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Mauritania |
Capital: Nouakchott
Languages: Arabic (official), Pulaar, Soninke, French, Hassaniya, Wolof
Currency: Ouguiya (MRO)
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. 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.
PEOPLE
Population: 3,270,065 (July 2007 est.); 3,205,060 (July 2010 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
2007
Total Population: 53.51 years
Male: 51.24 years
Female: 55.85 years (2007 est.)
2010
Total population: 60.75 years
Male: 58.57 years
Female: 62.99 years (2010 est.)
Age structure:
2007
0-14 years: 45.5% (male 744,995/female 741,369)
15-64 years: 52.4% (male 845,272/female 866,998)
65 years and over: 2.2% (male 28,564/female 42,867) (2007 est.)
2010
0-14 years: 41% (male 643,436/female 638,793)
15-64 years: 55.7% (male 818,778/female 923,046)
65 years and over: 3.4% (male 44,836/female 60,597) (2010 est.)
Population growth rate: 2.867% (2007 est.); 2.373% (2010 est.)
Population below poverty line: 40% (2004 est.)
HIV/AIDS adult prevalence rate: 0.7% (2006 est.); 0.8% (2007 est.)
People living with HIV/AIDS: 12,000 (2006 est.); 14,000 (2007 est.)
Literacy - definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total Population: 51.2%
Male: 59.5%
Female: 43.4% (2000 census)
Refugees and Internally Displaced People: N/A
ECONOMY
Unemployment rate: N/A
Labour force by Occupation: agriculture: 50%; industry: 10% ; services: 40% (2001 est.)
Agricultural Products: dates, millet, sorghum, rice, corn; cattle, sheep
Industries: fish processing, mining of iron ore and gypsum
Exports - Commodities: iron ore, fish and fish products, gold
Exports - Partners:
China 26.3%, Italy 11.8%, France 10.2%, Belgium 6.8%, Spain 6.7%, Japan 5.4%, Cote d'Ivoire 4.6% (2006)
China 42.06%, Italy 9.71%, Japan 7.57%, Cote d'Ivoire 6.16%, Spain 5.63%, Netherlands 4.32% (2009)
Imports - Commodities: machinery and equipment, petroleum products, capital goods, foodstuffs, consumer goods
Imports - Partners:
France 11.9%, China 8.2%, Belgium 6.8%, US 6.8%, Italy 5.9%, Brazil 5.5%, Spain 5.4% (2006)
France 14.3%, Netherlands 10.33%, China 9.94%, Brazil 5.58%, Belgium 4.87%, Germany 4.04%, Spain 4.02% (2009)
ENVIRONMENT
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; locust infestation
Natural hazards: hot, dry, dust/sand-laden sirocco wind blows primarily in March and April; periodic droughts
Source: CIA World Factbook
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