A City A Day

Bissau  is the  capital  city of  Guinea-Bissau . The city's borders are the same as the  Bissau Autonomous Sector . In 2007, the city had an estimated population of 407,424 according to the Instituto Nacional de Estatística e Censos. [1]  The city which is located on the  Geba River  estuary, off the  Atlantic Ocean , is the country's largest city, major port, and its administrative and military centre. The city was founded in 1687 by  Portugal  as a fortified port and trading center. In 1942 it became the capital of Portuguese Guinea . After the declaration of independence by the anti-colonial guerrillas of  PAIGC , in 1973, the capital of the  de facto  independent territories was declared to be  Madina do Boe , but Bissau remained as the capital of the Portuguese-occupied regions, and the  de jure  capital of all of Portuguese Guinea. When Portugal recognized the independence of Guinea-Bissau ...

Brikama  is one of the largest cities in  the Gambia , lying south of the country's capital,  Banjul . Brikama is the headquarters of the  Western Division , being the largest city in the division with a population of over 57,000. [1] Brikama is known for  wood carving  and for its  musicians . Local attractions include the  Makasutu Culture Forest . Brikama is also home to numerous educational institutions including The Gambia College, which trains the nation's teachers, and the Regional Education Office for the Western Region of the country. In addition, there are four Secondary Schools (Kinderdorf Bottrop, Kunte Kinte, Maahad, and Methodist Academy) as well as a number of basic cycle schools.

Bakau [1]  is a town on the  Atlantic Ocean  coast of  the Gambia , lying west of  Banjul . It is known for its  botanical gardens , its crocodile pool  Bakau Kachikally  and for the  beaches  at  Cape Point . It is the first major suburb outside Banjul  and the most developed town in the Gambia. Close to Bakau and  Banjul  is  Serrekunda Banjul  (formerly  Bathurst ), officially the  City of Banjul , is the  capital  of  the Gambia , and is in the division of the same name. The population of the city proper is only 34,828, with the  Greater Banjul Area , which includes the City of Banjul and the Kanifing Municipal Council, at a population of 357,238 (2003 census). [1]  Banjul is on St Mary's Island (Banjul Island), where the  Gambia River  enters the  Atlantic Ocean . The island is connected to the mainland to the west and the rest of Greater Banju...

Saint-Louis , or  Ndar  as it is called in  Wolof , is the capital of  Senegal 's  Saint-Louis Region . Located in the northwest of Senegal, near the mouth of the  Senegal River , and 320 km north of Senegal's capital city  Dakar , it has a population officially estimated at 176,000 in 2005. Saint-Louis was the capital of the French colony of Senegal from 1673 until 1902. From 1902 until its independence from France the capital was  Dakar . From 1920 to 1957 it also served as the capital of the neighboring colony of  Mauritania . The heart of the old colonial city is located on a narrow island (just over 2 km long and about 400 m wide) in the Senegal River, 25 km from its mouth. At this point the river is separated from the Atlantic Ocean to the west by a narrow sand spit, the  Langue de Barbarie  (300 m wide), which has also been urbanized (the seaside neighborhoods of Ndar Tout and Guet Ndar). Yet a third ...

Dakar  ( French  pronunciation: ​ [da.kaʁ] ) [4]  is the  capital  and largest city of  Senegal . It is located on the  Cap-Vert  Peninsula on the  Atlantic  coast and is the westernmost city on the  African  mainland. Its position, on the western edge of Africa, is an advantageous departure point for trans-Atlantic and European trade; this fact aided its growth into a major regional port . According to December 31, 2005 official estimates, the city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 2.45 million people. [3] Dakar is a major administrative centre, home to the  National Assembly of Senegal  and Senegal's President's Palace.

Nouadhibou  ( Arabic :  نواذيبو ‎; formerly  Port-Étienne ) is the second largest city in  Mauritania  and serves as a major commercial centre. The city itself has about 75,000 inhabitants expanding to over 90,000 in the larger metropolitan area. It is situated on a 40-mile  peninsula  or  headland  called  Ras Nouadhibou , Cap Blanc, or Cabo Blanco, of which the western side, with the city of  La Güera , is part of  Western Sahara . Nouadhibou is consequently located merely a couple of kilometers from the border between Mauritania and Western Sahara.

