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Mauritania

Mauritania

Mauritania officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania is a country in northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on the west, by Senegal on the southwest, by Mali on the east and southeast, by Algeria on the northeast, and by the Morocco-controlled Western Sahara on the northwest.

Country name:

  • conventional long form: Islamic Republic of Mauritania
  • conventional short form: Mauritania
  • local long form: Al Jumhuriyah al Islamiyah al Muritaniyah
  • local short form: Muritaniyah

Nationality:

  • noun: Mauritanian(s)
  • adjective: Mauritanian

Capital:

  • name: Nouakchott
  • geographic coordinates: 18 07 N, 16 02 W
  • time difference: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

Independence:

  • 28 November 1960 (from France)

Population:

  • 3,364,940 (July 2008 est.)
  • Population growth rate: 2.852% (2008 est.)
  • HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:0.6% (2003 est.)

Ethnic groups:

  • mixed Moor/black 40%
  • Moor 30%
  • black 30%

Religions:

  • Muslim 100%

Languages:

  • Arabic (official and national)
  • Pulaar
  • Soninke
  • Wolof (all national languages)
  • French
  • Hassaniya

Literacy:

  • definition: age 15 and over can read and write
  • total population: 51.2%
  • male: 59.5%
  • female: 43.4% (2000 census)

Government type:

  • Democratic Republic

Location:

  • Northern Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Senegal and Western Sahara

Area - comparative:

  • slightly larger than three times the size of New Mexico

Land boundaries:

  • total: 5,074 km
  • border countries: Algeria 463 km, Mali 2,237 km, Senegal 813 km, Western Sahara 1,561 km

Climate:

  • desert; constantly hot, dry, dusty

Economy - overview:

Half the population still depends on agriculture and livestock for a livelihood, even though many of the nomads and subsistence farmers were forced into the cities by recurrent droughts in the 1970s and 1980s. Mauritania has extensive deposits of iron ore, which account for nearly 40% of total exports. The nation's coastal waters are among the richest fishing areas in the world, but overexploitation by foreigners threatens this key source of revenue. The country's first deepwater port opened near Nouakchott in 1986. In the past, drought and economic mismanagement resulted in a buildup of foreign debt, which now stands at more than three times the level of annual exports. In February 2000, Mauritania qualified for debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative and in December 2001 received strong support from donor and lending countries at a triennial Consultative Group review. A new investment code approved in December 2001 improved the opportunities for direct foreign investment. Ongoing negotiations with the IMF involve problems of economic reforms and fiscal discipline. In 2001, exploratory oil wells in tracts 80 km offshore indicated potential extraction at current world oil prices. Oil prospects, while initially promising, have failed to materialize. Meantime the government emphasizes reduction of poverty, improvement of health and education, and promoting privatization of the economy.

GDP - real growth rate:

  • 0.9% (2007 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):

  • $2,000 (2007 est.)

Background:

Independent from France in 1960, Mauritania annexed the southern third of the former Spanish Sahara (now Western Sahara) in 1976, but relinquished it after three years of raids by the Polisario guerrilla front seeking independence for the territory. Maaouya Ould Sid Ahmed TAYA seized power in a coup in 1984 and ruled Mauritania with a heavy hand for over two decades. A series of presidential elections that he held were widely seen as flawed. A bloodless coup in August 2005 deposed President TAYA and ushered in a military council that oversaw a transition to democratic rule. Independent candidate Sidi Ould Cheikh ABDALLAHI was inaugurated in April 2007 as Mauritania's first freely and fairly elected president. The country continues to experience ethnic tensions among its black population (Afro-Mauritanians) and White and Black Moor (Arab-Berber) communities, although the new government is attempting to ameliorate some of these tensions.

For more info please contact:
African Studies
(310) 825-3686
africa@international.ucla.edu