Nouakchott

Nouakchott represents one of the world's most dramatic urban explosions—a fishing village chosen as capital in 1958, designed for 15,000 people, now holding 1.6 million (growing at 3.9% annually). The 1970s Sahelian droughts drove mass migration as nomads abandoned dying herds for the coastal city, creating slums that still lack basic infrastructure. Construction began in 1958 with the first buildings completed by independence in 1960. The city now faces existential threats from every direction: shifting sand dunes encroach from north and east, sea level rise threatens from the west, and rising saline groundwater undermines foundations from below. Two five-star hotels completed in 2024 signal economic ambitions, and the real estate market grew 5% that year. Yet urban planning remains absent—wastewater and waste management barely function. The city absorbs migrants fleeing rural poverty throughout Mauritania, particularly from the 'triangle of poverty' along the Senegal River. Government and commercial functions concentrate here despite the absence of natural advantages beyond the coastline. Infrastructure projects struggle to keep pace with population growth. By 2026, Nouakchott's trajectory depends on whether flood defenses and groundwater management prevent catastrophe, whether infrastructure investment catches up with growth, and whether any economic diversification reduces dependency on being the national capital.