Cape Chaunar, Cap Uarsig, Cape Nun, ''Cap Noun'', ''Cabo de Não'' or ''Nant'' is a cape on the Atlantic coast of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, in southern

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

, between

Tarfaya Tarfaya ( ar, طرفاية - ''Ṭarfāya''; ber, ⵟⵔⴼⴰⵢⴰ) is a coastal Moroccan town, located at the level of Cape Juby, in western Morocco, on the Atlantic coast. It is located about 890 km southwest of the capital Rabat, and ...

and Sidi Ifni. By the 15th century it was considered insurmountable by Arabs and Europeans, thus resulting in the name meaning cape "no" in Portuguese. Cape Chaunar is the true northern coastal limit of the Sahara desert, although nearby

Cape Bojador Cape Bojador ( ar, رأس بوجادور, trans. ''Rā's Būjādūr''; ber, ⴱⵓⵊⴷⵓⵔ, ''Bujdur''; Spanish and pt, Cabo Bojador; french: Cap Boujdour) is a headland on the west coast of Western Sahara, at 26° 07' 37"N, 14° 29' 57"W ...

is frequently mistakenly called this.

History

The thirteenth-century

Genovese Genovese is an Italian surname meaning, properly, someone from Genoa. Its Italian plural form '' Genovesi'' has also developed into a surname. People * Alfred Genovese (1931–2011), American oboist * Alfredo Genovese (born 1964), Argentine ar ...

navigators

Vandino and Ugolino Vivaldi __NOTOC__ Vandino (sometimes Vadino or Guido) and Ugolino Vivaldi (sometimes Ugolino de Vivaldo) ( fl. 1291) were two brothers and Genoese explorers and merchants who are best known for their attempted voyage from Europe to India via Africa. T ...

may have sailed as far as Cape Non before being lost at sea. It was named ''Cabo do Não'' ("Cape No") by Portuguese mariners during the fifteenth century, being considered the impassable limit for

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an sailors, the ''non plus ultra'' beyond which no navigation could occur. "Quem o passa tornará ou não" (whoever passes it will make it or not), wrote Venetian explorer Alvise Cadamosto in his book ''Navigazione''. Starting in 1421, exploratory vessels were sent by Prince

Henry the Navigator ''Dom'' Henrique of Portugal, Duke of Viseu (4 March 1394 – 13 November 1460), better known as Prince Henry the Navigator ( pt, Infante Dom Henrique, o Navegador), was a central figure in the early days of the Portuguese Empire and in the 15t ...

, managing to cross Cape Non and reaching

, then considered the southern limit of the world, stretching into the "dark sea"William D'Hertburn, ''Progress and Prosperity: The Old World and Its Remaking Into the New'', 1911 (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''Mare Tenebrarum'', ''Mare Tenebrosum'' or ''Bahr al-Zulumat'' in Arabic), the medieval name for the southern Atlantic Ocean, inaccessible to the sailors of the time.

References

Sources

Robert Kerr, General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels
* Chambers Book of Daysbr>November 20th
Chaunar {{GuelmimOuedNoun-geo-stub