Coordinates: 18 9 N 15 58 W
Population: 743,500 (2005 est.)
Since the tensions between Russia and Georgia reached a boiling point earlier this month, an increasing amount of international attention has focused on the Caucasus. That said, it’s worth pointing out that the rest of the global periphery—to borrow a term from Harm de Blij’s new book The Power of Place—is no stranger to political upheaval either. In northwestern Africa for instance, the Islamic Republic of Mauritania has experienced its second coup in three years, leaving the immediate future of this poor country in question. Here on the dry, dusty edge of the Sahara, roughly half of the population survives by farming the tiny fraction of land that is in fact arable. The coastal capital Nouakchott, is one of only two noteworthy cities, and couldn’t claim much historical importance until it was designated the seat of independent government in 1957. Mining, fish processing, and a fledgling oil industry have caused Nouakchott’s size to grow rapidly in recent decades.
Ben Keene is the editor of Oxford Atlas of the World. Check out some of his previous places of the week.
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