Mauritania

Mauritania is a country located in Western Africa along the North Atlantic Ocean, between Senegal and Western Sahara, covering an area of approximately 1.03 million square kilometers. As of 2025, Mauritania has a population of over 5.2 million, with Arabic as the official and national language alongside Pular, Soninke, Wolof, and French. The country is mostly barren, flat plains of the Sahara with some central hills, experiencing a desert climate that is constantly hot, dry, and dusty. Nouakchott serves as the capital, and the government operates as a presidential republic.

Mauritania has a lower-middle-income economy with a GDP of $10.77 billion and a GDP per capita of $6,400, driven by iron ore, gypsum, copper, phosphate, diamonds, gold, oil, and fish. Key agricultural products include rice, milk, goat milk, sorghum, dates, and livestock, while natural resources include iron ore, gypsum, copper, phosphate, diamonds, gold, oil, and fish. The unemployment rate is 10.3% as of 2025, with a literacy rate of 59.5% and a life expectancy of 68.7 years. Mauritania faces challenges including systemic corruption, terrorism, foreign over-fishing, environmental fragility, and a primarily agrarian economy vulnerable to drought.