Profile - Mauritania

I INTRODUCTION
Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, country in northwestern Africa. It is bounded on the north by Western Sahara and Algeria, on the east by Mali, on the south by Mali and Senegal, and on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. The country has a total area of 1,031,000 sq km (398,000 sq mi).

II LAND AND RESOURCES
With the exception of a narrow strip in the south along the Sénégal River, the country lies entirely within the Sahara. The elevation varies from 150 m (500 ft) in the southwest to 460 m (1,500 ft) in the northeast. Daytime temperatures in much of the country reach 38° C (100° F) for more than six months of the year, but the nights are cool. Annual rainfall varies from less than 130 mm (less than 5 in) in the north to 660 mm (26 in) in the Sénégal Valley.

A Natural Resources The most important resource of Mauritania is its large deposits of iron ore located in the Fdérik area. Other mineral resources of the country include deposits of phosphates, sulfur, copper, and gypsum.

B Plants and Animals
Upper Mauritania has little plant life and few animals. In the south, however, in a belt of steppe with trees of the genera Acacia and Commiphoa, lions and monkeys are found.

III POPULATION
Two-fifths of the population is of mixed Moor and black African heritage. Another 30 percent of Mauritania’s people are Moors (of mixed Arab and Berber ancestry), many of whom lead nomadic existences. More than 90 percent of the population lives in the southern quarter of the country. About 30 percent of the people are black African farmers, who are settled in the Sénégal Valley.

A Population Characteristics According to the 1988 census, Mauritania had 1,864,236 inhabitants. The 1998 estimated population was 2,511,473, giving the country an overall population density of 2 persons per sq km (6 persons per sq mi).

B Political Divisions and Principal Cities
Mauritania is divided into 12 regions, each administered by a council, and 1 district, which encompasses the country’s capital and largest city, Nouakchott (population, 1992 estimate, 550,000). Other principal towns are Kaédi (74,000), a farming center on the Sénégal, Nouadhibou (70,000), a fishing center and seaport, the exports of which include iron ore sent by rail from Fdérik, and Rosso (50,000).

C Religion and Language Islam, the state religion, is professed by nearly all of the people. Arabic is the official language, and Poular, Wolof, and Soninke are recognized as national languages.

D Education The government of Mauritania attempts to provide free primary education. The effort, however, has been hindered by the nomadic character of the people. In 1996 some 83 percent of eligible children, or 312,700 pupils, attended primary school. Just 16 percent of secondary school-aged children were enrolled. Higher education is provided by the University of Nouakchott (1981) and by a college of public administration, also in the capital.

IV ECONOMY
The Mauritanian economy is predominantly pastoral, with mining and fishing increasing in importance. Mauritania depends heavily on foreign aid. In 1997 the gross domestic product, which measures the total value of goods and services produced in the country, was $1.1 billion, or $450 per inhabitant.

A Agriculture
Animal raising is the most important agricultural activity. Livestock in Mauritania in 1998 was estimated to include 6.2 million sheep, 4.1 million goats, 1.3 million cattle, and 3.9 million poultry. Crop farming is mostly restricted to the south. The leading crops are millet, pulses, rice, dates, watermelons, yams, and maize.

B Fishing Mauritania has a large saltwater fishing potential, and the government has taken measures to protect its offshore fishing areas. In 1996 the country’s catch was 90,000 metric tons.

C Mining Production of iron ore, mainly from Mauritania’s rich deposits in the Fdérik area, totaled 7 million metric tons in 1997. Copper mining, once an important industry, was discontinued in 1978.

D Currency and Foreign Trade The monetary unit in Mauritania is the ouguiya, which is divided into five khoums (152 ouguiyas equal U.S.$1; 1997 average). The Central Bank of Mauritania (founded in 1973) is the bank of issue.

In 1996 exports totaled $765 million. Imports amounted to $671 million. Iron ore is the principal export; imports typically consist of food products, machinery, construction materials, petroleum, and consumer goods. Leading purchasers of exports are Japan, France, Italy, Belgium and Luxembourg (which operate together as a single trading unit). Chief sources for imports are France, Algeria, Spain, China, and the United States. Mauritania also exports cattle to Senegal.

