Timeline of Nouakchott

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Nouakchott, Mauritania.

20th century

Part of a series on the
History of Mauritania

Precolonial era Ghana Empire Almoravid dynasty Mali Empire Saadi Sultanate Songhai Empire Sanhaja
1960–1978 1978–1984 1984–present
Mauritania portal
v t e

1903 - French military outpost built.^[1]
1908 - Military outpost abandoned.^[1]
1929 - French military outpost reactivated.^[1]
1952 - Rosso-Nouakchott highway constructed.^[2]
1958:
- Nouakchott site designated new capital of Mauritania; building of city begins.^[1]^[3]
- Radio de Mauritanie begins broadcasting.^[4]
1960:
- Capital of newly independent Mauritania moved to Nouakchott from Saint Louis.
- AS Garde Nationale (football club) formed.
- Palais de Justice (courthouse) built.
1961:
- National Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies built.^[1]
- Population: 5,807.^[5]
1965 - Population: 15,000 (estimate).^[6]
1966 - National School of Administration built.^[1]
1968 - Racial unrest.^[1]
1970:
- École normale supérieure de Nouakchott [fr] (school) founded.
- Population: 25,000.^[7]
1973 - ASC Police (football club) formed.
1974:
- Refugees from drought settle in Ksar Gadid.^[7]
- 5th and 6th arrondissements created.^[5]
1975:
- 25 miles of city streets were paved. Streetlights were installed and bus service started.^[7]
- Convention center constructed near city.^[7]
- Population: 104,054 (of which 54,000 living in shanty towns).^[5]
1976:
- June: City besieged by guerrilla Polisario Front forces.^[1]
- Espoirs Nouakchott [es] football club formed.
1977:
- July: City besieged by guerrilla Polisario Front forces again.^[1]
- Population: 134,704 (of which 81,467 living in shanty towns).^[5]
1978:
- Coup d'état. Overthrow of long-time President Moktar Ould Daddah.^[1]^[8]
- ACS Ksar (football club) formed.
1979 - ASAC Concorde (football club) formed.
1980 - ASC Nasr Zem Zem (football club) formed.
1981:
- Coup attempted and suppressed.^[1]^[9]
- University of Nouakchott established.
- National Archives, and National Library built.^[1]
- Population: at least 232,000.^[5]
1983 - Stade Olympique (stadium) opens.
1984 - Coup d'état. Overthrow of President Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla.^[1]^[10]
1986 - Friendship Port of Nouakchott opens.^[3]
1987 - Racial unrest.^[1]
1988 - Population: 393,325.^[3]
1989 - Curfew imposed in city after regional ethnic unrest.^[1]
1991 - 1 June: Windstorm.^[11]
1994 - Le Calame newspaper begins publication.^[4]
1995:
- "Bread riot" occurs.^[1]
- Al-Akhbar and Nouakchott Info newspapers begin publication.^[4]
1996 - Coup attempted and suppressed.^[1]
1999 - Grands moulins de Mauritanie [fr] in business.
2000 - Population: 558,195.^[12]

21st century

2003 - June: Coup attempted and completely suppressed after two days of heavy fighting.^[13]^[14]
2004 - Plague of locusts.^[1]
2005:
- June: Anti-government protest.^[1]
- 3 August: 2005 Mauritanian coup d'état. Overthrow of long-time President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya.^[1]^[15]
2008 - Population: 846,871 (estimate).^[16]
2011:
- January: 2011–12 Mauritanian protests begin.
- 2 February: "Al Qaeda suspects killed in a car blast."^[17]
- École supérieure polytechnique de Nouakchott [fr] (school) established.
2012 - 12 July: Airplane crash occurs at Nouakchott International Airport.
2013 - Population: 958,399.^[18]
2014:
- March: Protest over Holy Koran desecration.^[19]
- Maty Mint Hamady becomes mayor of the city.
- Administrative regions Nouakchott-Nord, Nouakchott-Ouest, and Nouakchott-Sud created.
2016:
- Nouakchott–Oumtounsy International Airport opens, Nouakchott International Airport closes.
- June: 2016 Arab League summit held in Nouakchott.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t Pratt 2008.
^ Sweco; Nordic Consulting Group (2003), Review of the Implementation Status of the Trans African Highways and the Missing Links (PDF), vol. 2: Description of Corridors, African Development Bank and United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
^ ^a ^b ^c Anthony G. Pazzanita (2008). Historical Dictionary of Mauritania (3rd ed.). United States: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-6265-4.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Mauritania: Directory". Africa South of the Sahara 2003. Regional Surveys of the World. Europa Publications. 2003. ISBN 9781857431315. ISSN 0065-3896.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Theunynck 1983.
^ "Population of capital cities and cities of 100,000 and more inhabitants". Demographic Yearbook 1965. New York: Statistical Office of the United Nations. 1966. pp. 140–161.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d John Darnton (23 November 1976), "Thriving Capital Filling the Void In Mauritania", New York Times
^ "Mauritanian President Overthrown in Military Coup". Washington Post. 2023-12-21. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
^ Ap (1981-03-17). "MAURITANIA REPORTS IT HAS FOILED AN ATTEMPTED COUP BY 2 EXILES". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
^ "LE COUP D'ÉTAT EN MAURITANIE Le colonel Taya : un nationaliste intègre et compétent". Le Monde.fr (in French). 1984-12-14. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
^ "Winds in Mauritania Kill 4", New York Times, 2 June 1991
^ "Population of capital cities and cities of 100,000 or more inhabitants". Demographic Yearbook 2005. United Nations Statistics Division.
^ "Mauritania profile: Timeline". BBC News. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
^ "Mauritanian Leader Under Fire". Washington Post. 2024-01-26. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
^ "I'll Be Back, Vows Ousted Mauritanian Leader". Arab News. 2005-08-09. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
^ "Population of capital cities and cities of 100,000 or more inhabitants". Demographic Yearbook 2015. United Nations Statistics Division. 2016.
^ Al Qaeda suspects killed in Mauritania car blast, Reuters, 2 February 2011
^ "Table 8 - Population of capital cities and cities of 100,000 or more inhabitants", Demographic Yearbook – 2018, United Nations
^ "Mauritania's Nouackchott hit by protest over Koran", BBC News, 3 March 2014

