Mauritania - Country facts
Location
Northern Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Senegal and Western Sahara
Background
Independent from France in 1960, Mauritania annexed the southern third of the former Spanish Sahara (now Western Sahara) in 1976, but relinquished it after three years of raids by the Polisario guerrilla front seeking independence for the territory. Opposition parties were legalized and a new constitution approved in 1991. Two multiparty presidential elections since then were widely seen as flawed, but October 2001 legislative and municipal elections were generally free and open. Mauritania remains, in reality, a one-party state. The country continues to experience ethnic tensions between its black population and the Maur (Arab-Berber) populace.
Climate
desert; constantly hot, dry, dusty
Terrain
mostly barren, flat plains of the Sahara; some central hills
Population
3,086,859 (July 2005 est.)
Ethnic Groups
mixed Maur/black 40%, Moor 30%, black 30%
Religions
Muslim 100%
Languages
Arabic (official), Pulaar, Soninke, French, Hassaniya, Wolof
Map of Mauritania
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