Lighthouses of Mauritania

Mauritania is a thinly populated nation of the Sahara Desert, located on the northwestern coast of Africa between Western Sahara and Senegal. The country's coastline is 750 km (465 mi) long but has only two ports, Nouakchott and Nouâdhibou. A former French colony, Mauritania has been independent since 1960.

Aids to navigation in Mauritania are maintained by the port authorities of Nouakchott and Nouâdhibou, respectively.

ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. Admiralty numbers are from volume D of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA List numbers are from Publication 113.

General Sources
Online List of Lights - Mauritania
Photos by various photographers posted by Alex Trabas.
Afrikanischen Leuchttürme auf historischen Postkarten
Historic postcard images posted by Klaus Huelse.

Phare de Cap Blanc
Phare du Cap Blanc, December 2005; photo copyright George H. Burgess
Florida Program for Shark Research; used by permission
Nouakchott Lighthouses
Nouakchott Approach (Port de l'Amitié)
1960s? Active; focal plane 37 m (121 ft); white light, 5 s on, 5 s off. Roughly 30 m (98 ft) round cylindrical tower with lantern and double gallery, painted white with narrow black horizontal bands. The Degree Confluence Project has a photo taken by J. Baker Hill from exactly 18°N 16°W, about 1 km (0.6 mi) east of the lighthouse. The lighthouse is also visible in an aerial photo of the port (click on the photo for enlargement), and Google has a satellite view. At the time of independence in 1960, the tiny village of Nouakchott was selected as the national capital and site of a new port. In the 1980s, Chinese engineers built a large groin perpendicular to the coast on the south side of the new city. The groin traps southward moving sand to create a wide beach for the town to the north and an open harbor to the south. At the end of the groin a large breakwater wharf arcs southwestward to provide an artificial shelter for ocean-going ships. This facility is called Port de l'Amitié (Friendship Port). The lighthouse is located on the new beach about 1 km (0.6 mi) northwest of the new harbor. Site status unknown. Operator: Port Autonome de Nouakchott. ARLHS MAU-004; Admiralty D2986; NGA 24373.
Nouakchott Pierhead (?)
1960s. Active; focal plane 15 m (49 ft); white light occulting every 4 s. 10 m (33 ft) white concrete tower with a "black top," a lantern of some kind. Google has a satellite view, but the light is not seen in an April 2009 photo of the end of the pier. Located on an old industrial pier on the north side of Nouakchott. Site status unknown. Operator: Port Autonome de Nouakchott. ARLHS MAU-005; Admiralty D2984; NGA 24372.

Nouâdhibou Lighthouses
Pointe Chacal (Nouâdhibou)
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 20 m (66 ft); white, red, or green light, depending on direction, 2 s on, 2 s off. 12 m (39 ft) octagonal tower, painted with black and white vertical stripes. No photo available, and the light has not been found in Google's satellite view of the port. This light guides ships on a west northwest course into the harbor of Nouâdhibou, which is a major port for the shipment of iron ore from the Zouîrât mines 480 km (300 mi) to the west. Located on Pointe Chacal, on the east side of the harbor entrance to Nouâdhibou. Site status unknown. Operator: Port Autonome de Nouâdhibou. ARLHS MAU-002; Admiralty D2980; NGA 24364.
* Pointe de Cansado
Date unknown (station established 1913). Active; focal plane 20 m (66 ft); quick-flashing white light; red flashes are shown over a sector to the southeast. Approx. 8 m (26 ft) lantern mounted on the flat roof of a small 1-story keeper's cottage. A 2009 photo is at right, and Google has a satellite view. Cansado is the location of several hotels used by visitors to Nouâdhibou. Located on a sandy point on the east side of the Cape Blanc peninsula about 7 km (4.5 mi) south southeast of Nouâdhibou. Site open, tower closed. Operator: Port Autonome de Nouâdhibou. ARLHS MAU-003; Admiralty D2979; NGA 24360.
* Cap Blanc (Ras Nouâdhibou) (1)
1910. Inactive(?); focal plane 43 m (141 ft); white flash every 5 s. 20 m (66 ft) octagonal cylindrical tower on a square base, painted with black and white horizontal bands. Lantern removed. The photo at the top of the page was taken by Prof. George Burgess on a zoological field trip. A closeup by José Arocena is also available, Trabas has a distant photo by Capt. Peter Mosselberger, J.P.C. van Heijst has an aerial photo, the Degree Confluence Project has a good wider view showing the lighthouse and the point of the cape, and Google has a satellite view. Huelse also has the historic postcard view of the lighthouse with its original lantern. In August 2009, Vladyslav Krasylnykov uploaded a photo showing a modern hourglass-shaped fiberglass tower with black and white horizontal bands; this is presumably a replacement for the historic lighthouse. The great bulge of West Africa ends in two prominent capes, Cap Blanc in Mauritania and Cap Vert in Senegal. European explorers named them, respectively, the "white cape," for its desert sands, and the "green cape," for the vegetation that begins to appear farther south. The White Cape is a long, sandy peninsula sheltering the Baie de Nouâdhibou, the only naturally protected harbor on the Mauritanian coast. The border between Mauritania and Western Sahara runs down the middle of the peninsula. The lighthouse is located near the tip of the peninsula, only a few feet from the international frontier. Site open, tower closed. Operator: Port Autonome de Nouâdhibou. ARLHS MAU-001; Admiralty D2977; NGA 24340.
Phare de Cansado
Phare de Cansado, April 2009
photo copyright leonarti; used by permission

Information available on lost lighthouses:

Notable faux lighthouses:

Adjoining pages: North: Morocco (Atlantic Coast) | South: Senegal

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Posted August 25, 2005. Checked and revised September 24, 2011. Lighthouses: 5. Site copyright 2011 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.