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: The African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States, The African Union, The Arab League, The Non-Aligned Movement, Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, The Organisation of Islamic Conference, The United Nations, The World Trade Organisation

Borders: Algeria, Mali, Senegal, Western Sahara (Moroccan occupied)
Coastline: Atlantic Ocean
Land area: 1,030,700 Km2
Population: 2,800,000
Ethnicity: Two thirds of the population are classified as Moors, meaning of mixed Arab and Berber descent. The remainder are of West African descent.
Languages: Standard Arabic and French are the official languages, but over 65% speak Hassaniyya, a 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 / Assemblée Nationale) has 81 members, elected for five-year terms from single-member constituencies. The Senate (Majlis al-Shuyukh / Sénat) has 56 members, of whom 53 are elected for six-year terms by municipal councillors. Three members represent Mauritanians abroad.
Electoral authority: The Ministry of the Interior administers national elections.
Freedom House 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.

Mokhtar Ould Daddah

Mauritania's first president, Mokhtar Ould Daddah, who was married to a daughter of Charles de Gaulle, 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 remains authoritarian, and opposition parties boycotted both the 1997 presidential elections and the 2001 legislative elections.