This article incorporates information from the French Wikipedia.

Bibliography

in English

Serge Theunynck (1983), Brian Brace Taylor (ed.), "A Sterilizing Capital: Nouakchott", Reading the Contemporary African City, Singapore – via ArchNet
Paul Tiyambe Zeleza; Dickson Eyoh, eds. (2003). "Nouakchott, Mauritania". Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century African History. Routledge. ISBN 0415234794.
Nicola Pratt (2008), "Nouakchott", in Bruce E. Stanley; Michael R.T. Dumper (eds.), Cities of the Middle East and North Africa, Santa Barbara, USA: ABC-CLIO, ISBN 9781576079195
Christian Vium (11 February 2016), "Eye of the drought: high and dry in the Sahara – in pictures", Guardian, UK (Photos of Nouakchott)
"'The best solution? Move the Mauritanian capital': water on the rise in Nouakchott", Guardian, UK, 25 July 2016

in French

Jean-Robert Pitte [in French] (1977), Nouakchott, capitale de la Mauritanie (in French), Université de Paris IV
Isyakha Diagana (1993). Croissance urbaine et dynamique spatiale à Nouakchott (PhD) (in French). Lumière University Lyon 2.
Philippe Tanguy (2003). "L'urbanisation irrégulière à Nouakchott: 1960-2000". Insaniyat (in French). 22. Algeria: Centre de recherche en anthropologie sociale et culturelle. ISSN 2253-0738 – via Revues.org.
Armelle Choplin (2006). "Le foncier urbain en Afrique: entre informel et rationnel, l'exemple de Nouakchott (Mauritanie)" [Urban land in Africa: between the informal and the rational, the Nouakchott case]. Annales de géographie (in French). 115 (647): 69–91. doi:10.3406/geo.2006.21315. S2CID 192197599 – via Persee.fr.
Anne-Marie Frérot (2006). "Nouakchott, du puits nomade à la ville des pétroliers. Risques et représentations". Maghreb-Machrek (in French) (190).
Armelle Choplin; Ciavolella Riccardo (2008). "Marges de la ville en marge du politique? Exclusion, dépendance et quête d'autonomie à Nouakchott (Mauritanie)". Autrepart (in French). doi:10.3917/autr.045.0073. ISSN 1278-3986 – via Cairn.info.
Armelle Choplin (2009). Nouakchott: au carrefour de la Mauritanie et du monde (in French). Paris: Éditions Karthala. ISBN 978-2-8111-3166-1.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nouakchott.

"(Nouakchott)". AfricaBib.org. (Bibliography)
"Nouakchott, Mauritania". BlackPast.org. United States.
"(Nouakchott)". Directory of Open Access Journals. UK. (Bibliography of open access articles)
"(Nouakchott)" – via Europeana. (Images, etc.)
"(Nouakchott)" – via Digital Public Library of America. (Images, etc.)
"(Nouakchott)". Internet Library Sub-Saharan Africa. Germany: Frankfurt University Library. (Bibliography)
"(Nouakchott)". Connecting-Africa. Leiden, Netherlands: African Studies Centre. (Bibliography)
"Nouakchott". Archnet. Archived from the original on 14 February 2006.

Images

Satellite view of Nouakchott, 2001.
Nouakchott and sand dunes, circa 2002.

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