Mauritania

**Mauritania**, formally de **Islamic Republic of Mauritania**, be sovereign country insyd Northwest Africa. Ebe bordered by de Atlantic Ocean to de west, Western Sahara to de north den northwest, Algeria to de northeast, Mali to de east den southeast, den Senegal to de southwest. By land area Mauritania be de 11th-largest country insyd Africa den 28th-largest insyd de world; 90% of ein territory dey insyd de Sahara. Chaw of ein population of sam 4.3&nbsp;million dey live insyd de temperate south of de country, plus roughly a third concentrate insyd de capital den largest city, Nouakchott, for de Atlantic coast.

## Government den politics

### Administrative divisions
De government bureaucracy dey composed of traditional ministries, special agencies, den parastatal companies. De Ministry of Interior dey spearhead a system of regional governors wey e dey prefect modeled for de French system of local administration. Under dis system, dem divide Mauritania into 15 regions (*wilaya* anaa *régions*).

Dem tightly concentrate control insyd de executive branch of de central government, buh na a series of national den municipal elections since 1992 produce limited decentralization. Dem subdivide dese regions into 44 departments (*moughataa*). 

De regions den capital district den dema capitals be:

## Demographics
Mauritania get a population of about 4.3&nbsp;million, roughly a third concentrate insyd de capital den largest city, Nouakchott, for de Atlantic coast. De local population be composed of three main ethnicities: Bidhan anaa white Moors, Haratin anaa black moors, den West Africans. 30% Bidhan, 40% Haratin, den 30% odas (mostly Black Sub-Saharans). Local statistics bureau estimations dey indicate say de Bidhan dey represent around 30% of citizens. Dem dey speak Hassaniya Arabic den be primarily of Arab-Berber origin. De Haratin dey constitute roughly 35% of de population, plus chaw estimates wey dey put dem at around 40%. Dem be descendants of de original inhabitants of de Tassili n'Ajjer and Acacus Mountain sites during de Epipalaeolithic era. De remaining 30% of de population largely dey consist of various ethnic groups of West African descent. Among dese be de Niger-Congo-speaking Halpulaar (Fulbe), Soninke, Bambara den Wolof.

### Largest cities

### Religion
Mauritania be almost 100% Muslim, plus chaw inhabitants dey adher to de Sunni denomination. De Sufi orders, de Tijaniyah den de Qadiriyyah, get great influence no be insyd de country per, buh insyd Morocco, Algeria, Senegal den oda neighboring countries as well. De Roman Catholic Diocese of Nouakchott, dem found insyd 1965, dey serve de 4,500 Catholics insyd Mauritania (mostly foreign residents wey komot West Africa den Europe). Insyd 2020, na dem estimate de number of Christians insyd Mauritania at 10,000.

Der be extreme restrictions for freedom of religion den belief insyd Mauritania; ebe one of 13 countries insyd de world wey dey punish atheism by death.

### Languages
Arabic be de official den national language of Mauritania. De local spoken variety, dem know as Hassaniya, dey contain chaw Berber words wey e significantly dey differ from de Modern Standard Arabic wey dem dey use for official communication. Pulaar, Soninke, den Wolof sanso dey serve as national languages. Despite e no get official status, dem dey use French as an administrative language den as a medium of instruction insyd schools. Dem sanso dey use am widely insyd de media, business, den among educated classes.

### Education
Since 1999, all teaching insyd de first year of primary school dey insyd Modern Standard Arabic; dem introduce French insyd de second year, wey dem dey use am teach all scientific courses. De use of English dey increase.

Mauritania get de University of Nouakchott den oda institutions of higher education, buh de majority of highly educated Mauritanians study outsyd de country. Na public expenditure for education be at 10.1% of 2000–2007 government expenditure. Na dem rank Mauritania 126th out of 139 insyd de Global Innovation Index insyd 2024.

## References


## Read further

* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 

## External links

* République Islamique de Mauritanie (official government website at archive.org) 
* République Islamique de Mauritanie (official government website at archive.org) 
* Mauritania. *The World Factbook*. Central Intelligence Agency.
* Mauritania web resources provided by GovPubs at the University of Colorado Boulder Libraries