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Compare Mauritania (2001) - World (2002)
Compare Mauritania (2001) z World (2002)
| Mauritania (2001) | World (2002) | |
 |  | |
| Administrative divisions | 12 regions (regions, singular - region) and 1 capital district*; Adrar, Assaba, Brakna, Dakhlet Nouadhibou, Gorgol, Guidimaka, Hodh Ech Chargui, Hodh El Gharbi, Inchiri, Nouakchott*, Tagant, Tiris Zemmour, Trarza | 268 nations, dependent areas, other, and miscellaneous entries |
| Age structure | 0-14 years:
46.14% (male 634,940; female 632,654) 15-64 years: 51.59% (male 698,433; female 718,883) 65 years and over: 2.27% (male 25,840; female 36,562) (2001 est.) |
0-14 years: 29.2% (male 932,581,592; female 885,688,851)
15-64 years: 63.7% (male 2,009,997,089; female 1,964,938,201) 65 years and over: 7.1% (male 193,549,180; female 247,067,032) (2002 est.) |
| Agriculture - products | dates, millet, sorghum, rice, corn, dates; cattle, sheep | - |
| Airports | 26 (2000 est.) | - |
| Airports - with paved runways | total:
8 2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 5 (2000 est.) |
- |
| Airports - with unpaved runways | total:
18 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 9 under 914 m: 3 (2000 est.) |
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| Area | total:
1,030,700 sq km land: 1,030,400 sq km water: 300 sq km |
total: 510.072 million sq km
land: 148.94 million sq km water: 361.132 million sq km note: 70.8% of the world's surface is water, 29.2% is land |
| Area - comparative | slightly larger than three times the size of New Mexico | land area about 16 times the size of the US |
| 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 being flawed; Mauritania remains, in reality, a one-party state. The country continues to experience ethnic tensions between its black minority population and the dominant Maur (Arab-Berber) populace. | Globally, the 20th century was marked by: (a) two devastating world wars; (b) the Great Depression of the 1930s; (c) the end of vast colonial empires; (d) rapid advances in science and technology, from the first airplane flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina (US) to the landing on the moon; (e) the Cold War between the Western alliance and the Warsaw Pact nations; (f) a sharp rise in living standards in North America, Europe, and Japan; (g) increased concerns about the environment, including loss of forests, shortages of energy and water, the decline in biological diversity, and air pollution; (h) the onset of the AIDS epidemic; and (i) the ultimate emergence of the US as the only world superpower. The planet's population continues to explode: from 1 billion in 1820, to 2 billion in 1930, 3 billion in 1960, 4 billion in 1974, 5 billion in 1988, and 6 billion in 2000. For the 21st century, the continued exponential growth in science and technology raises both hopes (e.g., advances in medicine) and fears (e.g., development of even more lethal weapons of war). |
| Birth rate | 42.95 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 21.16 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
| Budget | revenues:
$329 million expenditures: $265 million, including capital expenditures of $75 million (1996 est.) |
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| Capital | Nouakchott | - |
| Climate | desert; constantly hot, dry, dusty | two large areas of polar climates separated by two rather narrow temperate zones form a wide equatorial band of tropical to subtropical climates |
| Coastline | 754 km | 356,000 km |
| Constitution | 12 July 1991 | - |
| Country name | conventional long form:
Islamic Republic of Mauritania conventional short form: Mauritania local long form: Al Jumhuriyah al Islamiyah al Muritaniyah local short form: Muritaniyah |
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| Currency | ouguiya (MRO) | - |
| Death rate | 13.65 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 8.93 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
| Debt - external | $2.1 billion (1999) | $2 trillion for less developed countries (2001 est.) |
| Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador John W. LIMBERT embassy: Rue Abdallaye, Nouakchott mailing address: B. P. 222, Nouakchott telephone: [222] 25-26-60, 25-26-63 FAX: [222] 25-15-92 |
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| Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Ahmed Ben Khalifa BEN JIDOU chancery: 2129 Leroy Place NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 232-5700 FAX: [1] (202) 319-2623 |
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| Disputes - international | none | - |
| Economic aid - recipient | $300 million (1998) | official development assistance (ODA) $50 billion (2001 est.) |
