MAURITANIA

officially Islamic Republic of Mauritania, Arabic Muritaniya, or Al-Jumhuriyah al-Islamiyah al-Muritaniyah, French Mauritanie, or Rpublique Islamique de Mauritanie country of northwestern Africa, covering an area of 398,000 square miles (1,030,700 square km). The capital is Nouakchott. Mauritania is bordered to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the northwest and north by Western Sahara, to the northeast by Algeria, to the east and southeast by Mali, and to the southwest by Senegal. The population in 1991 was estimated to be 2,053,000. officially Islamic Republic of Mauritania, Arabic Muritaniya, or al-Jumhuriyah al-Islamiyah al-Muritaniyah, French Mauritanie, or Rpublique Islamique de Mauritanie state in northwestern Africa. With an area of 398,000 square miles (1,030,700 square kilometres), it has the shape of an indented rectangle measuring about 930 miles (1,500 kilometres) from north to south and about 680 miles from east to west. It is bordered to the northwest by the Western Sahara (formerly Spanish Sahara), to the northeast by Algeria, to the east and southeast by Mali, and to the southwest by Senegal. Its Atlantic Ocean coastline, to the west, extends for 435 miles from the delta of the Sngal River northward to the Cap Blanc Peninsula. The capital is Nouakchott. Mauritania forms a geographic link between the North African Maghrib (a region that also includes Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia) and the Senegal region of western Africa. Culturally it forms a transitional zone between the Arab-Berber region of North Africa and the region to the south of the tropic of Cancer known as the Sudan (a name derived from the Arabic bilad as-sudan, land of the blacks). Much of Mauritania forms part of the western Sahara, and a large proportion of the population is nomadic. The country's mineral wealth includes large reserves of iron ore, copper, and gypsum, which are now all being exploited. Mauritania, formerly French administered, became independent on Nov. 28, 1960. By the terms of the constitution, Islam is the official state religion, but the republic guarantees freedom of conscience and religious liberty to all. Arabic is the national language, and the official languages are Arabic and French. Additional reading Introductions include Alfred G. Gerteiny, Mauritania (1967); Brian Dean Curran and Joann Schrock, Area Handbook for Mauritania (1972); Charles Toupet and Jean-Robert Pitte, La Mauritanie (1977); and Charles Toupet and Georges Laclavre, Atlas de la Rpublique Islamique de Mauritanie (1977). Charles Toupet, La Sdentarisation des nomades en Mauritanie centrale sahlienne (1977), studies geographic and social transformations. The economy is treated in Richard M. Westebbe, The Economy of Mauritania (1971); and Jrme Pujos, Croissance conomique et impulsion extrieure: tude sur l'conomie mauritanienne (1964). Alfred G. Gerteiny, Historical Dictionary of Mauritania (1981), is a good reference. Specific periods are examined in C.C. Stewart and E.K. Stewart, Islam and Social Order in Mauritania: A Case Study from the Nineteenth Century (1973); Francis de Chassey, Mauritanie, 19001975 (1978, reissued 1984); and Genevive M. Dsir-Vuillemin, Contribution l'histoire de la Mauritanie de 1900 1934 (1962). Alfred G. Gerteiny Administration and social conditions Government The Mauritanian state had a presidential regime from 1960 until 1978, when a coup d'tat installed a military government. A civilian government established in December 1980 was replaced the following April by a largely military administration. A new constitution in 1991 established a multiparty system and a new bicameral legislative structure. The primary task of Mauritania's successive governments has been to transform a community of diverse tribes, hierarchical in social structure and very strongly differentiated, into a nation. Many of the local barriers to cooperation have been overcome, and traditional regional boundaries have been redrawn. There are 12 administrative regions, each directed by a governor, with the capital forming a separate district. Islamic law and jurisprudence have been in force since February 1980. Qadis (judges of the Shari'ah, or Islamic law) in rural and town communities hear matrimonial cases. Nouakchott is divided into six regional sections where magistrates and judges hear cases in lower courts; there are also labour and military courts, the Court of State Security, and a Supreme Court, which deals with administrative as well as judicial matters. Education Less than one-third of Mauritania's adult population is literate. Schooling is compulsory to age 14, but only a small minority of children benefit from it. In addition to primary schools in the urban centres, there are secondary schools, a university with faculties of letters and human sciences and of law and economics, and a research institute for mining and industry in Nouakchott. The capital is also the site of a national library. There are traditional local libraries in some urban centres. Cultural life Moorish society is proud of its Arab and Muslim heritage. Theology, poetry, and music flourish. Goldsmithing is a fine art. Kewri societies have a rich and varied folklore. Mail, telephone, and telegraph services are combined in the main post offices. Fewer than 6,000 telephones are in use, and administrative contact is primarily through radiotelephone. International telephonic communications are run through Paris. The media are owned or controlled by the government. A national radio network broadcasts in the prevailing languages and in French. There are also two Earth satellite stations with telecasts in French and Arabic. A daily, Ach-chaab; a fortnightly, Journal Officiel; and a bimonthly, Le Peuple, are published in the two official languages. Movie theatres are found in the main urban centres, and cercles (social, sporting clubs) provide recreational opportunities in Nouakchott, Nouadhibou, and Rosso. Charles Henri Toupet Alfred G. Gerteiny