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Mauritania |
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Last reviewed: 09 December 2011 |
Country information
Area: 1,030,700 km². Mauritania has a 700 km (435 ml) Atlantic coastline and is approximately twice the size of France.
Population: 3.3m (UN, 2010)
Capital City: Nouakchott
Language(s): Hassaniya Arabic (official), Pulaar, Soninke, Wolof, French. French is widely used in business.
Religion(s): Muslim
Life expectancy: 55 years (men), 59 years (women) (World Bank 2009)
Currency: Ouguiya
Government: Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz was elected President of Mauritania in July 2009. The EU described the elections as a crucial part of a return to constitutional order and said the poll took place in a calm atmosphere, without major incidents. The elections marked a return to democracy in Mauritania, thirteen months after a coup d’etat in August 2008 which overthrew Mauritania’s first democratically elected President since independence.
Head of State: Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz .
Prime Minister: Moulaye Ould Mohamed Laghdaf
Foreign Minister: Hamadi Ould Hamadi
Membership of international groupings/organisations: Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (ABEDA), Agency for Cultural and Technical Cooperation (ACCT - associate), African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP), African Development Bank (AfDB), Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD), Arab League (AL), Arab Monetary Fund (AMF), Arab Maghreb Union (AMU), Agency for Air Navigation Safety in Africa and Madagascar (ASECNA), African Union (AU) (currently suspended), Council of Arab Economic Unity (CAEU), Customs Cooperation Council (CCC), Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Group of 77 at the United Nations (G-77), International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (ICRM), International Development Association (IDA), Islamic Development Bank (IDB), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), International Finance Corporation (IFC), International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRCS), International Hydrographic Organisation (IHO - pending member), International Labour Organisation (ILO), International Monetary Fund (IMF), International Maritime Organisation (IMO), International Telecommunications Satellite Organisation (Intelsat), International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol), Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), International Telecommunications Union (ITU), Non Aligned Movement (NAM), Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), Organisation pour la Mise en Valeur du fleuve Sénégal (OMVS), Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), United Nations (UN), United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), Universal Postal Union (UPU), World Confederation on Labour (WCL), World Health Organisation (WHO), World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), World Tourism Organisation (WtoO), World Trade Organisation (WtrO)
