From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Arguin (Portuguese: Arguim) is an island off the western coast of Mauritania in the Bay of Arguin, at 20° 36' N., 16° 27' W. It is six km long by two broad. Off the island are extensive and dangerous reefs.
[edit] History
Arguin has long been coveted by seafaring nations for its strategic location, and control over the island has changed hands numerous times. The first European to visit the island was the Portuguese explorer Nuno Tristão in 1443. In 1445, Prince Henry the Navigator set up a trading post on the island, which acquired gum arabic and slaves for Portugal. By 1455, 800 slaves were shipped from Arguin to Portugal every year.
In 1633, during its war against Spain (which then controlled Portugal), the Netherlands seized control of Arguin. It remained under Dutch rule until 1678, although Dutch governance was interrupted by English rule in 1665. France briefly controlled the island in September 1678, but the island was then abandoned until 1685.
Arguin was an early colony of the German electorate of Brandenburg, and its succeeding Kingdom of Prussia from 1685 – 1721. France then took control of the island, only to lose it the following year to the Netherlands, before regaining it in 1724. This next period of French rule lasted four years; in 1728 it reverted to Mauritanian tribal chiefs. The island became a French possession once more during the early 20th century, as part of French-colonized Mauritania; it remained under Mauritanian rule when that country became independent in 1960.
[edit] Sources
| North Africa: |
Aguz (Souira Guedima) (1506-1525) | Alcácer Ceguer (El Qsar es Seghir) (1458-1550) | Arzila (Asilah) (1471-1550, 1577-1589) | Azamor (Azemmour) (1513-1541) | Ceuta (1415-1640) | Mazagan (El Jadida) (1485-1550, 1506-1769) | Mogador (Essaouira) (1506-1525) | Safim (Safi) (1488-1541) | Santa Cruz do Cabo de Gué (Agadir) (1505-1769) | Tangier (1471-1662) |
| Subsaharan Africa: |
Accra (1557-1578) | Angola (Portuguese West Africa) (1575-1975) | Annobón (1474-1778) | Arguin (1455-1633) | Cabinda (Portuguese Congo) (1885-1975) | Cape Verde (1642-1975) | Elmina (São Jorge da Mina) (1482-1637) | Fernando Póo (1478-1778) | Portuguese Gold Coast (1482-1642) | Portuguese Guinea 1879-1974 (Bissau 1687-1974 & Cacheu 1588-1974) | Madagascar (part) (1496-1550) | Malindi (1500-1630) | Mascarene Islands (1498-1540) | Mombassa (1593-1698, 1728-1729) | Mozambique (Portuguese East Africa) (1501-1975) | Saint Helena | Quíloa (Kilwa) (1505-1512) | Saint Laurent Islands (Madagascar) (1498-1540) | São João Baptista de Ajudá (1680-1961) | São Tomé and Príncipe 1753-1975 (São Tomé 1470-1975, Príncipe 1500-1975) | Socotra (1506-1511) | Zanzibar (1503-1698) | Ziguinchor (1645-1888) |
| West Asia: |
Bahrain (1521-1602) | Gamru (Bandar Abbas) (1506-1615) | Hormuz (Ormus) (1515-1622) | Muscat (1515-1650) |
| Indian Subcontinent: |
Ceylon (Ceilão) (1518-1658) | Laccadive Islands (1498-1545) | Maldives (1518-1521, 1558-1573) | Portuguese India (Baçaím (Vasai) 1535-1739, Bombay (Mumbai) 1534-1661, Calicut (Kozhikode) 1512-1525, Cambay (Khambhat) , Cannanore (Kannur) 1502-1663, Chaul 1521-1740, Chittagong 1528-1666, Cochim (Kochi) 1500-1663, Cranganore (Kodungallur) 1536-1662, Dadra and Nagar Haveli 1779-1954, Daman and Diu 1559-1962, Goa 1510-1962, Hughli (1579-1632), Masulipatnam (Machilipatnam) 1598-1610, Mangalore 1568-1659, Negapatam (Nagapattinam) 1507-1657, Paliacate (Pulicat) 1518-1619, Quilon (Coulão, Kollam) 1502-1661, Salsette Island 1534-1601, São Tomé de Meliapore (Saint Thomas of Mylapur) 1523-1662/1687-1749, Surat 1540-1612, Tuticorin (Thoothukudi) 1548-1658) |
| East Asia and Oceania: |
Banda Islands (1512-1621) | Flores | Macau 1553-1999 (Coloane 1864-1999, Taipa 1851-1999, Ilha Verde 1890-1999, Lapa and Montanha 1938-1941) | Makassar (1512-1665) | Malacca (Melaka) (1511-1641) | Moluccas 1512-1621 (Ambon 1576-1605, Ternate 1522-1575, Tidore 1578-1650) | Nagasaki (Decima) (1571-1639) | Portuguese Timor (East Timor) (1642-1975) |
| South America: |
Brazil (1500-1822) | Cisplatina (Uruguay) (1808-1822) | French Guiana (1809-1817) | Nova Colônia do Sacramento (1680-1777) | Upper Peru (1822) | Portuguese colonization of the Americas |
| North Atlantic: |
Azores (1432-) | Madeira (1420-) |
 |
French Colonial Empire [ v • d • e ] |
 |
| I- Former French protectorates and colonial possessions: |
| Africa & Indian Ocean: Maghreb (Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia) | Arguin Island (off Morocco) | French West Africa (Côte d'Ivoire, Dahomey, French Sudan (Mali), Guinea, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Upper Volta) & French Togoland & James Island (The Gambia) | French Equatorial Africa (Chad, Gabon, Middle Congo, Oubangui-Chari) | French Somaliland (Djibouti) | Comoros (Anjouan- Grande Comore- Mohéli) | Madagascar | Mascarene Islands : Ile de France (Mauritus) & Seychelles |
| The Americas (French colonization of the Americas): New France (Acadia, Louisiana, Quebec, Terre Neuve) | Inini | Berbice | Haiti & Saint-Domingue | Tobago | Virgin Islands (part) | France Antarctique (part of Brazil) | France Équinoxiale (part of Brazil) |
| Asia: Alaouites | Alexandretta-Hatay (now a province of Turkey) | Ceylon | French India (Chandannagar, Coromandel Coast | Madras | Malabar, Mahé, Puducherry, Karaikal, Yanaon) | Kwangchowan (lease in China) | French Indochina (Cambodia-Kampuchea | Laos | Vietnam: Annam, Cochinchina, Tonkin) |
| Oceania: New Caledonia | New Hebrides (now Vanuatu) |
| II- Present overseas territories and possessions: |
| Americas: French Guiana | Guadeloupe | Martinique | Saint-Pierre and Miquelon | Oceania: French Polynesia | New Caledonia | Wallis and Futuna | Indian Ocean: Mayotte | La Réunion (Mascarene- formerly Île Bourbon) |
| See also: French colonisation of the Americas | Chartered company | French East India Company |
Coordinates: 20°36′N 16°27′W
