Islamic Republic of Mauritania
África Occidental
Saharan · Nomadic · Ancient
Mauritania abolished slavery in 1981 as the last country in the world to do so, yet only criminalised the practice in 2007 — it still has one of the world's highest rates of modern slavery.
Más allá de la capital, las principales ciudades son Nouadhibou, Kaédi — cada una un centro de cultura regional, economía e historia. Nouakchott was built from almost nothing in 1957 as an administrative convenience — the French colonial authority needed a capital when Mauritanian independence approached in 1960 — creating a city in the Sahara that now houses 1 million people in a country of 4.6 million, making Mauritania one of the most urbanised Saharan nations and Nouakchott one of Africa's fastest-growing capitals.
Los principales idiomas hablados son árabe, francés, que reflejan el patrimonio cultural del país y abren puertas a una amplia comunidad internacional. Internacionalmente, Mauritania se contacta mediante el código +222. Mauritanian society navigates the tension between Hassaniya Arabic-speaking Moor populations (including both white Moors, Bidhan, and Black Moors, Haratin) and sub-Saharan ethnic groups (Wolof, Soninke, Pulaar) in a country where slavery remained legal until 1981 and was only criminalised in 2007, making ongoing antislavery activism a live contemporary human rights issue.
Mauritania comparte sus fronteras con Senegal, Mali, Argelia, Western Sahara. El tráfico rodado circula por la derecha, en consonancia con la convención de
La vida económica y cotidiana se rige por la zona horaria de UTC, alineando el país con sus vecinos regionales.
Thiéboudienne — a rice and fish dish with vegetables — is shared with Senegal (which claims it as a national dish) but Mauritanian versions use the ocean fish caught off the rich Atlantic coast combined with desert spice traditions, while the Moorish tea ceremony (three glasses, progressively sweetened, served with mint) is the region's most distinctive social ritual.
Football is Mauritania's primary modern sport, with the national team's Africa Cup of Nations 2021 debut generating national celebration — but camel racing in the desert interior represents the traditional athletic culture of nomadic Moorish communities where racing camels are valued property and the skills of breeding, training, and riding represent inherited pastoral knowledge.
The Banc d'Arguin National Park off Mauritania's Atlantic coast is one of the world's most important bird sanctuaries — a UNESCO World Heritage Site where 2 million migratory birds (knots, dunlins, godwits) stop on the East Atlantic Flyway, sustained by the highly productive shallow waters where the cold Canary Current meets the warm coastal shallows of the Western Sahara coast.