E Transportation and Communications Transportation facilities include air routes and 7,660 km (4,760 mi) of roads and tracks. The 1,100-km Trans-Mauritanian highway was completed in 1985. A 670-km (416-mi) railroad links Nouadhibou to the Fdérik ore fields. Deep-water port facilities and international airports are located at Nouadhibou and Nouakchott. The country has 1 daily newspaper, the Chaab, published in French and Arabic in Nouakchott.

F Manufacturing and Energy Manufacturing accounts for only 12 percent of Mauritania’s economic base and is limited primarily to fish processing and the production of other foodstuffs. In 1997 the country generated 150 million kilowatt-hours of electricity, 80 percent of which was produced in thermal facilities.

V GOVERNMENT
A 1961 constitution, promulgated soon after Mauritania became an independent republic, was suspended in 1978 following a coup d’état. Subsequently, legislative and executive power was vested in what became known as the Military Committee for National Salvation. The committee was headed by a chairman, who served as president of the country, and included 23 other permanent members in the late 1980s. A council of ministers, appointed by the committee, consisted of 22 members and included the prime minister. A new constitution approved by referendum in July 1991 declares Mauritania to be an "Islamic, African, and Arab republic." The constitution provides for an executive president, elected for a six-year term, and for a bicameral legislature, consisting of a national assembly and a senate.

A Judiciary and Defense The highest tribunal of Mauritania is the supreme court, which sits in Nouakchott. Islamic law plays an important role in the Mauritanian judicial system. In 1997 Mauritania had an army of 15,000 persons, a navy of 500, and an air force of 150.

VI HISTORY
Remnants of Stone Age cultures have been found in northern Mauritania. Berber nomads moved into the area in the 1st millennium AD and subjugated the indigenous black population. The newcomers belonged to the Sanhaja Confederation that long dominated trade between the northern parts of Africa and the kingdom of Ghana, the capital of which, Kumbi Saleh (Koumbi Saleh), was in southeastern Mauritania. Under Almoravid leadership, the Sanhaja razed Kumbi Saleh in 1076, although Ghana survived until the early 13th century. The Berbers, in turn, were conquered by Arabs in the 16th century. The descendants of the Arabs became the upper stratum of Mauritanian society, and Arabic gradually displaced Berber dialects as the language of the country. French forces, moving up the Sénégal River, made the area a French protectorate by 1905 and a colony in 1920. In 1946 Mauritania became an overseas territory of the French Union. Under French occupation, slavery was legally abolished.

The Islamic Republic of Mauritania was proclaimed on November 28, 1958, under the constitution of the Fifth French Republic, and on November 28, 1960, it became fully independent. It joined the United Nations in 1961. That same year Moktar Ould Daddah was elected its first president; he was reelected in 1966, 1971, and 1976.

Mauritania was severely affected by a drought in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Nevertheless, its economy expanded as newly discovered iron and copper deposits were exploited. In 1976 it annexed the southern third of adjacent Spanish Sahara (see Western Sahara), which at that time was ceded by Spain; Morocco received the rest of the territory. A Saharan nationalist movement, the Polisario Front, seeking to make the Western Sahara an independent nation, weakened Mauritania with guerrilla warfare. In July 1978, President Daddah was ousted in a coup led by Lieutenant Colonel Mustafa Ould Salek. After he was replaced by another army officer, Mohamed Ould Louly, Mauritania agreed, in August 1979, to withdraw from the Western Sahara.

Another change of leadership occurred in 1980, when the prime minister, Mohamed Ould Haidalla, assumed the presidency. He subjected the nation to strict enforcement of Islamic law. Haidalla survived a coup in 1981 but was deposed by his chief of staff, Colonel Maouya Ould Sidi Ahmed Taya, in 1984. Tensions with Senegal in 1989 resulted in the repatriation of 100,000 Mauritanian nationals from Senegal and the repatriation or expulsion of 125,000 Senegalese nationals from Mauritania. Faced with rising domestic pressures and international criticism of his human rights record, Taya implemented a new constitution and legalized opposition parties in 1991. He was chosen executive president in a disputed election in January 1992 and was reelected in December 1997.

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