Mauritania

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Mauritania

General Information
Geography
Government
Economy
Population
Health
Communications and media
Chronology


GENERAL INFORMATION

National name Al-Jumhuriyya al-Islamiyya al-Mawritaniyya/République Islamique Arabe et Africaine de Mauritanie/Islamic Republic of Mauritania Area 1,030,700 sq km/397,953 sq mi Capital Nouakchott (and chief port) Language Hasaniya Arabic (official), Pulaar, Soninke, Wolof (all national languages), French (particularly in the south) Religion Sunni Muslim (state religion) Time difference GMT +/-0 Major holidays 1 January, 1, 25 May, 10 July, 28 November; variable: Eid-ul-Adha, end of Ramadan, New Year (Muslim), Prophet's Birthday


GEOGRAPHY

Major towns/cities Nouâdhibou, Kaédi, Zouerate, Kiffa, Rosso, Atar Major ports Nouâdhibou Physical features valley of River Senegal in south; remainder arid and flat Airports three international airports and 23 smaller airstrips; total passengers carried: 116,000 (2003 est) Railways total length: 704 km/437 mi; the principal traffic is iron ore; passenger traffic is negligible (2002) Roads total road network: 7,660 km/4,760 mi, of which 11.3% paved (1999 est); passenger cars: 7.8 per 1,000 people (1996 est)


GOVERNMENT

Head of state Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi from 2007 Head of government Zeine Ould Zeidane from 2007 Political system emergent democracy Political executive limited presidency Administrative divisions 12 regions and one capital district Political parties Democratic and Social Republican Party (PRDS), left of centre, militarist; Rally for Democracy and National Unity (RDNU), centrist; Mauritanian Renewal Party (MPR), centrist; Umma, Islamic fundamentalist Death penalty retains the death penalty for ordinary crimes but can be considered abolitionist in practice Armed forces 15,900; plus paramilitary forces of 5,000 (2006 est) Conscription military service is by authorized conscription for two years Defence spend (% GDP) 1 (2005 est) Education spend (% GDP) 4.1 (2003 est) Health spend (% GDP) 3.2 (2004)


ECONOMY

Currency ouguiya GDP (US$) 1.9 billion (2005 est) Real GDP growth (% change on previous year) 14.1 (2004) GNI (US$) 1.7 billion (2005 est) GNI per capita (PPP) (US$) 2,150 (2005 est) Consumer price inflation 6% (2006 est) Unemployment 20% (2004 est) Labour force 52% agriculture, 10% industry, 38% services (2004 est) Foreign debt (US$) 2.5 billion (2005 est) Major trading partners Italy, France, Japan, UK, USA, Germany, China Resources copper, gold, iron ore, gypsum, phosphates, sulphur, peat Industries fish products, cheese and butter, processing of minerals (including imported petroleum), mining Exports iron ore, fish and fish products. Principal market: Italy 14.9% (2005) Imports machinery and transport equipment, oil exploration equipment, foodstuffs, consumer goods, building materials, mineral fuels. Principal source: France 18.5% (2005) Arable land 0.2% (2006 est) Agricultural products millet, sorghum, dates, maize, rice, pulses, groundnuts, sweet potatoes; livestock rearing (the principal occupation of rural population); fishing (providing 41.4% of export earnings in 1999). Only 1% of Mauritania receives enough rain to grow crops


POPULATION

Population 3,157,800 (2006 est) Population growth rate 2.7% (2005–10) Population density (per sq km) 3 (2005 est) Urban population (% of total) 64 (2005 est) Age distribution (% of total population) 0–14 43%, 15–59 52%, 60+ 5% (2005 est) Ethnic groups over 80% of the population is of Moorish or Moorish-black origin; about 18% is black African (concentrated in the south); there is a small European minority Life expectancy 53 (men); 56 (women) (2005–10) Child mortality rate (under 5, per 1,000 live births) 125 (2004) Education (compulsory years) 9 Literacy rate 52% (men); 31% (women) (2004 est)


HEALTH

Physicians (per 10,000 people) 1.4 (2004 est) Hospital beds (per 1,000 people) 0.7 (2002 est) HIV infection (% of population aged 15–49) 0.7 (2005 est) AIDS deaths <1,000 (2005 est) Access to drinking-water source (% of total population) 63 (urban); 45 (rural) (2002)


COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA

Landline telephones (per 100 people) 1.3 (2005 est) Mobile phone subscribers (per 100 people) 24.3 (2005 est) Radios (per 1,000 people) 151 (1997) TV sets (per 1,000 people) 41 (2004 est) Personal computer users (per 100 people) 1.4 (2005 est) Internet users (per 100 people) 0.5 (2005 est)


CHRONOLOGY

early Christian era A Roman province with the name Mauritania, after the Mauri, its Berber inhabitants who became active in the long-distance salt trade. 7th–11th centuries Eastern Mauritania was incorporated in the larger Ghana Empire, centred on Mali to the east, but with its capital at Kumbi in southeast Mauritania. The Berbers were reduced to vassals and converted to Islam in the 8th century. 11th–12th centuries The area's Sanhadja Berber inhabitants, linked to the Morocco-based Almoravid Empire, destroyed the Ghana Empire and spread Islam among neighbouring peoples. 13th–15th centuries Southeast Mauritania formed part of the Muslim Mali Empire, which extended to the east and south. 1441 Coast visited by Portuguese, who founded port of Arguin and captured Africans to sell as slaves. 15th–16th centuries Eastern Mauritania formed part of Muslim Songhai Empire, which spread across western Sahel, and Arab tribes migrated into the area. 1817 Senegal Treaty recognized coastal region (formerly disputed by European nations) as French sphere of influence. 1903 Formally became French protectorate. 1920 Became French colony, within French West Africa. 1960 Independence achieved, with Moktar Ould Daddah, leader of Mauritanian People's Party (PPM), as president. New capital built at Nouakchott. 1968 Tensions between agriculturalist black population of south and economically dominant semi-nomadic Arabo-Berber peoples, or Moors, of desert north became more acute after Arabic made official language with French. 1976 Western Sahara ceded by Spain to Mauritania and Morocco; Mauritania occupied southern area; Polisario Front formed in Sahara to resist occupation. 1979 Peace accord signed with Polisario Front in Algiers; Mauritania renounced claims to southern Western Sahara and recognized Polisario regime; diplomatic relations restored with Algeria. 1981 Diplomatic relations with Morocco broken off after it annexed southern Western Sahara. 1984 Col Maaoya Sid'Ahmed Ould Taya became president. 1985 Relations with Morocco restored. 1989 Violent clashes in Mauritania and Senegal between Moors and black Africans; over 50,000 Senegalese expelled. 1991 Political parties legalized and new multiparty constitution was approved in referendum. 1992 First free elections largely boycotted by opposition parties; Taya and his Social Democratic Republican Party (DSRP) re-elected; diplomatic relations with Senegal resumed. 2003–04 Taya re-elected; three alleged coup plots in 15 months; crop devastation by locusts. 2005 Taya overthrown in bloodless coup led by Col Ely Ould Mohammed Vall. 20006 Referendum approved limitation of president to two five-year terms; offshore oil extraction began. 2007 Presidential elections won by independent Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, restoring civilian rule; Mauritania's suspension from African Union (since 2005 coup) lifted.


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