Nouakchott  ( Arabic :  نواكشوط ,  Nawākshūṭ ,  or   انواكشوط , thought to derive from  Berber  Nawākšūṭ, "place of the winds" [ citation needed ] ) is the  capital  and by far the largest city of  Mauritania . It is one of the largest cities in the  Sahara . The city is the administrative and economic centre of Mauritania. A tiny fishing town of 200 people [1]  until 1958, Nouakchott was little mentioned during pre-colonial and colonial history. It is possible that the  Berber   Muslim   Almoravids  were originally from the area. Despite its name, based on a Berber expression meaning "place of the winds", [2]  the city was selected as the capital city for its moderate climate and central location within the country. [3]  It also sat on one of the most valuable trade routes to West Africa. [2] Street scene in Nouakchott Mauritania was part of the larger French colony of  Fr...

Dakhla  ( Dajla ) ( Arabic :  الداخلة ‎; formerly  Villa Cisneros  under Spanish rule), is a city in the  Western Sahara  and the  Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic  and the capital of the  Moroccan administrative region   Oued Ed-Dahab-Lagouira . It has about 55,618 inhabitants [1]  and is built on a narrow  peninsula  of the  Atlantic Coast  about 550 km south of  El Aaiún  (Laayoune).

El-Aaiún  (also  French :  " Laâyoune " ;  Hassaniya Arabic :  Laʕyūn  ;  Literary Arabic :  العيون   al-ʿuyūn , lit. "The Springs"), is a city in Western Sahara  founded by the  Spanish  colonizer  Antonio de Oro  in 1938. [1]  In 1940, it was officially declared as the capital of the  Spanish Sahara . It has been occupied and administered by  Morocco , [2]  which claims Western Sahara as a part of its territory, since 1976. El-Aaiún is the capital of the  Laâyoune-Boujdour-Sakia El Hamra  region. The  Polisario Front , which claims Western Sahara sovereignty as the  Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic , considers the city its occupied capital. The town is divided in two by the dry river of "Saguia el Hamra". On the south side is the old  lower town , constructed by the Spanish. A cathedral from that era is still in operation, with priests dividing their time between this t...

Tetouan  (from the  Berber   Tiṭṭawin ,  Arabic : تطوان,  Spanish :  Tetuán ,  French :  Tétouan ) is a city in northern  Morocco . The Berber name means literally "the eyes" and figuratively "the water springs". Tetouan is one of the two major ports of Morocco on the  Mediterranean Sea . It lies a few miles south of the  Strait of Gibraltar , and about 40 mi (60 km) E.S.E. of  Tangier . In 2004 the city had 320,539 inhabitants (census figure). Tetouan's civil airport  Sania Ramel Airport  is located 6 km to the east. Arabic  is the official language but it is not used for everyday dialogue. The city has its own dialect, [1] [2]  a particular  citadin variant of non-hilalian Arabic which is distinct from Jebli Arabic. [3] [4]  However, Jebli Arabic is predominant since people from the neighboring rural areas settled in the city during the 20th century rural flights. [5] The u...

Agadir  ( Berber : Agadir, ⴰⴳⴰⴷⵉⵔ;  Moroccan Arabic :  اگادير ‎) is a major city in southwest  Morocco , the capital of Agadir-Ida Ou Tanane province (MA-AGD) and of the  Souss-Massa-Drâa  economic region some 508 km to the south of  Casablanca , 173 km from  Essaouira  and 235 km to the west of  Marrakech [1]  A majority of its inhabitants speak Berber as their mother tongue. The city is located on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean, near the foot of the  Atlas Mountains , just north of the point where the  Sous River  flows into the ocean. The city of Agadir together with the neighbouring cities of  Inezgane  and  Ait Melloul  was estimated in 2013 to have 609,088 inhabitants [2] According to the 2004 census, there were 346,106 inhabitants in that year [3]  and the population of the Prefecture of Agadir-Ida Outanane was 487,954 inhabitants [3]   [Note 1] Agad...

Meknes  ( Arabic :  مكناس ‎,  Berber : ⵎⴽⵏⴰⵙ  Mknas  or  Ameknas ,  French :  Meknès ,  Spanish :  Mequinez ) is a city in northern Morocco , 130 kilometres (81 mi) from the capital  Rabat  and 60 kilometres (37 mi) from  Fes . It is served by the A2 expressway between those two cities and by the corresponding railway. Meknes was the capital of Morocco under the reign of  Moulay Ismail  (1672–1727), before it was relocated to  Marrakech . The population is 785,000 (2010 census). It is the capital of the Meknes-Tafilalet  region. Meknes is named after a  Berber  tribe which was known as  Miknasa  (native Berber name: Imeknasen ) in the  medieval  North African sources. A  Berber  tribe called the  Miknasa , originally from the  Tunisian  south, settled here in the 9th century. The  Almoravids  founded a fortress here...