Bryce+Mauritania+4A

=** MAURITANIA!! **= ** by Bryce Atchison ** [|Where is Mauritania? Click here] __**Political Map-**__ [|Large Map] [|Small Map] __**Physical Map-**__ [|Click here]

First of all is the size of the country. The U.S. is over nine and a half times larger than Mauritania considering Mauritania's area is 397,955 square miles while the U.S. has 3,794,100.Second is the population density which is much and is much lower being about 8 people per square mile for Mauritania. The U.S. has about 82 per square mile which also proves that Mauritania has a much lower population than the U.S. Theirs in fact is 3,205,060 as ours is 310,232,863 as shown below.

(square miles) ||~ Real GDP (per capita)* ||~ Real GDP (total in billions) ||~ Internet users (per 1,000 people) ||~ Cellular telephone subscribers (per 1,000 people) ||~ Telephone landlines (per 1,000 people) ||~ Adult literacy ||~ Literacy (male) ||~ Literacy (female) ||~ Daily calorie consumption (per capita) ||~ Infant mortality (per 1,000 births) ||~ Life expectancy (male) ||~ Life expectancy (female) ||~ Doctors (per 100,000 people) ||~ Probability of not surviving to age 40 ||~ Electricity consumption (kilowatt-hours per capita) ||~ Carbon dioxide emissions (metric tons per capita) ||~  ||~   ||~   ||~   || //The most startling characteristic about this table is the Real GDP and the probability of not surviving to age 40. The GDP is so low compared to the United States is most likely because of the low literacy rate. Without education, you can't earn money. The reason the probability of not surviving to age 40 is so high is most likely because of the low amount of doctors.// __**<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">Flag of Mauritania: **__
 * Nation |||||| Region Area Population
 * Mauritania || Africa (Sub-Saharan Africa, West Africa) || 397,955 || 3,205,060 || $1,927 || $6 || 7 || 243 || 13 || 56% || 63% || 48% || 2,780 || 63 || 55 || 59 || 11 || 22% || 112 || 1 ||
 * United States of America || Americas (North America) || 3,794,100 || 310,232,863 || $45,592 || $13,751 || 630 || 680 || 606 || 99% || 99% || 99% || 3,774 || 6 || 77 || 81 || 256 || 4% || 14,240 || 21 ||
 * *U.S. Dollars ||  ||   ||   ||

The flag of Mauritania was adopted on April 1st, 1959. It is green with a yellow crescent and star. Yellow symbolizes the Sahara Desert. The color green and the crescent and star represent the Islamic faith.

