ISLAMIC REPUBLIC
OF MAURITANIA

• Official name: Al-Jumhuriya al-Islamiya al-Muritaniya / Republique Islamique du Mauritanie (Islamic Republic of Mauritania)
• Location: West Africa
• International organisations: African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States, African Union, Arab League, Non-Aligned Movement, Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, Organisation of Islamic Conference, United Nations, World Trade Organisation
• Borders: Algeria, Mali, Senegal, Western Sahara (Moroccan occupied)
• Coastline: Atlantic Ocean
• Land area: 1,030,700 Km2
• Population: 3,300,000
• Annual GDP (PPP) per capita: US$2,100 (2009 CIA estimate). World ranking: 153
• Ethnicity: Two thirds of the population are classified as Moors, meaning of mixed Arab and Berber descent. The remainder are of West African descent, many the descendants of slaves and socially marginalised.
• Languages: Standard Arabic and French are the official languages, but the Moors speak Hassaniyya, a local dialect form of Arabic. A number of African languages including Pulaar, Soninke and Wolof are spoken in the south. French is widely used in government and business.
• Religion: Islam is the state religion and almost the entire population are Sunni Moslems.
• Form of government: Presidential republic. Mauritania is divided into 12 regions and the capital city district.
• Capital: Nouakchott
• Constitution: The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania came into effect on 12 July 1991.
• Head of state: The President, in theory elected by direct universal suffrage for a six-year term.
• Head of government: The Prime Minister, appointed by the President and in practice accountable to him.
• Legislature: Mauritania has a bicameral legislature, the Parliament (Barlamane / Parlement). The National Assembly (Al Jamiya al-Wataniyah / Assemblee Nationale) has 95 members, elected for five-year terms from single-member constituencies. The Senate (Majlis al-Shuyukh / Senat) has 56 members, of whom 53 are elected for six-year terms by municipal councillors. Three members represent Mauritanians abroad. The legislature has no website.
• Electoral authority: The Ministry of the Interior administers national elections.
• Freedom House 2009 rating: Political Rights 6, Civil Liberties 5

Political history

The coastal areas of Mauritania were ruled by several independent Arab emirates until late in the 19th century, when the French advanced into the area from Senegal. In 1900 Mauritania was formally annexed by France and 1904 it was incorporated into French West Africa. In 1920 Mauritania became a separate colony, and in 1946 a local assembly was established. Mauritania became self- governing within the French Community in 1958 and independence followed in November 1960.

Mauritania's first president, Mokhtar Ould Daddah, established a typical African one-party state, though not a particularly oppressive one. In 1976 he joined with Morocco in partitioning the Spanish territory of Western Sahara. The resulting guerilla warfare by Saharan nationlists, combined with a prolonged drought, increased discontent with Daddah's regime and he was deposed in a coup in 1978.

After a period of miltary rule, a second coup in 1984 brought Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya to power. In 1991 he agreed to a restoration of civilian government and multi-party politics, and he was elected President in 1992. His regime remained authoritarian, and opposition parties boycotted both the 1997 presidential elections and the 2001 legislative elections.

In June 2003 there was an unsuccessful coup attempt, apparently staged by Islamist radicals. In August 2005 a second coup succeeded in toppling Taya. The new regime held presidential elections in 2007, which one of its members, Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, won. These were the first genuine free elections in the country's history. Almost immediately, however, the officers who had staged the 2005 fell out among themselves, and in August 2008 General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz staged yet another coup. Like his predecessor, Abdel Aziz sought to legitimise his rule by holding elections, and in May 2009 he was duly elected, polling 53% against a divided opposition. Although observers from the African Union pronounced the election "satifactory," Abdel Aziz had great advantages of incumbency.

Freedom House's 2009 report on Mauritania (which was written before the 2009 presidential election) says: "Mauritania is not an electoral democracy. The transitional elections of 2006 and 2007 were generally praised by independent observers, but constitutional government was suspended by the August 2008 coup... Mauritania was ranked 115 out of 180 countries surveyed in Transparency International's 2008 Corruption Perceptions Index... Press freedom generally improved under the transitional government and during Abdellahi’s presidency, but journalists continued to practice self-censorship... The military imposed new media restrictions after the 2008 coup... Mauritania was declared an Islamic republic under the 1991 constitution, and proselytising by non-Muslims is banned... The 1991 constitution guaranteed freedoms of association and assembly, and conditions grew more permissive when civilian rule was restored after the 2005 coup... The judicial system is heavily influenced by the government. Many decisions are shaped by Sharia (Islamic law), especially in family and civil matters... Despite a 1981 law banning slavery in Mauritania, an estimated half a million black Mauritanians are believed to live in conditions of servitude."

Updated February 2010