Mount Richard-Molard

Mount Richard-Molard
Mount Richard-Molard
Location of Mount Nimba in Côte d'Ivoire (on borders with Guinea)
Elevation 1,752 m (5,748 ft)
Listing Country high point
Location
Location  Côte d'Ivoire –  Guinea –  Liberia

Mount Richard-Molard is a mountain along the border of Côte d'Ivoire and Guinea in West Africa. At 1,752 m (5,750 ft) it is the highest point in both nations. The mountain is the highest peak of the Nimba Range (the "Guinean Backbone"), straddling the border between the two countries and Liberia. The nearest major settlement are the town Yekepa to the west in Liberia and Bossou in Guinea.[1]

Since 1944 the area, excluding Liberia's portion, has been a nature reserve. Currently covering 180 km², the Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve is classified as a World Heritage Site, including both rainforest and savanna. It is a "strict" reserve, forbidding tourism.

Contents

Toponymy

The mountain is named after the French geographer Jacques Richard-Molard, who died in an accident at the mountain site in 1951.[2] Before that it was called Mount Nouon.[3] Sometimes the term Mount Nimba, which is the name of the whole range, is used for its highest peak as well.

Minerals

The mountain is rich in iron ore and cobalt. There was intensive mining in the Liberian portion of the mountain until reserves were exhausted in 1989. The mix of iron-quartzite sheets, schists and granitogneiss has produced startling land formations by soil erosion.

World Heritage Status

This site was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List on 29 March 2001 in the Cultural category.[4]

See also

References

  1. ^ Colombant, Nico (30 January 2008)."Villagers Resist Environmentalists Around Guinea's Mount Nimba". Voice of America.
  2. ^ Westermann, Diedrich; Smith, Edwin William; Forde, Cyril Daryll (1951). Africa. Oxford University Press. p. 335. OCLC 50238863
  3. ^ Pugh, John Charles; Morgan, W. B. (1969). West Africa. London: Methuen. ISBN 0416269001. 
  4. ^ Paysage culturel des monts Nimba, UNESCO World Heritage Centre. (in French)

External links