| Economy - overview | A majority of the population still depends on agriculture and livestock for a livelihood, even though most of the nomads and many subsistence farmers were forced into the cities by recurrent droughts in the 1970s and 1980s. Mauritania has extensive deposits of iron ore, which account for half of total exports. The decline in world demand for this ore, however, has led to cutbacks in production. The nation's coastal waters are among the richest fishing areas in the world, but overexploitation by foreigners threatens this key source of revenue. The country's first deepwater port opened near Nouakchott in 1986. In the past, drought and economic mismanagement have resulted in a buildup of foreign debt. In March 1999, the government signed an agreement with a joint World Bank-IMF mission on a $54 million enhanced structural adjustment facility (ESAF). Mauritania withdrew its membership in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in 2000. Privatization and debt relief are in full swing, and the rate of economic growth appears to be accelerating, especially in the construction, telecommunication, and information sectors. Diamonds and petroleum are beginning to be explored and exploited. | Growth in global output (gross world product, GWP) fell from 4.8% in 2000 to 2.2% in 2001. The causes: slowdowns in the US economy (21% of GWP) and in the 15 EU economies (20% of GWP); continued stagnation in the Japanese economy (7.3% of GWP); and spillover effects in the less developed regions of the world. China, the second largest economy in the world (12% of GWP), proved an exception, continuing its rapid annual growth, officially announced as 7.3% but estimated by many observers as perhaps two percentage points lower. Russia (2.6% of GWP), with 5.2% growth, continued to make uneven progress, its GDP per capita still only one-third that of the leading industrial nations. The other 14 successor nations of the USSR and the other old Warsaw Pact nations again experienced widely divergent growth rates; the three Baltic nations were strong performers, in the 5% range of growth. The developing nations also varied in their growth results, with many countries facing population increases that eat up gains in output. Externally, the nation-state, as a bedrock economic-political institution, is steadily losing control over international flows of people, goods, funds, and technology. Internally, the central government often finds its control over resources slipping as separatist regional movements - typically based on ethnicity - gain momentum, e.g., in many of the successor states of the former Soviet Union, in the former Yugoslavia, in India, in Indonesia, and in Canada. In Western Europe, governments face the difficult political problem of channeling resources away from welfare programs in order to increase investment and strengthen incentives to seek employment. The addition of 80 million people each year to an already overcrowded globe is exacerbating the problems of pollution, desertification, underemployment, epidemics, and famine. Because of their own internal problems and priorities, the industrialized countries devote insufficient resources to deal effectively with the poorer areas of the world, which, at least from the economic point of view, are becoming further marginalized. The introduction of the euro as the common currency of much of Western Europe in January 1999, while paving the way for an integrated economic powerhouse, poses economic risks because of varying levels of income and cultural and political differences among the participating nations. The terrorist attacks on the US on 11 September 2001 accentuate a further growing risk to global prosperity, illustrated, for example, by the reallocation of resources away from investment to anti-terrorist programs. (For specific economic developments in each country of the world in 2001, see the individual country entries.) |
| Electricity - consumption | 140.4 million kWh (1999) | - |
| Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (1999) | - |
| Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (1999) | - |
| Electricity - production | 151 million kWh (1999) | - |
| Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
82.78% hydro: 17.22% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
fossil fuel: NA%
hydro: NA% nuclear: NA% other: NA% |
| Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Sebkha de Ndrhamcha -3 m highest point: Kediet Ijill 910 m |
lowest point: Bentley Subglacial Trench -2,540 m
note: in the oceanic realm, Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench is the lowest point, lying -10,924 m below the surface of the Pacific Ocean highest point: Mount Everest 8,850 m (1999 est.) |
| Environment - current issues | overgrazing, deforestation, and soil erosion aggravated by drought are contributing to desertification; very limited natural fresh water resources away from the Senegal which is the only perennial river | large areas subject to overpopulation, industrial disasters, pollution (air, water, acid rain, toxic substances), loss of vegetation (overgrazing, deforestation, desertification), loss of wildlife, soil degradation, soil depletion, erosion |
| Environment - international agreements | party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
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| Ethnic groups | mixed Maur/black 40%, Maur 30%, black 30% | - |
| Exchange rates | ouguiyas per US dollar - 250.870 (December 2000), 238.923 (2000), 209.514 (1999), 188.476 (1998), 151.853 (1997), 137.222 (1996) | - |
