Mauritania

**Mauritania** is a country in northwest Africa. The capital city, which is also the biggest city in the country, is Nouakchott. It is on the Atlantic coast. Its president is General Mohamed Ould Ghazouani.

At 1,030,700 km² (397,929 mi²), Mauritania is the world's 29th-largest country (after Bolivia). It is similar in size to Egypt. The land is flat in most places.

### Religion

Mauritania is almost 100% Muslim, most of whom are Sunni.  People can be killed in Mauritania for being  an atheist. On 27 April 2018, The National Assembly passed a law that allows for the death penalty for certain apostasy-related crimes.

### Afro-Asiatic languages

Modern Standard Arabic is the official language of Mauritania. Hassaniya is the Arabic dialect that is widely spoken throughout the country. It is mostly used in daily life.

### Berber languages

There are also some Berber languages that are spoken in Mauritania. In the south Zenaga is spoken and close to the border with Mali in the southeast Tamasheq (a variety of Tuareg) is spoken. Zenaga is only spoken by a few hundred people and seems to be close to disappearance.

### Foreign languages

As Mauritania is a former colony of France, it is now part of the Francophonie. French is spoken including African French and Maghreb French.

### Niger-Congo languages

There are several Niger-Congo languages that are spoken in Mauritania. These are Wolof, Soninke, Pulaar and Bambara.

## Economy

Mauritania is rich in natural resources but has a low GDP. Many people living in Mauritania depend on farming and livestock. Mauritania has a large deposit of iron ore, which is almost half of the country's total exports.

## Infobox (country)

- **conventional long name**: Islamic Republic of Mauritania
- **common name**: Mauritania
- **image flag**: Flag of Mauritania.svg
- **image coat**: File:Seal of Mauritania (2018).svg
- **symbol type**: Seal
- **national motto**:
"Honour, Fraternity, Justice"
- **national anthem**:
"National anthem of Mauritania, Land of the Proud, Guided by Noblemen"
- **image map**: Mauritania (orthographic projection).svg
- **map caption**: Location of Mauritania (dark green) in western Africa
- **capital**: Nouakchott
- **largest city**: capital
- **official languages**: Arabic
- **regional languages**: Pulaar language, Pulaar, Soninke language, Soninke, Wolof language, Wolof, Zenaga
- **national languages**: French language, French
- **languages**: English language, English, Italian language, Italian, Spanish language, Spanish
- **demonym**: Demographics of Mauritania, Mauritanian
- **government type**: Unitary state, Unitary Semi-presidential system, semi-presidential Islamic republic
- **leader title1**: List of heads of state of Mauritania, President
- **leader name1**: Mohamed Ould Ghazouani
- **leader title2**: List of heads of government of Mauritania, Prime Minister
- **leader name2**: Mokhtar Ould Djay
- **leader title3**: List of Presidents of the National Assembly of Mauritania, President of the National Assembly
- **leader name3**: Mohamed Ould Meguett
- **legislature**: National Assembly (Mauritania), National Assembly
- **sovereignty type**: Independence
- **established event1**: Republic established
- **established date1**: 28 November 1958
- **established event2**: Independence from French colonial empire, France
- **established date2**: 28 November 1960
- **established event3**: Current constitution
- **established date3**: 12 July 1991
- **area km2**: 1030000
- **area rank**: 28th
- **percent water**: 0.03
- **population census**: 3,537,368
- **population census year**: 2013
- **population density km2**: 3.4
- **gdp ppp**: $18.117 billion
- **gdp ppp year**: 2018
- **gdp ppp rank**: 134th
- **gdp ppp per capita**: $4,563
- **gdp ppp per capita rank**: 140th
- **gdp nominal**: $5.200 billion
- **gdp nominal year**: 2018
- **gdp nominal rank**: 154th
- **gdp nominal per capita**: $1,309
- **gdp nominal per capita rank**: 149th
- **gini**: 32.6
- **gini year**: 2014
- **gini change**: decrease
- **hdi**: 0.546
- **hdi year**: 2019
- **hdi change**: increase
- **hdi rank**: 157th
- **currency**: Mauritanian ouguiya, Ouguiya
- **currency code**: MRU
- **time zone**: Greenwich Mean Time, GMT
- **drives on**: right
- **calling code**: +222
- **cctld**: .mr
- **footnote a**: According to Article 6 of the Constitution: "The national languages are Arabic, Pulaar language, Pulaar, Soninke language, Soninke, and Wolof language, Wolof; the official language is Arabic."
- **religion**: Islam (_Sunni_)