Editing Nouakchott (section)

==History==
{{see also|Timeline of Nouakchott}}
Not too long ago, Nouakchott was known for being a small fishing town,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://eros.usgs.gov/earthshots/nouakchott-mauritania|title=Nouakchott, Mauritania &#124; EROS}}</ref> fortified fishing village (''ksar'') in pre-colonial times and under [[French West Africa|French rule]]. As Mauritania prepared for independence, it lacked a capital city. The area of present-day Nouakchott was chosen by [[Moktar Ould Daddah]], the first President of Mauritania, and his advisors. Ould Daddah desired the new capital to symbolize modernity and national unity, which ruled out existing cities or towns in the interior. The village was selected as the capital city for its central location between [[Saint-Louis, Senegal]], the city from which the colony of Mauritania was governed, and [[Nouadhibou]]. Its location also meant that it avoided the sensitive issue of whether the capital was built in an area dominated by the [[Arabs]], [[Berbers|Amazigh]] (Berbers) or [[Black people|Sub-Saharan Africans]].<ref name="Pazzanita2008">{{cite book|author=Pazzanita, Anthony G. |title=Historical Dictionary of Mauritania|year=2008|publisher=Scarecrow Press|location=Lanham, Maryland|isbn=978-0-8108-6265-4}}</ref>{{rp|369}}

Construction began in March 1958 to enlarge the village to house a population of 15,000, in 1959 Nouakchott started with its founding by indigenous people from the surrounding region,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/nouakchott-mauritania-1960/#:~:text=Nonetheless%20the%20city%20is%20the,was%20a%20small%20fishing%20village. | title=Nouakchott, Mauritania (1659- ) • | date=3 September 2014 }}</ref> and the basics were completed by the time that the French granted independence on 28 November 1960.<ref>Britannica,
[https://www.britannica.com/place/ Nouakchott Nouakchott], britannica.com, USA, accessed on July 7, 2019,</ref> Nouakchott was planned with the expectation that commerce and other economic activities would not take place in the city. Nouakchott's [[central business district]] was planned with broad streets and a grid-like structure; the new ''Cinquième Quartier'' (Fifth District) was located close to this area and became the location of a large open-air market and residential area within a few years. During the 1960s, the city obtained its own local government. By the 1970s, these new areas had grown so much that they replaced the old ''ksar'' in terms of importance, as they also hosted the governmental buildings and state enterprises.<ref name="Pazzanita2008"/>{{rp|369}}

The city was attacked twice in 1976 by the [[Polisario Front]] during the [[Western Sahara conflict]], but the guerrillas caused little damage. The city has had massive and unconstrained growth, driven by the North African [[drought]], since the beginning of the 1970s; hundreds of thousands moved there in search of a better life. The official censuses showed 134,000 residents in 1977 and 393,325 in 1988, although both figures were probably smaller than reality.<ref name="Pazzanita2008"/>{{rp|370}} The population is now estimated to consist of at least one third of the country's population of 3.3 million,<ref name=world66>{{cite web|title=Nouakchott Travel Guide|url=http://www.world66.com/africa/mauritania/nouakchott|website=www.world66.com|access-date=19 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170619084512/http://www.world66.com/africa/mauritania/nouakchott|archive-date=19 June 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> and the 2013 census showed a population of 958,399.<ref name=census>{{cite web|title=Mauritania: Regions, Cities & Urban Localities - Population Statistics in Maps and Charts|url=https://citypopulation.de/Mauritania-Cities.html|website=citypopulation.de|access-date=19 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161026070503/http://www.citypopulation.de/Mauritania-Cities.html|archive-date=26 October 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>