238 lines
19 KiB
Plaintext
238 lines
19 KiB
Plaintext
MAURITANIA
|
||
GEOGRAPHY
|
||
Total area: 1,030,700 km2; land area: 1,030,400 km2
|
||
|
||
Comparative area: slightly larger than three times the size of
|
||
New Mexico
|
||
|
||
Land boundaries: 5,074 km total; Algeria 463 km, Mali 2,237 km,
|
||
Senegal 813 km, Western Sahara 1,561 km
|
||
|
||
Coastline: 754 km
|
||
|
||
Maritime claims:
|
||
|
||
Continental shelf: edge of continental margin or 200 nm;
|
||
|
||
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;
|
||
|
||
Territorial sea: 12 nm
|
||
|
||
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)
|
||
|
||
|