Access to THE WORLD FACTBOOK 1993 provided courtesy of 
The Libraries of the University of Missouri-St. Louis
 
 Match 157   DB Rec# - 55,904  Dataset-WOFACT
 
Source        :CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY 
Source key    :CI 
Program       :WORLD FACTBOOK 
Program key   :CI WOFACT 
Update sched. :Annually         
ID number     :CI WOFACT 156              
Title         :MAURITANIA 
Data type     :TEXT 
End year      :1994
Date of record:02/16/1994
Keywords 3    : 
| MAURITANIA 
Text          : 
MAURITANIA 
GEOGRAPHY 
Location: Northern Africa, along the North Atlantic Ocean, between Western 
Sahara and Senegal 
 
Map references: Africa, Standard Time Zones of the World 
 
Area: 
 
total area: 1,030,700 km2 
 
comparative area: slightly larger than three times the size of New Mexico 
 
Land boundaries: total 5,074 km, Algeria 463 km, Mali 2,237 km, Senegal 
813 km, Western Sahara 1,561 km 
 
Coastline: 754 km 
 
contiguous zone: 24 nm 
 
continental shelf: 200 nm or the edge of continental margin 
 
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm 
 
territorial sea: 12 nm 
 
International 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: 0% 
 
meadows and pastures: 38% 
 
forest and woodland: 5% 
 
other: 56% 
 
Irrigated land: 120 km2 (1989 est.) 
 
Environment: hot, dry, dust/sand-laden sirocco wind blows primarily in 
March and April; desertification; only perennial river is the Senegal 
 
PEOPLE 
Population: 2,124,792 (July 1993 est.) 
 
Population growth rate: 3.14% (1993 est.) 
 
Birth rate: 47.97 births/1,000 population (1993 est.) 
 
Death rate: 16.54 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.) 
 
Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.) 
 
Infant mortality rate: 87 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.) 
 
Life expectancy at birth: 
 
total population: 47.59 years 
 
male: 44.81 years 
 
Total fertility rate: 7.05 children born/woman (1993 est.) 
 
Nationality: 
 
noun: Mauritanian(s) 
 
adjective: Mauritanian 
 
Ethnic divisions: mixed Maur/black 40%, Maur 30%, black 30% 
 
Religions: Muslim 100% 
 
Languages: Hasaniya Arabic (official), Pular, Soninke, Wolof (official) 
 
Literacy: age 10 and over can read and write (1990) 
 
total population: 34% 
 
male: 47% 
 
female: 21% 
 
Labor force: 465,000 (1981 est.); 45,000 wage earners (1980) 
 
by occupation: agriculture 47%, services 29%, industry and commerce 14%, 
government 10% 
 
note: 53% of population of working age (1985) 
 
GOVERNMENT 
Names: 
 
conventional long form: Islamic Republic of Mauritania 
 
conventional short form: Mauritania 
 
local long form: Al Jumhuriyah al Islamiyah al Muritaniyah 
 
local short form: Muritaniyah 
 
Digraph: MR 
 
Type: republic 
 
Capital: Nouakchott 
 
Administrative divisions: 12 regions(regions, singular - region); Adrar, 
Assaba, Brakna, Dakhlet Nouadhibou, 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: 12 July 1991 
 
Legal system: three-tier system: Islamic (Shari'a) courts, special courts, 
National holiday: Independence Day, 28 November (1960) 
 
Political parties and leaders: legalized by constitution passed 12 July 
1991, however, politics continue to be tribally based; emerging parties 
include Democratic and Social Republican Party (PRDS), led by President Col. 
Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed TAYA; Union of Democratic Forces - New Era (UFD/NE), 
headed by Ahmed Ould DADDAH; Assembly for Democracy and Unity (RDU), Ahmed 
Ould SIDI BABA; Popular Social and Democratic Union (UPSD), Mohamed Mahmoud 
Ould MAH; Mauritanian Party for Renewal (PMR), Hameida BOUCHRAYA; National 
Avant-Garde Party (PAN), Khattry Ould JIDDOU; Mauritanian Party of the 
Democratic Center (PCDM), Bamba Ould SIDI BADI 
 
Other political or pressure groups: Mauritanian Workers Union (UTM) 
 
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal 
 
Elections: 
 
President: last held January 1992 (next to be held January 1998); results 
- President Col. Maaouya Ould Sid 'Ahmed TAYA elected 
 
