Content deleted Content added
Saidbakkali (talk | contribs) No edit summary Tags: Reverted Mobile edit Mobile web edit |
m Dating maintenance tags: {{Dead link}} |
||
(36 intermediate revisions by 24 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{
{{Distinguish|Cape Bojeador}}
{{Infobox settlement
Line 11:
|image_seal =
|image_map =
|pushpin_map =
|pushpin_relief = 1
|pushpin_label_position =bottom
|pushpin_map_caption =Location in
|subdivision_type = [[Territory (subdivision)|Territory]]
|subdivision_type1 = Controlled by
|subdivision_name = [[
|subdivision_name1 = [[Kingdom of Morocco]]
|subdivision_type2 = Claimed by
|subdivision_name2 = {{plainlist|
*{{flagicon|Morocco}} [[Kingdom of Morocco]]
*{{flagicon|SADR}} [[Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic]]}}
|established_title =
|established_date =
Line 38 ⟶ 39:
|population_as_of= 2014
|population_footnotes =
|population_total = 42,651<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://citypopulation.de/WesternSahara.html|title = Western Sahara: Provinces & Urban Communes – Population Statistics, Maps, Charts, Weather and Web Information}}</ref>
|population_urban =
|population_metro =
Line 58 ⟶ 59:
}}
'''Cape Bojador''' ({{lang-ar|رأس بوجادور}}, [[Arabic transliteration|trans.]] ''Rā's Būjādūr''; {{lang-ber|ⴱⵓⵊⴷⵓⵔ}}, ''Bujdur''; [[Spanish language|Spanish]] and {{lang-pt|Cabo Bojador}}; {{lang-fr|Cap Boujdour}}) is a headland on the
The original name of the cape in [[Arabic language|Arabic]] is Abu Khaṭar (ابو خطر), meaning "father of danger".<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/place/Cape-Bojador Cape Bojador, Cape, Africa] ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. March 21, 2016</ref> The Spanish pronunciation of "Bojador", /boxad̪or/, is similar.
It is shown on nautical charts, media and academic research with the original Portuguese name "Cabo Bojador", sometimes spelled "Cape Boujdour".<ref>[https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93978888 How Not To Sell A Mercedes In Africa] ''NPR''. March 21, 2016</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Davison |first=Ian |date=2005 |title=Central Atlantic margin basins of North West Africa: geology and hydrocarbon potential (Morocco to Guinea). |journal=Journal of African Earth Sciences |volume=43 |issue= The cape is not prominent on maps but may be located by looking 220 km (120 nautical miles) due south of the south-western point of the hook of [[Fuerteventura]], [[Canary Islands]].
==Historical significance==
The discovery of a passable route around Cape Bojador, in 1434, by the
The disappearance of numerous European vessels that had made prior attempts to round the Cape despite its violent seas, led some to suggest the presence of sea monsters. The mythic importance of the cape for Portugal was captured in [[Fernando Pessoa]]'s early 20th century work "Mensagem". In famous stanzas from this longer poem Pessoa wrote of the enormous costs of the Portuguese explorations to the nation. Capturing the symbolic importance to the nation of rounding Cape Bojador, Pessoa wrote: "Who wants to pass beyond Bojador / Must also pass beyond pain." (''"Quem quer passar além do Bojador / Tem que passar além da dor."'') They thought the ocean was burning past Cape Bojador, but Henry's men went past it.
The reason for the fearsome reputation of the cape is not immediately obvious from maps, where it appears as the south-western point of a slight hump in the coastline, bounded at its other end by [[Cabo Falso Bojador]], ten nautical miles to the northeast. Nor does what is said in the ''Sailing Directions'' sound terribly formidable:
{{quote|Cabo Falso Bojador is formed by several tall sand dunes ... A rocky shoal, with a least depth of 4.8m, extends up to 3 miles N of the cape. A rocky patch, with a least depth of 8m, lies about 2 miles W of the cape. The coast between Cabo Falso Bojador and Cabo Bojador, 10 miles SW, consists of a sandy beach fringed by rocks. Clumps of scrub top the sand dunes which stand about 0.5 mile inland of this beach. Heavy breakers have been observed along this coast at all times. Cabo Bojador, a very low point, is located 9.5 miles SW of Cabo Falso Bojador and is bordered on the S side by black rocks. From the N, the cape appears as a mass of red sand with a gradual slope towards the sea. From the W, the cape is difficult to identify, but from the S its extremity appears as a reef which dries in places and is marked by breakers even in calm weather. Examining the ''Pilot Charts'' for this area, however, it becomes clear that the main concern lies in the changes in winds that occur at about the point at which Cape Bojador is passed in sailing down the coast. It is here that the winds start to blow strongly from the northeast at all seasons. Together with the half-knot set of current down the coast, these conditions would naturally alarm a medieval mariner used to sailing close to the land and having no knowledge of what lay ahead. In the end it was discovered that by [[Volta do mar|sailing well out to sea]]—far out of sight of land—a more favorable wind could be picked up.
