Cape Bojador: Difference between revisions

{{shortShort description|Place in Western Sahara}}

|pushpin_map = MoroccoWestern Sahara#Africa

|pushpin_map_caption =Location in MoroccoWestern Sahara

|subdivision_name = [[MoroccoWestern Sahara]]

|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>

'''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 southernwest coast of [[MoroccoWestern Sahara]], at 26° 07' 37"N, 14° 29' 57"W (various sources give various locations: this is from the ''Sailing Directions'' for the region), as well as the name of the large nearby town with a population of 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> The name of the surrounding province also derives its name from the cape (Bojador Province).

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=1-31–3 |pages=254–274 |doi= 10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2005.07.018|bibcode=2005JAfES..43..254D}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Mundy |first=Jacob |date=2008 |title=The Question of Sovereignty in the Western Sahara Conflict. |journal=aperAper for Lala Cuestión del Sáhara Occidental en Elel Marco Jurídico Internacional, Laslas Palmas, Canary Islands |volume=7-87–8 June }}</ref> It is said that it is also known as the "Bulging Cape", although no references to this usage are to be found in standard geographical references. The Cape's name in [[Arabic language|Arabic]] is "Abu Khatar", meaning "the father of danger".<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/place/Cape-Bojador Cape Bojador, Cape, Africa] ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. March 21, 2016</ref>

The discovery of a passable route around Cape Bojador, in 1434, by the [[Portugal|Portuguese]] mariner [[Gil Eanes]] was considered a major breakthrough for [[European ethnic groups|European]] explorers and traders en route to Africa and later to [[India]].{{citation needed|date=May 2017}} Eanes had made a previous attempt in 1433 which resulted in failure, but he tried again under orders of [[Prince Henry the Navigator]]. Eanes was successful after the second expedition.

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."|''Sailing Directions''}}

[[File:Faro en Cabo Bojador.jpg|thumb|240px|[[Boujdour Lighthouse]] and Moroccan military base in modern-day Bojador.Boujdour]]

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 nextin front to the Cape, and for approximately 3three miles seaward from the coast and into the sea, is no more than twosix metresfeet deep. Fish are abundant in the areaplace, and shoals of sardines rise to the surface during the feeding times of larger fish. When this happens, the sea seems to bubble violently as if boiling, and, observed from a distance, the hissing sound produced by the fish flicking their tails on the water's surface adds to the impression that the water is boiling. The stiflingtremendous airheat wafted westerly on lazy breezes from the desert heightens the impression of extreme temperature, whileto which the desert dust helps to create a mysterious darkness. Worse,Even the ferrous rocks make compass needles whirl erratically.<ref>Carlos B. Carreiro (author), ''Portugal's Golden Years, The Life and Times of Prince Henry "The Navigator"'', (Dorrance Publishing Co, Inc), p.&nbsp;64 ISBN 0-8059-6854-7</ref>

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>

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 -– Noticias en Breve - EN BREVE -– La flota de arrastre del Golfo de Cádiz vuelve este martes a faenar tras 45 días de parada biológica -–|accessdateaccess-date=24 October 2016|archive-date=28 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200528204750/https://fis.com/fis/worldnews/search_brief.asp?l=s&id=47446&ndb=1&monthyear=&day=&country=194&df=1|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>[http://sahara-news.webcindario.com/actividad_flota_pesquerasahara.pdf Actividad Flota] sahara-news.webcindario.com {{dead link|date=January 2024}}</ref> The former range of the [[Mediterranean monk seal]] (''Monachus monachus'') extended throughout the Northwest Atlantic coast of Africa and the Mediterranean and [[Black Sea]] coastlines, including all offshore islands of the Mediterranean, and into the [[Atlantic]] and its islands: Canary Islands, [[Madeira]], [[Ilhas Desertas]], [[Porto Santo]], and others as far west as the [[Azores]]. [[Vagrancy (biology)|Vagrants]] could be found as far south as [[Gambia]] and the [[Cape Verde]] islands, and as far north as continental Portugal and Atlantic France.<ref>{{cite webiucn |url=httphttps://www.iucnredlist.org/detailsspecies/13653/0117647375 |title=Monachus monachus (Mediterranean Monk Seal) |publisher=[[International Union for Conservation of Nature]] |accessdateaccess-date=30 December 2012}}</ref>

{{reflistReflist}}

*Charles Ralph Boxer, ''The Portuguese Seaborne Empire, 1415-18251415–1825'' (London: Hutchinson and Co., 1969) [Caracanet, 1991], pp.&nbsp;25–625–26.{{ISBN?}}

*Carlos B. Carreiro (author), ''Portugal's Golden Years, The Life and Times of Prince Henry "The Navigator"'', (Dorrance Publishing Co, Inc), p. 64 {{ISBN?}}

{{coordCoord|26|08|N|14|30|W|type:city|display=title}}

{{Laayoune-Boujdour-Sakia El HamraProvince}}