This page was last updated on 19 December, 2006
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@Mauritania
Introduction Mauritania
Background:
Independent from 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. Maaouya Ould
Sid Ahmed TAYA seized power in a coup in 1984. Opposition parties
were legalized and a new constitution approved in 1991. Two
multiparty presidential elections since then were widely seen as
flawed, but October 2001 legislative and municipal elections were
generally free and open. A bloodless coup in August 2005 deposed
President TAYA and ushered in a military council headed by Col. Ely
Ould Mohamed VALL, which declared it would remain in power for up to
two years while it created conditions for genuine democratic
institutions and organized elections. For now, however, Mauritania
remains an autocratic state, and the country continues to experience
ethnic tensions among its black population and different Moor
(Arab-Berber) communities.
Geography Mauritania
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