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.

@Mauritania:Geography

Location: Northern Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between
Senegal and Western Sahara

Geographic coordinates: 20 00 N, 12 00 W

Map references: Africa

Area:
total: 1,030,700 sq km
land: 1,030,400 sq km
water: 300 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly larger than three times the size of New
Mexico

Land boundaries:
total: 5,074 km
border countries: Algeria 463 km, Mali 2,237 km, Senegal 813 km,
Western Sahara 1,561 km

Coastline: 754 km

Maritime claims:
contiguous zone: 24 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate: desert; constantly hot, dry, dusty

Terrain: mostly barren, flat plains of the Sahara; some central hills

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Sebkha de Ndrhamcha -3 m
highest point: Kediet Ijill 910 m

Natural resources: iron ore, gypsum, fish, copper, phosphate

Land use:
arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 38%
forests and woodland: 4%
other: 58% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 490 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: hot, dry, dust/sand-laden sirocco wind blows
primarily in March and April; periodic droughts

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

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered
Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone
Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note: most of the population concentrated in the cities of
Nouakchott and Nouadhibou and along the Senegal River in the southern
part of the c