An academic tradition that has been well established in the western regions of the Sahara has brought to light its standing as a socio-cultural crossroads, ascribing a multifaceted social history and the ubiquitous permeability of the geographic spectrum associated with the Hassaniyya speaking populations
Choum's “gare routière”, on the northwestern
border of Mauritania with the non-self-governing
territory of the Western Sahara
A restaurant in downtown Fderîk, northwestern
Mauritania, where hospitality is often offered
to travelers coming from Tindouf in southern
Algeria
In the frontier region around
Fderîk/Zouerat different goods,
and people, continue to almost
unrestrictedly circulate between
north Africa and the Saharan
hinterlands
Sahrawi outpost in Guerguerat
Trucks approaching the Mauritanian border, the final stage of the Atlantic route that connects Tangiers to Nouakchott
Mauritanian border post in Guerguerat
© Francisco Freire for CAPSAHARA, 2020