MAURITANIA
GEOGRAPHY
Total area: 1,030,700 km2; land area: 1,030,400 km2
Comparative area: slightly larger than three times the size of
New Mexico
Land boundaries: 5,074 km total; Algeria 463 km, Mali 2,237 km,
Senegal 813 km, Western Sahara 1,561 km
Coastline: 754 km
Maritime claims:
Continental shelf: edge of continental margin or 200 nm;
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Disputes: boundary with Senegal
Climate: desert; constantly hot, dry, dusty
Terrain: mostly barren, flat plains of the Sahara; some central
hills
Natural resources: iron ore, gypsum, fish, copper, phosphate
Land use: arable land 1%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and
pastures 38%; forest and woodland 5%; other 56%; includes irrigated
NEGL%
Environment: hot, dry, dust/sand-laden sirocco wind blows primarily
in March and April; desertification; only perennial river is the Senegal
PEOPLE
Population: 1,995,755 (July 1991), growth rate 3.1% (1991)
Birth rate: 49 births/1,000 population (1991)
Death rate: 18 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
Infant mortality rate: 94 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
Life expectancy at birth: 44 years male, 50 years female (1991)
Total fertility rate: 7.2 children born/woman (1991)
Nationality: noun--Mauritanian(s); adjective--Mauritanian
Ethnic divisions: mixed Maur/black 40%, Maur 30%, black 30%
Religion: Muslim, nearly 100%
Language: Hasaniya Arabic (national); French (official);
Toucouleur, Fula, Sarakole, Wolof
Literacy: 34% (male 47%, female 21%) age 10 and over can
read and write (1990 est.)
Labor force: 465,000 (1981 est.); 45,000 wage earners (1980);
agriculture 47%, services 29%, industry and commerce 14%, government 10%;
53% of population of working age (1985)
Organized labor: 30,000 members claimed by single union,
Mauritanian Workers' Union
GOVERNMENT
Long-form name: Islamic Republic of Mauritania
Type: republic; military first seized power in bloodless coup
10 July 1978; a palace coup that took place on 12 December 1984 brought
President Taya to power
Capital: Nouakchott
Administrative divisions: 12 regions (regions,
singular--region); Adrar, Brakna, Dakhlet Nouadhibou, El Acaba,
Gorgol, Guidimaka, Hodh ech Chargui, Hodh el Gharbi, Inchiri, Tagant,
Tiris Zemmour, Trarza; note--there may be a new capital district of
Nouakchott
Independence: 28 November 1960 (from France)
Constitution: 20 May 1961, abrogated after coup of 10 July 1978;
provisional constitution published 17 December 1980 but abandoned in
1981; new constitutional charter published 27 February 1985
Legal system: based on Islamic law
National holiday: Independence Day, 28 November (1960)
Executive branch: president, Military Committee for National
Salvation (CMSN), Council of Ministers (cabinet)
Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly (Assemblee
Nationale), dissolved after 10 July 1978 coup; legislative power
resides with the CMSN
Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Cour Supreme)
Leaders:
Chief of State and Head of Government--President Col. Maaouya Ould
SidAhmed TAYA (since 12 December 1984)
Political parties and leaders: suspended
Suffrage: none
Elections: last presidential election August 1976; National
Assembly dissolved 10 July 1978; no national elections are scheduled
Communists: no Communist party, but there is a scattering of Maoist
sympathizers
Member of: ABEDA, ACCT (associate), ACP, AfDB, AFESD, AL, AMF, AMU,
CAEU, CCC, CEAO, ECA, ECOWAS, FAO, G-77, GATT, IBRD, ICAO, IDA,
IDB, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, LORCS,
NAM, OAU, OIC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Abdellah OULD DADDAH;
Chancery at 2129 Leroy Place NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202)
232-5700;
US--Ambassador William H. TWADDELL; Embassy at address NA,
Nouakchott (mailing address is B. P. 222, Nouakchott); telephone 222
(2) 252-660 or 252-663
Flag: green with a yellow five-pointed star above a yellow,
horizontal crescent; the closed side of the crescent is down; the
crescent, star, and color green are traditional symbols of Islam
ECONOMY
Overview: A majority of the population still depends on agriculture
and livestock for a livelihood, even though most of the nomads and many
subsistence farmers were forced into the cities by recurrent droughts in
the 1970s and 1980s. Mauritania has extensive deposits of iron ore that
account for almost 50% of total exports. The decline in world demand for
this ore, however, has led to cutbacks in production. 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 recent
years, the droughts, the conflict with Senegal, rising energy costs,
and economic mismanagement have resulted in a substantial buildup of
foreign debt. The government now has begun the second stage of an
economic reform program in consultation with the World Bank, the IMF,
and major donor countries.
GDP: $942 million, per capita $500; real growth rate 3.5% (1989
est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 8.2% (1989 est.)
Unemployment rate: 21% (1989 est.)
Budget: revenues $280 million; expenditures $346 million, including
capital expenditures of $61 million (1989 est.)
Exports: $519 million (f.o.b., 1989);
commodities--iron ore, processed fish, small amounts of gum arabic
and gypsum, unrecorded but numerically significant cattle exports to
Senegal;
partners--EC 57%, Japan 39%, Ivory Coast 2%
Imports: $567 million (c.i.f., 1989);
commodities--foodstuffs, consumer goods, petroleum products,
capital goods;
partners--EC 79%, Africa 5%, US 4%, Japan 2%
External debt: $2.3 billion (December 1989)
Industrial production: growth rate 4.4% (1988 est.); accounts
for 10% of GDP
Electricity: 189,000 kW capacity; 136 million kWh produced,
70 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: fishing, fish processing, mining of iron ore and gypsum
Agriculture: accounts for 29% of GDP (including fishing); largely
subsistence farming and nomadic cattle and sheep herding except in
Senegal river valley; crops--dates, millet, sorghum, root crops; fish
products number-one export; large food deficit in years of drought
Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $168
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1970-88), $1.2 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $490 million;
Communist countries (1970-89), $277 million
Currency: ouguiya (plural--ouguiya); 1 ouguiya (UM) = 5 khoums
Exchange rates: ouguiya (UM) per US$1--77.450 (January 1991),
80.609 (1990), 83.051 (1989), 75.261 (1988), 73.878 (1987), 74.375
(1986), 77.085 (1985)
Fiscal year: calendar year
COMMUNICATIONS
Railroads: 670 km 1.435-meter standard gauge, single track, owned
and operated by government mining company
Highways: 7,525 km total; 1,685 km paved; 1,040 km gravel, crushed
stone, or otherwise improved; 4,800 km unimproved roads, trails, tracks
Inland waterways: mostly ferry traffic on the Senegal River
Ports: Nouadhibou, Nouakchott
Merchant marine: 1 cargo ship (1,000 GRT or over) totaling
1,290 GRT/1,840 DWT
Civil air: 2 major transport aircraft
Airports: 30 total, 29 usable; 9 with permanent-surface runways;
none with runways over 3,659 m; 4 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 17 with
runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: poor system of cable and open-wire lines, minor
radio relay links, and radio communications stations; 5,200 telephones;
stations--2 AM, no FM, 1 TV; satellite earth stations--1 Atlantic Ocean
INTELSAT and 2 ARABSAT, with a third planned
DEFENSE FORCES
Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, National Gendarmerie, National
Guard, National Police, Presidential Guard, Nomad Security Guard
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 423,501; 206,733 fit for
military service; conscription law not implemented
Defense expenditures: $37 million, 4.2% of GDP (1987)