| Executive branch | chief of state:
President Col. Maaouya Ould Sid Ahmed TAYA (since 12 December 1984) head of government: Prime Minister Cheik El Avia Ould Mohamed KHOUNA (since 17 November 1998) cabinet: Council of Ministers elections: president elected by popular vote for a six-year term; election last held 12 December 1997 (next to be held NA December 2003); prime minister appointed by the president election results: President Col. Maaouya Ould Sid Ahmed TAYA reelected with 90.9% of the vote |
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| Exports | $333 million (f.o.b., 1999) | $6.3 trillion f.o.b. (2001 est.) |
| Exports - commodities | iron ore, fish and fish products, gold | the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services |
| Exports - partners | Japan 18%, France 17%, Italy 16%, Spain 11% (1998) | in value, about 75% of exports from the developed countries |
| Fiscal year | calendar year | - |
| Flag description | green with a yellow five-pointed star above a yellow, horizontal crescent; the closed side of the crescent is down; the crescent, star, and color green are traditional symbols of Islam | - |
| GDP | purchasing power parity - $5.4 billion (2000 est.) | GWP (gross world product) - purchasing power parity - $47 trillion (2001 est.) |
| GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
25% industry: 31% services: 44% (1997) |
agriculture: 4%
industry: 32% services: 64% (2001 est.) |
| GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $2,000 (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $7,600 (2001 est.) |
| GDP - real growth rate | 5% (2000 est.) | 2.2% (2001 est.) |
| Geographic coordinates | 20 00 N, 12 00 W | - |
| Geography - note | most of the population concentrated in the cities of Nouakchott and Nouadhibou and along the Senegal River in the southern part of the country | the world is now thought to be about 4.55 billion years old, just about one-third of the 13-billion-year age estimated for the universe |
| Highways | total:
7,660 km paved: 866 km unpaved: 6,794 km (1996) |
total: NA km
paved: NA km unpaved: NA km |
| Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
2.3% highest 10%: 29.9% (1995) |
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
| Imports | $305 million (f.o.b., 1999) | $6.3 trillion f.o.b. (2001 est.) |
| Imports - commodities | machinery and equipment, petroleum products, capital goods, foodstuffs, consumer goods | the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services |
| Imports - partners | France 27%, Benelux 9%, Germany 7%, Spain 7% (1998) | in value, about 75% of imports into the developed countries |
| Independence | 28 November 1960 (from France) | - |
| Industrial production growth rate | 2.2% (1999) | 6% (2000 est.) |
| Industries | fish processing, mining of iron ore and gypsum | dominated by the onrush of technology, especially in computers, robotics, telecommunications, and medicines and medical equipment; most of these advances take place in OECD nations; only a small portion of non-OECD countries have succeeded in rapidly adjusting to these technological forces; the accelerated development of new industrial (and agricultural) technology is complicating already grim environmental problems |
| Infant mortality rate | 76.7 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | 51.55 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 4.5% (2000 est.) | developed countries 1% to 4% typically; developing countries 5% to 60% typically (2001 est.); national inflation rates vary widely in individual cases, from declining prices in Japan to hyperinflation in several Third World countries |
| International organization participation | ABEDA, ACCT (associate), ACP, AfDB, AFESD, AL, AMF, AMU, CAEU, CCC, ECA, ECOWAS, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO (pending member), ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ITU, NAM, OAU, OIC, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO | - |
| Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 5 (2000) | 10,350 (2000 est.) |
| Irrigated land | 490 sq km (1993 est.) | 2,714,320 sq km (1998 est.) |
| Judicial branch | Supreme Court or Cour Supreme; Court of Appeals; lower courts | - |
| Labor force | 750,000 (1999) | NA |
| Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 47%, services 39%, industry 14% | agriculture NA%, industry NA%, services NA% |
| Land boundaries | total:
5,074 km border countries: Algeria 463 km, Mali 2,237 km, Senegal 813 km, Western Sahara 1,561 km |
the land boundaries in the world total 250,472 km (not counting shared boundaries twice) |
| Land use | arable land:
0% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 38% forests and woodland: 4% other: 58% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 10.58%
permanent crops: 1% other: 88.42% (1998 est.) |
| Languages | Hasaniya Arabic (official), Pular, Soninke, Wolof (official), French | Chinese, Mandarin 14.37%, Hindi 6.02%, English 5.61%, Spanish 5.59%, Bengali 3.4%, Portuguese 2.63%, Russian 2.75%, Japanese 2.06%, German, Standard 1.64%, Korean 1.28%, French 1.27% (2000 est.)
