Mauritania

total:

1.7 cu km/yr (9%/3%/88%)

per capita:

554 cu m/yr (2000)

• overgrazing, deforestation, and soil erosion aggravated by drought are contributing to desertification;
• limited natural freshwater resources away from the Senegal, which is the only perennial river;
• locust infestation

party to:

Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling

signed, but not ratified:

none of the selected agreements

noun:

Mauritanian(s)

adjective:

Mauritanian

at birth:

1.03 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.01 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

0.89 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.74 male(s)/female

total population:

0.93 male(s)/female (2011 est.)

degree of risk:

high

food or waterborne diseases:

bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

vectorborne diseases:

malaria and Rift Valley fever

respiratory disease:

meningococcal meningitis

animal contact disease:

rabies (2009)

conventional long form:

Islamic Republic of Mauritania

conventional short form:

Mauritania

local long form:

Al Jumhuriyah al Islamiyah al Muritaniyah

local short form:

Muritaniyah

name:

Nouakchott

geographic coordinates:

18 04 N, 15 58 W

time difference:

UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

chief of state:

• President Mohamed Ould Abdel AZIZ (since 5 August 2009);
• note - AZIZ, who deposed democratically elected President Sidi Ould Cheikh ABDELLAHI in a coup and installed himself as President of the High State Council on 6 August 2008, retired from the military and stepped down from the presidency in April 2009 to run for president;
• he was elected president in an election held on 18 July 2009

head of government:

Prime Minister Moulaye Ould Mohamed LAGHDAF (since 14 August 2008)

cabinet:

Council of Ministers; (For more information visit theWorld Leaders website)

elections:

president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held on 18 July 2009 (next to be held by 2014)

election results:

percent of vote - Mohamed Ould Abdel AZIZ 52.6%, Messaoud Ould BOULKHEIR 16.3%, Ahmed Ould DADDAH 13.7%, other 17.4%

• Supreme Court or Cour Supreme;
• Court of Appeals;
• lower courts

• Alternative or El-Badil [Mohamed Yahdhi Ould MOCTAR HACEN];
• Coalition of Majority Parties or CPM (parties supporting the regime including
  • PRDR,
  • UPR,
  • RD,
  • HATEM-PMUC,
  • UCD)
  ;
• Coordination of Democratic Opposition or COD (coalition of opposition political parties opposed to the government including
  • APP,
  • RFD,
  • UFP,
  • PNDD-ADIL,
  • Alternative or El-Badil)
  ;
• Democratic Renewal or RD [Moustapha Ould ABDEIDARRAHMANE];
• Mauritanian Party for Unity and Change or HATEM-PMUC [Saleh Ould HANENA];
• National Pact for Democracy and Development or PNDD-ADIL [Yahya Ould Ahmed El WAGHEF] (independents formerly supporting President Abdellahi);
• National Rally for Freedom, Democracy and Equality or RNDLE;
• National Rally for Reform and Development or RNRD-TAWASSOUL [Mohamed Jamil MANSOUR] (moderate Islamists);
• Popular Front or FP [Ch'bih Ould CHEIKH MALAININE];
• Popular Progressive Alliance or APP [Messoud Ould BOULKHEIR];
• Rally of Democratic Forces or RFD [Ahmed Ould DADDAH];
• Republican Party for Democracy and Renewal or PRDR [Mintata Mint HDEID];
• Socialist and Democratic Unity Party or PUDS;
• Union for Democracy and Progress or UDP [Naha Mint MOUKNASS];
• Union for the Republic or UPR;
• Union of Democratic Center or UCD [Cheikh Sid'Ahmed Ould BABA];
• Union of the Forces for Progress or UFP [Mohamed Ould MAOULOUD];

• General Confederation of Mauritanian Workers or CGTM [Abdallahi Ould MOHAMED, secretary general];
• Independent Confederation of Mauritanian Workers or CLTM [Samory Ould BEYE];
• Mauritanian Workers Union or UTM [Mohamed Ely Ould BRAHIM, secretary general]

other:

• Arab nationalists;
• Ba'thists;
• Islamists

chief of mission:

Ambassador Mohamed Lemine El HAYCEN

chancery:

2129 Leroy Place NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone:

[1] (202) 232-5700 through 5701

FAX:

[1] (202) 319-2623

chief of mission:

Ambassador Jo Ellen POWELL

embassy:

288 Rue Abdallaye, Rue 42-100 (between Presidency building and Spanish Embassy), Nouakchott

mailing address:

BP 222, Nouakchott

telephone:

[222] 525-2660 through 2663

FAX:

[222] 525-1592

• 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;
• the gold color stands for the sands of the Sahara

name:

"Hymne National de la Republique Islamique de Mauritanie" (National Anthem of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania)

lyrics/music:

Baba Ould CHEIKH/traditional, arranged by Tolia NIKIPROWETZKY

note: adopted 1960; the unique rhythm of the Mauritanian anthem makes it particularly challenging to sing

agriculture:

50%

industry:

10%

services:

40% (2001 est.)

lowest 10%:

2.5%

highest 10%:

29.5% (2000)

general assessment:

• limited system of cable and open-wire lines, minor microwave radio relay links, and radiotelephone communications stations;
• mobile-cellular services expanding rapidly

domestic:

• Mauritel, the national telecommunications company, was privatized in 2001 but remains the monopoly provider of fixed-line services;
• fixed-line teledensity 2 per 100 persons;
• mobile-cellular network coverage extends mainly to urban areas with a teledensity of roughly 100 per 100 persons;
• mostly cable and open-wire lines;
• a domestic satellite telecommunications system links Nouakchott with regional capitals

international:

• country code - 222;
• satellite earth stations - 3 (1 Intelsat - Atlantic Ocean, 2 Arabsat);
• fiber-optic and Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) cables for Internet access

• broadcast media state-owned;
• 1 state-run TV and 1 state-run radio network;
• Television de Mauritanie, the state-run TV station, has an additional 6 regional TV stations that provide local programming (2008)

total:

11,066 km

country comparison to the world: 133

paved:

2,966 km

unpaved:

8,100 km (2006)

• 18 years of age for obligatory conscription of all males;
• conscript service obligation - 2 years;
• majority of servicemen believed to be volunteers;
• service in Air Force and Navy is voluntary (2006)

males age 16-49:

718,713

females age 16-49:

804,622 (2010 est.)

males age 16-49:

480,042

females age 16-49:

581,473 (2010 est.)

male:

36,116

female:

36,826 (2010 est.)

current situation:

• Mauritania is a source and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to conditions of forced labor and sex trafficking;
• women, men, and children from traditional slave castes are subjected to slavery-related practices rooted in ancestral master-slave relationships;
• Mauritanian boys called talibe are trafficked within the country by religious teachers for forced begging;
• Mauritanian girls, as well as girls from Mali, Senegal, The Gambia, and other West African countries, are forced into domestic servitude;
• Mauritanian women and girls are forced into prostitution in the country or transported to countries in the Middle East for the same purpose

tier rating:

• Tier 3 - the Government of Mauritania does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so;
• the government acknowledges that some forms of trafficking are a problem in the country, and during the year, it created a multi-stakeholder body to lead its efforts related to child trafficking, child smuggling, and child labor;
• hereditary slavery was officially outlawed in 2007, but many officials do not recognize that the practice continues despite its prohibition;
• the government did not take proactive measures to identify trafficking victims or provide them with protective services, and it continued to jail individuals in prostitution and detain illegal migrants without screening either population for trafficking victims (2009)