Rosso

Rosso, Arabic روصو, DMG Rusu, or القوارب, DMG al - Quwārib, is the capital of the administrative region Trarza on the lower reaches of the Senegal River in southwestern Mauritania. The ferry terminal at the single, continuous paved road that connects Mauritania to the southern neighboring country Senegal Rosso makes the most important commercial town in the interior.

Location

Just south of the 17th parallel Mauritania has a small share in the Sudan zone. In the several kilometer wide flood plain ( Chemama ) with fertile alluvial soils along the Senegal River mainly rice is grown next to thrive millet and on small fields vegetables ( corn, beans, sweet potato, peanuts). After lasting from June to September rainy season, many areas are flooded by rains while the rest of the year they are watered by channels from Senegal. A few kilometers north of the passed with characteristic single acacia dry savanna is replaced by sand dunes.

Rosso is located 203 km south of the capital Nouakchott and about 100 kilometers from the Senegal Saint- Louis. The landing site of the ferry across the river is the small town Mbagam. The road up the river to the east was paved by a Chinese company to a good 200 kilometers away Bogue. Only a 30 -kilometer section at Rosso is still in the conditions of the slopes (October 2010). To the west a bad dirt road leads in parts between rice fields up to 60 km downstream the small town of Keur Massène, where there is a border crossing to Diamma.

History

The seaport is a historic commercial center for goods from Senegal. The French colonial rule over West Africa, presented in 1900 to the Senegal River as the northern boundary. From the French military leader Xavier Coppolani comes the plan for a peaceful penetration of Mauritania. By 1904, French troops were present in southern Mauritania.

After the independence of Mauritania 1960 there were in the new state only a dozen small towns with populations of a few thousand. 1963 5100 population was estimated for Rosso. 1988 resulted in a census 27 783 inhabitants, in 2000 there were 48 922 inhabitants. After computing the number should be increased in 2010 to 75 195 inhabitants. This Rosso was before Kaédi the fourth-largest city.

1986 built by Chinese deep-water sea port was opened on the Atlantic coast in Nouakchott. Previously, the entire south of Mauritania Senegalese ports and continue overland by Rosso had to be supplied with goods. With the new port can now 35 to 40 percent of the imports that were previously handled at Dakar, reach the capital directly and Rosso has lost according to importance.

Rosso is inhabited in the vast majority of black Africans who are referred to in Mauritania as Soudans. Many come from Senegal and are among the Wolof. A racial conflict between the Arab- Berber -dominated government ( the Bidhan Society layer) and a black insurgency ( Forces de Libération Africaine de Mauritanie, FLAM ), in April 1989 on the Senegal - Mauritania - crisis, meant the closure of the border for Rosso to 1992. Senegal offered at this time Mauritanian opposition hospitality. 10,000 political dissidents both countries were expelled and replaced with aircraft against each other. Tensions in the South region had largely an economic origin and took place between farmers and ranchers. Large irrigation projects extended the farmland from the Senegal bank, at the same time ranchers flee from the north during periods of drought in the vicinity of the river. For further tensions with the neighboring country, of which the city was concerned, it was in June 2000.

One opened in 2009, technical school ( Institut Supérieur d' Enseignement Technologiques, ISET ) offers an agricultural training course.

Cityscape

Port facility and customs buildings are located on the southwestern edge of downtown. Opposite is a large military barracks, behind which along the runway after Keur mass e begin soon rice fields. The paved road to Nouakchott leads from the port to some industrial firms over straight north. On the outskirts is the investment of Sonimex, parastatal trading company for agricultural products, can not be overlooked. The first three parallel roads to the east bank of Senegal, together with cross-links the rectangular street grid of the market center. East of city center followed by another, large-scale military site ( headquarters ) before a simple residential and slum area located about a kilometer to the east and from the river one kilometers extends to the north, where the recently drawn to the city black African population is under come.

In Rosso, the oldest and possibly largest surviving church in the country is. The Roman Catholic Pastor Bernard Pelletier (May 2010) in charge of the handful of living in the city French.

In the early 1980s built the ecologically oriented architects group Association pour le Développement d'une Architecture et d'un Urbanisme Africains ( ADAUA ) in Satara, a regularly affected by the annual flooding of slum north of the business district, one for 12,000 residents planned community whose homes are covered with the typical for the organization domed roofs of fired bricks. Construction time and costs were higher than the usual informal built brick houses with corrugated iron roofs. Similar designs were realized in the Hôpital de Kaédi and residential developments in other cities of Mauritania.

No street in the city is paved. There is no sewage system except for a few short, consisting of concrete gutters sections along the roadsides, but they are not functionally linked. Rosso is located in the wettest area of Mauritania. Virtually every year to be reported at the end of the rainy season in September flooding caused by heavy rainfall. Large parts of the residential areas and the main roads of the city are then flooded for months and muddy and many residents, mostly there are thousands to flee in makeshift shelters outside.

Another problem is the lack of garbage disposal, resulting in waste deposits over large parts of the city. The handling of animal waste is carefree. A once modern furnished battle building French time is neglected, while the slaughter of cattle in the morning takes place every day at a different location in the open air. Apart from the barracks buildings and infrastructure are neglected. The drinking water supply is in the simple residential areas usually with donkey carts from central distribution points.