The most interesting facts about Mauritania, from the last country in the world to abolish slavery to the world’s longest train.
Fast facts
Official name: Islamic Republic of Mauritania
Capital city: Nouakchott
Population: 4.6 million
Area: 1,030,700 sq km
Major languages: Arabic, Pular, Soninke, Wolof, French
Time zone: UTC 0 (Greenwich Mean Time)
Interesting facts about Mauritania
1. Mauritania is located in North and West Africa bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, Algeria, Western Sahara, Mali and Senegal.
2. The name Mauritania originates from the ancient kingdom of Mauretania which itself derives from Mauri (meaning Moors), the Berber-speaking people of Northwest Africa.
3. Founded in the 3rd century, the UNESCO-listed Archaeological Site of Volubilis in modern-day Morocco was the capital of Mauritania and showcases extensive remains of the Roman city that was built there.
4. The modern capital of Mauritania, Nouakchott, likely derives from the Berber “nawakshut” meaning “place of the winds”.
5. During the 1850s and 1860s, France gained control of southern Mauritania. In 1904, Mauritania was established as a French colonial territory.
6. The Mauritanian flag has a green background with a central crescent and star and red bands at the top and bottom. The the red stripes were added in 2017 to commemorate the bloodshed of Mauritanians who died defending the country.
See how Mauritania’s flag compares to other African flags.
7. Mauritania became the last country in the world to abolish slavery when the practice was finally banned in 1981. In 2012, it was estimated that 10% to 20% of the population still lived in slavery.
8. Mauritania formed part of the Dakar Rally, first held in 1978–79 and covering nearly 15,000km (over 9,300mi) between Southern Europe and Senegal. It is considered to be the world’s most grueling automobile race. In 2009, the rally was relocated to South America after safety concerns in Mauritania led organizers to cancel the 2008 event.
9. Mauritania includes part of the largest desert in the world. The Sahara Desert, with a total area of 9,200,000 square kilometers (3,600,000 sq mi), covers much of North Africa.
10. In fact, approximately 90% of Mauritania is desert which has caused persistent droughts throughout the country.
11. Over one-fifth of Mauritania’s population live in poverty. Malnutrition is widespread with 9.8% of young children suffering from acute malnutrition.
12. Mauritania is home to the Richat Structure, sometimes referred to as “Eye of the Sahara” or the “Eye of Africa”. Seen from space, the circular geologic feature measures 50km (31mi) across and is believed to be caused by an uplifted dome that has been eroded to expose onion-like layers of rock.
13. Mauritania is one of Africa’s least densely populated countries and the 10th-least densely populated country in the world, with approximately 5 people per square kilometer of land area.
14. Mauritania currently records no measurable impact from terrorism over the past five years, according to the Global Terrorism Index (GTI).
15. The UNESCO-listed Ancient Ksour of Ouadane, Chinguetti, Tichitt and Oualata are four ancient towns founded in the 11th and 12th centuries to serve the trade routes that began crossing the Sahara.
16. The world’s largest ship graveyard was once located in Mauritania. Near the city of Nouadhibou, hundreds of wrecks have been grounded in shallow water where they are scavenged or left to decay.
17. Mauritania is rich in mineral resources which include iron ore, gold, copper, gypsum and phosphate rock.
18. Mauritania is also one of Africa’s newest oil producers after the Chinguetti oil field was discovered in 2001 with potential reserves of approximately 34 million barrels of oil.
19. In 2019, one of the world’s largest discoveries of natural gas was also found in Mauritanian offshore waters with a potential of 50 trillion cubic feet of gas – equivalent to around 8.9 billion barrels of oil.
20. Mauritania has one of the longest trains in the world. The “Iron-ore Train” or “Train du Desert” is frequently up to 3km long and travels from the iron ore mines at Zouérat to Nouâdhibou.
21. The currency of Mauritania is the ouguiya which divides into five khoums. It is one of only two non-decimal currencies (not divisible by units of 10 or 100) the other being the Malagasy ariary currency of Madagascar.
22. The UNESCO-listed Parc National du Banc d’Arguin is one of the best birdwatching sites in Africa and is home to an array of wildlife including a wide variety of thousands of migrating birds and several species of sea turtle and dolphin.
23. In 1989, race riots erupted in Mauritania and Senegal after a border dispute. More than 40,000 black Mauritanians were driven out of the country into Senegal.
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Caitriona Maria is an education writer and owner of The Facts Institute. With seven years of teaching experience and a background in educational content, she specialises in creating clear reference resources about countries, geography and global topics.