Portendick

Portendick is an abandoned coastal city in western Mauritania.[1] It was located in the Ouad Naga Department of Trarza Region.

Portendick
Portendick is located in Mauritania
Portendick
Portendick
Location in Mauritania
Coordinates: 18°35′N 16°7′W
Country Mauritania
RegionTrarza

Founded by the Dutch in 1721 after the French capture of Arguin,[2] Portendick was a significant port for the gum arabic trade. It was the site of a major battle during the Char Bouba war between Arab Hassan and Berber Zawaya tribes.[3]

By the 19th century, however, trade from the port became unsustainable due to the area's arid, desert climate and lack of drinking water.[4] As of 1916, all that remained of the city was a small group of huts.[5]

References
  1. Portendick at GEOnet Names Server
  2. Barry, Boubacar (1972). Le royaume du Waalo: le Sénégal avant la conquête. Paris: Francois Maspero. p. 174.
  3. Fage, J.D.; Gray, Richard; Oliver, Roland Anthony (2003). The Cambridge History of Africa, Volume 4. Cambridge University Press. p. 200. ISBN 0-521-20413-5.
  4. Webb, James L. A. (1995). Desert Frontier: Ecological and Economic Change Along the Western Sahel, 1600-1850. University of Wisconsin Press. p. 227.
  5. East Atlantic Pilot. United States Hydrographic Office. 1916.


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