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Dirty paths of sand form the roads of the shantytown or "bidonville" of Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania. Before independence in 1960 this small oasis supported fifteen families in mud houses, and now over 700,000 people have flocked here to seek wealth and refuge from desertification of their traditional grazing lands. Perhaps one third of them live in the "bidonville" without running water or sewage facilities.

Filename
STNMTZ_19970401_13B.tif
Copyright
©1997 George Steinmetz
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11917x8798 / 300.0MB
www.georgesteinmetz.com
Contained in galleries
African Portfolio
Dirty paths of sand form the roads of the shantytown or "bidonville" of Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania. Before independence in 1960 this small oasis supported fifteen families in mud houses, and now over 700,000 people have flocked here to seek wealth and refuge from desertification of their traditional grazing lands. Perhaps one third of them live in the "bidonville" without running water or sewage facilities.

All images ©George Steinmetz. Please contact us for usage.