Aoukar or Erg Aoukar () is a

geological depression In geology, a depression is a landform sunken or depressed below the surrounding area. Depressions form by various mechanisms. Types Erosion-related: * Blowout: a depression created by wind erosion typically in either a partially vegetated sa ...

area of south eastern

Mauritania Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a sovereign country in Maghreb, Northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to Mauritania–Western Sahara border, the north and northwest, ...

. It is located between Kiffa and

Néma Néma () is a town in southeastern Mauritania, close to the border with Mali. It is located at around at the eastern end of the Aoukar. It is the capital of Hodh Ech Chargui Region and of the Néma (department), Néma Department. While the u ...

, south of the Tagant Plateau. The region is also referred to as Hodh or (). Barth, Henry
''Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa, being a Journal of an Expedition undertaken under the Auspices of H.B.M.'s Government, in the Years 1849–1855'', Vol. 3, pp. 712 ff.
Harper & Bros. (New York), 1859. Accessed 18 Apr 2014. The Aoukar basin is a dry

natural region A natural region (landscape unit) is a basic geographic unit. Usually, it is a region which is distinguished by its common natural features of geography, geology, and climate. From the ecological point of view, the naturally occurring flora and ...

sand dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, flat ...

s and salt pans fringed by

escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. Due to the similarity, the term '' scarp'' may mistakenly be incorrectly used inte ...

s on its northern and eastern sides.

History

There was once vast reed-covered

endorheic lake An endorheic lake (also called a sink lake or terminal lake) is a collection of water within an endorheic basin, or sink, with no evident outlet. Endorheic lakes are generally Saline water, saline as a result of being unable to get rid of solutes ...

in the area, but it no longer exists. The former lake of Aoukar extended towards the area of Tichit, bordering the southern edge of the Tagant Plateau. Below the cliffs ''(dhars)'' facing the extinct lake remains of about 400 villages have been found. Stein 1861 Africa Umars Jihad State

From east to west, Dhar

, Dhar Walata, Dhar Tichitt, and Dhar Tagant form a semicircular shape around the Hodh/Aoukar Depression, which, prior to 4000 BCE, was an area with lakes of considerable size, and, after 1000 BCE, was an area that had become increasingly dried. During the emergence of the Tichitt Tradition, it was an oasis area. The Tichitt Tradition of eastern Mauritania dates from 2200 BCE to 200 BCE. Previously administered as part of

French Sudan French Sudan (; ') was a French colonial territory in the Federation of French West Africa from around 1880 until 1959, when it joined the Mali Federation, and then in 1960, when it became the independent state of Mali. The colony was formall ...

(present-day

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

), the area was transferred to French Mauritania in 1944, apparently on a whim of the colonial governor Laigret. The transfer was still resented upon Mali's independence. Formerly more fertile, it is now largely a barren waste. Aoukar/Hodh gave its name to the modern

regions In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

Hodh Ech Chargui Hodh Ech Chargui () is a large region in eastern Mauritania, with an area of 182,700 km2. Its capital is Néma, but the largest town, in Bassiknou Department, is Fassala (or Vassale) at the extreme southeast of Mauritania, with 65,927 inhabitant ...

and Hodh El Gharbi. Landscape of the Aoukar

Ecology

The Aoukar is one of the few natural refuges for the

addax The addax (''Addax nasomaculatus''), also known as the white antelope and the screwhorn antelope, is an antelope native to the Sahara Desert. The only member of the genus ''Addax'', it was first described scientifically by Henri de Blainvil ...

, a

critically endangered An IUCN Red List critically endangered (CR or sometimes CE) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. As of December 2023, of t ...

kind of antelope which lives in the region.Richard Trillo, ''The Rough Guide to West Africa''
/ref>

References

External links

Mauritania - crossing the Aoukar basin
Landforms of Mauritania Depressions (geology) Endorheic basins of Africa Geology of Mauritania Sedimentary basins of Africa Natural regions of Africa Regions of West Africa Geography of Mali Geography of Mauritania West Africa {{-

History

Ecology

See also

References

External links