Country · Africa
Mauritania
Islamic Republic of Mauritania
Mauritania is a country in Western Africa. About 4.4 million people live there, in an area of 1 030 700 square kilometres. Its capital city is Nouakchott.
Picture credit: Seriouslyfab (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Michal Huniewicz (CC BY 3.0) · ليو (CC BY-SA 4.0) · François COLIN (CC BY-SA 2.5) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Mauritania?
Mauritania lies in Western Africa, on the continent of Africa.
It sits in the northern half of the world, roughly 2 226 km from the equator.
Its coastline is about 754 km long.
It shares a border with 4 countries: Algeria, Mali, the Senegal and Western Sahara.
How big is Mauritania?
Mauritania covers 1 030 700 square kilometres.
That is about 10 times the size of Iceland.
Among the world's countries that makes it the 28th largest.
Spread everybody out evenly and you get about 4.3 people on every square kilometre.
That is emptier than the world average of roughly 60 people per square kilometre.
Who lives in Mauritania?
About 4.4 million people live in Mauritania.
That is the 125th biggest population in the world.
People here speak Arabic.
They pay with the Mauritanian ouguiya (UM).
On average, people born here can expect to live about 51 years.
The land of Mauritania
The land of Mauritania sits on average 276 metres above sea level.
Its coast runs for about 754 km. Walking it end to end, at twenty kilometres a day, would take roughly 38 days.
It lies inside the tropics, which is the single biggest reason its weather is the way it is.
What makes Mauritania different?
Dishes the country is known for: Thieboudienne and Couscous.
Websites from here often end in .mr.
Mauritania and the rest of the world
Out of every thousand people alive on Earth, about one lives in Mauritania.
It takes up about 0.77 % of all the land that countries stand on.
Within Africa the country ranks 11th of 54 by size, and 40th by population.
Mauritania and its neighbours
Algeria, its largest neighbour, is about 2.3 times bigger.
Algeria has more people: 42.2 million against 4.4 million.
Nature and animals
Of the animals on this site, 3 live wild in Mauritania: Dromedary, Desert locust and Fennec fox. The highest mountain in the country is Kediet ej Jill, at 915 metres. The longest river in the country is the Senegal. The largest lake in the country is Lake R'Kiz.
Photographs from Wikimedia Commons under free licences — every credit is on the page itself and in the picture credits.
Where this country lands in the record lists
How big is Mauritania compared with the United States?
- The United States is about 9.1 times as big as Mauritania: 9 372 610 km² against 1 030 700 km².
- Mauritania is about 4.2 times as big as the United Kingdom: 1 030 700 km² against 242 900 km².
Questions children ask
What is the capital of Mauritania?
The capital of Mauritania is Nouakchott. It is the city where the country's government works from.
How many people live in Mauritania?
About 4.4 million people live in Mauritania, which makes it the 125th most populated country in the world. (Source: World Bank, 2018.)
Which countries border Mauritania?
Mauritania borders Algeria, Mali, the Senegal and Western Sahara — 4 neighbours in total.
How big is Mauritania?
Mauritania covers 1 030 700 square kilometres, making it the 28th largest country in the world. That is about 10 times the size of Iceland.
What is the highest mountain in Mauritania?
The highest mountain in Mauritania is Kediet ej Jill, 915 metres above sea level. It is the country's highest point.
What is the longest river in Mauritania?
The longest river in Mauritania is the Senegal. The whole river measures about 1 086 kilometres, and part of that course runs through the country.
What is the largest lake in Mauritania?
The largest lake in Mauritania is Lake R'Kiz. It covers about 130 km².
Which continent is Mauritania in?
Mauritania is in Africa, in the part called Western Africa.
Where these numbers come from
Borders and outlines: Natural Earth. Names, capitals, areas, languages and currencies: ISO 3166 data (world-countries). Population: World Bank, 2018. Every derived figure on this page (ranks, density, distance from the equator) is calculated from those values.
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