Bay of Arguin: Difference between revisions

| native_name = {{native name list |tag1=fr|name1=Baie d'Arguin |tag2=pt|name2=Baía de Arguim}}

| coords= {{coord|20.608|N|16.4962|W|type:waterbody_scale:2000000|display=inline,title}}

| length ={{convertcvt|13|km|abbr=on}}

| width ={{convertcvt|20|km|abbr=on}}

The '''Bay of Arguin''' ({{lang-langx|fr|Baie d'Arguin}}; {{langx|pt|Baía de Arguim}}) is a [[Headlands and bays|bay]] on the [[Atlantic]] shore of [[Mauritania]].<ref name="mapcarta">{{citeand web|url=http://mapcarta.com/17108536|title=Baiethe d'Arguin|work=Mapcarta|accessdate=14former Octobermouth 2016}}</ref>of the [[Tamanrasset River]], now a Paleo-river.

The bay contains three islands, including [[Arguin]] and [[Tidra]], as well as numerous sandbanks. It is also the site of the 12,000&nbsp;km²² [[Banc d'Arguin National Park]] which includes most of the bay. The park's northern boundary is at Minou; it does not include the Dakhlet Nouadhibou, or the westernmost areas. Smaller bays within the Bay of Arguin include [[Dakhlet Nouadhibou]] in the north and Baie de [[Tanoudert]] in the east. Other promontories include [[Pointe Minou|Minou]], Cap Sainte-Anne, Argun, [[Alzaz]], [[Tagarit]] and [[Tafarit]]. The Oued [[Chibka]], a seasonal and occasional stream flowing only when the climate is partly wet, is in the north-central part.

Inhabited places by the bay include [[Nouadhibou]] in the north, [[Arkeiss]] and [[Tel-Alloul]] to the east and [[Teichott]] , [[R'Gueiba]] and [[Awguei]] to the south.

The bay is the possible location of Cerne, a Carthaginian outpost founded by [[Hanno the Navigator | Hanno the Navigator]] around 500 B.C.

In 1035, when [[Abdallah ibn Yasin]] founded a ribat (military refuge) on the island of [[Tidra]] at the originsbeginning of the [[Almoravid Dynasty]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.terremauritanie.com/noticias-todas-las-informaciones-historia-historia-de-la-mauritania-news-_23.html |title=terremauritanie.com |access-date=2016-10-24 |archive-date=2016-10-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161024090330/http://www.terremauritanie.com/noticias-todas-las-informaciones-historia-historia-de-la-mauritania-news-_23.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

The first European to visit the bay was [[Nuno Tristão]] in 1443, whereuponafter which the remainder of the bay would bewas explored.

The area is also known as the place where the [[French frigate Méduse (1810)|French frigate ''Méduse'']] was famously wrecked in 1816.<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11772 |title=Narrative of a Voyage to Senegal in 1816 Undertaken by Order of the French Government, Comprising an Account of the Shipwreck of the Medusa, the Sufferings of the Crew, and the Various Occurrences on Board the Raft, in the Desert of Zaara, at St. Louis, and at the Camp of Daccard. to Which Are Subjoined Observations Respecting the Agriculture of the Western Coast of Africa, from Cape Blanco to the Mouth of the Gambia. |last=Corréard |first=Alexandre |last2=Savigny |first2=Jean Baptiste Henri |date=2004-04-01 |language=English |access-date=2016-07-03 |archive-date=2016-01-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160116173416/http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11772 |url-status=live }}</ref>