Where the Sahara meets the Atlantic
Nouakchott was built from the late 1950s as the capital of newly independent Mauritania, on the coast where the Sahara runs into the Atlantic. The fishing beach, Port de Pêche, is the city's great spectacle in the late afternoon, when hundreds of painted pirogues land their catch through the surf. The National Museum covers archaeology and nomadic life, and the Marché Capitale sells silver, carpets and fabrics. The city is the starting point for trips to Banc d'Arguin National Park and the Adrar desert towns.