Qualla: Mount Richard-Molard: The Peak That Changed Its Name for a Dead Geographer https://qualla.com/mount-richard-molard en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:17 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/e/c/6/5/mount-richard-molard-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Mount Richard-Molard: The Peak That Changed Its Name for a Dead Geographer https://qualla.com/mount-richard-molard Mount Richard-Molard: The Peak That Changed Its Name for a Dead Geographer: Introduction https://qualla.com/mount-richard-molard/ Photo credit Aboubacarkhoraa, CC BY-SA 4.0. The mountain had a name before the Frenchman arrived. The local communities called it Nouon, and it stood as the highest ground for hundreds of kilometers in any direction, a 1,752-meter peak where the borders of Guinea, Ivory Coast, and Liberia converge. Then Jacques Richard-Molard, a French geographer who had already made his mark by discovering the Richat Structure -- that uncanny geological bullseye in the Mauritanian desert now known as the Eye of Africa -- came to study the Nimba Range. He died in an accident here on July 29, 1951, at the age of 38. The colonial authorities renamed the peak in his honor. Mount Nouon became Mount Richard-Molard, and a mountain that had belonged to the landscape became a monument to a man who briefly passed through it.

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]]> Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/e/c/6/5/mount-richard-molard-wp/ec65-mount-richard-molard-the-peak-that-changed-its-nam-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Mount Richard-Molard: The Peak That Changed Its Name for a Dead Geographer: The Geographer's Legacy https://qualla.com/mount-richard-molard/ Photo credit Aboubacarkhoraa, CC BY-SA 4.0. Jacques Richard-Molard was born in Tunis on April 20, 1913, and spent his career studying the geography and peoples of French West Africa. His most famous discovery came in 1948, when he identified the Richat Structure -- a 40-kilometer-wide series of concentric geological rings ...

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]]> Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/e/c/6/5/mount-richard-molard-wp/ec65-mount-richard-molard-the-peak-that-changed-its-nam-the-geographers-legacy.mp3 0:06 2 full Mount Richard-Molard: The Peak That Changed Its Name for a Dead Geographer: Where Three Countries Meet https://qualla.com/mount-richard-molard/ Photo credit Aboubacarkhoraa, CC BY-SA 4.0. The summit of Mount Richard-Molard sits precisely on the border between Guinea and Ivory Coast, with Liberia's territory beginning just down the southeastern slopes. This tri-national geography is not merely cartographic trivia -- it has shaped the mountain's fate. The Guinean an...

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]]> Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/e/c/6/5/mount-richard-molard-wp/ec65-mount-richard-molard-the-peak-that-changed-its-nam-where-three-countries-meet.mp3 0:06 3 full Mount Richard-Molard: The Peak That Changed Its Name for a Dead Geographer: Iron and Cloud Forest https://qualla.com/mount-richard-molard/ Photo credit Aboubacarkhoraa, CC BY-SA 4.0. The Nimba Range is rich in two things that rarely coexist peacefully: iron ore and biodiversity. The mountains' geological foundation includes significant deposits of high-grade iron ore and cobalt, resources that attracted industrial mining on the Liberian side and continue to t...

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]]> Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/e/c/6/5/mount-richard-molard-wp/ec65-mount-richard-molard-the-peak-that-changed-its-nam-iron-and-cloud-forest.mp3 0:06 4 full Mount Richard-Molard: The Peak That Changed Its Name for a Dead Geographer: A Mountain in the Guinea Highlands https://qualla.com/mount-richard-molard/ Photo credit Aboubacarkhoraa, CC BY-SA 4.0. Mount Richard-Molard is the third-highest peak in the Guinea Highlands, behind Mount Bintumani in Sierra Leone at 1,945 meters and Sankan Biriwa also in Sierra Leone at 1,850 meters. The highlands stretch from central Guinea through northern Sierra Leone and Liberia to western Iv...

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]]> Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/e/c/6/5/mount-richard-molard-wp/ec65-mount-richard-molard-the-peak-that-changed-its-nam-a-mountain-in-the-guinea-highlands.mp3 0:06 5 full