Nouakchott
Capital of Mauritania: population, location, elevation, climate and landmarks.
15-Nouakchott-eH-R0058185: Laminesall96, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
Overview
Nouakchott is the capital of Mauritania. About 1.2 million people live in the city proper, making it the 1st largest city of Mauritania in our atlas.
It lies at 18.09° N, 15.98° W, about 10 m (33 ft) above sea level, and keeps time on the Africa/Nouakchott time zone. It sits inside the tropics.
Location
Red dot: Nouakchott. Green dots: other major cities of Mauritania. Map data: Natural Earth.
Climate
Nouakchott has a hot desert climate (Köppen BWh). The warmest month is usually Sep, with average highs near 30°C (86°F); the coolest nights come in Jan at about 17°C (62°F). Around 150 mm (6 in) of rain and snow falls in a typical year, most of it in Sep.
Bars: average daily high and low (°C) for each month; blue columns and figures: average precipitation (mm). Gridded 2001-2025 averages from NASA POWER, so mountain and coastal spots can differ from local station records.
Landmarks and places to see
Popular sights within a few kilometres of the city centre, ranked by how widely they are documented on Wikipedia.
What to eat in MauritaniaNational dishes, street food, desserts and drinks on Intercontinental Chef.Nearby major cities
- Population, coordinates, elevation, time zone: GeoNames 2377450 (CC BY 4.0)
- Wikidata Q3688 (CC0)
- Climate: NASA POWER 2001-2025 climatology
Text written by Geographical Effect from these sources.
- 15-Nouakchott-eH-R0058185: Laminesall96, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Nouakchott stadium: kyselak, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- ملعب شيخا بيديا 3: ليو, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
