Back to the Flags of Africa page

Where is Mauritania?
About Mauritania
The Land
The People
Life and Death
Health, Energy and the Environment
Education and Work
Travel, Communication and the Media

Mauritania is a vast country in north west Africa.

Mauritania borders the Atlantic Ocean.

The land is mostly flat dessert with some central hills.

The geographical coordinates for the centre of Mauritania, also known as lines of latitude and longitude, are:-
Latitude - 20 00N
Longitude - 12 00W

   Back to the top

Check the weather in Nouakchott now.

This is the time in Nouakchott now.

The Mauritanian flag is green with a yellow, five-pointed star between the horns of a yellow, upward-pointing crescent moon. There are red stripes along the top and bottom edges. The crescent, star, and colour green are traditional symbols of Islam. Green also represents hope for a bright future, yellow stands for the sands of the Sahara and red represents the blood shed in the struggle for independence

The capital of Mauritania is Nouakchott.

Mauritania is a presidential republic with a president as head of state and head of the government.

In elections everyone over the age of 18 can vote.

The currency in Mauritania is the ouguiya.

Arabic is the official language.

Hear the National Anthem


These are the anthem words

The words ×

These are the words to the Mauritanian National Anthem called National Anthem of auritania. It was adopted in 2017. This is a translation of the words.

If anthem fails to play click here

Be a helper for God, and censure what is forbidden,
And turn with the law which, which He wants you to follow,
Hold no one to be useful or harmful, except for Him,
And walk the path of the chosen one, and die while you are on it!
For what was sufficient for the first of us, is sufficient for the last one, too.
And leave those people who do evil things with respect to God.
They misrepresented him by making him similar, and made all kinds of excuses.
They made bold claims, and blackened notebooks.
They let the nomads and the sedentary people, both make bitter experiences,
And the great sins of their [doctrinal] innovations bequeathed small.
And just in case a disputant, calls you to dispute about their claims,
Do not, then, dispute on them, except by way of an external dispute.

We have already written our own history of England but are asking schools in Mauritania to provide us with a detailed history of their own country. Check how here.


   Back to the top

The total land area of Mauritania is 1,030,700 sq kms which is the 10th largest in Africa.

Mauritania has no lakes, rivers and canals.

Mauritania has boundaries with 4 countries

• Mali 2,236 kms
• Western Sahara 1,564 kms
• Senegal 742 kms
• Algeria 460 kms

Mauritania has a coastline of 754 kms which is the 19th longest in Africa.

The highest point in Mauritania is Kediet Ijill at 915 metres.

The pie chart below shows how the land is split between agricultural land (crops and pastures), forests and other, which can be towns, villages, desert or frozen waste called tundra.

   Back to the top

The total population of Mauritania is 3.84 million people, making it the 40th largest country in Africa by population.

Of this number 1.99 million are females and 1.85 million are males.

A person from Mauritania is called a Mauritanian.

To be a citizen of Mauritania, one of your parents must be a citizen of Mauritania. It is not sufficient to be born in Mauritania. You have to live in Mauritania for 5 years before you can begin to apply for citizenship.

The largest five cities in Mauritania, by population are:-

• Nouakchott 661,400 people
• Nouadhibou 72,337
• Némae 60,000
• Kaédi 55,374
• Rosso 48,922

For each country we will give you a diagram showing the population density. This is the average number of people for each square kilometre. Each little Owlbut is 1 person and the big yellow rectangle is 1 sq km. After a while you can compare countries and see which ones are the most crowded. Remember it is only an average as more people live closer together in towns and cities than in villages out in the country.



53.7% of the people live in cities or towns.

   Back to the top

The birth rate in Mauritania is 29.9 births per 1,000 of population

The death rate in Mauritania is 7.8 deaths per 1,000 people.

Check this against the birth rate. If the death rate is higher than the birth rate then the population will decrease unless immigrants arrive in the country.

There are 45.6 deaths of girls under 1 year per 1,000 of births and 55.3 deaths of boys.

The median age for females is 21.6 and for males is 19.7. The median age is that age which divides the population exactly in half so there are the same number of people above the median age as below it.

We have no figures for the average age of a woman when she has her first child.

The elderly dependency ratio is 5.5. This is the number of elderly people (ages 65+) per 100 people of working age (ages 15-64).

The potential support ratio is 18.3. This is the number of working-age people (ages 15-64) per one elderly person (ages 65+). As a population ages, the potential support ratio tends to fall, meaning there are fewer potential workers to support the elderly.

   Back to the top

Mauritania spends 3.8% of its total income on health care.

There are 0.18 doctors per 1,000 people.

We have no figures for the number of hospital beds per 1,000 people.

12.7% of the population are estimated as obese.

58.4% of the urban population and 57.1% of the rural population have drinking water that is either piped into their home or they have access to a public tap, a protected borehole, well, spring or protected rainwater collection facility.

57.5% of the urban population and 13.8% of the rural population have access to a flushing toilet that is connected to a sewer, a pit latrine (that is a permanent hole in the ground that is looked after) or a composting toilet.

Mauritania releases 2.4 million metric tons of carbon dioxide by burning fossil fuels in the process of producing and consuming energy. This puts it as the 29th highest in Africa.

   Back to the top

Mauritania spends 2.6% of its total income on education.

Children usually start school at age 6 in Mauritania. Primary education is for six years until age 12 and secondary education must continue till 15 but can go on to 18/19. This may be followed by further education at a university or college.

We are awaiting information for school terms in Mauritania.

41.6% of females and 62.6% of males are able to read and write by the age of 15.

15.2% of all people aged between 16 and 24 are not in work. Among females 17.0% are unemployed while with males 14.1% can't find work.

The total number of people available for work in Mauritania is 1.44 million.

They work in the following sectors.

• Agriculture includes farming, fishing and forestry work
• Industry includes mining, manufacturing, construction and energy workers
• Services is everything else

10.2% of the workforce are unemployed.

   Back to the top

There are 9 paved airports in Mauritania, which is the 24th highest number in Africa.


There are 728 kilometres of railways in Mauritania, the 27th longest in Africa.


There are 10,628 kilometres of roads in Mauritania, which means Mauritania is in 38th place for the most kilometres of roads in Africa.

There are 5 major national newspapers in Mauritania.

There are 4.07 million mobile phone users.

2% of the people have a fixed landline.



661,913 people have access to the internet at home via any device (computer or mobile).

   Back to the top