Line 74 ⟶ 77:
In addition, this is also believed to be the site where [[Captain James Riley]] and the crew of the U.S. brig {{ship||Commerce|1815 ship|2}}, sailing at the time from Gibraltar towards the Cape Verde Islands, shipwrecked in August 1815. This tragedy is recounted in the ''[[Skeletons on the Zahara]]'', by [[Dean King]], which is set in this region of the African coast. King reports that any coastal map of Western Sahara is inaccurate because of the ever-changing physical features, due to the harsh conditions of the Sahara. It also mentions that the depth of the water surrounding Cape Bojador is deceptively shallow, and the color of the sand underneath the water is a "fearful sight". The cape had a fearsome reputation among mariners even prior to the wreck of the ''Commerce'', as there had been at least thirty known shipwrecks between 1790 and 1806.<ref>{{cite book |last=King |first=Dean |date=2004 |title=Skeletons on the Zahara: A True Story of Survival |location=New York |publisher=Little, Brown, and Company |page=41 |isbn=0-316-83514-5}}</ref>
[[File:Faro en Cabo Bojador.jpg|thumb|240px|[[Boujdour Lighthouse]] and Moroccan military base in modern-day
Sailors' fears were founded in what they saw, and the phenomena witnessed by the sailors of those days can be seen today. Any ship that has to pass those places makes sure to give a wide berth in order to avoid accidents. The reason for all this display is because Cape Bojador and its surrounding coast extends into the sea in the form of an underwater reef, and, when the waves break after crashing into unseen gullies, the water spouts furiously into high foamy clouds that look like steam, even on calm days. The sea
As recently as 2004, the British [[Royal Navy]]'s publication ''Africa Pilot'' warns that nautical charts of the coastline in the area of Cape Bojador are "reported to be inaccurate".<ref>[http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/0402/excerpt2.html The Cruelest Journey] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151231174419/http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/0402/excerpt2.html |date=December 31, 2015 }} ''National Geographic''. March 21. 2016</ref> ==Ecological significance==
The Spanish interest in the desert coast of Western Africa was the result of fishing activities carried out from the [[Canary Islands]] by Spanish fishermen.
Spanish fishers were seal fur traders and hunters, fishers and whalers off the Sahara coast with several enclaves in Cabo Bojador, [[Dakhla, Western Sahara|Dakhla]] and [[Ras Nouadhibou]] from 1500 to present, extending from the west coast of Africa to hunting [[humpback whale]]s and whale calves, mostly in [[Cape Verde]], and the Gulf of Guinea in [[Annobón]], [[São Tomé and Príncipe]] islands just to 1940. These fishing activities have had a negative impact on wildlife causing the disappearance or endangerment of many species, particularly marine mammals and birds.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://fis.com/fis/worldnews/search_brief.asp?l=s&id=47446&ndb=1&monthyear=&day=&country=194&df=1|title=FIS
==In modern times==
Line 93 ⟶ 98:
==References==
{{
==Notes==
*''Sailing Directions (Enroute), West Coast of Europe and Northwest Coast of Africa'' (Pub. 143) (Bethesda: National Geo-Spatial Intelligence Agency, 2005), p. 214, s.v. "Cabo Bojador."
*Charles Ralph Boxer, ''The Portuguese Seaborne Empire,
*''Atlas of Pilot Charts: North Atlantic Ocean'' (Washington: National Imagery and Mapping Agency, 2002).
*Carlos B. Carreiro (author), ''Portugal's Golden Years, The Life and Times of Prince Henry "The Navigator"'', (Dorrance Publishing Co, Inc), p. 64 {{ISBN?}}
==External links==
Line 105 ⟶ 110:
*[https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Western+Sahara&hl=en&ie=UTF8&om=0&z=15&ll=26.124925,-14.489508&spn=0.028397,0.052271&t=k Satellite image of the town in Google Maps]
{{
{{
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Headlands of Africa]]
|