ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with an analysis of the evolution of ports and port systems in Northwest Africa from 1880 to 1972. It presnets data from Lloyd's List to rebuild shipping patterns across Northwest Africa between 1900 and 1970. This chronology is representative for the whole covered period and it permits a comparison between different primary sources. In particular, the Shipping Index provides a snapshot of global and regional maritime activity based on the last inter-port movement of every registered vessel. The chapter compiles port throughput data from a number of archival sources in France, United Kingdom, Senegal, Spain, Portugal, and other African countries between 1913 and 1972. It discusses the first approach to the evolution of port networks in Northwest Africa in a historical perspective. The chapter shows how the resilience of great imperial ports promoted the concentration processes, which were tied to the evolution of extroverted economic structures.
