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Conditions, access and local arrangements change. Confirm current details before you travel.
Hodh El Gharbi lies in southeastern Mauritania, a region of semi-arid plains and scattered rocky outcrops between the Sahara proper and the Sahelian south. It is largely pastoral country, home to Moor herding communities and, in its towns, a mixed population shaped by trade routes toward Mali. Ayoun el Atrouss, the regional capital, is the main administrative and commercial hub along the road linking Nouakchott to the eastern regions. The region sees little tourism and functions mainly as a transit zone on the long east-west road, but it offers a glimpse of pastoral life on the Sahara's southern edge: livestock markets, seasonal wells and wide, sparsely populated horizons. As with the neighbouring Hodh Ech Chargui, current security guidance should be checked before travelling here.
- Ayoun el Atrouss trading and transit hub
- Pastoral livestock markets
- Semi-arid plains on the Sahara's southern edge
- Road link between Nouakchott and eastern Mauritania