_#_Disputes: boundary with Senegal
_#_Climate: desert; constantly hot, dry, dusty
_#_Terrain: mostly barren, flat plains of the Sahara; some central
hills
_#_Natural resources: iron ore, gypsum, fish, copper, phosphate
_#_Land use: arable land 1%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and
pastures 38%; forest and woodland 5%; other 56%; includes irrigated
NEGL%
_#_Environment: hot, dry, dust/sand-laden sirocco wind blows primarily
in March and April; desertification; only perennial river is the Senegal
_*_People
_#_Population: 1,995,755 (July 1991), growth rate 3.1% (1991)
_#_Birth rate: 49 births/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Death rate: 18 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Infant mortality rate: 94 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
_#_Life expectancy at birth: 44 years male, 50 years female (1991)
_#_Total fertility rate: 7.2 children born/woman (1991)
_#_Nationality: noun--Mauritanian(s); adjective--Mauritanian
_#_Ethnic divisions: mixed Maur/black 40%, Maur 30%, black 30%
_#_Religion: Muslim, nearly 100%
_#_Language: Hasaniya Arabic (national); French (official);
Toucouleur, Fula, Sarakole, Wolof
_#_Literacy: 34% (male 47%, female 21%) age 10 and over can
read and write (1990 est.)
_#_Labor force: 465,000 (1981 est.); 45,000 wage earners (1980);
agriculture 47%, services 29%, industry and commerce 14%, government 10%;
53% of population of working age (1985)
_#_Organized labor: 30,000 members claimed by single union,
Mauritanian Workers' Union
_*_Government
_#_Long-form name: Islamic Republic of Mauritania
_#_Type: republic; military first seized power in bloodless coup
10 July 1978; a palace coup that took place on 12 December 1984 brought
President Taya to power
_#_Capital: Nouakchott
_#_Administrative divisions: 12 regions (regions,
singular--region); Adrar, Brakna, Dakhlet Nouadhibou, El Acaba,
Gorgol, Guidimaka, Hodh ech Chargui, Hodh el Gharbi, Inchiri, Tagant,
Tiris Zemmour, Trarza; note--there may be a new capital district of
Nouakchott
_#_Independence: 28 November 1960 (from France)
_#_Constitution: 20 May 1961, abrogated after coup of 10 July 1978;
provisional constitution published 17 December 1980 but abandoned in
1981; new constitutional charter published 27 February 1985
_#_Legal system: based on Islamic law
_#_National holiday: Independence Day, 28 November (1960)
_#_Executive branch: president, Military Committee for National
Salvation (CMSN), Council of Ministers (cabinet)
_#_Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly (Assemblee
Nationale), dissolved after 10 July 1978 coup; legislative power
resides with the CMSN
_#_Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Cour Supreme)
_#_Leaders:
Chief of State and Head of Government--President Col. Maaouya Ould
SidAhmed TAYA (since 12 December 1984)
_#_Political parties and leaders: suspended
_#_Suffrage: none
_#_Elections: last presidential election August 1976; National
Assembly dissolved 10 July 1978; no national elections are scheduled
_#_Communists: no Communist party, but there is a scattering of Maoist
sympathizers
_#_Member of: ABEDA, ACCT (associate), ACP, AfDB, AFESD, AL, AMF, AMU,
CAEU, CCC, CEAO, ECA, ECOWAS, FAO, G-77, GATT, IBRD, ICAO, IDA,
IDB, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, LORCS,
NAM, OAU, OIC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
_#_Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Abdellah OULD DADDAH;
Chancery at 2129 Leroy Place NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202)
232-5700;
US--Ambassador William H. TWADDELL; Embassy at address NA,
Nouakchott (mailing address is B. P. 222, Nouakchott); telephone [222]
(2) 252-660 or 252-663
_#_Flag: 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
_*_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 that
account for almost 50% 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 recent
years, the droughts, the conflict with Senegal, rising energy costs,
and economic mismanagement have resulted in a substantial buildup of
foreign debt. The government now has begun the second stage of an
economic reform program in consultation with the World Bank, the IMF,
and major donor countries.
_#_GDP: $942 million, per capita $500; real growth rate 3.5% (1989
est.)
_#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): 8.2% (1989 est.)
_#_Unemployment rate: 21% (1989 est.)
_#_Budget: revenues $280 million; expenditures $346 million, including
capital expenditures of $61 million (1989 est.)
_#_Exports: $519 million (f.o.b., 1989);
commodities--iron ore, processed fish, small amounts of gum arabic
and gypsum, unrecorded but numerically significant cattle exports to
Senegal;
partners--EC 57%, Japan 39%, Ivory Coast 2%
_#_Imports: $567 million (c.i.f., 1989);
commodities--foodstuffs, consumer goods, petroleum products,
capital goods;
partners--EC 79%, Africa 5%, US 4%, Japan 2%
_#_External debt: $2.3 billion (December 1989)
_#_Industrial production: growth rate 4.4% (1988 est.); accounts
for 10% of GDP
_#_Electricity: 189,000 kW capacity; 136 million kWh produced,
70 kWh per capita (1989)
_#_Industries: fishing, fish processing, mining of iron ore and gypsum
_#_Agriculture: accounts for 29% of GDP (including fishing); largely
subsistence farming and nomadic cattle and sheep herding except in
Senegal river valley; crops--dates, millet, sorghum, root crops; fish
products number-one export; large food deficit in years of drought
_#_Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $168
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1970-88), $1.2 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $490 million;
Communist countries (1970-89), $277 million
_#_Currency: ouguiya (plural--ouguiya); 1 ouguiya (UM) = 5 khoums
_#_Exchange rates: ouguiya (UM) per US$1--77.450 (January 1991),
80.609 (1990), 83.051 (1989), 75.261 (1988), 73.878 (1987), 74.375
(1986), 77.085 (1985)
_#_Fiscal year: calendar year
_*_Communications
_#_Railroads: 670 km 1.435-meter standard gauge, single track, owned
and operated by government mining company
_#_Highways: 7,525 km total; 1,685 km paved; 1,040 km gravel, crushed
stone, or otherwise improved; 4,800 km unimproved roads, trails, tracks
_#_Inland waterways: mostly ferry traffic on the Senegal River
_#_Ports: Nouadhibou, Nouakchott
_#_Merchant marine: 1 cargo ship (1,000 GRT or over) totaling
1,290 GRT/1,840 DWT
_#_Civil air: 2 major transport aircraft
_#_Airports: 30 total, 29 usable; 9 with permanent-surface runways;
none with runways over 3,659 m; 4 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 17 with
runways 1,220-2,439 m
_#_Telecommunications: poor system of cable and open-wire lines, minor
radio relay links, and radio communications stations; 5,200 telephones;
stations--2 AM, no FM, 1 TV; satellite earth stations--1 Atlantic Ocean
INTELSAT and 2 ARABSAT, with a third planned
_*_Defense Forces
_#_Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, National Gendarmerie, National
Guard, National Police, Presidential Guard, Nomad Security Guard
_#_Manpower availability: males 15-49, 423,501; 206,733 fit for
military service; conscription law not implemented
_#_Defense expenditures: $37 million, 4.2% of GDP (1987)
_%_
_@_Mauritius
_*_Geography
_#_Total area: 1,860 km2; land area: 1,850 km2; includes Agalega
Islands, Cargados Carajos Shoals (Saint Brandon), and Rodrigues
_#_Comparative area: slightly less than 10.5 times the size of
Washington, DC
_#_Land boundaries: none
_#_Coastline: 177 km
_#_Maritime claims:
Continental shelf: edge of continental margin or 200 nm;
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;