Country Profile: Muritania

Last reviewed: 1 July 2008

Country information

Map of Mauritania

Area: 1,030,700 km². Mauritania has a 700 km (435 ml) Atlantic coastline and is approximately twice the size of France.
Population: 3.1m (2005 est.)
Capital City: Nouakchott
Language(s): Hassaniya Arabic (official), Pulaar, Soninke, Wolof, French. French is widely used in business.
Religion(s): Muslim
Life expectancy: 51 years (men), 54 years (women)
Currency: Ouguiya
Government: Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi was elected President of Mauritania on 25 March. The EU described the elections as calm, transparent and properly conducted, and concluded that the Mauritanian people had the opportunity to express their political will through free and pluralist elections. The elections marked a return to democracy in Mauritania, nineteen months after a coup d’etat in August 2005. Legislative elections took place in November and December 2006. In June 2006 the Mauritanian people voted strongly in favour of adopting a new constitution, which provides for a civilian government composed of a dominant executive branch, a senate, and a national assembly.
Head of State: M. Ould Cheikh Abdallahi.
Prime Minister: M. Zeine Ould Zeidane
Foreign Minister: M. Mohamed Saleck Ould Mohamed Lemine

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)

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