and industrial character with the stark coastal landscape of Cap Blanc and nearby desert routes.

Founded in 1906 as a French fishing station, Nouadhibou grew around its deep-water port and later the iron ore industry. The old French coastal gun emplacements, the Point Central lighthouse and the Cap Blanc satellite reserve, where endangered Mediterranean monk seals can sometimes be seen, reflect the city's layered colonial and natural history.

Keran forms the busy city centre with banks, shops and restaurants, while Cansado is a planned company town built for SNIM mine workers in the 1960s and Numerowat is a growing residential area. The lively Port Artisanal fishing harbour, with its colourful pirogues, and the rusting ship graveyard west of the commercial port are among the city's most distinctive sights.

Nouadhibou is a major economic hub for Mauritania. The SNIM iron ore trains, among the longest in the world, carry ore from Zouérat and Fdérik to the mineral terminal, while fishing, fish processing and the Nouadhibou Free Zone support trade and investment around the Port Autonome.

For travellers, Nouadhibou works both as a business destination linked to mining, fishing and logistics, and as a gateway for coastal nature trips, Cap Blanc and Banc d'Arguin, offering a raw, windswept Atlantic-Saharan setting unlike Mauritania's inland cities.