Senate: last held 3 and 10 April 1992 (one-third of the seats up for 
re-election in 1994) 
 
National Assembly: last held 6 and 13 March 1992 (next to be held March 
1997) 
 
Executive branch: president 
 
Legislative branch: bicameral legislature consists of an upper house or 
Senate (Majlis al-Shuyukh) and a lower house or National Assembly (Majlis 
al-Watani) 
 
Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Cour Supreme) 
 
Leaders: 
 
Chief of State and Head of Government: President Col. Maaouya Ould 
Sid'Ahmed TAYA (since 12 December 1984) 
 
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 in US: 
 
chief of mission: Ambassador Mohamed Fall OULD AININA 
 
chancery: 2129 Leroy Place NW, Washington, DC 20008 
 
telephone: (202) 232-5700 
 
US diplomatic representation: 
 
chief of mission: Ambassador Gordon S. BROWN 
 
embassy: address NA, Nouakchott 
 
telephone:  222  (2) 526-60 or 526-63 
 
FAX:  222  (2) 525-89 
 
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, which 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 
endemic conflict with Senegal, rising energy costs, and economic mismanagement 
have resulted in a substantial buildup of foreign debt. The government has 
begun the second stage of an economic reform program in consultation with the 
World Bank, the IMF, and major donor countries. But the reform process 
suffered a major setback following the Gulf war of early 1991. Because of 
Mauritania's support of SADDAM Husayn, bilateral aid from its two top donors, 
Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, was suspended, and multilateral aid was reduced. 
 
National product: GDP - exchange rate conversion - $1.1 billion (1991 est.) 
 
National product real growth rate: 3% (1991 est.) 
 
National product per capita: $555 (1991 est.) 
 
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 6.2% (1991 est.) 
 
Unemployment rate: 20% (1991 est.) 
 
Budget: revenues $280 million; expenditures $346 million, including capital 
expenditures of $61 million (1989 est.) 
 
Exports: $447 million (f.o.b., 1990) 
 
commodities: iron ore, processed fish, small amounts of gum arabic and 
gypsum; unrecorded but numerically significant cattle exports to Senegal 
 
partners: EC 43%, Japan 27%, USSR 11%, Cote d'Ivoire 3% 
 
Imports: $385 million (c.i.f., 1990) 
 
commodities: foodstuffs, consumer goods, petroleum products, capital goods 
 
partners: EC 60%, Algeria 15%, China 6%, US 3% 
 
External debt: $1.9 billion (1990) 
 
Industrial production: growth rate 4.4% (1988 est.); accounts for almost 
33% of GDP 
 
 
Industries: fish processing, mining of iron ore and gypsum 
 
Agriculture: accounts for 50% 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 (1970-89), $1.3 
billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $490 million; Communist countries 
(1970-89), $277 million; Arab Development Bank (1991), $20 million 
 
Currency: 1 ouguiya (UM) = 5 khoums 
 
Exchange rates: ouguiya (UM) per US$1 - 116.990 (February 1993), 87.082 
(1992), 81.946 (1991), 80.609 (1990), 83.051 (1989), 75.261 (1988) 
 
Fiscal year: calendar year 
 
COMMUNICATIONS 
Railroads: 690 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 
 
Airports: 
 
total: 29 
 
usable: 29 
 
with permanent-surface runways: 9 
 
with runways over 3,659 m: 1 
 
with runways 2,440-3,659 m: 5 
 
with runways 1,220-2,439 m: 16 
 
Telecommunications: poor system of cable and open-wire lines, minor 
microwave radio relay links, and radio communications stations (improvements 
being made); broadcast stations - 2 AM, no FM, 1 TV; satellite earth stations 
- 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT and 2 ARABSAT, with six planned 
 
Defense forces 
Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, National Gendarmerie, National Guard, 
National Police, Presidential Guard 
 
Manpower availability: males age 15-49 452,008; fit for military service 
Defense expenditures: exchange rate conversion - $40 million, 4.2% of GDP 
(1989) 
 
 
 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
This section of THE WORLD FACTBOOK 1993 produced by the United States
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was derived from the US Dept. of Commerce
Economics and Statistics Division's NATIONAL TRADE DATA BANK CD-ROM,
July, 1994, SuDoc No. C 1.88:994/7/v.1-2 / R. Muns, UM-St. Louis Libraries 
Local Filename: WF940154.TXT