Bassiknou

Bassiknou Bassikounou
Commune and town
A street in Bassikounou
Bassiknou Location in Mauritania
Coordinates: 15°51′0″N5°56′9″W / 15.85000°N 5.93583°W / 15.85000; -5.93583
Country	Mauritania
Region	Hodh Ech Chargui
Department	Bassikounou (department)
Government
• Mayor	Mohamed Sidi Hanena
Population  (2013)
• Total	10,561
Time zone	UTC+0 (GMT)

Bassiknou or Bassikounou is a town and commune in the Hodh Ech Chargui Region of south-eastern Mauritania. ^[1]

In 2013, it had a population of 10,561. ^[2]

History

The region around Bassikounou was a part of the Tichitt culture area. Oral traditions record that the founders of the city of Dia in the Inland Niger Delta originated from there. ^[3]

On October 16, 2006 Bassikounou meteorite fall near the town of Bassikounou.

In July 2011, the town was the site of the Battle of Bassikounou, where Mauritanian armed forced defeated the jihadist AQIM group.

Mbera refugee camp

Bassikounou and its surroundings have hosted tens of thousands of Malian refugees since the conflict there began in 2012, on top of other refugees who have lived there since the 1990s. This influx has stressed limited local resources of food, water, firewood, and grazing land. ^[4]

Refugees in the 92,000-person refugee camp Mbera ^[5] are supported by World Food Programme for more than 10 years. ^[6]

References

1. "Collectivités urbaines à vocation agricole, pastorale ou agropastorale". République Islamique de Mauritanie:Communes de Mauritanie. Archived from the original on November 12, 2007. Retrieved January 17, 2009.
2. "Statistiques Demographiques: Résultats du RGPH 2000 des Wilayas". République Islamique de Mauritanie. Archived from the original on February 3, 2010. Retrieved January 17, 2009.
3. McIintosh, Roderick (1998). The Peoples of the Middle Niger: The Island of Gold. John Wiley & Sons. p. 161.
4. Kestler-D'Amours, Jillian (18 September 2017). "An uneasy coexistence in the Mauritanian desert". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
5. Mbera Refugee Camp, Bassikounou, South-Eastern Mauritania (8 Dec 2015)
6. Mauritania: Integrated Assistance Package in the Mbera refugee Camp