Rosso occupies a strategic position at the
international ferry-crossing on the main road between Nouakchott and the
Senegalese capital of Dakar. Economically the town has benefited but its
fortunes are very dependent on the state of relations between the two
countries. From 1990-92 the border crossing was closed, due to the Mauritania–Senegal
Border War, and there have been repeated movements of refugees in both
directions through the town
