Mauritania
Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
14.0km²
Area
17km
Coastline
5m
Highest point
0
People
26°C
Warmest sea
September
2km
To the mainland
When to go to Arguin
Best for the beach in November.
The sea is warmest in September (26 °C) and coolest in January (18 °C). Comfortable swimming (21 °C or more): from June to November.
Averages 1991–2020. Sea: NOAA OISST, the water within 35 km of the coast. Air, rain and sun: NASA POWER. Best months weigh warm afternoons (23–30 °C), sea of 24 °C or more and few wet days.
Island near Mauritania
Arguin is an island in Mauritania. It covers 14.0 km², with 17 km of coastline. Its highest point rises to 5 m. Nobody lives on it. The nearest mainland is 2 km away. It is part of a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Getting there
- Nouadhibou International Airport (NDB)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 70 km in a straight lineCar hire at NKC airport (Nouakchott)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- 2 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
- Novemberbest months to go (from 30 years of averages)
Plan the trip
Ferries, stays and things to do
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
On the island
What you find on Arguin.
- 1ruins and archaeological sitesArguin Fort
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, inside the island's outline. A low number may only mean nobody has mapped it yet.
The shape of the land.
On average the island stands 2 m above the sea. 100 % of it is below 200 m.
- 100 %0–50 m
Share of the island's area in each altitude band, from the Copernicus DEM (30 m, read at 30–240 m on large islands).
Size, for real
Next to islands you may know.
5 km
All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).
Month by month
The weather on the island.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon high (°C) | 25 | 27 | 30 | 31 | 34 | 37 | 36 | 36 | 37 | 34 | 30 | 26 |
| Night low (°C) | 13 | 14 | 16 | 17 | 19 | 22 | 22 | 24 | 25 | 22 | 18 | 15 |
| Sea (°C) | 18 | 19 | 20 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 25 | 26 | 25 | 22 | 20 |
| Rain (mm) | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 2 | 1 |
| Wet days | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Sun h/day | 9.0 | 9.6 | 10.7 | 11.2 | 11.6 | 11.1 | 10.5 | 10.0 | 9.3 | 9.2 | 9.0 | 8.4 |
| Wind (km/h) | 20 | 20 | 20 | 22 | 24 | 23 | 20 | 18 | 18 | 19 | 18 | 18 |
Averages 1991–2020 for the ~55 km NASA POWER cell over the island; the sea from NOAA OISST.
Recent years
Warmer and cooler years at sea.
Each month's sea temperature compared with its 1991–2020 average, in degrees.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | −1.1 | +1.3 | +0.7 | +0.6 | +0.5 | +0.6 | +0.9 | +0.5 | +1.8 | +0.9 | +0.5 | ±0.0 |
| 2021 | ±0.0 | −0.1 | −0.8 | ±0.0 | +0.2 | −0.4 | ±0.0 | −0.2 | +0.4 | −0.2 | +0.5 | −0.3 |
| 2022 | +0.9 | +0.7 | −0.5 | +0.4 | +1.6 | +1.8 | +1.0 | +0.6 | +0.9 | +0.4 | +1.0 | +1.5 |
| 2023 | +1.2 | −0.5 | +2.0 | +2.0 | +2.1 | +2.4 | +2.0 | +1.3 | +1.2 | +1.6 | +0.8 | +0.7 |
| 2024 | +1.4 | +2.0 | +0.8 | +1.8 | +1.8 | +0.8 | +0.8 | +0.9 | −0.1 | +1.2 | +1.1 | +0.7 |
| 2025 | −0.1 | ±0.0 | −0.3 | +0.8 | +1.3 | +1.5 | +1.4 | +1.1 | +0.7 | +1.3 | +1.3 | +0.1 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Photos
Seen by visitors.
Nearby
More islands nearby.
About these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q651207) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Outline | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Sea temperature | NOAA OISST v2.1 · 1991–2020 |
| Climate | NASA POWER · 1991–2020 |
| Relief, 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Beaches, ports, lighthouses, trails | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Towns | GeoNames · CC BY 4.0 |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
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