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"> <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">__**Birth rate:**__ <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">Mauritania's birth rate is 33.67 births for every 1000 population. The United States' birth rate is 13.83 for every 1000 population. Mauritania's birth rate is obviously much higher than the United States but the Infant mortality rate does decrease the amount of babies that live through infancy. __**<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">Fun Facts: **__ <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">1 U.S. Dollar= 289.1 Mauritanian Ouguiya (Mauritanian's currency) <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">In Mauritania about 20% of the population live on less than US $1.25 per day. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">Want to listen to the National Anthem? <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">[|Click here] Nomadic families live in large tents that are elaborately decorated on the inside. Mauritania was the last country in the Sahara region to abolish slavery (1980). One makes a clicking sound with the tongue to show agreement with someone. It is not uncommon for a couple to meet for the first time at their wedding. GDP per capita means Gross Domestic Product per person. It is how much the average person in the country produces in value every year. It also is close to how much each person in the country makes per year. The GDP per capita in Mauritania is $1927 the GDP per capita in the United States is $45,592**.** The Life expectancy in Mauritania is a much smaller number than the United States most likely because of the smaller number of doctors. In Mauritania, 11 out of 100,000 people are doctors. That would give 1 doctor almost 10,000 patients! while the United States has 256 doctors for every 100,000 people. That gives 1 doctor less than 400 patients. I know it sounds like a large number but it is small compared to Mauritanian doctors. Anyway to the point. Mauritania has a life expectancy of 55 for males and 59 for females. The U.S. has a life expectancy of 77 for males and 81 for females. __**Infant Mortality:**__ The infant mortality is 6 for every 1000 births in the United States. With doctors being that common in Mauritania, the infant mortality rate is a staggering 63 for every 1000 births. __**Size and Population:**__ First of all is the size of the country. The U.S. is over nine and a half times larger than Mauritania considering Mauritania's area is 397,955 square miles while the U.S. has 3,794,100. The population density is much lower being about 8 people per square mile for Mauritania. The U.S. has about 82 per square mile which also proves that Mauritania has a much lower population than the U.S. Theirs in fact is 3,205,060 as ours is 310,232,863 as shown below. Despite Mauritania's rich fishing grounds and iron ore deposits, the country is still very, very poor. Most Mauritanians rely on subsistence agriculture and livestock for there livelihood. Wealth is few and far between in this country. Livestock is the only option to get a hold of traditional wealth in Mauritania. The government is trying to overcome currency devaluation, foreign debt, and the inefficiency of state-run enterprises. Some industries are being privatized. Mauritanians often work in other African nations as traders. With caravan trade a part of their history, many Mauritanians buy goods from distant villages or countries and return to sell them in Mauritania's markets. Traders are always more highly esteemed over laborers, who are being associated with lower castes and even slavery. This notion creates a large amount of underemployed traders that have a lack of skilled or motivated labor. Women often form cooperatives to make mats, grow gardens, and produce crafts. Moors from the north of Africa began moving into the area in the third and fourth centuries AD. The term //Moor// was invented by the Romans and refers to people of mixed Berber and Arab families or bloodlines. Their camels allowed for extensive trade by caravan. Traders carried West African slaves, gold, and ivory north to where present-day Morocco and Algeria are to exchange them for items they needed like salt, copper, and cloth. Important trade towns were made in Chinguetti, Wadan, Walata, and Tichitt. Islam later spread through this network. In the 10th century, the Ghanaian Empire acquired control of a large amount of the south. Arabs then acquired it in the 16th century. Islam flourished, Arabic spread, and the area became a center for //marabouts// (Muslim teachers and leaders) and learning. With territories already in Algeria and Senegal, France established control over present-day Mauritania in 1903. France announced it a colony in 1920 but gained control only in 1934. France's small interest in Mauritania influenced its amount of investment in the country. France allowed complete independence in 1960, and Mauritania elected Moktar Ould Daddah as its president. Daddah held presidency for the next 18 years, during which time he took Mauritania out of the //franc// zone, and created Mauritania's own currency, called the //ouguiya//. Daddah also conquered the southern third of the Western Sahara (Morocco acquired the northern two-thirds) in 1975, after Spain withdrew from the region. The Polisario Front, a guerrilla force wanting independence for Western Sahara, soon began attacking Nouakchott (the capital of Mauritania) and Mauritania's railroad. Costs associated with the war, combined with severe droughts and lower global demand for iron ore, strongly decreased Daddah's popularity. He was overthrown in 1978 and imprisoned until 1979, when he left the country and Mauritania gave up its claim to Western Sahara. Following a number of rebellions against the government, Maayouia Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya was elected in 1984. Taya's initial actions proved popular: he normalized relations with Morocco, expressed no opinion in the ongoing Western Sahara dispute, and held elections for councils for towns and cities. But in 1989, rising ethnic tensions along the Senegal River quickly turned into violence. Moors fought with minority Black Africans over land, cattle, and other issues. As part of the overall conflict, race riots broke out between migrant Mauritanian Moors and Black Africans in Senegal. In response, Taya's opinion supported the killing or torture of Black Africans. Because many of these native Mauritanians belong to ethnic groups that also inhabit Senegal, Mauritania began depriving citizenship to tens of thousands of them (as if they were Senegalese) from Mauritania. Others fled to Senegal to escape the violence. By 1991, after Western governments threatened to cut off aid, Taya re-welcomed some of those who had been deprived of citizenship. Taya sponsored democratic reforms and stood for election in 1992, although opposition parties disputed his victory. Full multiparty elections were held for the National Assembly in 1996. Taya's Democratic and Social Republican Party (PRDS) won almost every seat, and in December of 1997, Taya was reelected president, capturing 90 percent of the vote. Taya then won the 2003 presidential elections with 67 percent of the vote. When Taya was out of the country in August 2005, military officers staged a bloodless overthrowing of the government and formed a military government under Colonel Ely Ould Mohammed Vall. Many Mauritanians welcomed the end of Taya's rule; opposition parties and Taya's own PRDS voiced support for the change. Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi won presidential elections in March 2007 but was dethrowned by another military overthrowing just 17 months later, in August 2008. The rebellion's leader, General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, won elections in July 2009. || Mauritania's currency is ouguiya. 1 U.S. dollar= 289.1 Mauritanian Ouguiya. I would have a picture of a ouguiya bill but I could not find one on flickr cc. <span style="color: #1f229e; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 170%;">Mauritania Tour
 * __GDP per capita:__**
 * __Life Expectancy:__**
 * **__Languages Spoken:__** Mauritania mostly speaks: Arabic (official and National), Pulaar, Soninke, Wolof (all National languages), French, and Hassaniya.
 * __Type of Government:__** Mauritania's government is Parliament. The parliament is made up of a 56 seat senate and a 95-seat National Assembly. There is a president and a prime minister who is head of the government. This government is much smaller in size than the United States' which means they could get a less accurate vote than the U.S. For example, in a survey, the less people being surveyed, the less accurate the survey will be.
 * __Political Leaders:__** Currently Mauritania's president is Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz. The prime minister is Moulaye Ould Mohamed Laghdaf.
 * __Religions:__** Mauritania is 100% Sunni Muslim.
 * __Literacy:__** Currently in Mauritania the Literacy rate is 56% while in the U.S. it is 99%.
 * __How is Mauritania's Economy doing?__**
 * __History:__**
 * __Monetary Unit:__**
 * __Google Earth tour:__**


 * __[|Mauritania tour.kmz]__**

[|Culture Grams] [|Africa Maps from the University of Texas] [|CIA World Factbook]
 * __Bibliography:__**