note: percents are for "first language" speakers only |
| Legal system | a combination of Shari'a (Islamic law) and French civil law | all members of the UN plus Switzerland are parties to the statute that established the International Court of Justice (ICJ) or World Court |
| Legislative branch | bicameral legislature consists of the Senate or Majlis al-Shuyukh (56 seats; 17 up for election every two years; members elected by municipal leaders to serve six-year terms) and the National Assembly or Majlis al-Watani (79 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: Senate - last held 17 April 1998 (next to be held NA 2001); National Assembly - last held 11 and 18 October 1996 (next to be held NA 2001) election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NA; National Assembly - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PRDS 71, AC 1, independents and other 7 |
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| Life expectancy at birth | total population:
51.14 years male: 49.06 years female: 53.29 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 63.94 years
male: 62.28 years female: 65.67 years (2002 est.) |
| Literacy | definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 46.7% male: 53.4% female: 40% (1998 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 77% male: 83% female: 71% (1995 est.) |
| Location | Northern Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Senegal and Western Sahara | - |
| Map references | Africa | Physical Map of the World, Political Map of the World, Standard Time Zones of the World |
| Maritime claims | contiguous zone:
24 NM continental shelf: 200 NM or to the edge of the continental margin exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
a variety of situations exist, but in general, most countries make the following claims: contiguous zone - 24 NM; continental shelf - 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation, or 200 NM or to the edge of the continental margin; exclusive fishing zone - 200 NM; exclusive economic zone - 200 NM; territorial sea - 12 NM; boundary situations with neighboring states prevent many countries from extending their fishing or economic zones to a full 200 NM; 43 nations and other areas that are landlocked include Afghanistan, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Czech Republic, Ethiopia, Holy See (Vatican City), Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malawi, Mali, Moldova, Mongolia, Nepal, Niger, Paraguay, Rwanda, San Marino, Slovakia, Swaziland, Switzerland, Tajikistan, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Uzbekistan, West Bank, Zambia, Zimbabwe; two of these, Liechtenstein and Uzbekistan, are doubly landlocked |
| Merchant marine | none (2000 est.) | - |
| Military branches | Army, Navy, Air Force, National Gendarmerie, National Guard, National Police, Presidential Guard | - |
| Military expenditures - dollar figure | $41 million (FY97/98) | aggregate real expenditure on arms worldwide in 1999 remained at approximately the 1998 level, about three-quarters of a trillion dollars (1999 est.) |
| Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 2.7% (FY97/98) | roughly 2% of gross world product (1999 est.) |
| Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
624,375 (2001 est.) |
- |
| Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
302,699 (2001 est.) |
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| National holiday | Independence Day, 28 November (1960) | - |
| Nationality | noun:
Mauritanian(s) adjective: Mauritanian |
- |
| Natural hazards | hot, dry, dust/sand-laden sirocco wind blows primarily in March and April; periodic droughts | large areas subject to severe weather (tropical cyclones), natural disasters (earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions) |
| Natural resources | iron ore, gypsum, fish, copper, phosphate, diamonds, gold | the rapid depletion of nonrenewable mineral resources, the depletion of forest areas and wetlands, the extinction of animal and plant species, and the deterioration in air and water quality (especially in Eastern Europe, the former USSR, and China) pose serious long-term problems that governments and peoples are only beginning to address |
| Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | - |
| Political parties and leaders | Action for Change or AC [Messoud Ould BOULKHEIR]; Assembly for Democracy and Unity or RDU [Ahmed Ould SIDI BABA]; Democratic and Social Republican Party or PRDS (ruling party) [President Col. Maaouya Ould Sid Ahmed TAYA]; Mauritanian Party for Renewal and Concorde or PMRC [Molaye El Hassen Ould JIYID]; National Union for Democracy and Development or UNDD [Tidjane KOITA]; Party for Liberty, Equality and Justice or PLEJ [Daouda M'BAGNIGA]; Popular Front or FP [Ch'bih Ould CHEIKH MALAININE]; Popular Progress Alliance or APP [Mohamed El Hafed Ould ISMAEL]; Popular Social and Democratic Union or UPSD [Mohamed Mahmoud Ould MAH]; Progress Force Union or UFP [Mohamed Ould MOLOUD]; Union for Progress and Democracy or UNDD [Naha Mint MOUKNASS]
note: parties legalized by constitution ratified 12 July 1991; however, politics continue to be tribally based |
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| Political pressure groups and leaders | Arab nationalists; Ba'athists; General Confederation of Mauritanian Workers or CGTM [Abdallahi Ould MOHAMED, secretary general]; Independent Confederation of Mauritanian Workers or CLTM [Samory Ould BEYE]; Islamists; Mauritanian Workers Union or UTM [Mohamed Ely Ould BRAHIM, secretary general] | - |
| Population | 2,747,312 (July 2001 est.) | 6,233,821,945 (July 2002 est.) |
| Population below poverty line | 50% (1996 est.) | - |
| Population growth rate | 2.93% (2001 est.) | 1.23% (2002 est.) |
| Ports and harbors | Bogue, Kaedi, Nouadhibou, Nouakchott, Rosso | Chiba, Houston, Kawasaki, Kobe, Marseille, Mina' al Ahmadi (Kuwait), New Orleans, New York, Rotterdam, Yokohama |
| Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 1 (1998) | AM NA, FM NA, shortwave NA |
| Radios | 360,000 (1997) | NA |
| Railways | total:
750 km (single track); note - owned and operated by government mining company standard gauge: 750 km 1.435-m gauge (1995) |
total: 1,201,337 km includes about 190,000 to 195,000 km of electrified routes of which 147,760 km are in Europe, 24,509 km in the Far East, 11,050 km in Africa, 4,223 km in South America, and 4,160 km in North America; note - fastest speed in daily service is 300 km/hr attained by France's Societe Nationale des Chemins-de-Fer Francais (SNCF) Le Train a Grande Vitesse (TGV) - Atlantique line
broad gauge: 251,153 km standard gauge: 710,754 km narrow gauge: 239,430 km |
| Religions | Muslim 100% | Christians 32.88% (of which Roman Catholics 17.39%, Protestants 5.62%, Orthodox 3.54%, Anglicans 1.31%), Muslims 19.54%, Hindus 13.34%, Buddhists 5.92%, Sikhs 0.38%, Jews 0.24%, other religions 12.6%, non-religious 12.63%, atheists 2.47% (2000 est.) |
| Sex ratio | at birth:
1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.71 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.78 male(s)/female total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2002 est.) |
| Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | - |
| Telephone system | general assessment:
limited system of cable and open-wire lines, minor microwave radio relay links, and radiotelephone communications stations (improvements being made) domestic: mostly cable and open-wire lines; a recently completed domestic satellite telecommunications system links Nouakchott with regional capitals international: satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) and 2 Arabsat |
general assessment: NA
domestic: NA international: NA |
| Telephones - main lines in use | 26,000 (2000) | NA |
| Telephones - mobile cellular | NA | NA |
| Television broadcast stations | 1 (1997) | NA |
| Terrain | mostly barren, flat plains of the Sahara; some central hills | the greatest ocean depth is the Mariana Trench at 10,924 m in the Pacific Ocean |
| Total fertility rate | 6.22 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 2.7 children born/woman (2002 est.) |
| Unemployment rate | 23% (1995 est.) | 30% combined unemployment and underemployment in many non-industrialized countries; developed countries typically 4%-12% unemployment (2001 est.) |
| Waterways | note:
ferry traffic on the Senegal River |
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