Nouakchott

Nouakchott lies on the low Atlantic coast where the western Sahara approaches the sea. Sand dunes and salt flats stretch behind the shore, while shallow coastal waters support fish and migrating birds. The country forms part of Trarza, a region inhabited by mobile pastoral communities whose wells and grazing grounds connect the coast to the interior. To the south the Senegal River provides a contrasting belt of water and floodplain at the edge of the desert.