"Rosso, capitale of Sahel" a Rosso Travel Page by Alpha_Ghana

When Mauritania became independant, there was a dispute between the people from the River (Blacks) and from the desert (Moors) to know where to settle the capitale of the country.
At this time, Rosso was larger and more important than now. It was also the biggest town of Mauritania.
Blacks did not want a Moor capitale in Atar and Moors did not want a Black capitale in Rosso, That is why they finally agreed on Nouakchott, in the middle.
Rosso has been a nice colonial town until the late fifties when it was totally destroyed by a flaod of Senegal.
It has been rebuild in this ugly modern Mauritanian style and it does not give any reason for the tourist to spend one hour there.
The only reasons people are in Rosso is to cross the river to go to Senegal by the ferry.